The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are CHELSEA versus SOUTHAMPTON and MANCHESTER UNITED versus IPSWICH. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews these and all game week 27 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-27
All of these fixtures are live on TNT Sport.
There are 7 fixtures which are the reverse of Game Week-12 that took place towards the end of November 2024 and 3 that are the reverse of Game Week-14, which were played at the beginning of December 2024.
Tuesday 25th
BRIGHTON v BOURNEMOUTH
19.30 in England
Brighton come into another South Coast matchup after smashing Southampton on Saturday.
Goals from Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood gave the Seagulls the victory over a Sorry Set of Saints by a 4-0 scoreline.
That’s back-to-back wins without conceding a goal for Fabian Hurzeler’s Men leaving Brighton in 9th place with 40 points from 26 games completed.
Bournemouth suffered a surprise home defeat against Wolves at the Vitality on Saturday.
The turning point of the game came in the 31st minute when Ilya Zabarnyi was shown a straight Red Card leaving the Cherries a man-lite for over an hour.
Wolves took immediate advantage of having the extra man, scoring 5 minutes after the sending off and with no further goals, it was the away team that gained the victory from a 1-0 scoreline.
Bournemouth sit in 6th place with the same 43 points as Chelsea from the opening 26 fixtures played.
Brighton gained the away day victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality back in November 2024.
Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma scored the Seagulls’ goals, both after 4 minutes of each half.
Carlos Baleba was sent off for Brighton picking up a 2nd Yellow Card and the subsequent Red on the hour mark to leave Brighton a man lite for half an hour.
David Brooks scored a late consolation goal for the home team in the 92nd minute, however, time ran out leaving Brighton with the win from a 2-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Brighton at 21/20, the Draw at 5/2 and 9/4 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 15/2 that Kaoru Mitoma Scores First and 2/1 that Justin Kluivert 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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WOLVES v FULHAM
19.30 in England
Wolves probably gained one of the best results of the weekend by heading South to Bournemouth and picking up a victory by a 1-0 away day scoreline.
Matheus Cunha with the solitary winning goal.
The result was a significant one, with both Leicester and Ipswich suffering defeats, meaning Vitor’s Gold and Blacks remain in 17th place, however, now with 22 points, 5 ahead of the the Foxes and the Tractor Boys who occupy the relegation places.
Discard Southampton as the Saints are gone, maybe not yet mathematically but spiritually and emotionally.
After back-to-back Premier League victories, plus progression in the FA Cup, meaning 3 straight wins for Marco Silva’s Boys, it was a surprise to see Fulham suffer a home defeat against Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
The unfortunate Joachim Andersen, who used to play for Palace, was credited with an Own Goal to give the away team a lead at the break.
Palace then scored a 2nd and with no further goals, inflicted the defeat on Fulham by a 2-0 scoreline.
Fulham remain in 10th place with 39 points from the opening 26 games.
Wolves gained the victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage back in the Game Week-12 encounter.
Goals from Matheus Cunha (2), Joao Gomes and Goncalo Guedes gave Gary O’Neil’s Gold and Blacks the win over Marco Silva’s Cottagers by a 4-1 score.
Alex Iwobi had scored the opener for Fulham that kick-started the Wolves’ scoring spree.
Betfred offer Wolves at 7/4, the Draw at 23/20 and 7/5 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Matheus Cunha Scores First and slight Odds On 5/6 that there are Under 2.5 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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CRYSTAL PALACE v ASTON VILLA
19.30 in England
Crystal Palace gained a great away victory over Fulham on Saturday.
An Own Goal from the ex-Eagle Joachim Andersen gave Palace a lead at the break.
Daniel Munoz added a 2nd and with no further goals, Crystal Palace got the win from a 2-0 score.
Despite suffering back-to-back home defeats at Selhurst Park, that was Palace’s 4th straight Premier League away victory in succession, plus a win in the FA Cup against Doncaster on their travels.
Oliver Glasner has been in charge of Crystal Palace for a year now which it’s fair to say, has been a pretty enjoyable one for the Eagle Ultras.
Palace sit in 13th place with the same 33 points as Tottenham from the opening 26 fixtures.
Aston Villa will have played twice since the Game Week-25 encounter against Fulham.
Due to Liverpool’s Carabao Cup Final affair against Newcastle that takes place on the 16th of March, Villa v Liverpool was brought forward to last Wednesday, where both teams shared the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
Mo Salah scored the opener before goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins gave Villa a lead at the break.
