The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are ARSENAL versus WEST HAM and MAN CITY versus LIVERPOOL. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews these and all game week 26 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Game Week-26
Including 1 x Game Week-29 Fixture.
Game Week-29
Wednesday 19th
ASTON VILLA v LIVERPOOL
19.30 in England
TNT Sport
This fixture has been brought forward due to Liverpool competing in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley against Newcastle on the 16th of March.
Aston Villa are a tricky team to predict at the moment.
One week Unai Emery’s Claret and Blues can get a victory over Man City, the next gain a point from a draw against Arsenal but then suffer a defeat against Wolves.
All of those results have occurred since December.
Added to that, Villa have knocked Tottenham out of the FA Cup.
So when Ipswich, who are currently sat in the relegation zone come to Villa Park, it’s assumed Aston Villa can get a home win.
However, that is the beauty of the English Premier League where nothing is guaranteed.
Aston Villa gained a point from a draw by a 1-1 score against Ipswich at Villa Park on Saturday.
What will have irked everyone connected with the Villains is that Ipswich had a player sent off in the 40th minute whilst the score was 0-0 yet somehow managed to take the lead against 11 Men Villa.
Ollie Watkins did score the equaliser soon after the Ipswich goal, however, time ran out giving both teams a share of the points.
Aston Villa sit in 9th place with 38 points from the opening 25 games played.
As mentioned Aston Villa progressed to the 5th-Round of the FA Cup, knocking out Tottenham in the process.
There are 11 Premier League teams left in the last-16 of the prestigious competition, with 8 going head-to-head in Round-5.
The 5th-Round Ties are as follows and take place over the weekend of the 28th of February to the 3rd of March, which does give the rest of the Premier League the weekend off.
Preston v Burnley
Aston Villa v Cardiff
Nottingham Forest v Ipswich *
Man Utd v Fulham *
Newcastle v Brighton *
Bournemouth v Wolves *
Man City v Plymouth
Crystal Palace v Millwall
*All Premier League Ties.
The strange anomaly for Liverpool is there will have been 5 Premier League fixtures between the 12th and the 26th of February, (Everton-A, Wolves-H, Aston Villa-A, Man City-A, Newcastle-H), yet there will be 1 Premier League game between the 26th of February and the 2nd of April (just 1 PL fixture on the 8th of March-Southampton-H).
The Everton fixture produced a fiery draw by a 2-2 score in the final Merseyside Derby at the Iconic Goodison Park Stadium.
After Beto had scored the opener for the Toffees, Alexis Mac Allister scored an equaliser for the Reds to take both teams in level at the break.
Mo Salah scored a 2nd for Liverpool midway through the 2nd-half and with 8 minutes of the added 5 (yes!) up on the clock, it appeared that the Red half of the City would take away a victory, however, Everton scored a very late equaliser which gave both teams a share of the points.
There was a check for offside by the dreaded VAR and for that matter, a check regarding a push on a Liverpool Defender by an Everton player, however, there was no way on earth that the VAR were going to cancel the goal as it was fitting that the game finished in a draw.
A stat came up that both teams had won 41 games out of 119 played between them at Goodison Park, with 37 draws, before Wednesday’s finale.
There wasn’t a chance that the Stockley Park Crew were going to disallow the goal and allow Liverpool to have 1 win more than Everton at the Toffees home ground.
The VAR did draw a few dubious lines across the screen to show that the Everton goal scorer was ‘Onside’!
It did appear that Stevie Wonder was one of the VAR officials.
After the final whistle, the drama continued with Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure celebrating wildly in front of the Liverpool fans, resulting in Curtis Jones having a bit of ‘Handbags’ with Abdoulaye.
Both were shown a 2nd Yellow Card and the subsequent Red after the match had finished.
Arne Slot was also shown a Red Card for saying a few naughty words to the on-field referee Michael Oliver.
All in all, it was a great final Merseyside Derby at the iconic stadium that will live long in the memory of those who support both great teams.
The point gained left Liverpool at the summit with 57 points from 24 games played.
It was then a fixture against Wolves at Anfield on Sunday, where Arne’s Slot Machines gained a home win over Vitor’s Gold and Blacks by a 2-1 score.
Luis Diaz and a converted Mo Salah penalty gave Liverpool the points.
Wolves got a consolation goal midway through the 2nd-half when the score was 2-0, which did spoil the predicted 2-0 scoreline and ‘Liverpool Win To Nil’ put in this EveryTip column last week.
That leaves Liverpool at the summit of the Premier League Table with 60 points having now completed the same 25 games as everyone else.
Arsenal are 7 points adrift so the Title Race is still on.
With Arsenal playing a day earlier and gaining a victory over Leicester, the gap was temporarily reduced to 4 for 24 hours until Liverpool faced Wolves at Anfield.
