The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are LIVERPOOL versus SOUTHAMPTON and MANCHESTER UNITED versus ARSENAL. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews these and all game week 28 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-28
These set of fixtures are the reverse of Game Week-12 (3) and Game Week-14 (7) which took place at the end of November and the beginning of December 2024.
Saturday 08th
NOTTINGHAM FOREST v MAN CITY
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
‘The Battle to Finish Runner Up to the Runners Up!’
Granted, not the most exciting of preamble headlines but basically that’s what this early game is about.
Nottingham Forest gained a great point from a draw by a 0-0 score against Arsenal at the City Ground last Wednesday.
Whilst there weren’t any goals, to get a point against the Gunners is a great achievement for Nuno Espírito Santo and his Tricky Trees.
Forest remain in 3rd place with 48 points from 27 games completed, a place and a point above today’s visitors which will mean the winners will sit higher in the table come mid-Saturday Afternoon.
Both teams competed in the 5th-Round of the FA Cup, with Forest progressing to the Quarter-Finals following a victory over Ipswich from a penalty shootout.
The game finished 1-1 at full-time with the tie then seeing another 30 minutes of play, the 4th of the 8 ties over the weekend to go into Extra-Time.
It was then a penalty shootout, which was the 3rd of the weekend, with only Brighton v Newcastle seeing a winner in Extra-Time.
Man City also progressed following a slightly easier win over Plymouth in 90 minutes.
That said, Plymouth did score first to give the Citizens a fright at the Emptyhad.
The Etihad (aka Emptyhad) holds 55,000 yet supposedly, only 50,000 turned up.
In truth, there looked to be a lot less than that!
Nottingham Forest face Brighton at the Amex in the Quarters that take place at the end of March, with Man City drawn against Bournemouth at the Vitality over the same weekend.
Man City got a great away night victory over Tottenham at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium last week.
Erling Haaland, who had missed the previous two games against Real Madrid and Liverpool due to a slight knee injury, was back in the starting lineup for the trip to North London.
Erling didn’t disappoint the Travelling Citizens in attendance, scoring the solitary winning goal in the 12th minute to give City the win from a 1-0 score.
The Manchester Ball Thrower, currently sunning himself in Tenerife, did state that Mr Haaland didn’t fancy the games against Real Madrid and Liverpool, knowing that both would result in a loss, so ‘cried off’ saying he had a sore knee.
Bit harsh!
That said, Erling also cried off against the Mighty Plymouth but did come off the bench on the hour mark when the score was 1-1, to help secure the win over Argyle by a 3-1 score which sees City pitched against Bournemouth in the Quarter-Finals of the Cup.
Chris Wood has 18 goals and Erling Haaland has 20 goals, both a few adrift of the Egyptian King Mo Salah who sits at the Top of the Goal Scorer Charts with 25 (plus 17 assists).
Alexander Isak has 19 goals.
Man City stay in 4th place with 47 points from 27 games completed, now a place and a point below today’s hosts.
Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku scored the Man City goals to give Pep’s Blues the home victory over Nuno’s Reds by a 3-0 scoreline when these two met at the Etihad back in December.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 13/5, the Draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 10/11 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Chris Wood Scores First and 21/20 that Erling Haaland 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 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BRIGHTON v FULHAM
15.00 in England
Brighton come into this home fixture against Fulham off the back of 5 straight victories in all competitions, 3 in the Premier League and 2 in the FA Cup.
The latest win came against Bournemouth last week, where goals from Joao Pedro and Danny Welbeck gave the Seagulls the victory over the Cherries by a 2-1 score.
Bournemouth did score to equalise Joao’s opener before Danny scored the winner in the 75th minute.
After a tricky period for Brighton which saw 6 Draws and 4 Losses over a 12-game period, that did include 2 Wins before 2 of the Losses, it does appear that Fabian Hurzeler’s Boys are back on track looking to finish off the season as high as possible.