Unfortunately for the Villains in attendance at Villa Park, Trent Alexander-Arnold scored an equaliser on the hour mark and with no further goals both shared the points from the Archbishop’s favourite scoreline.
Unai Emery started new boys Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio giving both just over an hour before taking the two off.
That was back-to-back draws for Aston Villa who then faced Chelsea in a 4th consecutive home game at Villa Park in the late Saturday Afternoon fixture (3 Premier League games and 1 in the FA Cup.)
Four home games in the space of 13 days, which rarely happens, however, at least it gets the Villains out of the house.
After conceding a Chelsea goal to trail at the break, Marco Asensio scored twice to give Villa the victory by a 2-1 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
Aston Villa sit in 8th place with 42 points but have now played 27 games, not the 26 that the others have.
Villa have been drawn against Club Brugge in the last-16 of the Champions League.
Both teams shared the points from a draw by a 2-2 score when the two met at Villa Park in November.
Ismaila Sarr scored the opener in the 4th minute before Ollie Watkins equalised half an hour later.
Youri Tielemans did miss a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
The miss was then compounded when Palace went straight up the other end with Justin Devenny scoring for the away team to give the Eagles a lead at the break.
Ross Barkley got the equaliser for Villa in the 77th minute and with no further goals both teams gained a point apiece from the Archbishop’s favourite scoreline.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 6/4, the Draw at 12/5 and 13/8 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Jean-Philippe Mateta Scores First and 9/5 that Ollie Watkins 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 1-1- Get 11/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
CHELSEA v SOUTHAMPTON
20.15 in England
Chelsea have now lost 3 games in a row following Saturday’s defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Prior to that result, Enzo Maresca’s Blues suffered back-to-back losses against Brighton, one in the FA Cup and then a Premier League fixture.
Enzo Fernandez did score first against Villa to give Chelsea a lead at the interval, however, the home team came out stronger in the 2nd-half and scored twice to gain the win by a 2-1 score, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
Chelsea sit in 7th place with the same 43 points as Bournemouth from the opening 26 fixtures played.
Southampton remain at the bottom of the table with 9 points following another defeat on Saturday, this time against Brighton at St Mary’s.
After conceding a goal in the 1st-half and 3 after the break, Ivan Juric’s Sorry Set of Saints suffered the loss by a 4-0 scoreline.
‘Oh, when the Saints go marching in.’
Well if the ‘marching in’ means limping back to the Championship, the Saints will go ‘limping in’ around May time.
Chelsea smashed Southampton at St Mary’s back at the beginning of December when the two teams met for the Game Week-14 encounter.
Goals from Axel Disasi, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho gave Enzo’s Blues the victory over Russell Martin’s Saints by a 5-1 score.
Jelly Man Joe Aribo did score for Southampton to equalise Axel’s opener.
Jack Stephens was sent off in the 39th minute, however, the score was 3-1 at the time so the Saints can’t really use that as an excuse.
Jack was shown a straight Red Card for, wait for it, for, for, wait, for ‘pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair!’
Mr Stephens was banned for 5 games for the petulance, however, the lad should have been banned for 100 games for that behaviour!
Pulling someone’s hair!
Unbelievable Jeff.
Significantly, Jack has only played a total of 11 minutes for Southampton, since that game against Chelsea back in December, whether that’s due to injury or the Manager thinks the same as this EveryTip contributor.
Betfred offer Chelsea at Odds On 1/5, the Draw at 11/2 and 10/1 for Southampton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Cole Palmer Scores First and 4/1 that ‘Chelsea Win Both Halves, Chelsea Most Corners and Southampton Most Booking Points.’
(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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Wednesday 26th
BRENTFORD v EVERTON
19.30 in England
The Bees stung the Foxes on Friday Night Football, with Brentford inflicting a devastating defeat on Leicester by a 4-0 scoreline.
Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo and Christian Norgaard got the 1st-half goals with Fabio Carvalho adding a 4th in the 89th minute to give the away team the brilliant win, plus a nice weekend off.
After this game against Everton, it’s a 10-day break before Brentford play again, due to the 5th-Round of the FA Cup that takes place at the weekend, which could offer up a cheeky little trip to Dubai or wherever the teams go for a Mid-Winter Break.
One doubts it will be Mablethorpe.
Brentford sit in 11th place with 37 points having completed 26 games.
