The highlight games for this next set of EPL games are ARSENAL versus MANCHESTER UNITED and LIVERPOOL versus EVERTON. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these as well as all of the reverse Game Week-14 and 15 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-34
All of these are a reverse of Game Week-14 and 15 that took place at the beginning of December 2021.
Saturday 23rd
ARSENAL v MANCHESTER UNITED
12.30 in England
BT Sport
What has happened to Arsenal?
Mikel’s Young Guns went on a winning run at the beginning of February, resulting in 6-wins from 7-Premier League fixtures, the other being a defeat against Jurgen’s Reds.
Since the International Break, Arsenal were winless in 3, following defeats against Crystal Palace, Brighton and now Southampton, after Saturday’s trip to St Mary’s.
The Saints inflicted the loss on the Gunners by a 1-0 scoreline, with the goal scored just before the half-time whistle.
Last week’s opponents, Brighton had inflicted a defeat on Tottenham in the early Saturday afternoon kick-off, which should have inspired Arsenal, being 3-points adrift of Spurs.
All that said, Mikel’s Young Guns got the result of the midweek fixtures, going to Stamford Bridge and inflicting a surprise defeat on Chelsea by a 4-2 away day scoreline.
Eddie Nketiah got a rare start and repaid that faith shown by Mr Arteta by scoring the opener.
Chelsea quickly replied but Emile Smith-Rowe added a 2nd for Arsenal to restore the lead.
The home team once again quickly responded and equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Eddie scored his 2nd and Arsenal’s 3rd just before the hour-mark and whilst never looking convincing, Bukayo Saka added the 4th in the 92nd-minute to give Mikel’s men the surprise victory.
Now, the Gunners, have the same 57-points as the Lilywhites but sit 5th on goal difference with both Tottenham and Arsenal having played 32-times.
Tottenham remain in 4th-place with 57-points and Manchester United are 6th with 54-points, United having completed 33-fixtures.
Manchester United are a different beast without Fred and Scott so Mikel Arteta will be hoping that the two get fit soon meaning Ralph Rangnick will automatically pick them.
United were comfortable on Saturday against Norwich, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice to give the home team a lead.
For some reason, Ralph’s Roadsters then switched off, thinking ‘job done’ after half an hour and on the stroke of half-time, conceded a Norwich goal.
After the break, Dean Smith’s Yellow Canary’s scored a 2nd and it was ‘game on’ in Manchester.
Luckily for the watching Red Devil faithful, That Boy Ronaldo added his and United’s 3rd to not only give Ralph’s men the victory but take home the match-ball, following the hat-trick.
Before the game, John Newsome did point out that neither Fred nor Scott McTominay started, both were currently injured.
Whilst John doesn’t want to dwell on the narrative, United did win without Fred and Scott!
Albeit against Norwich, the worse team in the Premier League but a narrative is a narrative and the dictionary meaning is this,
‘Narrative-a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
‘a gripping narrative.’
Whilst it wasn’t a convincing victory by United, it was still a victory without Fred and Scott meaning that the new manager, which has been confirmed as Erik Ten Hag, can work on, however, if the two are the go-to for Erik, then the narrative will continue.
It was confirmed on Thursday that Erik Ten Hag is coming in from Ajax at the end of the season.
For all connected with Manchester United, it’s hoped that it’s a good appointment based on statistics, facts and the best person for the position, not emotion.
What’s meant by that is, if someone asked an old tramp on the street (no disrespect to the cultured individual) whose ultimate goal is to hold onto or find the next bottle of vodka, (other beverages are available!) if they would like to manage Manchester United, that person will say,
Yes!
With a ‘please’ added to it.
Let’s hope Mr Ten Hag, isn’t coming to Old Trafford based on emotion and is not a Six and a half Hag!
Following United’s emphatic victory over the mighty Yellow Canary’s, Ralph’s Roadsters were brought back down to earth with a massive bang at Anfield, where Jurgen’s Reds inflicted a crushing defeat by a 4-0 scoreline.
Regarding that said earlier narrative, it was pointed out to John that the two didn’t play in the disaster against Liverpool.
Whilst this is correct, it merely backs up the point of what this EveryTip column has stated for over 18-months.
The fact that Fred and Scott McTominay were continually chosen by whoever the manager was as the go-to Midfielders as ruined the club and sent it backwards by years.
Not investing in a couple of Central Midfielders, by continuing to think that the two were the right ones for United is simply a failure by Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Now Ralph Rangnick has been left with the mess seen at Anfield on Tuesday.
After the midweek debacle and the rest of the results, Manchester United drop a place to 6th.
Arsenal were below United on goal difference, both having 54-points, however, United are now 6th, following the Gunners’ victory at Stamford Bridge, who now have 57-points and have played a game less than the Red Devil’s.
All to play for in the battle for a Champions League spot.
This next summary was thought out when doing the Brentford v Tottenham preview but it’s worth including in this preview too.
As this is a prediction site and the study of the remaining games for all 3-clubs, John Newsome is going to stick his head above the parapet and declare that,
(drum roll please!)
Arsenal will finish 4th.
This is based on the following.
Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal’s remaining fixtures and predicted result.
Tottenham.
Brentford, a defeat still 57-points.
Leicester, a draw 58-points.
Liverpool, a defeat still 58-points.
Arsenal, a draw 59-points.
Burnley, a victory 62-points.
Norwich, a victory 65-points.
Tottenham’s final points tally being 65.
Manchester United.
Liverpool, a defeat, still 54-points.
Arsenal, a defeat, still 54-points.
Chelsea, a defeat, still 54-points.
Brentford, a draw 55-points.
Brighton, a draw 56-points.
Crystal Palace, a draw 57-points.
Manchester United’s final points tally 57.