There have been plenty of occasions where a lead of 7 points or more has been overturned so Arsenal will feel like they are still legitimate challengers.
In the encounter at Anfield back in November, it was the home team that gained the victory with Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah getting the goals to give Liverpool the victory over Aston Villa by a 2-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 3/1, the Draw at 3/1 and slight Odds On 5/6 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/2 that Mo Salah Scores First and 11/8 that Liverpool Score in Both Halves.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 0-2- Get 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Game Week-26
Three of these fixtures are the reverse of Game Week-11, with the other 7 being the reverse of Game Week-13 which took place in November and the beginning of December 2024.
Friday 21st
LEICESTER v BRENTFORD
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
Leicester put in a decent performance against Arsenal at the King Power on Saturday, however, the same failings arose, those being that the Foxes are struggling to score goals at the moment, which usually means that if the opposition does, then a loss occurs.
That’s just what happened against the Gunners who bided their time then eventually scored twice in the 2nd-half to inflict the defeat on the home team by a 2-0 scoreline.
It’s now 9 losses from the last 10 Premier League games leaving Leicester in 19th place with the same 17 points as Ipswich from the 25 fixtures completed.
Leicester were sitting in 16th place when the decision to sack Steve Cooper was made.
One now has to question whether that was the best of decisions.
Brentford gained another away win on Saturday, this time against West Ham at the London Stadium.
After being rubbish on the road, Brentford have gained victories in the last 3 Premier League games away from the GTech, added to a draw, meaning unbeaten in 4 on their travels.
One says ‘travels’, however, 2 of the 3 away wins were against fellow Londoners Crystal Palace and West Ham, so not really that far to ‘travel’!
A single Kevin Shade goal scored after 4 minutes against the Hammers gave Thomas Frank’s Bees the points from a 1-0 scoreline.
The victory leaves Brentford in 11th place with 34 points.
At the GTech Stadium, it was the Bees that stung the Foxes, with the home team gaining the victory by a 4-1 scoreline.
Facundo Buonanotte did score the opening goal for Leicester, however, Yoane Wissa equalised soon after with Kevin Schade adding a couple more to give Brentford a comfortable lead at the interval.
Kevin then scored his 3rd and Brentford’s 4th on the hour mark and with no further goals, Thomas Frank’s boys got the win over a sorry set of Foxes who had just sacked Steve Cooper and were under the Caretaker charge of Ben Dawson before Ruud Van Nistelrooy took over.
Betfred offer Leicester at 11/5, the Draw at 13/5 and 21/20 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Bryan Mbeumo Scores First and 100/30 that Brentford Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 0-2- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Saturday 22nd
EVERTON v MANCHESTER UNITED
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
Everton are the new Real Madrid under David Moyes.
Since the enigmatic Scotsman returned to Goodison Park, the Toffees have a record of 4 Wins, 1 Draw and 1 Loss.
(There was the little matter of being knocked out of the FA Cup but the faithful will forgive DM for that one!)
After gaining a point from a draw by a 2-2 score in the final ever Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park, Everton headed South to Selhurst Park and gained an away day victory over Crystal Palace by a 2-1 scoreline.
Against Liverpool, Beto scored the opener before the Reds scored twice to lead going into injury time.
The pre-match stats had shown that there were 119 Derby’s played at Goodison Park with 41 Wins for both teams and 37 Draws.
There were 5 Minutes of Added Time shown by the 4th official, however, it did appear that the game was going to continue until Everton scored, which James Tarkowski did in the 98th minute.
There was a bit of conjecture regarding the goal, firstly about an offside decision and then about a push by Abdoulaye Doucoure on Ibrahima Konate.
The dreaded VAR drew all sorts of lines (some looking like a 5-year-old with Crayons had drawn them) on the screen to try and show that the Everton player wasn’t offside.
The push was glossed over by the Stockley Park Brigade.
In truth, there was no way on earth that the equaliser was going to be ruled out as the stats of 41 Wins apiece was a fitting end to life at Goodison Park for the Scousers.
The draw was then followed by a brilliant win over Palace with Beto again scoring the opener.
After the hosts had equalised, the New Boy Carlos Alcaraz, who only came to Merseyside last week, scored the winning goal in the 80th minute.
Carlos has played in the Premier League previously for Southampton but was transferred to the Brazilian club Flamengo last season.
The Argentinian actually scored for Flamengo on the 31st of January before getting on a plane and flying to Merseyside, joining Everton on loan.
Everton sit in 14th place with the same 30 points as Crystal Palace and Tottenham all having played 25 times.
It also means that the Toffees are now above Manchester United, which will certainly please Mr Moyes.
Manchester United suffered a 2nd Premier League defeat in succession on Sunday, this time against Tottenham at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium.
A single Tottenham goal, scored after 13 minutes left United with the loss by a 1-0 scoreline.