Everton snatched a draw from the jaws of victory against Manchester United at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure gave the Toffees a comfortable lead at the break.
It was then United who took control in the 2nd-half scoring twice to ultimately give both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The Archbishop was happy, however, David Moyes wasn’t.
There was a bit of controversy towards the end of the game when the on-field referee Andy Madley awarded Everton a penalty in the 94th minute when it was assumed that Beto had been fouled.
After consultation from the dreaded VAR and a look at the monitor by Andy, the decision to give a penalty was reversed leaving the Toffee Rappers in attendance rather disgruntled.
The point gained, as everyone knows, it’s always a point gained when a draw occurs, leaves Everton in 14th place with 31 points, still a point and a place above United.
Christian Norgaard was shown a straight Red Card in the 41st minute when Brentford visited Goodison Park back in November.
That really was the highlight of the game with both teams sharing the points from a drab draw by a 0-0 score.
The Red Card was subsequently rescinded as it was a bit of a mistake from the referee.
Betfred offer Brentford at slight Odds On 19/20, the Draw at 13/5 and 12/5 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Bryan Mbeumo Scores First and 2/1 that Brentford 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.)
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***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Alisson- Liverpool
RIGHT-BACK- Djed Spence- Tottenham
CENTRE-BACK- Ethan Pinnock- Brentford
CENTRE-BACK- Virgil Van Dijk- Liverpool
LEFT-BACK- Lewis Hall- Newcastle
MIDFIELDER- Joao Pedro- Brighton
MIDFIELDER- Mikel Damsgaard- Brentford
MIDFIELDER- Mo Salah- Liverpool
FORWARD- Marco Asensio- Aston Villa
FORWARD- Brennan Johnson- Tottenham
FORWARD- Alexander Isak- Newcastle
STAR MAN- Mo Salah- Liverpool
***Last Week’s Winning Tips-
Brentford To Win- 21/20
Tottenham Win- 19/20
Brighton To Win- 4/7
Aston Villa To Win- 8/5
Correct Scores-
Aston Villa v Chelsea 2-1- 17/2
Correct Tips-
(Aston Villa v Liverpool)
Mo Salah To Score First- 7/2
Liverpool To Score in Both Halves- 11/8
(Leicester v Brentford)
Brentford Win To Nil- 100/30
(Everton v Manchester United)
Beto To Score First- 13/2
(Southampton v Brighton)
Brighton Win To Nil- 15/8
(Aston Villa v Chelsea)
Under 3.5 Goals- 4/7
(Newcastle v Nottingham Forest)
Alexander Isak To Score Anytime- 21/20
(Man City v Liverpool)
Mo Salah To Score Anytime- 7/5
NOTTINGHAM FOREST v ARSENAL
19.30 in England
Nottingham Forest suffered a narrow defeat against Newcastle at St James Park on Sunday.
Despite Callum Hudson-Odoi scoring the opener, Nuno Espírito Santo’s Tricky Trees then conceded 4 in the space of 11 minutes to trail at the break.
Nuno must have got into his Men at half-time as Forest came out stronger scoring twice more, however, time ran out, leaving Newcastle with the win from a 4-3 scoreline.
Nikola Milenkovic and Ryan Yates with the 2nd-half goals.
Forest sit 3rd in the table with 47 points from the 26 games played.
It’s more than likely that the Top Five teams in the Premier League will be given a Champions League spot for next season, so Forest will want to finish as high as possible come May.
After smashing 11 goals past West Ham in the 2 previous games at the London Stadium (6-0 and 5-2), it was thought that Arsenal would gain a comfortable home victory at the Emirates on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Mikel’s Young Guns that wasn’t the case, with the Hammers gaining a surprise away win by a 1-0 score.
Strangely enough, West Ham also picked up a victory at the Emirates in the 2023/24 campaign.
Lewis Myles-Skelly, who has been lauded over the past few weeks for his exceptional performances at Left-Back, somewhat blotted his copybook by being sent off in the 72nd minute, just 18 minutes after being introduced as a 2nd-half substitute.
The defeat leaves Arsenal in 2nd place with 53 points from 26 games completed, now 11 points adrift of Liverpool at the summit.
The only possible glimmer of hope for the Gunners is the fact that Liverpool have played a game more, so the gap could be reduced to 8 points.
(That sentence is really for the Gooners to try and keep them positive as everyone now knows, it’s Liverpool’s Title!)
