The highlight games for this weekend’s action are CHELSEA versus BRIGHTON and MAN CITY versus LEICESTER. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these and all game week 31 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-31
Eight of these fixtures are the reverse of Game Week-14 which took place at the end of October 2022, the other 2 are the reverse of Game Week-17.
Saturday 15th
ASTON VILLA v NEWCASTLE
12.30 in England
BT Sport
Aston Villa have quietly moved up to 6th in the Premier League table following 6 victories from the last 7 games, the latest being against Nottingham Forest.
In truth, 2023 has reaped 29 points from 14 fixtures completed since January 1st.
Nine wins, 2 draws and 3 losses.
On Saturday, granted against a struggling Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa gained a comfortable victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Bertrand Traore, with his 2nd in successive games and a very late Ollie Watkins goal, was enough to gain the points.
Unai Emery has certainly worked his Spanish Magic on a Villa team that basically have the same players that Steven Gerrard couldn’t get a tune out of.
In fact, 9 of the starting eleven that played against Forest on Saturday, were in the lineup for Stevie G’s final game in charge against Fulham in October 2022, which resulted in a defeat and a visit to the Job Centre for Steven.
Aston Villa now have 47 points from 30 games completed and are set for a Europa League place, which Unai has previously won 4 times, 3 with Sevilla and 1 with Villarreal.
Newcastle gained a professional victory over Brentford at the GTech Stadium on Saturday with the Magpies inflicting the defeat on the Bees by a 2-1 scoreline.
Nick Pope became the first Premier League Goalkeeper to save an Ivan Toney penalty when Brentford were awarded a spot-kick on the half-hour mark.
Ivan did convert a 2nd awarded penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the home team a lead at the break.
Mr Toney had earlier had a goal disallowed by the dreaded VAR for a narrow offside, so technically could have scored a 1st-half hat-trick.
The Brentford Goalkeeper, David Raya was credited with the Newcastle equaliser before Alexander Isak scored what turned out to be the winner after 61 minutes to give Eddie’s Magpies all 3 points from the long journey South.
Newcastle sit in 3rd place with the same 56 points as Manchester United but a place above due to a better goal difference.
Newcastle- Scored 48 and Conceded 21 (plus+27).
Manchester United- Scored 44 and Conceded 37 (plus+7).
Those 20 goals difference are definitely worth a point.
It’s fair to assume that both Arsenal and Man City will finish in positions 1 and 2, so that leaves only 2 Champions League places up for grabs.
Tottenham are the closest rivals with 53 points, then Aston Villa on 47, which would mean either of Newcastle or Manchester United would have to lose 3 of the last 9 games and Villa win all 8 of their remaining to overhaul either club in 3rd and 4th.
Tottenham have completed a game more also and coincidentally face Newcastle next, then Manchester United.
Two goals from Callum Wilson, one either side of the break and a goal apiece from Joelinton and Miguel Almiron, gave Eddie Howe’s Magpies the victory over Aaron Danks’ Claret and Blues at St James Park by a stunning 4-0 scoreline.
Mr Danks was in charge of Aston Villa for a couple of games, following the sacking of Steven Gerrard.
This fixture at Villa Park shouldn’t be as one-sided with Unai Emery now at the helm.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 5/2, the draw at 23/20 and 11/10 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Ollie Watkins Scores Anytime and 5/2 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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CHELSEA v BRIGHTON
15.00 in England
So Chelsea have once again been renamed Frank Lampard’s Chelsea with the ex-Midfielder coming back to Stamford Bridge as Caretaker Manager until the end of the season.
(No, it’s not April the 1st!)
The New Manager Bounce, however, didn’t work against Wolves on Saturday, with Julen Lopetegui’s Gold and Blacks inflicting the defeat on Frank Lampard’s Blues by a 1-0 scoreline.
That was actually Frank’s 7th defeat out of the last 9 Premier League games in charge, with the other two being drawn.
Eight games in charge of Everton and 1 for Chelsea.
Added to those, Everton were dumped out of the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup under Mr Lampard’s watch.
Chelsea face Real Madrid on Wednesday, at the Bernabeu in the 1st-leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.
This EveryTip column just wants to say this to the Chelsea faithful,
‘All the best!’
Chelsea remain in 11th place in the Premier League table with 39 points from 30 games completed.
Brighton come into the game off the back of a bad-tempered affair against Tottenham at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Despite both Managers being Italian, there was no ‘Amore’ on offer between Cristian Stellini and Roberto De Zerbi with both receiving a Red Card on the hour mark for a bit of ‘handbags’ between the two benches.