Whilst it was a disappointing result, United did have chances to score but ultimately a bit of poor finishing married with some great saves by the Tottenham ‘Keeper meant it was another defeat for Ruben Amorim, his 8th from 12 in the Premier League since taking over.
The Portuguese Gaffer has admitted that his ‘job is hard!’
Whilst Managing Manchester United does bring pressure, one’s sure a few Thousand of the Red Devil faithful, who work in Factories, in Hospitals, on Building Sites or delivering Parcels for Amazon (other Parcel Companies are available!) would jump at the chance of being in charge at Old Trafford and to be quite frank, a few of the few would probably do a better job.
John Newsome, whilst having no affiliation with United, would certainly make the players perform better.
It’s well known from reading this column over the past 5 years, that Manchester United’s problems stem from the initial appointment of David Moyes, who came into a Premier League Title Winning Club and got rid of the Backroom Staff who were a big reason why the Trophy was won.
The subsequent Managers of Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik Ten Hag plus the interim folk, (excluding Louis Van Gaal) all thought that Fred and Scott McTominay were the Midfield answer, putting the club back years by sticking with the two and not investing in better players.
There are at least 15 clubs in the Premier League and not just the Heavyweights such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City or Chelsea, that have signed better Midfielders over the past 7 years than Fred and Scott McTominay.
To be blinded by the idea that these two were the answer, when there wasn’t any evidence to suggest they were, has put United into the position they currently find themselves.
Fred picked up just one medal in his time at Manchester United, helping United win the Carabao Cup in 2023.
Scott McTominay won an FA Cup Winners Medal from the 2024 Final and the same Carabao Cup Winners Medal as Fred from 2023.
That’s not really a great return from the supposed go-to Midfielders who played close to 500 times between them whilst both at Old Trafford.
It’s ok blaming the Manager, the Glazers, Ineos, the fact that Old Trafford leaks, the cost of the Pies, etc etc, the simple truth is, that the United Managers thought that Fred and Scott were the go-to Midfielders and didn’t invest in this area.
The club paid Millions for Defenders such as Harry Maguire and Millions on bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, yet didn’t purchase players that could protect the Back Line and as well as supply the Attackers.
United paid Real Madrid £60 Million for Casemiro plus wagers of around £350,000 a week.
Casemiro was that player who could shield the Back Line, however, that was 10 years ago, not when United brought the Brazilian in.
One wonders what the person on the other end of the phone at Madrid thought when the Old Trafford hierarchy rang up and said in an English/Spanish accent,
‘We pay you £60 Million for Casemiro, no?’
The woman or man at the Bernabeu must have fallen off his or her chair when they heard that!
Cassie, or if one is being a bit unkind, ‘Fat Cass’ looks like one of those Donkeys that pop up on Day Time Television when the adverts on Bargain Loving Brits In The Sun come on.
Maybe that’s what the Bosses at United thought they were doing,
Sponsoring a Brazilian Donkey!
The lad certainly wasn’t a ‘Bargain’ that the Brits supposedly love.
Christian Eriksen has a heart condition but manages a run out for Manchester United every now and again.
Granted, Christian and Casemiro have been great players over the years but the keywords in that sentence, are ‘have been’!
As Gary Neville and Roy Keane often say,
‘This is Manchester United!’
Amad Diallo is United’s leading scorer this season with 6 Premier League goals and it’s fair to say that the lad has been a glimmer of hope this campaign.
However, do many know that it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who signed the Ivorian Striker back in 2021 but after Ole was sacked and replaced by Ralph Rangnick, Double R felt that Amad wasn’t good enough for United and sent him off to Rangers (poor lad) then Sunderland on loan deals.
Anthony Elanga played in the same United team as Amad for the final Premier League fixture of the 2020/21 season.
Anthony was deemed not good enough for United and shipped out to Nottingham Forest in 2023, where the lad is now a star for Nuno’s Tricky Trees.
Paul Pogba was in the same squad back in 2021.
Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford were given astronomical contracts of around £300,000 per week, yet were both wearing another Jersey at the weekend.
These are just some examples of the players that were at Old Trafford but are not there now.
It’s now been confirmed that Amad Diallo will be out for the rest of the season due to injury.
It never rains eh?
‘This is Manchester United’ sit in 15th place with 29 points from 25 games played, a place and a point behind today’s hosts.
Ruben Amorim had just arrived at Old Trafford when Everton turned up at the beginning of December.
After Ruben’s first fixture away against Ipswich had resulted in an opening game draw, United gained a convincing victory over Sean Dyche’s Everton by a 4-0 score.
Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee scored the 1st-half goals, to give United a lead at the break.
It was then a repeat, with Marcus scoring the 3rd and Joshua adding the 4th after the interval to give Ruben Amorim a winning start to life in front of the home faithful.