Arsenal face PSV Eindhoven in the 2-legged Champions League last-16 clash.
Arsenal gained the victory over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates in the Game Week-12 encounter.
Bukayo Saka scored the opener to give the Gunners a lead at the break.
Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri added 2 and 3 in the 2nd-half to give Arsenal the win from a 3-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 11/4, the Draw at 5/2 and slight Odds On 9/10 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Chris Wood Scores First and 11/2 that Nottingham Forest 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 16/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
TOTTENHAM v MAN CITY
19.30 in England
Tottenham gained a victory on Saturday, this time inflicting a defeat on Ipswich at Portman Rd by a 4-1 away day scoreline.
Following losses in both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, being knocked out of both, it was thought Ange Postecoglou was under pressure, however, Tottenham have now won 3 in a row in the Premier League.
Brennan Johnson scored twice in the 1st-half against Ipswich to give Tottenham a narrow lead at the break.
Ipswich did score after Brennan’s 2nd to half the deficit.
Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski added 3 and 4 in the 2nd-half to give Tottenham all 3 points.
Tottenham sit in 12th place with the same 33 points as Crystal Palace both having played 26 times.
Man City remain in 4th place with the same 44 points as Newcastle following Sunday’s defeat against Liverpool at the Etihad.
It’s the first time under Pep Guardiola that City have suffered home and away defeats against Liverpool with the ‘Double’ virtually handing the Premier League Title over to Arne’s Slot Machines.
One’s not sure if Pep just said to Arne as he was leaving the Etihad after the game,
‘You’d better take that with you lad!’
Pointing to the Iconic Trophy.
The tame display came off the back of Man City being unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid last Wednesday where a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick gave Real a 3-1, 2nd-leg victory and a 6-3 aggregate win over Pep’s None Flying Blues.
Erling Haaland was missing from both of the games against Real Madrid and Liverpool after picking up a knee injury against Newcastle last week.
When the Sky Sports cameras panned over to the City bench on Sunday, Erling was seen in the stands behind, with his head in his hands looking somewhat dejected.
One’s not sure if that was just from missing the game due to a sore knee or the sobering thought that the Norwegian/Leeds lad has just signed a 9-and-a-half-year deal with Man City, supposedly without a ‘Get Out’ clause.
Ouch!
There were rumours that Erling had contacted Ant and his Mate, stating,
‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!’
Don’t worry too much EH, City will be back competing next season with Pep Guardiola and the Citizen faithful just having to suck up the disappointment of this campaign, knowing that a rebuild is needed and the fact that Rodri will be back.
Players such as Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones are all coming to the end of their Man City careers.
Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish could be added to that list too, so there are a lot of players that need replacing over the summer, to make City a force again.
Man City face Plymouth on Sunday after this trip to the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium in the 5th-Round of the FA Cup, with that particular Trophy the only one on offer now.
The irony in that is, Plymouth were the ones who dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup in the last round.
The ‘Double’ could occur tonight if City suffer an away defeat against Tottenham.
Amazingly, it was Tottenham that gained the win over Man City at the Etihad back in November.
The ‘amazing’ bit from the game was the score with goals from James Maddison (2), Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson giving Ange’s Spurs the victory over Pep’s Low Flying Blues by a 4-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Tottenham at 23/10, the Draw at 3/1 and slight Odds On 9/10 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 15/2 that Brennan Johnson Scores First and 15/8 that Tottenham 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.)
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MANCHESTER UNITED v IPSWICH
19.30 in England
Manchester United were rubbish for an hour against Everton at Goodison Park in the early Saturday Afternoon kickoff.
After conceding 2 goals and being outplayed in the 1st-half, Ruben Amorim changed things by tweaking Bruno Fernandes’ position and introducing Alejandro Garnacho, which made a big difference.
Bruno scored a brilliant free kick to half the deficit before Manual Ugarte scored an equaliser with 10 minutes remaining.
There was a bit of controversy late on regarding whether Matthijs De Ligt and Harry Maguire had fouled Beto, however, following a check by VAR, the original decision to award a penalty was overturned.
With no further action, both teams shared the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
United sit in 15th place with the same 30 points as West Ham both having completed 26 fixtures.
Omari Hutchinson scored a goal in the 1st-half, against Tottenham at Portman Rd on Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Tractor Girls and Boys in attendance, Tottenham had already scored twice to lead at the break, then added another 2 in the 2nd-half to inflict the defeat on Ipswich by a 4-1 score.