Lewis Dunk had equalised an earlier Son Heung-Min goal to take both teams in level at the break.
Brighton had 2 goals disallowed by the dreaded VAR for handball offences which did irk Roberto, then added to those decisions, the Seagulls had a blatant penalty shout turned down by both the on-field referee Stuart Attwell and the Stockley Park crew.
Harry Kane then scored the winner for Tottenham to inflict the defeat on Brighton by a 2-1 scoreline.
The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) has now admitted a mistake was made by the match officials and VAR when not awarding a penalty to Brighton in Saturday’s Premier League game against Tottenham.
Howard Webb, the PGMOL’s Chief Refereeing Officer, has apologised to Brighton and held talks with them about the decision-making process in the game.
It is the third apology the club have been given by the PGMOL this season for decisions made on the field.
That’s all well and good but it doesn’t change the fact that Brighton suffered a defeat.
Granted, there’s no certainty that the Seagulls would have converted the penalty if awarded but that’s not how football works.
The penalty should have at least been awarded then if converted, it changes the whole dynamic of the contest.
Roberto De Zerbi was rightly outraged by the decisions made in the game.
One of the goals disallowed for handball didn’t even touch the hand or arm.
Despite the controversy and the apology from the PGMOL, it was still a defeat for Brighton who now sit in 7th place with 46 points, from 28 games completed.
When Graham Potter and his Blues went back to the Amex to face Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls, the home team gained a great satisfying victory by a 4-1 scoreline.
Leandro Trossard opened the scoring after 5 minutes before 2 own goals by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah gave Brighton a comfortable lead at the break.
Obviously, Graham wanted to help his old mates out and suggested to his new boys to score one or two in their own net.
Kai Havertz pulled a goal back for the away team just after the restart before Pascal Gross scored a late 4th to give Roberto his first win as the new boss of Brighton since Graham left and ironically, Mr Potter suffered a first defeat as Chelsea gaffer.
Betfred offer Chelsea at 6/4, the draw at 23/10 and 7/4 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 2/1 that Mykhailo Mudryk Scores Anytime and 11/4 that Brighton Score in Both Halves.
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EVERTON v FULHAM
15.00 in England
Everton were outplayed on Saturday, with Manchester United inflicting a defeat by a 2-0 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
From the kick-off, Sean Dyche’s Toffees were 2nd-best and conceded a goal in each half to ultimately lose the game.
Following all of the Game Week-30 fixtures, Everton sit just outside of the relegation places, in 17th with 27 points.
The same 27 as Nottingham Forest who occupy the final place in the drop zone.
Nine of the bottom 10 teams have completed 30 games with 8 to play.
West Ham have played a game less (29).
Fulham are on a bad run, suffering their 4th consecutive defeat in the Premier League on Saturday, this time against West Ham.
Harrison Reed was credited with an own-goal midway through the 1st-half which ultimately was the difference between the two Londoners.
Fulham remain in 10th place with the same 39 points as the West London rivals Chelsea but a place higher on goal difference.
The Cottagers have only completed 29 games and have 9 fixtures remaining.
The ex-Toffee boss Marco Silva couldn’t gain a victory against his old club when Frank Lampard’s Everton turned up at Craven Cottage back in October 2022.
Both teams failed to trouble the scorers with the game finishing in a draw by a 0-0 score, or a goalless draw.
It’s quite possible that the scorer may not be needed today.
Betfred offer Everton at Evens 1/1, the draw at 23/10 and 13/5 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer slight Odds On 4/5 that Both Teams Do Not Score and 2/1 that there are Under 1.5 Goals.
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SOUTHAMPTON v CRYSTAL PALACE
15.00 in England
Southampton remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, following the defeat against Man City at St Mary’s on Saturday evening.
In truth, it was an expected victory by City and probably the only positive Ruben Selles (whose nickname in the Saints’ dressing room surely must be Peter!) was the goal scored by Sekou Mara in the loss by a 4-1 scoreline.
Although at the bottom of the table, with 23 points from 30 played, Southampton are not cut adrift and will feel there is still time to get out of the drop zone, starting with a victory today against Roy Hodgson’s Eagles.
That said, Crystal Palace are now 2 from 2 in the Win column under Mr Hodgson, following Sunday’s brilliant performance against Leeds United at Elland Rd.
After conceding an early Leeds goal, Marc Guehi equalled on the stroke of half-time which seemed to be the catalyst to a brilliant 2nd-half performance.