Arsenal.
Chelsea, a victory 57-points.
Manchester United, a victory 60-points.
West Ham, a victory 63-points.
Leeds United, a victory 66-points.
Tottenham, a draw 67-points.
Newcastle, a draw 68-points.
Everton, a victory 71-points.
Arsenal’s final points tally 71-points.
That would give the final Premier League positions as,
4th-Arsenal-71-points
5th-Tottenham-65-points
6th-Manchester United-57-points.
West Ham could go above Manchester United however, the Europa League will determine the Hammers final tally so not included in this summary.
Obviously, this is not an exact science but it will be interesting to see if this bears out.
Respect, Cristiano and Georgina!
Arsenal must have been bad back in December when venturing to Old Trafford and suffering a defeat against Manchester United, by a 3-2 scoreline.
That said, if one remembers, United were under the guidance of Michael Carrick following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s departure.
Emile Smith-Rowe scored 1st, for the away team but Bruno Fernandes equalised on the stroke of half-time, to take both teams in level at the break.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored early after the restart to give United the lead but this goal was quickly cancelled out by a Martin Odegaard strike.
That Boy Ronaldo converted a penalty with 20-minutes remaining and with no further action, Manchester United got the victory in the 5-goal thriller.
Michael sadly left Old Trafford following the victory after a glittering United career.
Question 1, have Manchester United progressed since Mr Carrick departed and Mr Rangnick came in?
Question 2, would it not have been better to stick with Michael until at least the end of the season?
Betfred offer Arsenal at 21/20, the draw at 5/2 and 5/2 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 2/1 that Bukayo Saka Scores Anytime and 13/5 that Arsenal Win To Nil.
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LEICESTER v ASTON VILLA
15.00 in England
Leicester will have played twice before this fixture against the Midland rivals, with games against Newcastle last Sunday and Everton on Wednesday.
When it appeared that a point was going to be gained at St James Park on Sunday, Newcastle scored the winner in the 95th-minute to inflict a defeat on Leicester by a 2-1 score.
Ademola Lookman had scored 1st to give the travelling Foxes something to cheer, however, the Magpies equalised on the half-hour mark and with no further goals going into injury time, it did look like a draw was on the cards until Newcastle popped up with the winner, just as the referee was about to blow for full-time.
The defeat left Leicester in 9th, with 40-points from 30-fixtures.
It was then a midweek rearranged contest against Everton at Goodison Park.
Harvey Barnes scored after 5-minutes but again the bad dog walker was on show, with the Foxes conceding a Toffees equaliser in the 92nd-minute.
Following the draw against Everton by a 1-1 score, Leicester remain in 9th-place, with 41-points from 31-fixtures played.
Rod Stewart and Lennon the Puppy have had an indifferent week of football.
At the same time, Leicester were losing against Newcastle on Sunday, Sir Roderick’s beloved Green and White Hoops were suffering a defeat against the Glasgow rivals Rangers in the Semi-Final of the Scottish Pub Cup at Hampden Park.
Mr Stewart wearing an old Celtic jersey with ‘Glavin’ and ‘4’ on the back was gutted at the final whistle, knowing that there won’t be a trip up to Scotland for the Final in May.
At least Rod’s arch-rival, Brendan Rodgers hasn’t had a victory and watched the Leicester team give up a lead in both their recent fixtures.
The lovely Penny wasn’t happy either, when her favourite Snooker player, Barry Hawkins was knocked out of this year’s World Championships in Sheffield.
As Sir Rod and Penny sat down to watch The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe on ITV, with a glass of 19 Crimes, on offer from Tesco’s, Lennon was in the backroom, chewing on a bone, slavering the sound of,
‘He’s Celtic, United but Brendan has decided that Leicester is the best place to be.’
Woof-Woof!
Before the weekend adventure up at St James Park, Brendan’s Wonderful’s progressed to the Semi-Final of the Europa Conference League.
No, still one has no idea.
However, it does give Leicester the opportunity to firstly, win a trophy this term, then compete in Europe next season, as the winners of the new European competition, get automatic entry into next season’s Europa League.
As the Foxes are nowhere near the European places in the Premier League and are not in any domestic cup competitions then this Europa Conference League malarkey is the only possible chance for the Faithful to use their passports next season.
Come kick-off at the King Power Stadium on the 23rd, it will have been exactly 2-weeks since Stevie G’s Claret and Blues got their boots muddy.
If one remembers, Aston Villa were convincingly beaten by Tottenham in that last fixture on the 9th of April.
The Villains were witness to their Claret and Blue idols conceding a goal in the 1st-half and a further 3 after the break to lose the game and suffer the 4th-Premier League defeat in succession.
Following the weekend and midweek fixtures, Aston Villa slip down to 15th in the table, with 36-points from 31-fixtures played.
Steven Gerrard will want more from his players against Brendan Rodger’s men today.
At Villa Park in early December, Harvey Barnes scored 1st to give Leicester an early lead.
Unfortunately for the travelling Foxes, the lead didn’t last long, 3-minutes to be precise with Ezri Konsa equalising for Villa.
Ezri then added his and Villa’s 2nd just after the break and with no further goals, Stevie G’s Claret and Blues got the victory over Brendan’s Wonderful’s by a 2-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Leicester at 7/4, the draw at 9/4 and 8/5 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 2/1 that James Maddison Scores Anytime and slight Odds On 4/5 that there are Over 2.5 Goals.
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MAN CITY v WATFORD
15.00 in England
Pep’s High Flying Blues come into this weekend fixture following a midweek rearranged game against Brighton and a couple of mixed emotional results.
Pep’s High Flying Blues progressed to the Semi-Final of the Champions League following a dogged professional 2nd-leg tie in Madrid against Atletico.