Brighton sit in 8th place with the same 43 points as Bournemouth both having completed 27 games.
Bournemouth sit a place above purely on goal difference.
Fulham sit a place below today’s hosts with 42 points following the victory over Wolves last time out in the Premier League.
Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Muniz with the Fulham goals to give Marco Silva’s Cottagers the win over Vitor Pereira’s Gold and Blacks by a 2-1 score.
Wolves did score to equalise Ryan’s opening goal before Rodrigo scored the winner early in the 2nd-half.
Whoever gets the victory today will finish the weekend higher in the standings.
Both teams played in the 5th-Round of the FA Cup over the weekend.
Brighton took on Newcastle at St James Park and gained a victory over 120 minutes, with Danny Welbeck scoring the winner in the 114th minute after it finished 1-1 at full-time.
The Seagulls will now face the Tricky Trees at the Amex in the Quarter-Finals.
Fulham faced Manchester United at Old Trafford and following a draw after 120 minutes, progressed to the Quarter-Finals, being successful in the penalty shootout and will now take on Crystal Palace in the Quarter-Finals.
Fulham gained the home victory over Brighton at Craven Cottage in the Game Week-14 encounter at the beginning of December.
Alex Iwobi, scored the opener to give the Cottagers a lead at the break, before Carlos Baleba equalised for the Seagulls just after the restart.
The unfortunate Matt O’Riley was credited with an Own Goal to reinstate Fulham’s lead, with Alex Iwobi scoring his 2nd and Fulham’s 3rd late on to give Marco Silva’s Men the points from a 3-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Brighton at slight Odds On 19/20, the Draw at 5/2 and 5/2 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Danny Welbeck Scores First and 7/4 that Brighton 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 2-1- Get 15/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
CRYSTAL PALACE v IPSWICH
15.00 in England
Crystal Palace gained back-to-back Premier League victories before the FA Cup weekend, this time inflicting a defeat on Aston Villa by a 4-1 scoreline.
An early goal from Ismaila Sarr gave Palace the lead at the break.
Villa scored an equaliser early in the 2nd-half, before Jean-Philippe Mateta, another Ismaila Sarr goal and an Eddie Nketiah strike late on gave the Eagles all 3 points.
Crystal Palace sit in 12th place with 36 points from 27 games played.
Ipswich suffered another defeat last Wednesday, their 6th from the last 8 Premier League games, the other 2 being drawn, so just 2 points gained from a possible 24, which really is relegation fodder.
The latest loss came against Manchester United at Old Trafford, where Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys succumbed to a defeat by a 3-2 scoreline.
Jaden Philogene with both of Ipswich’s goals.
United were reduced to 10 Men in the 43rd minute, however, Ipswich couldn’t take advantage of having an extra man.
Ipswich sit in 18th place with the same 17 points as Leicester, still 5 points away from safety.
As with the previous two games above, both teams played over the weekend in the FA Cup.
Palace faced Millwall at Selhurst Park in a London Derby.
A horrific challenge by the Millwall ‘Keeper after just 5 minutes of play, saw Jean-Philippe Mateta kicked in the head/face that resulted in the Palace Striker being stretchered off gulping oxygen.
The lad had to have 25 stitches in his face and ear.
It would be a shame for the Eagle Ultras if JPM is ruled out for a few weeks, let’s hope not.
Crystal Palace eventually got the victory over Millwall and progressed to the Quarter-Final where Palace will face fellow Londoners Fulham at Craven Cottage.
So not far to travel for the Eagle Uktras.
Despite being rubbish in the Premier League, Ipswich were still in the FA Cup and headed West over to Nottingham to face Forest at the City Ground on Monday.
After the 90 minutes saw a stalemate with the game finishing in a 1-1 score, it was another 30 minutes to see who progressed.
With no further goals, the tie ended in a penalty shootout, with Ipswich unfortunately being knocked out.