Jordan Ayew and the excellent Eberechi Eze scored 2 quick-fire goals early after the interval before Odsonne Edouard added a 4th and Jordan scored his 2nd and Palace’s 5th to inflict the devastating defeat on the home team by a 5-1 scoreline.
Crystal Palace had suffered 4 straight losses resulting in Patrick Vieira’s dismissal.
Now it’s back-to-back victories under Mr Hodgson.
The Eagles have scored 29 goals from 30 fixtures, joint with Chelsea having the least out of the Top 12 teams.
Seven of those 29 have been under Roy Hodgson in the last two games.
Folk say Roy’s teams are boring?
Palace sit in 12th with 33 points from 30 fixtures completed, surely now safe from relegation.
Ralph Hasenhuttl was still in charge of Southampton for the reverse fixture against Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Odsonne Edouard scored the only goal of the game, just before the half-time cup of tea, to give Patrick’s Palace the victory over Wreck-It Ralph’s Saints by a 1-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Southampton at 7/4, the draw at 21/10 and 13/8 for Crystal Palace to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that James Ward-Prowse Scores Anytime and 23/20 that Wilfried Zaha Scores Anytime.
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TOTTENHAM v BOURNEMOUTH
15.00 in England
Tottenham gained a great victory over Brighton on Saturday, with goals from the brilliant duo of Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane, helping Spurs inflict the defeat on the Seagulls by a 2-1 scoreline.
Brighton had scored an equaliser after Nice-One Son’s goal to leave both teams level at the interval.
There was a bit of argy-bargy on the sidelines with both Cristian Stellini and Roberto De Zerbi being sent to the stands.
The following has been stated in the Chelsea v Brighton preview above but is worth mentioning again,
‘Brighton had 2 goals disallowed by the dreaded VAR for handball offences which did irk Roberto, then added to those decisions, the Seagulls had a blatant penalty shout turned down by both the on-field referee Stuart Attwell and the Stockley Park crew.
Harry Kane then scored the winner for Tottenham to inflict the defeat on Brighton by a 2-1 scoreline.
The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) has now admitted a mistake was made by the match officials and VAR when not awarding a penalty to Brighton in Saturday’s Premier League game against Tottenham.
Howard Webb, the PGMOL’s Chief Refereeing Officer, has apologised to Brighton and held talks with them about the decision-making process in the game.
It is the third apology the club have been given by the PGMOL this season for decisions made on the field.
Granted, there’s no certainty that the Seagulls would have converted the penalty if awarded but that’s not how football works.
The penalty should have at least been given then if scored, it changes the whole dynamic of the contest.
Roberto De Zerbi was rightly outraged by the decisions made in the game.
One of the goals disallowed for handball didn’t even touch the hand or arm.’
That’s just to put the victory into context, however, those words don’t change the fact that Tottenham gained the 3 points which is all that matters to the LilyWhites.
Tottenham remain in 5th place with 53 points, 3 adrift of Newcastle and Manchester United, however, Spurs have played a game more (30) than the Magpies and the Red Devils (29).
It is more than likely that the new manager, whoever that may be, will be in the Europa League next season, playing Thursday Night Football In Kazakhstan or Scotland.
Bournemouth gained a valuable victory against Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, with a Philip Billing goal just before the half-time cup of tea, being the difference.
The 3 points gained leaves the Cherries in 15th place, with 30 points from 30 games played.
Basically, a point a game, which is a great return.
That said, 30 points are only 7 more than Southampton at the bottom and just 3 above the relegation zone.
Kieffer Moore scored twice either side of the break at the Vitality to give Bournemouth a 2-0 goal advantage against Tottenham in October.
However, somehow Gary O’Neil’s Cherries snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory when Ryan Sessegnon, Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur scored the Tottenham goals to inflict the defeat on Bournemouth by a 3-2 away day scoreline.
Betfred offer Tottenham at Odds On 4/9, the draw at 7/2 and 6/1 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Harry Kane Scores First and 7/5 that Tottenham Win To Nil.
Home Win 2-0- Get 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Nick Pope- Newcastle
RIGHT-BACK- Joel Ward- Crystal Palace
CENTRE-BACK- Lisandro Martinez- Manchester United
CENTRE-BACK- Tyrone Mings- Aston Villa
LEFT-BACK- Tyrick Mitchell- Crystal Palace
MIDFIELDER- Eberechi Eze- Crystal Palace
MIDFIELDER- Matheus Nunes- Wolves
MIDFIELDER- Jack Grealish- Man City
FORWARD- Jordan Ayew- Crystal Palace
FORWARD- Erling Haaland- Man City
FORWARD- Alexander Isak- Newcastle
STAR MAN- Nick Pope- Newcastle
(First Goalkeeper to save an Ivan Toney penalty!)