The game ended in a draw by a 0-0 scoreline, so the solitary goal scored in 1st-leg was enough to see City go through to the Semis.
Man City will return to Madrid to take on Real in that Semi-Final.
Atletico were a bit naughty in the away leg at the Wanda Metropolitana, with the ex-City player, Stefan Savic head butting Raheem Sterling and pulling Jack Grealish’s hair.
Jack wasn’t even playing in the match and was an unused substitute whilst being targeted by the Montenegrin Defender.
The other side to the mixed emotions was Man City were then dumped out of the FA Cup, suffering a defeat against Liverpool by a 3-2 scoreline.
City were trailing by 3-goals to nil at half-time, with one of the goals coming from a mistake by the American goalkeeper, Zackary Steffen.
Pep Guardiola decided to choose Zackary instead of Ederson, with Zac being the FA Cup stopper.
Unfortunately, the faith shown by Pep didn’t pay off as a dreadful error resulted in the 2nd-goal scored by Liverpool.
City did score 2-goals in the 2nd-half, however, time ran out and the possibility of the Treble was gone for Man City.
The Quadruple is still on for Liverpool, who have the Carabao Cup in the Anfield Trophy Cabinet already, are on the coattails of Man City in the race for the Premier League, could possibly face City in the Final of the Champions League and now face Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, being a repeat of the Carabao Cup Final.
Man City will still feel the season has been successful if the Premier League title is retained but the Champions League will be a tough ask, facing a Real Madrid team that whist not the Real of old, do have a formidable Striker in Karim Benzema, who scores goals for fun.
In the midweek fixture against Brighton, City struggled to break down a resilient set of Seagulls until a slight tweak at half-time by Mr Guardiola set up a terrific 2nd-half.
Liverpool had temporarily jumped above Man City following the Reds’ victory against the Numpty Neighbours on Tuesday, so it was imperative for all connected with the Citizens that their idols got the victory against Brighton.
After the break, goals from Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva gave Pep’s High Flying Blues the victory by a 3-0 score, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
The win re-established City’s lead at the top of the Premier League, with 77-points from 32-fixtures played.
A point ahead of Liverpool who have played the same amount of fixtures.
With 6-remaining, the simple Math states that if both are victorious in all 6, then Man City will retain the title.
Watford suffered another defeat last weekend, this time against Brentford at Vicarage Rd.
What will have upset the Hornet faithful was that the referee was about to blow the final whistle, with the score being at 1-1, however, just before the sound of the pea, Brentford scored the winner, resulting in a defeat for Roy’s Boys by a 2-1 scoreline.
That was literally 20-seconds after Watford’s Dennis the Menace had hit the post then put the ball wide to get the winner themselves.
Emmanuel Dennis had equalised an earlier Bees goal before the late winner for the away team.
Watford remain 2nd-bottom or 19th in the table, with 22-points from 32-fixtures played.
Everton, who are the safe team, have 7-points more, so in theory, including this fixture against Man City, Watford have 6-games to try and overturn the 7-points and get out of trouble.
Hodgson’s Hornets do have games against Everton and Burnley in that 6-remaining.
The surprise in the reverse fixture at Vicarage Rd back in December was that Watford actually scored a goal.
Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva gave City a lead at the break with Mr Silva adding his 2nd and the 3rd, just after the restart.
Then the Hornet faithful were treated to a goal, with Cucho replying for the home team.
Unfortunately for Claudio Ranieri’s men, that was just a Cucho consolation and Man City got the away day victory by a 3-1 score.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 1/10, the draw at 17/2 and 22/1 for Watford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 10/3 that Raheem Sterling Scores First and 6/4 that Man City Score Over 3.5 Goals.
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NORWICH v NEWCASTLE
15.00 in England
Norwich were unlucky at Old Trafford last Saturday, with the difference between the Red Devil’s and the Yellow Canary’s being just one man, however, that man was Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick, to inflict a defeat on Norwich by a narrow 3-2 scoreline.
After CR7-2.0 had scored twice, Kieran Dowell pulled a goal back just before the break.
Teemu Pukki then equalised for the away team 7-minutes after the restart but it was That Boy Ronaldo who was the difference scoring the winner for United midway through the 2nd-half to inflict the defeat on Dean Smith’s Yellow Canary’s.
Norwich remain at the foot of the Premier League table, with 21-points from 32-fixtures played.
The rotund lady, who had a week’s rest following the victory before the trip to Old Trafford, is back warming her voice up because it won’t be long until this season’s adventure in the Premier League is over.
Newcastle stunned Leicester last Sunday getting the victory at St James Park by a 2-1 scoreline.
Stunned because following a 1st-half goal by Bruno Guimaraes, that had equalised an earlier Foxes goal, the game was tied at 1-1, going into injury time, where Bruno popped up with his 2nd and the Magpies winner, in the 95th-minute, to give Eddie Howe the victory over Brendan Rodgers.
That was 2 in a row after the win against Wolves earlier in the month.
Following that brilliant victory against Brendan’s Wonderful’s, Eddie’s Magpies made it 3-victories in succession on Wednesday, inflicting a defeat over Crystal Palace by a 1-0 scoreline.
Miguel Almiron scored on the half-hour mark and with no further goals, Newcastle got the victory over an Eagles side who were still wounded from the loss in the FA Cup Semi-Final.
Newcastle now sit 11th in the table, with 40-points from 32-fixtures played.
Eddie’s Magpies are now above Brentford, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
In the Game Week-14 affair at St James Park, Ciaran Clark was shown a straight Red Card after 9-minutes that put Newcastle behind the 8-ball early on.