A single Jean-Philippe Mateta goal scored on the hour mark, gave Crystal Palace the victory over Ipswich by a 1-0 away night score when the two met at Portman Rd.
It’s worth mentioning that following the horrendous challenge on Jean-Philippe, the Striker will probably be missing today.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at Odds On 2/5, the Draw at 100/30 and 6/1 for Ipswich to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Ismaila Sarr Scores First and 7/4 that there are Over 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.)
Home Win 3-1- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
LIVERPOOL v SOUTHAMPTON
15.00 in England
Liverpool gained a professional victory over Newcastle last Wednesday, with goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister giving Arne’s Slot Machines the win over Eddie’s Magpies by a 2-0 scoreline.
The victory sees Liverpool stay at the summit of the Premier League with 67 points from 28 games completed, a game more than Arsenal have played.
The Gunners sit in 2nd place with 54 points from 27 fixtures, now a massive 13 points adrift of Liverpool at the summit.
The maximum points that Mikel’s Young Guns can achieve is 87, if victories are achieved in the remaining 11 games.
Liverpool will get to that total in 7 games time, again if victorious in all 7.
To add to that, the 8th game for Liverpool and the 9th for Arsenal is the fixture between the two that takes place at Anfield around the 10th of May (exact date yet to be confirmed).
It’s probably not going to happen, as one can see Liverpool being confirmed as Champions sooner but it would be fitting for the Scousers if the Premier League Title was effectively achieved at the Emirates, considering what happened back in 1989.
Liverpool face Paris Saint-Germain in the French Capital for the 1st-leg of the Champions League last-16 tie before this visit from Southampton.
Southampton suffered a defeat last time out.
That sentence just needs to be ‘copied and pasted’ and put at the beginning of every Southampton Preview.
The Saints succumbed to a loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge by a 4-0 score, leaving Ivan ‘The Terrible’ Juric’s team at the foot of the Premier League Table with 9 points from the 27 games completed.
The task now for Southampton is to try and gain another 3 points so as not to be the team over the history of the Premier League to finish with the least amount of points.
That honour is currently bestowed on Derby County who finished with 11 points in the 2007/08 campaign.
It’s very unlikely that those 3 points will come from today’s trip to Anfield.
Liverpool gained the away day win over Southampton when the two met at St Mary’s for the Game Week-12 affair.
Domino Szoboszlai scored the opener for the Reds before Adam Armstrong equalised for the Saints on the stroke of half-time.
Adam had taken a penalty which was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher, however, the ball rebounded to the Southampton Striker who slotted home.
Mateus Fernandes scored for Southampton early in the 2nd-half to give the home team a surprise lead until Mo Salah did what Mo does, scoring twice to give Liverpool the victory from a narrow 3-2 scoreline.
The two teams then met in the Quarter-Final of the Carabao Cup where Liverpool gained another victory, this time by a 2-1 away night score.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 1/10, the Draw at 8/1 and 16/1 for Southampton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/4 that Mo Salah Scores First and 5/4 that there are Over 4.5 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.)
Home Win 5-0- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BRENTFORD v ASTON VILLA
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Brentford gained a point from a draw by a 1-1 score against Everton last time out in the Premier League.
Yoane Wissa scored the Bees’ goal on the stroke of half-time to give the home team a lead at the break.
Unfortunately for everyone involved with Brentford, Everton scored an equaliser midway through the 2nd-half and with no further goals, both teams shared the points.
That was Yoane’s 13th goal of the campaign, 2 behind his mate Bryan Mbeumo’s tally of 15, so a terrific ‘old-school double act’ up front for the Bees.
Brentford sit in 11th place with 38 points from the 27 games played so far.
Today’s visitors sit a place above with 42 points but have played a game more.
As just mentioned, Aston Villa sit in 10th still with 42 points following a devastating defeat against Crystal Palace before the FA Cup weekend.