Ipswich remain in 18th place with the same 17 points as Leicester, both having completed 26 fixtures and both now 5 points adrift of safety, Wolves being the safe team with 22 points.
As mentioned in previous columns, it’s looking increasingly likely that the three teams who were promoted last season, Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich, will be heading straight back to the Championship in May.
A quick note regarding this season’s Championship, there’s a Yorkshire Battle at the Top, with the West Yorkshire Puddings Leeds United fighting it out with the South Yorkshire Blunts Sheffield United to see who finishes at the summit and who finishes as runners up.
There are 14 fixtures remaining but at the moment, it does appear that both Leeds United and Sheffield United will be back in the Premier League for the 2025/26 campaign.
Back in March 2020, when the Coronavirus Outbreak took over the World and the Premier League was on hold, John Newsome and EveryTip offered up a few columns to keep everyone’s spirits up when all around seemed lost.
The following was part of ‘The Greatest Premier League Football Games of All Time’, published March 24th, 2020, by Every Tip and still available to read.
‘Saturday 4 March 1995
MANCHESTER UNITED 9 v IPSWICH 0
Although these two teams were at the opposite ends of the Premier League table, with Manchester United at the top and Ipswich at the bottom, Ipswich did actually beat United by a 3-2 scoreline at Portman Rd earlier on in the 1994/95 season, so despite United being favourites at home, no one expected Sir Alex’s Red Devil’s to beat George Burley’s Ipswich by 9 (nine) goals to nil.
Ipswich had Lee Chapman upfront, who at the time must have been 48 to a day.
Lee was a top striker in his day and won the 1991/92 Division One title with Leeds United in the season prior to the inaugural Premier League start of 1992/93.
As well as a footballer, Lee is also famous for marrying the Men Behaving Badly actress Lesley Ash.
Lee had a stellar career, which started in 1978 and finished shortly after this drubbing by United.
In the Ipswich starting eleven back in March 1996 was a certain Neil Thompson, who played at Left-Back.
Neil had been at Portman Rd since 1989 and had appeared over 200-times for the Suffolk club.
When the season finished and despite the reoccurring nightmares from the United-9, which sounds like a group of Manc Scally’s on trial, Neil joined Barnsley FC and, with 27-appearances for the Yorkshiremen, gained promotion to the Premier League playing in the historic game against Bradford that sealed the Reds promotion to the Promised Land.
Neil started 3-times in the Premier League for Barnsley before moving on but will always be welcome at Oakwell and is a legend to the faithful.
The game against Manchester United, however, is one Neil will probably want to forget.
There have been a few 9-0 scorelines over the Premier League era, however, it was this game at Old Trafford, almost 30 years ago, that was the first with the highest winning score.
Roy Keane got the goals going by scoring the opener after just 16-minutes.
‘Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy, Andy Cole, when he gets the ball he scores a goal, Andy, Andy Cole’ scored United’s 2nd in the 24th-minute and the 1st of his 5-goals in the match.
So clearly, Andy does score goals.
Mr Cole the goal scored his 2nd and United’s 3rd before the break to take the Red Devils in at the interval with a 3-goal lead.
Andy rounded off his hat-trick in the 53rd-minute, a minute before Mark Hughes got in on the act and scored United’s 5th.
Ipswich were now reeling with not even an hour played.
Big Hughesy scored his 2nd and the Red Devil’s 6th 5-minutes after his opener.
Cole the goal decided that he had gone too long without netting, 12-minutes to be correct and scored his 4th and United’s 1,2,3-7th, with still half an hour or so to go.
Seven Nil was great for the United faithful, yet Paul Ince decided that wasn’t enough and made it 8 in favour of Sir Alex’s boys.
With seconds remaining, Ipswich thought they had got away with just an 8-0 thrashing.
Not so, Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy scored his 5th and United’s history-making 9th to record the biggest Premier League victory, which took nearly 25-years to match.
What was interesting in the game, not that the 9-0 scoreline wasn’t interesting, was Roy Keane actually played as a Right-Back, however, not much defending was needed from Big Roy, who didn’t need to wash his shirt afterwards.
Another interesting fact from back in the day of the 9-0 victory was only 2-substitutions were allowed in 1995, from 3-chosen on the bench.
Nowadays, 3-can be used from 7-named in a match-day squad of 18.
(Obviously, that has now been updated to 5 substitutions.)
The youths will be scratching their heads, thinking, ‘only 2-subs??’