After a goalless 1st-half, Callum Wilson scored to lift the spirits of the Toon Army, however, that spirit was dashed when Teemu Pukki equalised with 10-minutes remaining and with no further goals, both shared the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
At the time, Newcastle were the team that looked the favourite for relegation, however, that’s all changed and Norwich are the ones that will be playing Championship football next season.
Betfred offer Norwich at 13/5, the draw at 23/10 and 11/10 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Chris Wood Scores First and 5/2 that Newcastle Win To Nil.
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BRENTFORD v TOTTENHAM
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Brentford continued their fine season and the current form with a victory against Watford on Saturday by a 2-1 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
Thomas Frank’s Bees have 5-victories from the last 7-Premier League games, with defeats against Leicester and Newcastle in the other 2.
On Saturday, Christian Norgaard score to give Brentford the lead at the break, however, Watford equalised early in the 2nd-half and with time up on the clock it looked like both were going to share the points.
Pontus Jansson was having none of that and headed home the winner in the 95th-minute from a Christian Eriksen free-kick.
Watford could have won the game themselves, hitting the post just 20-seconds or so before Pontus scored.
That’s football!
Brentford sit 12th, with 39-points from 33-fixtures played.
Tottenham themselves were on a great run of form having had 4-victories in a row before the visit of Brighton on Saturday.
The Seagulls had beaten the North London rivals Arsenal, 7-days previously so Antonio’s Spurs had a great opportunity to increase the gap between the two, however, Graham Potter’s Wizards are 2 from 2 in the North of the Capital.
As it turned out, Brighton’s late winner in the 90th-minute to inflict the defeat on Tottenham by a 1-0 score, wasn’t too detrimental as Arsenal went on to lose against Southampton later in the day, so the Status Quo between the two rivals, remained the same.
Arsenal then went level on points with Tottenham following the stunning victory against Chelsea on Wednesday.
Tottenham sit 4th, with 57-points from 32-fixtures, the same as Arsenal and 3-more than Manchester United, who sit 5th and 6th respectively, however, Tottenham and Arsenal do have a game in hand over Manchester United.
All to play for in the race for a Top Four finish.
As this is a prediction site and the study of the remaining games for all 3-clubs, John Newsome is going to stick his head above the parapet and declare that,
(drum roll please!)
Arsenal will finish 4th.
This is based on the following.
Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal’s remaining fixtures and predicted result.
Tottenham.
Brentford, a defeat still 57-points.
Leicester, a draw 58-points.
Liverpool, a defeat still 58-points.
Arsenal, a draw 59-points.
Burnley, a victory 62-points.
Norwich, a victory 65-points.
Tottenham’s final points tally being 65.
Manchester United.
Liverpool, a defeat, still 54-points.
Arsenal, a defeat, still 54-points.
Chelsea, a defeat, still 54-points.
Brentford, a draw 55-points.
Brighton, a draw 56-points.
Crystal Palace, a draw 57-points.
Manchester United’s final points tally 57.
Arsenal.
Chelsea, a victory 57-points.
Manchester United, a victory 60-points.
West Ham, a victory 63-points.
Leeds United, a victory 67-points.
Tottenham, a draw 68-points.
Newcastle, a draw 69-points.
Everton, a victory 72-points.
Arsenal’s final points tally 72-points.
That would give the final Premier League positions as,
4th-Arsenal-72-points
5th-Tottenham-65-points
6th-Manchester United-57-points.
Obviously, this is not an exact science but it will be interesting to see if this bears out.
At the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium back in December Sergio Canos scored an own goal after 13-minutes to give Tottenham a lead at the break.
Son Heung-Min added a 2nd, midway through the 2nd-half and with no further goals, Antonio’s Spurs got the victory over Thomas’s Bees by a 2-0 scoreline.
The last 3-fixtures between these two Londoners, over the past 21-years, have finished in a victory for Tottenham by a 2-0 score.
Betfred offer Brentford at 16/5, the draw at 5/2 and slight Odds On 17/20 for Tottenham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Ivan Toney Scores First and slight Odds On 4/5 that there are Over 2.5 Goals.
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***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Robert Sanchez- Brighton
RIGHT-BACK- Emil Krafth- Newcastle
CENTRE-BACK- John Stones- Man City
CENTRE-BACK- Pontus Jansson- Brentford
LEFT-BACK- Andy Robertson- Liverpool
MIDFIELDER- Ashley Westwood- Burnley
MIDFIELDER- Bruno Guimaraes- Newcastle
MIDFIELDER- Christian Norgaard- Brentford
FORWARD- Eddie Nketiah- Arsenal
FORWARD- Richarlison- Everton
FORWARD- Cristiano Ronaldo- Manchester United
STAR MAN- Cristiano Ronaldo- Manchester United
Sunday 24th
BRIGHTON v SOUTHAMPTON
14.00 in England
Brighton surprised everyone at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium on Saturday by inflicting a defeat on Tottenham by a 1-0 scoreline.
Leandro Trossard scored in the 90th-minute to stun the home fans who in truth had seen their Lilywhites struggle in the early kick-off.
That’s 2-from-2 over the North London clubs, following last week’s victory against Arsenal at the Emirates.
After the trip to London, Brighton played their 3rd-away fixture in a row, heading to the Etihad to take on Man City in a rearranged Game Week-30 affair.
Unfortunately for the flying Seagulls the winning run ended, with Pep’s High Flying Blues inflicting defeat on Graham Potter’s Wizards by a 3-0 score.
After a dogged display of defending in the 1st-half that took both teams in goalless at the break, City scored 3 after the restart to get the comfortable victory.
Graham Potter’s Seagulls sit 10th in the table with 40-points from 33-fixtures played.
The same 40-points as Newcastle, both having played 33-times.
Southampton come into this South Coast Derby following a midweek rearranged fixture against Burnley.