After trailing at the break against the Eagles at Selhurst Park, Morgan Rogers scored an equaliser just after the restart.
Unfortunately for the Travelling Villains in attendance, their idols conceded another 3 to ultimately suffer the loss by a 4-1 score.
Due to the rearranged fixture against Liverpool, it now means that Villa have completed a game more than everyone else (other than Liverpool).
Aston Villa were one of the 11 Premier League teams that played in the FA Cup over the weekend, progressing to the Quarter-Final following a victory over Cardiff, with Marco Asensio scoring twice to give Villa the win from a 2-0 scoreline.
Villa now face Preston at Deepdale (Preston’s home ground) in the Quarter-Finals.
The draw for the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup produced the following ties-
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Preston v Aston Villa
Bournemouth v Man City
Brighton v Nottingham Forest
Fulham
Villa head to Belgium on Tuesday to take on Club Brugge in the 1st-leg of the Champions League last-16 tie.
The two have already met in this year’s Top European Competition where Brugge gained the victory over Villa by a 1-0 scoreline.
Whilst considering a punt on this Premier League fixture, it’s worth mentioning that Aston Villa are notoriously poor after a Midweek Champions League game.
Morgan Rogers, an Ollie Watkins converted penalty and a Matty Cash strike, all in the 1st-half at Villa Park, gave Aston Villa the victory over Brentford by a 3-1 score, in the Game Week-14 encounter back in December.
Mikkel Damsgaard with the Bees goal scored early in the 2nd-half which ultimately was just a consolation.
Betfred offer Brentford at 13/10, the Draw at 13/5 and 7/4 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Yoane Wissa Scores First and 13/8 that Brentford Score in Both Halves.
(Bryan Mbeumo is also 11/2 to Score First).
(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 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Alisson- Liverpool
RIGHT-BACK- Trent Alexander-Arnold- Liverpool
CENTRE-BACK- Murillo- Nottingham Forest
CENTRE-BACK- Harry Maguire- Manchester United
LEFT-BACK- Marc Cucurella- Chelsea
MIDFIELDER- Alexis Mac Allister- Liverpool
MIDFIELDER- Dominik Szoboszlai- Liverpool
MIDFIELDER- Ismaila Sarr- Crystal Palace
FORWARD- Rodrigo Muniz- Fulham
FORWARD- Danny Welbeck- Brighton
FORWARD- Erling Haaland- Man City
STAR MAN- Danny Welbeck- Brighton
***Last Week’s Winning Tips-
Chelsea To Win- 1/5
Manchester United To Win- 1/2
Liverpool To Win- 1/2
West Ham To Win- 3/5
Correct Scores-
Correct Tips-
(Brighton v Bournemouth)
Justin Kluivert To Score Anytime- 2/1
(Chelsea v Southampton)
Chelsea To Win Both Halves, Chelsea Most Corners and Southampton Most Booking Points- 4/1
WOLVES v EVERTON
20.00 in England
TNT Sport
Note the start time of this game, 8 PM on a Saturday in England, which has got to be better than watching Michael McIntyre/Dancing On Ice/Whilst Making Something Out Of Pottery/In a Mask.
The Manchester Ball Thrower along with many others who are in a couple, won’t be allowed to watch the football and will have to rely on the single folk (John Newsome and the rest) supplying updates on the scores.
Poor lads and lasses!
Wolves suffered a defeat against Fulham at Molineux last time out in the Premier League.
Joao Gomes did equalise an earlier Cottagers goal to take both teams in level at the break, however, Fulham scored a 2nd just after the restart and with no further goals, the away team inflicted the loss on the home team by a 2-1 score.
Wolves remain in 17th place with 22 points, just above the relegation zone.
There’s a gap of 5 points to the 18th-placed team and a gap of 10 to the 16th, meaning it’s more than likely that 3 from the bottom 4 will be heading back to the Championship.
Wolves then faced Bournemouth in the FA Cup at the Vitality over the weekend, exactly a week after the two played against each other in the Premier League fixture.