WOLVES v BRENTFORD
15.00 in England
A Matheus Nunes goal on the half-hour mark gave Wolves the victory against Chelsea on Saturday at Molineux by a 1-0 scoreline.
That did halt a 3 game-winless run, with 2 losses and a draw in those.
Julen Lopetegui’s Gold and Blacks sit in 13th place with 31 points from 30 games played.
Julen and the faithful will feel a couple or more victories will see Wolves safe for another year in the Top Flight.
Brentford suffered back-to-back defeats on Saturday, this time against Newcastle, following the midweek loss against Manchester United.
What will have been a disappointment to everyone connected with the Bees, is the usually exemplary penalty taker, Ivan Toney, missed his first spot-kick since October 2018, when given the chance to put the home team in front.
Ivan had earlier seen a goal disallowed due to an offside decision by the VAR, stating IT was inches in front of the defender before tapping home.
Then the penalty was awarded and most would have assumed a certain goal, however, despite Thomas Frank saying the ball appeared to have moved before Ivan hit it (it didn’t by the way and the expression ‘clutching at straws’ springs to mind) the tame spot-kick was saved.
Mr Toney had the opportunity to redeem himself when Brentford were awarded a 2nd penalty and this time IT wasn’t missing, giving the home team a lead at the break.
Unfortunately for the watching Bees in attendance, Newcastle took control in the 2nd-half, scoring twice to inflict the defeat by a 2-1 score.
Brentford drop to 9th place in the table, with 43 points from 30 games played.
Despite the loss, Thomas Frank and his Bees players and supporters should be proud of the way they have performed this season so far.
After a goalless 1st-half at the GTech Stadium in October, Ruben Neves scored for Wolves, 2 minutes after Ben Mee had put Brentford in front.
With no further goals, both shared the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Betfred offer Wolves at 6/4, the draw at 11/5 and 15/8 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Ivan Toney Scores First and slight Odds on 5/6 that Both Teams Do Score.
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MAN CITY v LEICESTER
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
The first thing to offer up for this preview is simply,
Good Luck, Leicester!
Man City smashed 4 past Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday with Erling Haaland scoring twice added to a Jack Grealish goal and a Julian Alvarez converted penalty.
Probably the only negative to take from the fixture on the South Coast was City conceded a goal resulting in back-to-back victories by the same 4-1 score.
It was then a wait of 24 hours to see whether Liverpool could get the victory over Arsenal allowing Man City to reduce the gap at the summit.
When Arsenal took an early 2-goal lead, the Citizens must have assumed that the deficit between themselves and the Gooners was going to return to 8 points, however, an inspired fightback from Jurgen’s Reds saw both Liverpool and Arsenal share the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
That really does put the cat amongst the pigeons as prior to the weekend, Arsenal, with an 8-point lead, could afford to lose against Man City in the fixture between the two teams coming up on the 26th of April and still have the title in their grasp, despite Man City having played a game less.
Now the gap at the summit is 6 points, meaning if City win their game in hand, plus get the victory against Arsenal, with the game being at the Etihad, Pep’s High Flying Blues will jump to the Top of the Table.
That’s depending on the goal difference.
At the moment Arsenal have scored 72 and conceded 29 (plus+43) whereas Man City have scored 75 and conceded 27 (plus+48)!
So City have 5 goals more as a way of an advantage if both have the same points.
Added to that is Arsenal will have played twice in the Premier League before the fixture against Man City on the 26th, whereas City will only have played once due to the Semi-Final of the FA Cup taking place at the same time as when the Gunners face Southampton.
So in theory, come the 26th of April, Arsenal could have a 9-point lead at the summit but will have played 2 fixtures more.
What’s always stated in this column?
It’s assumed better to have the points on the board than games in hand, so Man City still have an uphill task to retain the Premier League title.
Either way, it is going to be an exciting run-in for everyone involved plus the Neutrals who just love watching football.
Leicester have appointed the ex-Walsall, Brentford, Aston Villa and Norwich boss, Dean Smith to oversee the remaining 8 fixtures in the Premier League to try and stave off relegation.
Dean has brought John Terry with him, where both worked successfully together at Villa Park a couple of years back.