Before that game on Wednesday, Wreck-It Ralph’s Saints got a great victory against Arsenal at St Mary’s by a 1-0 scoreline.
Jan Bednarek with the solitary winning goal just before the half-time whistle.
So both these teams have inflicted defeats over Arsenal in the last few weeks.
After a brilliant victory against the Gunners, the Saints suffered a defeat against the Clarets by a 2-0 score with both goals conceded before the break.
Southampton sit 13th, with 39-points from 33-fixtures played.
Armando Broja scored the Saints goal on the half-hour mark that looked to have sealed all 3-points for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s home team at St Mary’s back in December.
Unfortunately for the watching faithful, Neal Maupay equalised in the 98th-minute (98th!) to give Graham Potter’s Seagulls a share of the South Coast points, from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Betfred offer Brighton at 6/5, the draw at 11/5 and 12/5 for Southampton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/10 that Neal Maupay Scores Anytime and 11/4 that James Ward-Prowse Scores Anytime.
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BURNLEY v WOLVES
14.00 in England
***********BREAKING NEWS************
Burnley have sacked Sean Dyche.
It’s the Easter Weekend in England with Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday being 2-great days in the annual calendar.
Not only for those of a religious tendency but the average woman and man who have worked all year since Christmas and now most have a long weekend off.
The youths are planning a 4-day session on the Desperados and Porn Star Cocktails knowing that the next shift for most in their mundane jobs, is Tuesday morning.
What the youngsters won’t remember is the older listeners had to put up with the fact that the pubs used to shut at half-ten on a Good Friday.
Ten-thirty PM and then it was a Kay Bab and a saunter home.
Now the lucky beggars will be out from Friday until Bank Holiday Monday.
On waking up on Good Friday and turning on the TV, John Newsome was shocked to see the headlines,
‘Burnley Sack Sean Dyche!’
Whilst it’s accepted that Burnley are in a spot of bother, it’s more acknowledged that Sean Dyche’s position at Turf Moor was as solid as anyone’s.
However, the English Premier League is nothing if not surprising and the hierarchy at Burnley have decided to part company with Mr Dyche.
Whilst a shock to most, the prospect of relegation weighs higher than loyalty to the gravel-voiced Gingerbread Man.
With 8-games left, (now 6), Sean is down the concrete (the lad is welcome at Oakwell anytime!) and Burnley are thought to be in talks to being in Red Adair, that is Sam Allardyce to try and stay in the Premier League.
Come kick-off at Turf Moor, Burnley will have played 3-times since Wolves finished their Friday Night fixture against Newcastle, back on the 9th of April.
Game-1= Norwich 2- Burnley 0
Game-2= West Ham 1- Burnley 1
Game 3= Burnley 2 – Southampton 0
(Sean was in charge of Game-1 only.)
In the fixture at the London Stadium on Easter Sunday, both teams shared the eggs.
Wout Weghorst scored the Burnley goal, which was equalised in the 2nd-half to give both a point from a draw by a 1-1 score, as predicted in this EveryTip column.
There are a couple of things to mention from the tie against West Ham, the first being a horrendous injury to Ashley Westwood whose ankle ended up facing the other way.
All the best for the rehabilitation Ash.
The other incident saw Burnley be awarded a penalty and a confrontation between Jay Rodriguez and Maxwell Cornet.
Jay has a great record at penalties but Maxwell decided he was the man for the occasion.
With the score at 1-0 to the Clarets, Mr Cornet had the chance to increase the lead but kicked the spot-kick wide.
West Ham equalised in the 2nd-half to share the points, however, that missed penalty was the difference between 1-point and 3.
It’s hoped for Maxwell’s sake that Burnley are not relegated because of the missed spot-kick.
On Thursday, the caretaker manager Mike Jackson saw his chargers get a much-needed victory against Southampton at Turf Moor and told the threat of relegation to Beat It!
(Sorry!)
Connor Roberts opened the scoring for the home side after 12-minutes, with Nathan Collins doubling the lead just before the half-time cup of tea.
With no further goals in the 2nd-half Burnley got all 3-points.
Burnley sit 18th in the table with 28-points, now having completed 32-fixtures.
One point adrift of Everton.
The Clarets play this fixture against Wolves on Saturday, so in effect could have overhauled the Toffees if a victory is achieved.
That Friday Night game at St James Park, over 2-weeks ago, ended in a defeat for Bruno’s Gold and Blacks by a 1-0 score.
At the time, Wolves sat 8th in the table, with 49-points, from 32-fixtures played, however, because the closest team to Bruno’s men only had 37-points, Wolves remain 8th, coming into this fixture away against Burnley, some 15-days later.
At Molineux back in December, neither team troubled the scorer, with the game finishing in a draw by a 0-0 score.
Enough said!
Betfred offer Burnley at 7/4, the draw at 2/1 and 7/4 for Wolves to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Maxwell Cornet Scores First and 10/3 that Burnley Win To Nil.
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CHELSEA v WEST HAM
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
Chelsea confirmed their place in the Final of this season’s FA Cup, by inflicting a defeat on Crystal Palace at Wembley by a 2-0 scoreline, setting up a tie against Liverpool in a re-run of the Carabao Cup Final.
Following the game at Wembley, Thomas’s Blue Engines faced Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
After Arsenal had suffered defeats in their previous 3-fixtures, it was predicted an easy home victory for Chelsea.
That wasn’t the case with Mikel’s Young Guns inflicting a defeat by a 4-2 scoreline.
Andreas Christensen made a terrible error after 13-minutes that allowed Arsenal to take the lead.
Timo Werner quickly equalised for the home team but the Gunners once again scored to go ahead again.
Cesar Azpilicueta again quickly equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Thomas Tuchel took Andreas off at half-time, obviously unhappy with the 1st-half performance.