Unfortunately for the Gold and Blacks, despite Matheus Cunha scoring a great equaliser, Wolves were knocked out of the Cup following a penalty shootout.
Matheus had blotted his copybook before the shootout by being sent off for fighting like an MMA bloke.
Left, Right, Head, good night Vienna.
As mentioned, Everton sit a place above Wolves, being 10 points ahead going into this game.
The Toffees will have had 10 days off since the draw against the Bees before the FA Cup weekend.
Jake O’Brien scored an equaliser midway through the 2nd-half after Brentford had scored on the stroke of half-time.
With no further goals, both shared the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Jake, who is 23 years old, started in his home country Ireland playing for Cork then had spells with Crystal Palace, Swindon and the Belgium club RWDM, who play in the equivalent of the English Championship before moving on to Lyon in Ligue Un.
Sean Dyche bought Jake O’Brien last Summer yet for some reason didn’t play him.
Since David Moyes came into Goodison Park, the lad has started most games, so David must see something that Sean didn’t.
A victory today for either team would potentially see the gap extended to 13 points or reduced to 7.
The surprise in the reverse fixture at Goodison Park back in December was that Everton, who struggled to score goals under Sean Dyche at the time, scored 4.
Ashley Young and Orel Mangala with the 1st-half goals, with the unfortunate Wolves Defender Craig Dawson credited with, not 1 but 2 Own Goals after the break to give the Toffees the home win over the Gold and Blacks by a 4-0 scoreline.
(One says scored 4 but 2 were OG’s!)
Both Sean Dyche and Gary O’Neil, who were in the dugouts back then, will be watching this one on the 55′ Telly back in their respective home after both being sacked soon after.
Betfred offer Wolves at 6/4, the Draw at 21/10 and 7/4 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 6/1 that Beto Scores First and 7/2 that Everton 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 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Sunday 09th
CHELSEA v LEICESTER
14.00 in England
Chelsea got back to winning ways last time out following 3 straight losses, with 2 of those losses being against Brighton (1 in the FA Cup and 1 in the Premier League).
The Blues gained the victory over the Saints by a 4-0 score, with goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, Levi Colwill (1st-half) and Marc Cucurella (2nd-half) giving Chelsea the points.
Chelsea sit in 5th place with 46 points from 27 games played.
Chelsea head to Denmark on Thursday to take on FC Copenhagen in the 1st-leg of the Europa Conference League last-16.
Leicester remain in 19th place with the same 17 points as Ipswich both having completed 27 fixtures and both effectively heading back to the Championship, following the latest defeat, this time against West Ham at the London Stadium.
If one remembers, Leicester gained the victory over West Ham in Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge.
Thirteen Premier League games later, the Foxes have only won once, drew once and lost an amazing 11 times, with the latest against the Hammers being the 4th defeat in a row.
The scoreline of 2-0 not only reaped ‘Nil Points’ but also saw ‘Nil Goals’ which is the 4th in a row.
Leicester did score in the FA Cup game against Manchester United at Old Trafford which was ultimately another defeat and obviously in the 1 victory (against Tottenham) in those 13 games under Ruud, however, with just 25 goals scored in total there is only Southampton, with 19, that have scored less.
Therein lies the problem.
Chelsea gained the away day victory over Leicester when the teams met for the Game Week-12 affair at the King Power Stadium back in November.
Nicolas Jackson scored the opener to give Chelsea a lead at the break.
Enzo Fernandez added a 2nd, midway through the 2nd-half before a late converted penalty by Jordan Ayew gave the home team hopes of a draw.
Unfortunately for the Foxes, time ran out giving Enzo Maresca a victory by a 2-1 scoreline over the team he got promoted last season.
Steve Cooper was in charge on the day, however, was sacked by the Leicester hierarchy within hours of the final whistle, allowing Ruud Van Nistelrooy the opportunity to be in charge at Stamford Bridge today.