It’s amazing to think that Marcus scored the first goal of Ruben’s life as the Manchester United Manager in the game against Ipswich, then added 2 in Mr Amorim’s opening game at Old Trafford, however, then only played a total of 120 minutes in the next 3 games before being binned from the squad and eventually sent to Aston Villa.
It’s the ex-Boss David Moyes who now gets the chance to inflict more pain on a struggling Manchester United team.
Betfred offer Everton at 7/4, the Draw at 21/10 and 6/4 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 13/2 that Beto Scores First and 16/5 that Everton Score in Both Halves.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-0- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BOURNEMOUTH v WOLVES
15.00 in England
Bournemouth got back to winning ways in the Premier League, following a defeat against Liverpool last time out before the FA Cup.
In the South Coast Derby against Southampton at St Mary’s, goals from Dango Ouattara, Ryan Christie and Marcus Tavernier gave Andoni’s Cherries the victory from a 3-1 scoreline.
Southampton did score before Bournemouths’ 3rd.
The 3 points gained lifted Bournemouth into 5th place with the same 43 points as Chelsea but now above the Blues on goal difference.
It’s quite conceivable that those who finish in 5th place will receive a Champions League spot for next season, due to the coefficient rules that are way too complicated to explain, so Andoni Iraola’s team will want to stay where they are or move even higher.
‘In short, if the Premier League clubs progress deep into the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League knockout stages to the extent that their association club coefficient is ranked first or second by UEFA, the League will earn one additional automatic place in the league phase (“European Performance Spot”).’
That’s taken directly from the Premier League website.
Wolves suffered a defeat against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
After conceding 2-goals, one being a converted penalty, to trail at half-time, Matheus Cunha scored for Wolves in the 67th minute to half the deficit and give the travelling faithful hopes of a draw.
Unfortunately for the Gold and Blacks, time ran out meaning a defeat for Vitor Pereira and his Wolves Boys.
Wolves remain in 17th place with 19 points, just above the relegation zone, having completed 25 games.
It’s looking increasingly likely that the relegation battle will come down to 3 out of 4 teams, with Southampton’s fate virtually sealed, meaning it’s going to be any two of Leicester, Ipswich and Wolves who join the Saints in the Championship.
Bournemouth gained an emphatic away day victory over Wolves by a 4-2 score at Molineux when Gary O’Neil’s Gold and Blacks hosted Andoni Iraola’s Cherries in November.
The goals going in as follows,
3′ Justin Kluivert-pen-(Bournemouth 0-1)
5′ Jorgen Strand-Larsen-(Wolves 1-1)
8′ Milos Kerkez- (Bournemouth 1-2)
18′ Justin Kluivert-pen-(Bournemouth 1-3)
Half-Time Chicken Balti Pie and Bovril.
69′ Jorgen Strand-Larsen-(Wolves 2-3)
74′ Justin Kluivert-pen-(Bournemouth 2-4)
Full-Time Big Mac, Fries and Strawberry Milkshake.
If one remembers, Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick of penalties which is a Premier League first.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at Odds On 3/5, the Draw at 3/1 and 4/1 for Wolves to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Justin Kluivert Scores First and 2/1 that Bournemouth Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-0- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ARSENAL v WEST HAM
15.00 in England
Arsenal eventually overcame Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
One says ‘eventually’ as it did take 81 minutes for the Gunners to get in front with the Foxes putting in a great defensive performance, however, Ruud’s men just can’t score at the moment, which ultimately means that if the opposition does score then it’s more than likely that a victory will be achieved.
That’s exactly what happened in the early Saturday Afternoon kickoff with Mikel Arteta introducing Mikel Merino from the bench midway through the 2nd-half.
The change was an inspired one, with M and M scoring twice to give Arsenal the win from a 2-0 scoreline.
That left Arsenal in 2nd place with 53 points, 4 adrift of Liverpool for at least 24 hours until Liverpool played against Wolves on Sunday.
With Arne’s Slot Machines gaining the expected victory, the gap between Arsenal and Liverpool was back to 7 points, both having completed 25 games.
As mentioned earlier Liverpool do play a game more (Aston Villa) between now and the end of February, which could mean that the gap between the two is extended to 10 points, however, 10 points can be overhauled as seen a few times over the Premier League era.
Don’t forget the,
‘I will love it, love it!’ emotional outburst from a certain Kevin Keegan back in 1996.
Mikel Arteta will surely ‘love it’ too!
There hasn’t really been a honeymoon period for Graham Potter since the ex-Brighton and Chelsea Gaffer turned up at the London Stadium following the sacking of Julen Lopetegui.
Unless one’s honeymoon period is akin to the one that John Newsome would have if the Barnsley Boy ever gets married.
Which would probably see the lovely Bride notice the Iceberg and take off soon after the ‘I do’s and don’t’s’ have been spoken!
(At the moment, John has dodged that particular bullet!)