Unfortunately, for the watching faithful, whose numbers are limited due to restrictions put on the Stamford Bridge club because of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Arsenal scored twice in the 2nd-half to inflict the defeat over the London rivals.
Chelsea sit 3rd in the table, with 62-points from 31-fixtures played.
That’s 5-points more than both Tottenham and Arsenal in 4th and 5th respectively and have a game in hand over the North London clubs.
West Ham gained an attritional point against Burnley last time out, with Tomas Soucek equalising an earlier Claret goal, to get the point from a draw by a 1-1 score.
The Hammers progressed to the Semi-Final of the Europa League by getting a victory over 2-legs against Lyon.
After the 1st-leg was tied at 1-1, West Ham got an easy victory away in France by a 3-0 scoreline.
That sets up the Semi-Final against Frankfurt.
The surprise in that is that the Bubbles faithful thought that if their idols got through to the Semis then it would be a 2-legged affair against the mighty Barcelona, however, Frankfurt, inflicted the defeat on the Spanish Giants, setting up 2-fixtures against West Ham.
The Hammers sit 7th in the Premier League table, with 52-points from 33-fixtures completed.
As a Top Four finish is unlikely, the Europa League is now the priority for David Moyes Boys.
At the London Stadium in the Game Week-15 affair, West Ham got the victory against Chelsea by a 3-2 scoreline.
Thiago Silva and Mason Mount scored goals for Chelsea to give the away team a lead at the break.
Manuel Lanzini had equalised Thiago’s opener, before Mason’s goal.
Jarrod Bowen equalised again for the Hammers and with time running out, Arthur Masuaka hit a speculative shot that somehow found its way into the Chelsea goal past a helpless Edouard Mendy, to give the home team the victory and send the Bubbles home ecstatic.
Betfred offer Chelsea at Odds On 8/15, the draw at 16/5 and 5/1 for West Ham to come away with all 3-points.
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LIVERPOOL v EVERTON
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Before the midweek rearranged fixture against Manchester United, Liverpool took on Man City once again, this time at Wembley in the Semi-Final of the FA Cup.
The 2-Heavyweights of the Premier League that are simply head and shoulders above the other 18-teams, faced each other for the 2nd-time in the space of 6-days and the 3rd-time this season.
After the previous 2-Premier League fixtures had been pretty even, both finishing in a draw by a 2-2 scoreline, the 3rd-encounter was pretty much one-way with Liverpool taking a 3-goal lead into the break.
Ibrahima Konate and 2-Sadio Mane goals gave Liverpool a comfortable lead at half-time.
Man City did score twice in the 2nd-half but in truth, Jurgen’s Reds were the better side on the day and deserved to go through to the Final.
As mentioned earlier, the Quadruple is still on for Liverpool, who have the Carabao Cup in the Anfield Trophy Cabinet already, are on the coattails of Man City in the race for the Premier League, could possibly face City in the Final of the Champions League and now face Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, being a repeat of the Carabao Cup Final.
Liverpool progressed to the Semi-Final of the Champions League following an aggregate victory over Benfica by a 6-4 score.
Liverpool got the victory in the 1st-leg at the original Stadium of Light in Lisbon by a 3-1 scoreline, however, drew the 2nd-leg at Anfield by a 3-3 score.
Jurgen’s Reds face the surprise team from the Quarter-Finals, Villarreal who got a victory over the mighty Bayern Munich.
If the fixture against Manchester United at Anfield, midweek, was a Boxing contest, the referee would have waved the fight off at half-time.
Liverpool were simply head and shoulders above a sorry set of Light Blue Devil’s with goals from Luis Diaz and Mo Salah giving the home team a comfortable lead at the break.
Sadio Mane added number 3 and with time running out, the Egyptian King scored his 2nd and Liverpool’s 4th to get the convincing victory by a 4-0 scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
Liverpool jumped to the summit of the Premier League table for 24-hours until Man City’s game against Brighton on Wednesday.
Following the midweek fixtures, Liverpool remain 2nd with 76-points from 32-fixtures completed.
Man City have 77-points from the same fixtures played.
It’s Man City’s turn to play first this time on Saturday, so could have a 4-point advantage over Liverpool before this game on Sunday.
In the 6-fixtures remaining for both clubs, it’s highly likely that Man City and Liverpool will win all 6, thus meaning that Jurgen’s Reds will fall short by a point.
However, that said, football isn’t an exact science and the odd mistake here and there, a couple of refereeing decisions going against a team or a moment of madness from a player can alter that scenario.
Everton come into this Merseyside Derby following a rearranged midweek fixture against Leicester.
The Foxes scored early and with time up on the clock, it appeared a defeat was on the cards, however, the Toffees are showing tremendous fight at the moment and scored an equaliser in the 92-minute to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
Richarlison with the goal.
Everton sit just outside of the relegation places, in 17th, with 29-points from 31-fixtures played.
Burnley now have 28-points from 32-games and play their Game Week-34 fixture on Saturday so could plunge Frank Lampard’s Everton into the relegation zone before this difficult trip to Anfield.
Whilst watching the 2-footballing Heavyweights of the Premier League go toe-to-toe, John Newsome thought of a Boxing story to include in this week’s column. Please enjoy.
Gerald ‘GMan’ McLennan, Iran Barkley, Nigel Benn, Connor Benn, Andy Townend, Errol Spence Jnr, John Newsome.
Bleak, dark, dangerous and beautiful.
As everyone who reads this EveryTip column knows, John Newsome is a big Boxing fan and loves the art of pugilism.
In these days of changing ways and so-called liberated days, a story sprang to mind of a friend of mine.
Over the Easter Sporting Weekend, John took in a couple of Fights.