Leicester were 16th in the table when Steve was sacked!
Betfred offer Chelsea at Odds On 2/11, the Draw at 11/2 and 11/1 for Leicester to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/4 that Cole Palmer Scores First and 11/10 that Chelsea 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 3-0- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
TOTTENHAM v BOURNEMOUTH
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
Tottenham suffered a narrow defeat against Man City at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium before the FA Cup weekend.
A single Erling Haaland goal conceded after 12 minutes was the difference between the two teams, leaving Ange’s Spurs with the loss from a 1-0 score.
Tottenham sit in 13th place with the same 33 points as Manchester United and West Ham, all having completed 27 games so far.
Tottenham head to the Netherlands on Thursday to face AZ Alkmaar in the 1st-leg of the Europa League last-16, before this visit from Bournemouth
Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs have already faced AZ in the Europa League-League Phase Match Day-3 fixture gaining a victory by a 1-0 score, so will want to replicate that in the home and away ties, with the away clash coming first.
Bournemouth suffered back-to-back defeats last time out in the Premier League.
Following a loss against Wolves at the Vitality, Bournemouth headed East along the South Coast to take on Brighton at the Amex.
Despite Justin Kluivert scoring a superb equaliser, the Seagulls scored a 2nd soon after to ultimately inflict the defeat on the Cherries by a 2-1 score.
Bournemouth sit in 7th place with the same 43 points as Brighton from 27 games completed.
Bournemouth then took on Wolves on Saturday for the 2nd time in the space of 7 days, this time in the 5th-Round of the FA Cup.
After the game finished in a draw by a 1-1 score, the Cherries progressed to the Quarter-Final by winning the subsequent penalty shootout.
Bournemouth will face Man City at the Vitality in the Quarters.
A single Dean Huijsen goal in the 1st-half, gave Bournemouth the home victory over Tottenham by a 1-0 score when the two met at the Vitality for the Game Week-14 encounter in December.
Betfred offer Tottenham at 13/10, the Draw at 11/4 and 13/8 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/1 that Justin Kluivert Scores First and 13/8 that Bournemouth 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 1-2- Get 17/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
MANCHESTER UNITED v ARSENAL
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Manchester United gained a first victory in 4 Premier League games against Ipswich at Old Trafford last Wednesday.
A horrendous error between Patrick Dorgu and Andre Onana allowed Ipswich to score the opener before Rasmus Hojlund headed home an equaliser.
On second looking, Rasmus didn’t touch the ball and the goal was credited to an Ipswich player but Mr Hojlund was in the mix to force the error by Sam Morsey.
Matthijs De Ligt did score a 2nd before Patrick Dorgu compounded his earlier mistake with Andre Onana and was shown a straight Red Card for a rash challenge on Omari Hutchinson just before the half-time whistle.
That wasn’t the end of the 1st-half action with Ipswich scoring an equaliser in the 2nd-minute of added time.
Harry Maguire scored a 3rd for United just after the restart and despite having 10 Men for the entire 2nd-half, United held on for the victory from a 3-2 scoreline.
Manchester United sit in 14th place with the same 33 points as Tottenham and West Ham all having completed 27 fixtures.
It was then a game against Fulham at Old Trafford in the 5th-Round of the FA Cup.
Ruben’s Red Devils played poorly, almost suffering a defeat in the 90 minutes and then the additional 30 minutes, however, somehow got to full-time level.
United were eventually put out of their misery by suffering a loss in the penalty shootout.
The holders are out of the FA Cup.
Good night, god bless!
As well as the FA Cup game against Fulham, United will have faced Real Sociedad over in Spain in the 1st-leg of the Europa League last-16 clash, before this visit from Arsenal.
There was a paragraph or two in this EveryTip column a couple of weeks ago about Goalkeepers’ time wasting.