Following the 9-0 drubbing of Ipswich, United went on to finish 2nd in the 1994/95 Premier League table, pipped by a single point on the final day by Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn.
Pipped because Blackburn actually lost their final fixture and United just needed to score a winner against West Ham to claim their 3rd-successive Premier League title.
Unfortunately, West Ham held out for a 1-1 draw against United but despite the loss against Liverpool, Blackburn won the Premier League title.
United won back the title in the following 1995/96 season to make it 3-titles from 4.
Even winning the 1996/97 title, making it 4 from 5, however, again couldn’t make it 3-in a row when Arsenal sealed the title in 1997/98, the year Barnsley FC ended their one and only stint in the top flight by being relegated back to the Championship.
The 9-0 victory against Ipswich is still a Premier League record, with only Leicester, United again and Liverpool managing to match that achievement since.
Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy, Andy Cole.’
There was a sad story that came from the World of Horse Racing when a Young Jockey named Michael O’Sullivan sadly died after a fall at Thurles Racecourse.
Rest In Peace Michael O’Sullivan.
If one remembers, the reverse fixture at Portman Rd back in November, was Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge after taking over from Erik Ten Hag.
Marcus Rashford scored the opener after 2 minutes which gave the Red Devils in attendance hope of getting a superb win.
Unfortunately for everyone connected with United, Ipswich’s Omari Hutchinson scored an equaliser just before the break and with no further goals in the 2nd-half, both teams shared the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Betfred offer Manchester United at Odds On 1/2, the Draw at 16/5 and 5/1 for Ipswich to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Bruno Fernandes Scores First and 11/5 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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LIVERPOOL v NEWCASTLE
20.15 in England
Liverpool come into this fixture against Newcastle off the back of 2 away games since the Game Week-25 encounter against Wolves.
The reason for that is there was a rearranged affair against Aston Villa last Wednesday, rearranged due to meeting today’s opponents in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley on the 16th of March.
Against, Aston Villa at Villa Park, Mo Salah did what Mo does and scored the opener to give Liverpool an early lead.
Villa then scored twice to lead at the interval before Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised on the hour mark giving both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The Archbishop was happy.
That point gained gave Arne’s Slot Machines 61 after 26 fixtures which put Liverpool 8 points ahead of Arsenal before the weekend’s games.
With Arsenal subsequently suffering a surprise defeat against West Ham, the gap remained at 8 points before Liverpool’s game against Man City.
In the Super Sunday affair against City at the Etihad, Liverpool were just too good and gained a professional victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai with the 1st-half goals.
The only surprise was, there were no further goals after Dominik had scored in the 37th minute.
The game showed the massive gap between Liverpool and Man City this season, with Arne Slot doing the ‘Double’ over Pep Guardiola, which hasn’t happened since Jurgen Klopp’s Reds did the ‘Double’ over Manuel Pellegrini’s Blues back in the 2015/16 campaign.
Liverpool now have an 11-point advantage over Arsenal sitting at the summit with 64 points, however, have completed 27 games, not the 26 that the others around have played.
As mentioned in this EveryTip column last week, Liverpool only play 2 more Premier League games between now and the 2nd of April.
This fixture today against Newcastle and then a home game against Southampton on the 8th of March.
Arsenal and the rest will complete 3 games in that time.
Liverpool have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 of the Champions League, which takes place on the 5th and 11th of March, with the Carabao Cup Final against today’s opponents coming up on the 16th.
Newcastle played in a great game against Nottingham Forest at St James Park on Sunday.
After Forest scored the opener in the 6th minute, goals from Lewis Miley, Jacob Murphy and a couple from Alexander Isak, one being a converted penalty, all going in over an 11-minute period, gave Newcastle a commanding lead at the break.
In the ultimate game of two halves, Forest were the stronger team in the 2nd-half, scoring twice and almost coming back to draw, however, Eddie’s Magpies held on for the victory by a 4-3 scoreline.
Newcastle sit in 5th place with the same 44 points as Man City, both having completed 26 games so far.
Remember, as mentioned, Liverpool and Newcastle meet again in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley.
As with the Manchester United v Ipswich preview above, ‘The Greatest Premier League Football Games of All Time’, published whilst the horrendous Coronavirus Situation was around, the column also featured a game between Liverpool and Newcastle.