West Ham’s record since Harry Potter took over is 1 Win, 1 Draw and 3 Losses.
Added to that, the Hammers were knocked out of the FA Cup.
The latest loss came against Brentford at the London Stadium on Saturday, with an early Bees goal, given by ‘Goal Line Technology’ (GLT) being the difference, leaving the Hammers with the defeat from a 1-0 scoreline.
Whilst ‘GLT’ is a brilliant introduction to Modern Football as opposed to the dreaded VAR which polarises opinion, John Newsome was sitting in Barnsley and saw that the ball had crossed the line, so the referee and linesman who were yards from the action should have given the goal straight away.
West Ham dropped to 16th place with 27 points from 25 fixtures completed.
Whilst there’s no real danger of falling into a relegation battle, with the Hammers having 10 points more than Leicester in the drop zone, Graham needs to help get his team a few more points to make the decision to get rid of Julen the correct one.
Arsenal hammered West Ham at the London Stadium, gaining a brilliant victory by a 5-2 score.
The strange anomaly in that result was all of the 7 goals were scored in the 1st-half.
10′ Gabriel-(Arsenal 0-1)
27′ Leandro Trossard-(Arsenal 0-2)
34′ Martin Odegaard-(Arsenal 0-3)
36′ Kai Havertz-(Arsenal 0-4)
38′ Aaron Wan-Bissaka-(West Ham 1-4)
40′ Emerson-(West Ham 2-4)
45+5′ Bukayo Saka-(Arsenal 2-5)
Half-Time Hot Dog and Chips.
Full-Time Gin and Bitter Lemon.
Betfred offer Arsenal at Odds On 2/7, the Draw at 4/1 and 9/1 for West Ham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 17/2 that Mikel Merino Scores First and slight Odds On 19/20 that Arsenal Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-0- Get 5/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
FULHAM v CRYSTAL PALACE
15.00 in England
Fulham gained a brilliant victory over Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Emile Smith-Rowe and Calvin Bassey scored a goal after 15 minutes of both halves.
Forest had equalised Emile’s opener to take both teams in level at the break.
Calvin’s goal on the hour mark proved to be the winner, giving Marco Silva’s Cottagers the points from a 2-1 scoreline.
Fulham’s last 5 Premier League results have been Won, Won, Lost, Won, Lost.
The surprise in those results is the Wins have come against Forest and Newcastle (2 teams above) and Leicester, with the Losses being against Manchester United and West Ham (2 sitting below).
Probably the only result that wasn’t a surprise was the victory against Leicester.
Added to those, Fulham have progressed to the 5th-Round of the FA Cup and will face the old foes Manchester United, where there is previous between the two in the FA Cup.
United gained a victory over Fulham back in March 2023, when the two met in the Quarter-Final.
The tie saw United progress from a 3-1 score, however, that wasn’t the full story, with Fulham being reduced to 9 Men following the Red Cards given to Willian and Aleksandar Mitrovic as well as Marco Silva being sent to the dressing room.
The score was 1-0 to Fulham before the sending-offs, which started when Willian handled the ball on the line, not only giving away a penalty but receiving a straight Red and an early bath.
Marco Silva kicked off about the decision and was also shown a Red, with Aleksandar wanting to fight everyone including the referee after he was sent off too.
Mr Mitrovic received an 8 game ban for his antics that day.
Fulham will definitely want revenge against United and will be ‘Up For The Cup!’
Fulham sit in 8th place with 39 points from the opening 25 games completed.
Crystal Palace suffered a defeat against Everton at Selhurst Park early on Saturday evening.
After conceding a Toffees goal, to trail at the break, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored an equaliser just after the restart.
Jefferson Lerma scored what appeared to be a perfectly good goal before Everton’s opener but somehow the linesman adjudged that the ball had gone out of play from the corner kick and cancelled it out.
Unlike Goal Line Technology, there isn’t a definitive way of knowing but because the flag went up indicating the ball had gone out, the dreaded VAR didn’t want to overturn the decision.
The replays couldn’t prove anything but from the naked eye, the corner kick from Justin Devenny did look ok.
Everton then scored a late winner to inflict the defeat on Palace by a 2-1 score.
That result leaves the Eagles in 13th place, now with the same 30 points as the Toffees and Spurs, sat between the two on goal difference.
All have now completed 25 games.
Goals from Emile Smith-Rowe and Harry Wilson, one in each half, gave Fulham the away day victory over Palace at Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada was shown a straight Red Card midway through the 2nd-half making the Eagles task all the more difficult.