Leicester need an upturn in fortunes as it’s now 7 defeats from the last 8 fixtures, the latest being on Saturday against Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium.
A single Cherry goal just before the interval was enough to give Bournemouth the victory by a 1-0 score.
Leicester sit in 19th place with 25 points from 30 fixtures played.
That is only 2 points away from safety so all connected with the Foxes hope Mr Smith and Mr Terry work their magic and inspire Leicester to achieve some much-needed wins.
This, however, will be a tough opener for DS and JT.
Good luck, Leicester!
At the King Power Stadium, a single Kevin De Bruyne goal scored just after the interval, was the difference between Brendan’s (not so) Wonderfuls and Pep’s High Flying Blues giving Man City the away day victory over Leicester by a 1-0 scoreline.
There should be a few more goals today.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 1/7, the draw at 7/1 and 14/1 for Leicester to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 2/1 that Erling Haaland Scores Two Plus Goals and 2/1 that there are Over 4.5 Goals.
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Sunday 16th
WEST HAM v ARSENAL
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
West Ham gained a great victory against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday, with a single goal being the difference between the two Londoners.
The unfortunate Fulham Midfielder Harrison Reed was credited with an Own Goal following a cross from Jarrod Bowen that Harrison deflected past the helpless Goalkeeper.
The Bubbles weren’t bothered who scored as long as their idols got all the points on offer.
The victory by a 1-0 score, lifts West Ham up to 14th, with 30 points from 29 games completed.
Most of the teams around David Moyes Boys have played a game more (30) so West Ham do appear to have the advantage in the relegation battle, however, this fixture against the Premier League leaders could put the Hammers back nearer the drop zone.
Arsenal snatched a draw from the jaws of victory against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Early goals by 2 of the 3 Angels, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus gave the Gunners a healthy lead on the way to maintaining the 8-point gap at the summit of the Premier League.
It would have been appropriate that Jesus scored the winner on Easter Sunday, however, a moment of handbags between Granit Xhaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold just before the interval appeared to change the direction of the match.
Mikel Arteta had known that the Anfield Rappers can play a big part in their idols’ performance and must have told his players to not poke the Red Bear.
It was noticeable when Liverpool had chances on a couple of occasions, that the Arsenal players appeared to be injured soon after to obviously take the sting out of the game.
Firstly Gabriel took time out following an attack by Mo Salah and then Aaron Ramsdale stopped following another bit of Liverpool pressure.
In last season’s encounter between these two at Anfield, the game was a none entity before Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta had a bit of confrontation on the sidelines that got the Anfield crowd going.
Liverpool then scored 4 goals.
Trent’s little bit of handbags with Granit was like stoking the Anfield fire with the fans rallying.
Liverpool scored within a minute, leaving Arsenal having a slender lead at the break.
Despite Liverpool missing a penalty, that would have put the scores level, the Gunners couldn’t hold on for the victory and conceded a late equaliser, giving both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The Archbishop was happy.
The point gained, as everyone knows, it’s always a point gained, not 2 points lost, leaves Arsenal at the Top of the Premier League with 73 points from 30 games played.
That’s 6 points more than Man City who have played 29 times.
As mentioned earlier, Arsenal will have played twice in the Premier League and City only once, before the Top Two meet at the Etihad in a couple of weeks.
These two actually met at the Emirates on Boxing Day, in a Game Week-17 affair, the first fixture after the World Cup.
Said Benrahme scored the opener for West Ham to give the visitors a lead at the break.
Mikel Arteta must have had some inspiring words at half-time, with goals from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah soon after the restart, giving Arsenal the victory over West Ham by a 3-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer West Ham at 5/1, the draw at 3/1 and Odds On 4/7 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Bukaya Saka Scores Anytime and 8/5 that Arsenal Win To Nil.
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NOTTINGHAM FOREST v MANCHESTER UNITED
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Nottingham Forest suffered another defeat on Saturday, this time against Aston Villa at Villa Park by a 2-0 scoreline.
That is the 6th defeat in the last 9 fixtures, with the others being drawn.
Three points from a possible 27 for the Tricky Trees which really is relegation fodder.
Nottingham Forest sit in 18th place with 27 points from 30 games played.
The same 27 as Everton, who sit just outside of the relegation zone with a better goal difference.
It’s looking ominous for Steve Cooper and his Band of Merry Men.
Manchester United gained a great professional victory over Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday, with Erik’s Red Devils inflicting a defeat on Sean’s Toffees by a 2-0 scoreline.
Everton have had the odd success against United over the years but rarely get a victory at Old Trafford, with the last one being in December 2013.