‘Wednesday 3 April 1996
LIVERPOOL 4 v NEWCASTLE 3
It would be remiss of anyone doing a Top-10 Premier League Game Review not to include, possibly, the best game of them all over the 33 years or so.
On a beautiful Spring Wednesday evening back in April 1996, the former Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan, now manager of Newcastle, took his chargers down to Anfield where the Magpies took part in an extraordinary game against Roy Evans’ Liverpool.
Robbie Fowler opened the scoring after just 2 minutes, getting his head on the end of a superb cross from Stan Collymore.
Stan was a superb footballer who was very underrated.
If given a chance and under the current situation regarding the World, there will be plenty of chances, take the time to Google Stan Collymore and watch the lad over his career that started at Crystal Palace, then Southend.
Frank Clark, who had just taken over the hot seat at Nottingham Forest after the legend that was Brian Clough retired, signed Stan for Forest, where his sublime skills really began to shine.
Whilst not prolific in front of goal at Palace or Southend, Big Stan ran amok, scoring plenty in a Forest side that suited his play. Forest had been relegated at the end of the inaugural 1992/93 Premier League season and Sir Brian had earned his retirement.
Frank brought Stan in to score goals in Division 1, what is now known as the Championship and Stan did just that, helping Forest gain automatic promotion back to the Premier League after the 1-season hiatus.
Stan continued to score goals in the Premier League and it was rumoured Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to bring Mr Collymore to Old Trafford.
That move didn’t materialise but at the end of the 1994/95 season, the goals earned Stan Collymore a move to Liverpool to join the Spice Boys, in what was, at the time, at £8 Million, an English Transfer Record.
Watch Stan with the ball, he is one of the dying breeds that can comfortably kick with both feet, as shown in the cross that leads to Robbie Fowler’s opener.
Les Ferdinand quickly got Newcastle back on level terms after 10-minutes before David Ginola gave the Magpies the lead soon after Les’ goal.
With no more 1st-half goals, the teams went into the dressing rooms with Newcastle having the advantage and although 3-goals scored in the first 14-minutes, there weren’t many other signs that this was to turn into a classic.
Liverpool’s faithful nicknamed Robbie Fowler ‘God’ due to his goal-scoring prowess.
God equalised for the Reds soon after the restart, however, the equality didn’t last long as the Columbian sensation Faustino ‘Tino’ Asprilla immediately restored Newcastle’s lead with a beautiful goal.
After providing the assist for Robbie Fowler’s 1st, Stan decided he wanted to get in on the goal-scoring act and equalised in the 68th-minute.
With time up on the clock, the Game of the Decade was decided by Stan the Man, who latched onto a pass from John Barnes and smashed the ball past the Newcastle ‘Keeper Pavel Srnicek.
The fixture was live on Sky Sports, with the cameras quickly panning to Kevin Keegan, who was slumped over the advertising hoarding in dismay.
On show at Anfield that Wednesday night for Liverpool, David James, Mark Wright, John Scales, Neil Ruddock, Jason McAteer, Jamie Redknapp, John Barnes, Rob Jones, Steve McManaman, Stan Collymore and Robbie Fowler, with Ian Rush coming on as a substitute late on in the proceedings.
For Newcastle, Kevin chose Pavel Srnicek, Steve Watson, Steve Howey, Philippe Albert, John Beresford, Peter Beardsley, David Batty, Robert Lee, David Ginola, Tino Asprilla and Les Ferdinand.
Bear in mind Newcastle were Top of the Premier League table and clear by 12-points in the February of 1996.
At the time of this game, Manchester United had overhauled the 12-point deficit and were now 3-points ahead of Keegan’s Magpies, however, Newcastle had played two games less than United, so it was still in Kevin’s hands.
Following this defeat against Liverpool and subsequent losses in April ‘96, Kevin Keegan provided one of the most explosive post-match interviews ever following Newcastle’s 1-0 victory against Leeds United on Sky Sports Monday Night Football.
Let’s just say, ‘I would love it, love it!’
Manchester United went on to win the 1995/96 Premier League despite being 12 points adrift of Newcastle in February.
It’s fair to say that Sir Alex Ferguson got the better of Kevin Keegan that particular year, however, Double K did get revenge over Sir Alex a year later.
Liverpool 4 v Newcastle 3 will be remembered forever.’
Both teams shared the points from a draw by a stunning 3-3 score in the Game Week-14 encounter at St James Park back in December.
The goals going in as follows,
35′ Alexander Isak-(Newcastle 1-0)
Half-Time Sausage Roll and Bottle of Newcastle Broon Ale.