Betfred offer Fulham at 21/20, the Draw at 23/10 and 12/5 for Crystal Palace to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 15/2 that Alex Iwobi Scores First and 11/5 that Jean-Philippe Mateta Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-1- Get 15/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Ederson- Man City
RIGHT-BACK- Rico Lewis- Man City
CENTRE-BACK- Adam Webster- Brighton
CENTRE-BACK- Gabriel- Arsenal
LEFT-BACK- Myles Lewis-Skelly- Arsenal
MIDFIELDER- Alexis Mac Allister- Liverpool
MIDFIELDER- Ethan Nwaneri- Arsenal
MIDFIELDER- Yankuba Minteh- Brighton
FORWARD- Mikel Merino- Arsenal
FORWARD- Omar Marmoush- Man City
FORWARD- Kaoru Mitoma- Brighton
STAR MAN- Omar Marmoush- Man City
***Last Week’s Winning Tips-
Arsenal To Win- 2/9
Bournemouth To Win- 8/15
Liverpool To Win- 1/7
Tottenham To Win- 13/10
Correct Scores-
Correct Tips-
Arsenal Win To Nil- Evens 1/1
Liam Delap To Score Anytime- 18/5
Crystal Palace v Everton Both Teams To Score- 10/11
IPSWICH v TOTTENHAM
15.00 in England
Ipswich picked up a great point against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
Despite Axel Tuanzebe being shown 2 Yellow Cards and the subsequent Red in the 1st-half, leaving the Tractor Boys a man-lite for almost an hour, it was Ipswich who took the lead through a goal from Liam Delap in the 56th minute.
Unfortunately for the travelling faithful, Aston Villa scored an equaliser soon after Liam’s goal.
Whilst Ipswich couldn’t hold on for a victory, it was still a point gained for Kieran McKenna’s Men who remain in the relegation zone, sitting in 18th place with the same 17 points as Leicester.
Southampton have 9 points and despite not being mathematically relegated, their fate is sort of sealed, leaving 2 relegation places left between Leicester, Ipswich and Wolves who are the safe team with 19 points.
Wolves do have a far superior goal difference over Ipswich and Leicester, which could come into play later on in the campaign.
12th- Tottenham 30 points (plus+ 12)
13th- Crystal Palace 30 points (minus- 3)
14th- Everton 30 points (minus- 4)
15th- Manchester United 29 points (minus-7)
16th- West Ham 27 points (minus- 18)
17th- Wolves 19 points (minus- 18 goals)
18th- Ipswich 17 points (minus- 27 goals)
19th- Leicester 17 points (minus- 30 goals)
20th- Southampton 9 points (minus- 38)
Tottenham gained a narrow victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
A single James Maddison goal scored after 13 minutes gave Ange’s Spurs the win for a 1-0 scoreline.
That’s the first time since the 1989/90 season that Tottenham have done the Double over Manchester United.
Which does mean it’s a Premier League first for the LilyWhites.
The ‘Double’ means winning both home and away games in one season.
After suffering defeats against Liverpool and Aston Villa to be knocked out of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in the space of 3 days, it was a relief for Tottenham to get back to winning ways.
Tottenham sit in 12th place with the same 30 points as Crystal Palace and Everton, all having completed 25 games.
Maybe not now, due to how the season has developed but at the time in mid-November for the Game Week-11 encounter, probably the away day victory by Ipswich over Tottenham was somewhat of a surprise.
Goals from Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap gave the Tractor Boys the win from a 2-1 scoreline.
Rodrigo Bentancur replied for Tottenham but ultimately that was just a consolation goal.
Betfred offer Ipswich at 12/5, the Draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 19/20 for Tottenham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Son Heung-Min Scores First and 13/8 that Liam Delap Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
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SOUTHAMPTON v BRIGHTON
15.00 in England
Southampton suffered their 12th defeat from the last 15 Premier League games on Saturday, this time against Bournemouth at St Mary’s.
There was 1 Win and 2 Draws from the other 3 games.
Kamaldeen Sulemana did score a Saints goal to half the deficit when trailing 2-0, however, the Cherries scored a 3rd to inflict the defeat by a 3-1 scoreline
Southampton stay at the foot of the table with 9 points from the 25 games completed.
Whilst the ‘Rotund Lady’ isn’t singing just yet, she will be warbling soon once the Pies have gone, which will see Southampton relegated back to the Championship.
The target now for the Saints is to try and gain at least 12 points to not be the worst ever Premier League team which that particular Wooden Spoon is bestowed on Derby County from the 2007/08 season where the Rams only accrued 11 points from 38 games.
Brighton gained back-to-back victories over Chelsea at the Amex on Friday in the space of 6 days.
The Saturday before, the Seagulls took on the Blues in the 4th-Round of the FA Cup with Fab’s Seagulls progressing from a 2-1 score.
On Friday, the two faced off in the Premier League with the result being the same, however, the scoreline was slightly better with Brighton gaining the win from a 3-0 scoreline.
Kaoru Mitoma scored a super opener to give the home team a lead after half an hour with Yankuba Minteh adding a 2nd to make the Seagulls’ half-time activities a pleasurable one.