Scott McTominay scored the opener to give the home team a lead at the break before Anthony Martial added a 2nd midway through the 2nd-half.
In truth, United wasted a lot of chances and if it wasn’t for the fine work of Jordan Pickford, the score could have been a lot better.
Harry Maguire gained a rare Premier League start, playing the full 90 minutes in place of Raphael Varane, probably with the Quarter-Final of the Europa League against Sevilla in mind on Thursday.
Casemiro has now served his 4-game ban so should be back in the starting lineup for this trip to the City Ground, provided the lad doesn’t pick up an injury against Sevilla.
Scott McTominay, who has now scored 5 goals for club and country in the last 5 games, could keep his place at the side of Cassie, however, Christian Eriksen made a cameo return against Everton and it has been shown that Manchester United are a better team with Christian and Casemiro in the Midfield.
That is for Erik Ten Hag to worry about and all may get a run-out in the remaining fixtures, which could turn out to be a maximum of 16 still to play.
Premier League-9
Europa League- a possible 5 (2 x Quarter-Final, 2 x Semi-Final, plus the Final)
FA Cup- a possible 2 ( Semi-Final and Final)
A possible 16 fixtures left to play in Manchester United’s season.
The victory against Everton leaves United in 4th place, with the same 56 points as Newcastle, who are 3rd, with Eddie’s Magpies having a far superior goal difference than Erik’s Reds.
There was an iconic game between these two legendary teams that took place on the poignant day of the 6th of February 1999 at the City Ground.
Manchester United inflicted a historic defeat on Nottingham Forest by an 8-1 (Eight-One!) away day scoreline, with the old gaffer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring 4 of the 8 goals.
The anomaly in those 4 goals scored by the Norwegian/Manc lad is OGS was a substitute on the day and was only introduced by Sir Alex Ferguson in the 71st minute when the score was 4-1 in favour of United.
Replacing Roy Keane, Ole then scored 4 goals in the final 10 minutes to give Manchester United the victory by an 8-1 score.
This is the 2nd of the reverse of Game Week-17 which took place just after Christmas at Old Trafford.
It was the away team that brought the late presents with Steve Cooper’s Tricky Trees, gifting Erik’s Red Devil the victory by a 3-0 scoreline.
Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Fred with the United goals.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 9/2, the draw at 3/1 and slight Odds On 3/5 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Bruno Fernandes Scores Anytime and 7/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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Monday 17th
LEEDS UNITED v LIVERPOOL
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
‘Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again, Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again.’
The Joy Division ditty is brought to the fore this week after a sensational devastating defeat on Sunday against Crystal Palace.
Patrick Bamford scored first to calm the nerves of the home crowd in the Easter Sunshine at Elland Rd, however, Palace equalised on the stroke of half-time to take both teams in level at the break.
There was no real sign of what was to come in the 2nd-half with the Marching On Together crew hoping to see their White idols push on whilst munching on the Half-time Pie.
Then a disastrous 20 minutes saw Crystal Palace score 4 further goals and inflict the defeat by a 5-1 scoreline.
The West Yorkshire puddings were distraught and all went off to find a boozer to drown their sorrows, drinking Castlemaine XXXX and Thunderbird.
The defeat leaves Leeds United in 16th place with 29 points from 30 played.
This will be another tricky home fixture that depending on the weekend’s results, could plummet Leeds United into the drop zone.
Marching On Together (back to the Championship)
‘Mo Salah, Mo Salah, Mo Salah, running down the wing!’
After conceding 2 early goals against Arsenal on Sunday, it looked for all purpose that Liverpool would suffer a defeat, however, when Trent Alexander-Arnold had a set-to with Granit Xhaka, it stoked up the Anfield fire to inspire a comeback.
Mo Salah pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, before getting the chance to equalise from the penalty spot when Liverpool were awarded a penalty early in the 2nd-half.
There was a strange moment as the players were leaving the pitch at half-time when the linesman Constantine Hatzidakis appeared to elbow Andy Robertson.
Whilst it didn’t look right, John Newsome just thinks it was an accident with Constantine’s elbow movement being a natural reaction when Andy touched him.
That’s for others to decide but Mr Hatzidakis won’t be on the sidelines this weekend having been stood down until the incident is cleared.
Back to the game, as mentioned, Liverpool had the chance to equalise just after the break, when awarded a penalty.
Mo had smashed the last spot-kick, high wide and handsome against Bournemouth, a couple of weeks ago, so decided to be a bit more cautious and hit a tame shot, low, wide and not that handsome this time.