50′ Curtis Jones- (Liverpool 1-1)
62′ Anthony Gordon- (Newcastle 2-1)
68′ Mo Salah- (Liverpool 2-2)
83′ Mo Salah- (Liverpool 2-3)
90′ Fabian Schar- (Newcastle 3-3)
Full-Time Chicken Kiev and Tia Maria and Lucozade.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 1/2, the Draw at 7/2 and 9/2 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 100/30 that Mo Salah Scores First and 7/4 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.)
Home Win 2-1- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Thursday 27th
WEST HAM v LEICESTER
20.00 in England
If Wolves’ result against Bournemouth is considered one of the best of the weekend, West Ham’s victory against Arsenal at the Emirates is on a par with that.
Jarrod Bowen scored the solitary winning goal on the stroke of half-time to give the Hammers the win by a 1-0 scoreline.
Graham Potter’s Irons did get a helping hand when Mikel’s Young Guns had a player sent off for ‘denying a goal-scoring opportunity,’ with 20 minutes to go.
West Ham sit in 16th place with the same 30 points as Manchester United from the opening 26 games completed.
Leicester come into this Thursday Night Football, almost a week after the last outing when the Foxes were stung by the Bees at the King Power suffering another defeat, this time by a 4-0 scoreline.
That’s the 3rd Premier League loss in a row and the 4th including the FA Cup defeat against Manchester United.
There was a stat that came up which stated Leicester had not scored a goal at the King Power in the last 6 home games.
Ouch!
As the Chorley Hope said,
‘Ruud needs to lace up his boots!’
Leicester remain in 19th place with the same 17 points as Ipswich from 26 games completed.
Jamie Vardy scored the opener to give Leicester a lead at the break when these two met at the King Power for the Game Week-14 affair.
Bilal El Khannouss added a 2nd on the hour mark before Patson Daka rounded off the Foxes’ goals on the stroke of full-time giving the home team a brilliant victory from a 3-1 scoreline and also giving Ruud Van Nistelrooy a great start to life as the New Leicester Manager.
Niclas Fullkrug scored a West Ham consolation goal in the 93rd minute.
Since the fixture against the Hammers, the Foxes have played 12 Premier League games, with a record of 1 Win, 1 Draw and 10 Losses.
Tra-La-La-La-lar!
Betfred offer West Ham at slight Odds On 3/5, the Draw at 3/1 and 4/1 for Leicester to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Jarrod Bowen Scores First and 9/4 that Jamie Vardy 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 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
‘A distant echo, of far away voices boarding far away trains.
To take them home to, the ones that they love and who love them forever!’
Rest In Peace Rick Buckler.
The Scottish Pub League had an interesting weekend producing a couple of strange results.
Both of the Glasgow Clubs, Celtic and Rangers, suffered defeats in their fixtures.
Hibernian (who?) gained a victory over Celtic, )granted the Green and White Hoops were away so the loss could be excused) and St Mirren (who?) got the win over Rangers, which was made worse by the fact that the Teddy Bears were at their Ibrox home.
Celtic were probably still hungover from the Champions League defeat against Bayern Munich last Tuesday.
Heading to Germany trailing by a 1-0 1st-leg score, it was assumed that Bayern would gain an easy victory to knock Celtic out, however, that wasn’t the case with Celtic scoring a goal just after the hour mark.
With time almost up on the clock, it did appear that the game would go into Extra-Time but it wasn’t to be as Bayern Munich scored in the 94th minute to equalise the 2nd-leg but get the aggregate victory and knock Celtic out of the European Competition.
The loss against Hibernian (who?) was confirmed before Rangers kicked off their fixture against St Mirren (who?) which was then assumed that the Blue Half of Glasgow would close the gap at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
That wasn’t the case as Rangers also suffered a defeat meaning Celtic remain at the summit with 69 points and Rangers 2nd with 56 points.
The excitement continued on Sunday when news came through that the Rangers hierarchy had taken the decision to sack Philippe Clement.
The ex-Rangers player Barry Ferguson is the favourite to take over at Ibrox, at least until the end of the season.
There is also a certain Steven Gerrard who is free and available after leaving the Saudi club Al-Ettifaq.
Whatever happens in the Pub League, Celtic will be crowned Champions sooner rather than later.
The loveable YankScot is still Sleepless in Seattle, bemused by the events at Ibrox.
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