Yankuba then scored his 2nd and Brighton’s 3rd after the break and with no further goals grabbed a superb victory over a very poor Chelsea team whose stats showed that there were ‘Zero Shots on Target’ from the away side.
Brighton will argue that it was their professionalism that prevented the Chelsea players from having an attempt on goal and whilst the Seagulls did play well, from watching the game, Chelsea were poor.
That isn’t Fabian Hurzelers problem, who sees his Brighton team in the 5th-Round of the FA Cup and 10th in the table with 37 points.
The FA Cup draw produced a tie against Newcastle at St James Park that will take place on the 2nd of March 2025.
This South Coast Battle produced a draw by a 1-1 score at the Amex back in November.
Kaoru Mitoma scored the opener for Brighton to give the home team a lead at the break.
Flynn Downes then scored an equaliser for the Saints on the hour mark and with no further (legitimate) goals both teams shared the points.
One says ‘legitimate’ as Southampton did have a goal ruled out by the dreaded VAR which did look to be a perfectly good effort, however, the Stockley Park Brigade ruined the Saints faithful’s night out.
Betfred offer Southampton at 4/1, the Draw at 3/1 and Odds On 4/7 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Danny Welbeck Scores First and 15/8 that Brighton Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 0-2- Get 15/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ASTON VILLA v CHELSEA
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Aston Villa come into this Game Week-26 affair after completing the Game Week-29 fixture against Liverpool which was brought forward due to Liverpool competing in the Carabao Cup Final when the rest of the games take place over the same weekend (15th and 16th of March.)
Chelsea suffered back-to-back away defeats against Brighton at the Amex on Friday Night Football.
After being knocked out of the FA Cup 6 days earlier by the Seagulls, it was then a Premier League fixture, that resulted in another loss, this time by a 3-0 scoreline.
The stats showed that the Chelsea players didn’t have a ‘Shot On Target’ (SOT) which will ultimately mean that a team won’t score a goal.
The old saying goes, ‘One has to buy a ticket to potentially win the raffle!’
One has to at least have a ‘SOT’ to potentially ‘Score a Goal’.
Enzo Maresca did come up with the fact that some of his players are injured and not available, which appears to be the ‘common theme’ of Managers of late.
However, these teams have squads that are overflowing with talent so it’s up to the Manager to make the most of who is available.
If one looks at the Chelsea team that took on Brighton on Friday, there was really only Nicolas Jackson missing.
Christopher Nkunku came in for Nicolas.
Reece James has been injured and missed a few games but was on the bench and came on for the last half-hour or so.
Injuries are part of the game and as mentioned, most of the Premier League teams have large squads that need to be utilised over the campaign.
John Newsome will just add,
‘Dry your eyes and get on with it!’
Chelsea dropped to 6th place with the sane 43 points as Bournemouth following the weekend’s results from 25 games completed so far.
The Blues still have the Europa Conference League to participate in for the chance to win a Trophy, which the last-16 knockout stage will start in March.
Chelsea gained a comfortable home victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge back in December.
Goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer gave Enzo Maresca’s Blues the win from a 3-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 8/5, the Draw at 5/2 and 7/5 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and slight Odds On 4/7 that there are Under 3.5 Goals.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
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Sunday 23rd
NEWCASTLE v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
Newcastle were smashed against Man City at the Etihad on Saturday, with the home team inflicting a devastating defeat on Eddie Howe’s Magpies by a 4-0 scoreline.
Whilst a draw was predicted in this EveryTip column, that was more to do with the way Man City have performed over the last few weeks, however, Newcastle came up against a revitalised set of Citizens who were just too good.
Maybe a few of the Newcastle players have subconsciously got one eye on the Carabao Cup Final against Liverpool which takes place on the 16th of March.
Newcastle slipped a place to 7th still with 41 points from 25 games completed.
Nottingham Forest themselves also suffered a defeat on Saturday.
Forest headed to Craven Cottage to face Fulham off the back of a 7-0 drubbing inflicted on Brighton last time out in the Premier League.
So it was assumed that confidence would be high, especially given that Nuno’s Tricky Trees had progressed to the 5th-Round of the FA Cup following a penalty shootout against Exeter.
Despite Chris Wood scoring to equalise an earlier Fulham goal, the home team scored a 2nd and ultimately the winner after the break to inflict a defeat on Forest by a 2-1 scoreline
This is Nottingham Forest’s 2nd game at St James Park in the space of 12 days.
One might be scratching their heads at that particular fact but to explain, Forest’s FA Cup opponents Exeter also play at a stadium called St James Park, which is situated in Devon.
It’s hoped the Coach Driver doesn’t put the Exeter one in the Sat Nav by mistake, there are almost 400 Miles between the two Saints!