It’s not certain whether Mr Salah will take the next penalty that Liverpool have.
Following a sustained spell of pressure, Roberto Firmino finally scored an equaliser to give both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The point gained, leaves Liverpool in 8th place, with 44 from 29 games completed.
It’s now highly unlikely that Liverpool will make the Champions League for next season and not a certainty that the Passports will be needed for the other two European Competitions.
Depending on who wins the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League this season, there could be additional places for the English teams in those 3, as it’s not out of the question that Man City win the Champions League, Manchester United win the Europa League and West Ham win the Europa Conference League.
This fixture usually produces goals with the 5 previous games between the two, since 2020, when Leeds United were promoted back to the Premier League, having a combined total of 21.
Scorelines of 4-3 (Liverpool), 1-1, 3-0 (Liverpool), 6-0 (Liverpool) and 2-1 (Leeds).
The recent Game Week-14 fixture At Anfield, surprisingly produced a victory for Leeds United by a 2-1 score.
Rodrigo scored the opener which was cancelled out by Mo Salah to take both teams in level at the break.
Crysencio Summerville then scored a dramatic late winner in the 89th minute to stun the Anfield Rappers, giving Jesse Marsch a rare victory whilst in charge of the Whites this season.
Betfred offer Leeds United at 16/5, the draw at 16/5 and slight Odds On 8/11 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Patrick Bamford Scores Anytime and 13/10 that Liverpool Score in Both Halves.
Away Win 1-2- Get 13/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Game Week-31
Saturday 28th March 1998
BARNSLEY v LIVERPOOL
Oakwell
15.00 in England
The girls and boys of Barnsley and surrounding areas were up early and excited for the visit of Liverpool.
It was the first time that the Anfield Rappers had ventured over to Oakwell since 1985.
Following the usual routine of breakfast, putting on the Barnsley shirt, jeans and Adidas Gazelles then a bus ride into Town, meeting up in the designated boozer, it was a few pre-match pints to settle the nerves.
John Newsome has mentioned on a few occasions in this EveryTip column that there have been 3 visits to Anfield in one’s lifetime since 1969 and Barnsley have never suffered a defeat at the iconic home of Liverpool.
The Super Reds had gained a victory in the reverse fixture back in November 1997, with Ashley Ward scoring the solitary winning goal, so it could rightly be assumed that Liverpool were out for revenge.
After a steady stroll up the hill to Oakwell, the Red and White Army settled down in the Spring Sunshine for an afternoon of football.
This particular game at Oakwell, back in 1998, has somehow gone under the radar and is rarely mentioned in any Sky Sports, BT Sport or BBC Sports historic programmes.
However, in the history of the Premier League, this game is one of the most controversial of all time, full of goals, comebacks, Red Cards and last-minute winners.
Danny Wilson’s legends on the day,
Barnsley-
David Watson, Nicky Eaden, Chris Morgan, Darren Barnard, Scott Jones, Matty Appleby, Martin Bullock, Neil Redfearn, Darren Sheridan, Jan Age Fjortoft and Clint Marcelle.
Substitutes-
Jovo Bosancic for Martin Bullock 54th Minute
Andy Liddell for Jan Age Fjortoft 73rd Minute
Georgi Hristov for Clint Marcelle 76th Minute
Roy Evans sent out the following set of Liverpool players,
Liverpool-
Brad Friedel, Phil Babb, Steve Harkness, Rob Jones, Dominic Matteo, Paul Ince, Oyvind Leonhardsen, Steve McManaman, Jamie Redknapp, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Michael Owen.
Substitutes-
Danny Murphy for Oyvind Leonhardsen 85th Minute
On a bright and sunny Spring Day, Liverpool armed with 2,000 or so fans, headed to Yorkshire to avenge the 1-0 defeat back in November.
Barnsley took the lead 10 minutes before the break, through Neil Redfearn.
Looking like the Reds of Oakwell would go in at the interval in front, Karl-Heinz Reidle equalised for Liverpool just before the half-time whistle.
That was just the beginning of the excitement as 10 minutes into the restart, Barnsley’s Darren Barnard was shown a straight Red Card for a supposed professional foul on Michael Owen.
The controversy had begun as no person in the stadium, including the Liverpool players and fans, thought that the foul, at worst, warranted anything other than a Yellow.
Within minutes of being reduced to 10 men, Barnsley were also losing when Karl-Heinz scored a superb 2nd goal to put Liverpool 2-1 in front.