This may be a tenuous link, however, it brought to the fore a vicious boxing contest between 2-fierce warriors who didn’t take or give an inch in almost 10-fierce rounds back in February 1995.
Ones great friend Andy Townend boxed for the British Super Featherweight Title at the O2 in September 2016.
Andy is a superb boxer and with the wind blowing and the right guidance would have gone on to win a World Title.
Unfortunately, life dictated that Andy’s boxing path wasn’t to be.
Martin J Ward beat Andy that night, on the same bill that Gennady Golovkin beat Kell Brook.
All of the Lights!
On the undercard of that bout at the O2, back in September 2016 was a certain Conor Benn, son of the legendary Nigel Benn.
Conor was 3 and 0 at the time, knocking out a guy called Joe Ducker.
Which was a great boxing name Duck-er.
On Easter Saturday, Conor fought Chris Van Heerden in Manchester for the WBA Continental Title.
Chris had lost twice in his career, once against Errol Spence Jnr and once against Nikola Stevanovic.
Later over the Easter weekend, in the same Boxing weight category, the said Errol Spence Jnr fought and successfully beat Yordenis Ugas for the WBC/WBA and IBF Welterweight Titles.
John Newsome was at the Kell Brook v Errol Spence Jnr fight at Bramall Lane back in May 2017.
Errol comfortably beat a very honest and brave Kell that night.
Conor Benn wants an all-English dust-up with Kell or Amir Khan then a fight with Mr Spence, who looks set to take on Terence Crawford next.
Young Conor is well on the way to challenging for a World Title himself, which brings in the next step of the tenuous link and memories of the great Nigel Benn, Conor’s dad.
As a boxing fan from an early age, an 11-year old, listening to Larry Holmes, who comfortably beat Muhammad Ali, in 1980 on the wireless with Grandad Albert, John is well versed in the Boxing art.
Nowadays there’s YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and the rest, with KSI and the Paul’s becoming famous in the boxing world without being boxers.
In 1989, there was no such thing as TubeYou, there wasn’t even Mobile phones or Sky Sports.
Aged 25, Nigel suffered a defeat against another great British fighter, Michael Watson, in May of that year.
At the time Mr Benn was 22 and 0, on the way to the World Middleweight Title.
The loss was just a setback suffered by most boxers and Big Nige was back 5-months later, winning 3-more fights before being offered a World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Title fight against Iran ‘The Blade’ Barcley.
Nigel knocked out Iran in the 1st-round in their fight in Las Vegas back in August 1990 to win the WBO Middleweight title.
Iran The Blade had taken the Middleweight Title from the great Thomas Hearns, however, had suffered defeats against Roberto Duran and Michael Nuno before fighting for the vacant WBO Middleweight title against Nigel Benn in August 1990.
Iran continued to fight on, even pitching up against the great James Toney and Trevor Berbick.
If none are familiar with Trevor.
The Big Jamaican, fighting out of Canada, was the last person to box against Muhammad Ali and the person that the great Mike Tyson defeated to win the World Boxing Council Heavyweight Title in 1986.
A link between the old and the new, in the Heavyweight Division.
Boxing is a beautiful art but also a brutal, dangerous sport that was brought to the fore when Nigel Benn fought Gerald ‘the G-Man’ McClellan in February 1995.
Gerald was the World Boxing Council (WBC) Middleweight Champion having 31-victories and 2-defeats on the record going into the fight against the new holder of the Super-Middleweight belt, Nigel Benn on the 25th of February 1995.
The 2-defeats suffered by GM were a points loss in a 6-round and 8-round contest, early on in the career of the Illinois fighter.
Gerald and Nigel, this time, fought at Super-Middleweight, which is 8-lbs higher than Middleweight.
Mr McClellan had won the Middleweight belt against Julian Jackson, who had taken the vacant title by knocking out Sheffield’s Herol ‘Bomber’ Graham.
At the time, Herol was the favourite to win and for 3-rounds, outboxed Julian, until JJ decided, ‘Enough is enough is enough!’
and knocked the Sheffield fighter clean out with a devastating punch.
Mr McClellan then beat up Julian Jackson again in a rematch which was no doubt, part of the initial contract.
The scene was now set for the Fight of the Decade.
Gerald McClellan was the clear odds on favourite, despite Nigel Benn being in his home city and the holder of the belt.
Gerald smashed Nigel out of the ring in the first round with bludgeoning punches that Nigel had no answers to.
The onslaught continued with both fighters clubbing each other, there weren’t many light jabs.
In the 8th-round, Nigel was down again from another big punch and it looked like the fight was coming to an end.
However, in the 9th, a round, that Gerald McClellan had never encountered before, a strange moment occurred when Nigel Benn, failed to connect a booming right hand and stumbled to the canvas.
The fight was reminiscent of the 3rd-Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier fight which was dubbed,
‘The Thrilla in Manilla’
Eddie Futch, Joe Frazier’s trainer, had seen 4 of his fighters die in the ring.
Eddie wasn’t about to have a 5th and pulled Joe out of the fight at the end of the 14th-round.
Back in the day, fights lasted 15 x 3-minute rounds.
This was changed to 12, soon after Ali v Frazier 3.
The Thrilla in Manilla was all-square going into the final round but Mr Futch decided Joe had taken enough punishment.
Muhammad Ali was spent too and it’s not certain whether the great man would continue himself.
On seeing Joe Frazier fail to come out for the 15th and final round, Mr Ali celebrated then collapsed in a heap, exhausted from the gruelling bout.
Both sustained horrific injuries both visual and internal with both passing blood for several weeks after.
The fight between Nigel Benn and Gerald McClennan continued into the 9th-round.