There used to be a ‘6 Second Rule’ where the ‘Keeper had just 6 seconds to hold the ball before either dropping it to the floor or getting rid of the ball altogether by kicking, throwing or whatever to a teammate.
That rule has dissolved over time and hasn’t been implemented in years, however, there is a New Law coming into force in the Premier League for next season and it is hoped that the New Rule will lead to a reduction in time-wasting.
‘A Goalkeeper holding the ball for more than 8 seconds will be punished with the referee awarding a Corner Kick to the opposition.’
The New Law was unanimously approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) at its AGM (Annual General Meeting) in Northern Ireland last Saturday and will be in place at FIFA’s Club World Cup, which takes place in the USA from 15th of June to the 13th of July.
Arsenal come into this game following a draw by a 0-0 score against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground last Wednesday.
Whilst it was a point gained, because as everyone knows, it’s always a point gained when a draw occurs, it was back-to-back games where Arsenal have not scored a goal following the loss against West Ham by a 1-0 score in the previous fixture.
Arsenal also play in Europe before this trip to Old Trafford and will have faced PSV Eindhoven over in Holland (the Netherlands) in the 1st-leg of the Champions League last-16 clash.
The Gunners remain in 2nd place with 54 points from 27 fixtures, now a massive 13 points adrift of Liverpool at the summit.
The maximum points that Mikel’s Young Guns can achieve is 87, if victories are achieved in the remaining 11 games.
Liverpool will get to that total in 7 games time, again if victorious in all 7.
To add to that, the 8th game for Liverpool and the 9th for Arsenal is the fixture between the two that takes place at Anfield around the 10th of May (exact date yet to be confirmed).
Would Arsenal give Liverpool a ‘Guard of Honour’ if the Title was confirmed by then?
Arsenal gained the home win over Manchester United at the Emirates back in December.
After a goalless 1st-half, goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba gave Mikel’s Young Guns the victory over Ruben’s Red Devils by a 2-0 score.
If one remembers, the two teams then met in the 3rd-Round of the FA Cup, where 10-Men United progressed to Round-4, following a penalty shootout when the score was 1-1 at full-time.
Betfred offer Manchester United at 110/30, the Draw at 12/5 and slight Odds On 4/5 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Leandro Trossard Scores First and 9/4 that there are Under 1.5 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.)
Away Win 0-1- Get 5/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Monday 10th
WEST HAM v NEWCASTLE
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
West Ham host Newcastle off the back of gaining a 2nd victory in a row, this time against Leicester at the London Stadium following the away night win over Arsenal at the Emirates.
Goals from Tomas Soucek and a Jarrod Bowen deflected shot that was credited as an Own Goal gave the Hammers the victory over the Foxes by a 2-0 scoreline.
After a tricky opening spell in Graham Potter’s reign as the New West Ham Boss, results have improved with 2 Wins in the last 2 games.
A significant factor from the previous 3 games, is James Ward-Prowse, who wasn’t fancied by Julen Lopetegui and shipped out to Nottingham Forest on loan, has been brought back into the West Ham side being introduced as a half-time substitute in the loss against Brentford and then starting in the last two victories.
James is a great player and will enhance any team, however, wasn’t fancied by Nuno Espírito Santo either and hardly played for Forest whilst on loan.
Nuno could be excused as Forest are flying at the moment but Julen should have kept JWP at the London Stadium and then maybe wouldn’t have been sacked by the Hammers hierarchy.
West Ham sit in 15th place with the same 33 points as Manchester United and Bournemouth, all having completed 27 fixtures.
Newcastle come into this game against West Ham following a defeat against Liverpool by a 2-0 score last time out in the Premier League.
That result just needs to be put to bed as most will suffer a loss against Arne’s Slot Machines, especially at Anfield.
The defeat sees Newcastle drop a place to 6th in the table with 44 points from 27 games played.
It’s generally assumed that the Top Five in the Premier League will qualify for next season’s Champions League, so Newcastle will want to get back to winning ways to try and overhaul Chelsea who are currently sat in 5th with 46 points.