Midway through the 2nd-half, Barnsley were reduced to 9-men when it was adjudged that Chris Morgan had elbowed Michael Owen, who was quickly becoming public enemy Number-1 at Oakwell.
The referee again showed a straight Red Card to Chris and again it appeared harsh.
Oakwell erupted and both the players and crowd went berserk towards the referee, with some of the faithful trying to attack the man in black, Gary Willard.
It was only down to the quick thinking of the players that the referee wasn’t set upon.
After 70 minutes of play in the Spring sun of Yorkshire, there had been 3-goals and 2 Red Cards, however, that wasn’t the end of the show, show, as Ant and his mate would say.
To take on Liverpool with 11 men is an arduous task in itself, to try and fend them off with 10, was going to be tough but to play 20-minutes against the Reds of Merseyside, playing in Yellow that day, with just 9 men, was like the Alamo.
What’s more remarkable is that with only 9 men against 12 (Liverpool had an extra man wearing black!) Barnsley actually equalised in the 85th minute when Georgi Hristov was brought down in the area by the Liverpool defender that amazingly the referee, who had been against Barnsley all afternoon, awarded a penalty to the Reds.
Neil Redfearn coolly dispatched the spot kick and put the 9-men of Yorkshire back level with Liverpool.
Surely that was the end of the drama?
Not so, there was still time for another couple of incidents, with Steve McManaman getting the Liverpool winning goal with time running out and the referee showing Barnsley a 3rd-Red Card.
Darren Sheridan got a 2nd-Yellow following a confrontation with anyone who was in his vicinity.
A game with 5 goals, 3-sending offs, crowd invasions, 9-men equalising against 11 and a last-minute winner, seems to have gone under the radar with the pundits.
Jamie Redknapp, although playing the full 90 minutes and given his TV exposure, never mentions the game, which in itself is strange.
Danny Murphy, who also played in the fixture is a regular on BBC 1 and talkSPORT and never talks about it either, maybe it’s a game that the Liverpool players feel guilty about having taken on little old Barnsley and could only beat them with the help of the referee.
15-Newcastle 35 pts (minus-7 goals)
16-Tottenham 34 pts (minus-16 goals)
17-Everton 33 pts (minus-11 goals)
18-Barnsley 31 pts (minus-38 goals)
19-Bolton 30 pts (minus-18 goals)
20-Crystal Palace 26 pts (minus-27 goals)
Away Win 2-3
Braveheart and Lad were very quiet around 2.30 PM last Saturday when their beloved Rangers, suffered the predicted defeat against the arch-Glasgow rivals Celtic at Celtic Park in the lunchtime kick-off.
It was 9.30 PM over in Melbourne when the big Scottish Pub League fixture started, way/way after the loveable OzScots bedtime.
Usually, the Big Lad is counting sheep around 8 O’Clock DownUnder.
The OzScot and John Newsome have been mates for over 40 years with both having a love for the Beautiful Game.
However, whilst the Braveheart is a staunch follower of Glasgow Rangers, at the moment, the facts speak for themselves, those being that Glasgow Celtic are not only the best team in the Scottish City but currently the best team in the SPL.
There is always a bit of banter about the football of a Saturday with the English contingent of the John Boy Hotline Group, the Widster and this EveryTip contributor, sending harmless messages, that bounce off a statelite (as Del Boy would say!) and down into Ozland.
For some reason, those messages didn’t return once Rangers had suffered the defeat against Celtic by a 3-2 scoreline.
Strange that!
The result virtually guarantees the Green and White Hoops the Scottish Pub League Title, with Celtic now being 12 points ahead of Rangers, with 7 fixtures remaining.
The two Glasgow Rivals (the Old Firm!) have met 4 times this season with the record being,
Celtic- 3 Wins and 1 Draw.
Rangers- 3 Losses and 1 Draw.
There is a 5th encounter coming up on the 30th of April, in the Semi-Final of the Scottish Pub Cup at Hampden Park.
It was assumed that the two would have been kept apart in the Semi to potentially set up an Old Firm Final, however, one of the Glasgow teams won’t now be on show at the end of May against either Falkirk (who?) or Inverness (who?)
Braveheart/Kylie and Lad will no doubt be still up in Ozland on the 30th, wearing the Teddy Bears jersey and cheering on their idols.
It’s hoped for the residents of the suburb of Melbourne, that Rangers don’t suffer (another) defeat or chaos could ensue.
‘I’m spinning around, move out of my way, I’m fed up with Celtic winning again!’
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