When falling, it looked like Nigel’s head connected with Gerald’s causing some discomfort to the American.
From that moment, Gerald McClellan’s race was run and the boy only just survived the 9th, whilst struggling to breathe, constantly putting the gum shield on the outside of his mouth.
In the 10th, the fight was over.
Nigel initially forced Gerald to take a knee but after the referee counted to 7, Mr McClellan somehow managed to get to his feet, no doubt his fighter’s instinct did that as the guy was spent, not only physically but mentally too, with more than fatigue causing the problem.
A few seconds later, following a similar incident, Gerald took a knee again but this time, there was no getting up and the referee counted out the American, meaning Nigel Benn had been victorious and retained his WBC Super-Middleweight belt.
Although the fight was over in the ring, Gerald McClellan’s battle for life had only just started.
The guy was clearly in distress slumped in the corner on the canvas floor, the floor, not the customary stool.
Nigel Benn rightly celebrated as a Champion should as the boy didn’t know the extent of the injury to his opponent.
This was 1995 and although there were medical staff in attendance, the stringent rules in place today were in their infancy back then.
However, paramedics and ringside doctors knew something was wrong with Mr McClellan and got him to a hospital almost immediately.
Although Nigel had been victorious, the fight had taken a physical toll on the Brit too and Mr Benn was also taken to the hospital after the fight.
In the following weeks and months, it became apparent that Gerald McClellan had sustained life-threatening injuries against Nigel Benn on that night in February 1995 and the battle now would be outside the ring, in trying to stay alive.
Gerald McClellan is now in a wheelchair, struggling to understand things, talking in sentences that are sometimes difficult to decipher and is partially deaf.
The American pugilist has around the clock care and supervision by his sister Lisa.
When watching interviews with Gerald there’s a feeling that in his opinion the injury was caused intentionally by a head butt.
When Nigel Benn’s name is mentioned, the immediate reaction from Gerald is,
‘Head Butt?’
It’s what happens in Boxing.
When 2-great fighters go toe-to-toe in the ring, there are going to be times when there’s a clash of heads, it’s inevitable, whether intentional or not.
Nigel Benn, himself suffered in the years following the battle and succumbed to his own Mental Health problems.
The Americans gave up on Gerald McClellan and his sister, leaving the two to survive on their own but Nigel didn’t!
In 2007 Nigel Benn arranged a benefit night for Gerald McClellan, to raise money in the hope that it would ease the burden on the great fighters’ family.
Whilst no one can ever change the outcome of the night of February 25th 1995, the fight will live long in the memory as one of the most brutal World Championship Title fights on British soil.
That leads on to Conor Benn, whose fight against Chris Van Heerden, himself was no pushover, having a record of 28/2/1, lasted less than 5-minutes.
Young Conor knocked down Chris with fierce vehement punches and whilst Mr Van Heerden tried to get back to his feet, the referee, quite rightly, waved the fight off.
Which is now 28-wins, 3-losses and a draw on Chris’s record.
The 2-previous losses were against Errol Spence Jnr and Nikola Stevanovic.
Added to that, now Conor Benn’s name.
To go full circle with this story, Errol Spence Jnr beat Kell Brook at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, on the 27th of May 2017.
All of the lights.
On the same bill, that night was John’s mate Andy Townend, who knocked out Jon Kays to win the WBC Super Featherweight Continental title.
Unfortunately for Andy, the Super Featherweight is 134-lbs, Mr Townend weighed in at 135-lbs, 1-lb more than legal and although the Barnsley Boy won in spirit, the lad didn’t win in reality, with the WBC declaring that Andy Townend was overweight.
A devastating night for both of the Yorkshire pugilists with Kell suffering a horrendous beating, at the hands of Errol Spence Jnr
Conor Benn is on course to take on Errol Spence Jnr for the World Welterweight Title.
Don’t bet against Mr Benn.
Rafa Toffees were smashed at Goodison Park back in December, with Jurgen’s Reds getting the away night victory by a 4-1 scoreline.
Jordan Henderson and Mo Salah scored the Liverpool goals before Demarai Gray pulled a goal back before the half-time whistle.
The Egyptian King added his 2nd and Liverpool’s 3rd, midway through the 2nd-half before Diogo Jota completed the rout.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 2/11, the draw at 6/1 and 11/1 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 10/3 that Sadio Mane Scores First and slight Odds On 10/11 that Liverpool Win To Nil.
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Monday 25th
CRYSTAL PALACE v LEEDS UNITED
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
Crystal Palace come into this home fixture against Leeds United off the back of a Semi-Final defeat against Chelsea at Wembley and a loss against Newcastle at St James Park.
The defeat in the Semi-Final, whilst annoying for the Eagle Ultras was on the cards as it appeared that Patrick Vieira had set up his Palace side to get to a penalty shootout.
That may not be the case but from the outside looking in, it did appear that Crystal Palace were very negative.
Unfortunately, the circumstances didn’t improve on Wednesday, with Patrick’s Eagles suffering a defeat against Eddie’s Magpies by a 1-0 score at St James Park.
Crystal Palace sit 14th in the table, with 37-points from 32-fixtures completed.
It will be exactly 16-days since Leeds United last ventured out onto a football pitch, with a win against Watford on the 9th of April, being Jesse’s Whites’ last fixture.
Goals from Raphinha, Rodrigo and Jack Harrison gave Leeds the victory by a 3-0 scoreline.
Leeds United sit 16th in the table, with 33-points from 32-games played.
Raphinha converted a penalty in the 93rd-minute to give Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites the victory over Patrick Vieira’s Eagles at Elland Rd back in December by a 1-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at Evens 1/1, the draw at 13/5 and 5/2 for Leeds United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Wilfried Zaha Scores Anytime and Evens 1/1 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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