Forest remain in 3rd place with 47 points from 25 fixtures played, however, now only 3 points ahead of Man City, who appear to have turned a corner.
The two teams meet each other on the 8th of March in the Game Week-28 set of fixtures.
Forest will have faced Arsenal before then after this trip up to Newcastle.
That said, Man City face Liverpool later today, so Nuno Espírito Santo will quickly don his Liverpool Jersey with ‘Clemence’ and ‘1’ on the back to cheer on the Reds hoping that City don’t accrue any points.
This reverse fixture at the City Ground was a Game Week-11 affair that saw Eddie Howe’s Magpies gain an away day victory over Nuno Espírito Santo’s Tricky Trees by a 3-1 scoreline.
The Forest Centre Back Murillo did score first to give the home team a lead at the break, however, 2nd-half goals from Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes gave Newcastle the brilliant win on the Trent.
Betfred offer Newcastle at slight Odds On 4/5, the Draw at 11/4 and 3/1 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 6/1 that Chris Wood Scores First and 21/20 that Alexander Isak Scores Anytime
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
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MAN CITY v LIVERPOOL
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
OMG!
Omar Marmoush Goals!
The Egyptian Prince and New Monarch when the current Egyptian King Mo Salah is dethroned scored a superb 1st-half hat-trick over a 15-minute period against Newcastle on Saturday.
James McAtee added a 4th late on to give Man City a superb victory over Newcastle by a 4-0 scoreline.
A draw was predicted in this column purely based on how City have performed over the past few months, however, that result will give Pep’s Blues a big boost going into the game against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Man City jumped into 4th place with 44 points from 25 games played.
With Nottingham Forest slipping up and suffering a defeat against Fulham, the gap between City and Forest is now 3 points with both facing each other at the beginning of March, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that City could be chasing Arsenal and Liverpool in the not too distant future.
As mentioned Man City face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu before this Heavyweight fixture against Liverpool at the Etihad.
City somehow head to Spain’s Capital with a 1-goal deficit after the 1st-leg, following a narrow 3-2 scoreline.
One says ‘somehow’ as a couple of Erling Haaland goals had given Man City a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes remaining, however, Real scored twice late on to snatch a 1st-leg victory.
Liverpool will have faced Aston Villa before this trip to the Etihad, so in theory, could be a massive 19 points ahead of Man City come kickoff today.
Liverpool gained the professional victory over Man City at Anfield back in the Game Week-13 encounter.
Coady Gakpo scored the opener to give Arne’s Slot Machines a lead at the break.
Mo Salah then converted a penalty late on in proceedings and with no further goals, Liverpool got the win from a 2-0 score.
Betfred offer Man City at 7/4, the Draw at 11/4 and 5/4 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Omar Marmoush Scores First and 7/5 that Mo Salah Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Draw 2-2- Get 9/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
The status quo at the Top of the Scottish Premier League remains the same following the weekend’s results (of course it does!)
Celtic sit at the summit with 69 points following their emphatic victory over Dundee United (who?) by a 3-0 scoreline.
Rangers are still in 2nd place with 56 points following their somewhat lucky win over Hearts (who?) on Sunday by a 3-1 score.
When one says ‘somewhat lucky’ that’s because the Hearts Defender John McCart scored 2, count them, 2 Own Goals.
The Mc-Cart-horse must be trying to get a move to Ibrox.
Celtic face Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the 2nd-leg of the Champions League Playoffs.
The 1st-leg at Celtic Park saw the Green and White Hoops suffer a narrow defeat by a 2-1 score, with Daizen Maeda scoring a late goal when Celtic were trailing 2-0 which could have a massive bearing on the game in Munich.
That said, Bayern are usually prolific in the Champions League, especially at the Allianz Arena, so it could be a long night for the Green and White Army.
Rangers have the week off due to their Europa League adventure being on hold at the moment because of the Playoffs in that particular competition.
It was mentioned last week that Shamrock Rovers of the Irish Premier League faced Molde of Norway in the Europa Conference League Playoffs.
Whilst no one gave the Irish Hoops hope of a victory over in Norway, being a massive 9/1 To Win, with Molde being Odds On at 2/7,
a single Michael Noonan goal scored in the 57th minute gave Shamrock the surprise 1st-leg victory by a 1-0 scoreline.
The 2nd-leg takes place in Ireland on Thursday which again sees Molde as the Odds On 7/10 favourites to win, with Shamrock Rovers being around 7/2.
The Odds for a Draw are around 3/1, which considering that’s all Shamrock need to progress, could be worth a little punt.
Talking of Mc-Cart-horses, the Own Goals going in against Rangers did remind John of the Loveable YankScot’s playing days back when we were kids.
Braveheart/Kylie is still Sleepless in Seattle which is surprising as it was Odds On that Rangers’ biggest fan would be back home in Melbourne before the end of February.
Still time yet though.
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