Newcastle then took on Brighton in the FA Cup over the weekend.
Following a stalemate after 90 minutes, the tie saw an additional 30 minutes of extra time where unfortunately for the Toon Army, Brighton scored a winner late on to knock Newcastle out of the FA Cup.
What will have irked everyone at Newcastle, especially Anthony Gordon is AG was shown a straight Red Card late on in normal time, which will mean that Anthony misses the Carabao Cup Final.
Unless the club can somehow get the Card rescinded, however, having looked at the incident a few times, that’s unlikely to happen and Mr Gordon will have to watch the final from the sidelines.
Ouch!
Surprisingly, it was a Julen Lopetegui-led West Ham team that gained the away night victory over Newcastle at St James Park back at the end of November.
Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka scored the Hammers goals, 1 in each half, to give West Ham the win from a 2-0 scoreline and the Travelling Bubbles a great night out up North.
Betfred offer West Ham at 2/1, the Draw at 11/4 and 11/10 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Jarrod Bowen Scores First and 7/5 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 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
The Scottish Premier League got exciting over the past week.
After suffering a surprise defeat against Hibernian in Game Week-27, Celtic got straight back on the winning horse, gaining victories over Aberdeen (who?) and St Mirren (who?) leaving Brendan’s Scottish Wonderfuls at the summit of the Pub League with 75 points from 29 games completed (9 remaining).
The Glasgow Arch Rivals, them being Rangers remain in 2nd place with 59 points from the same 29 fixtures completed following a mixed set of results over the last 3 games.
Following a defeat against St Mirren (who?) which saw Philippe Clement sacked and down the concrete, the ex-Rangers player (also Blackburn, Blackpool, Birmingham and Fleetwood Town) Barry Ferguson was brought in to oversee proceedings until the end of the season.
In Barry’s opening game, his Teddy Bear team conceded 2 goals in the away fixture against Kilmarnock (who?) to trail 2-1 at the break, however, did manage to score 3 in the 2nd-half to claim a victory by a 4-2 scoreline.
Then it was a home game at Ibrox against Motherwell (who?).
Mr Ferguson oversaw Rangers’ third home defeat in a row, the first time that’s happened since 1994.
Added to that, Barry became the first Rangers Manager since Stuart McCall back in 2015 to lose his first home game in charge.
Ouch!
The loveable YankScot, surprisingly still over in Seattle is still philosophical about his Teddy Bears, offering up the following,
‘It’s down to Finances, Celtic are pulling away because of the influx of Champions League money every year, the gap is just getting bigger.
Who would one want to sign for?
Rangers, who come 2nd and play in the Europa League or Celtic who consistently Win the SPL Title and are in the Champions League?
No contest for anyone who isn’t affiliated with the Gers!’
With just 9 Pub League fixtures remaining, including a further 2 Old Firm Derby’s, the maximum amount of points that Rangers can accrue is 86.
Celtic can get to 87 points with victories in the next 4 games, meaning the Green and White Hoops could be confirmed as SPL Champions on the 6th of April with a victory over St Johnstone (who?)
The fixture against St Johnstone is in 3 games’ time but the next SPL fixture is against Rangers so if Celtic are successful, especially with that being at Celtic Park, it would mean that Celtic then have 78 points with Rangers still having 59, meaning the maximum points that Rangers can now accrue is 83.
Thus, Celtic can become Champions in 3 games time, if a win is achieved in all of those.
Rangers head to Turkey on Thursday to face Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the 1st-leg of the Europa League last-16 tie.
Celtic have the week off after being knocked out of the Champions League but do play in the Scottish FA Cup on Sunday before the Old Firm clash on the 16th of March.
Rangers will have played both legs of Europa League games with Fenerbahce before the 16th.
‘He’s Celtic, United but Brendan has decided, to win the SPL again!’
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