The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are WEST HAM versus LIVERPOOL and ASTON VILLA versus CHELSEA. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these and all game week 35 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-35
Saturday 27th
Happy Birthday Trackster xxx
WEST HAM v LIVERPOOL
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
West Ham didn’t play in the midweek fixtures and host Liverpool today off the back of a disappointing defeat against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park last Sunday.
Michail Antonio did score along with a goal credited to the Palace Goalkeeper, however, the Eagles scored 5, to inflict the London defeat by a 5-2 scoreline.
Maybe that was a hangover from being knocked out of the Europa League the previous Thursday.
It’s looking more and more likely that David Moyes will be leaving the London Stadium at the end of the campaign with rumours that the West Ham hierarchy are already looking for a new Manager.
Ruben Amorim is on the list but is supposedly wanted by today’s opponents Liverpool.
Graham Potter is the favourite along with a couple of ex-Bubbles, Michael Carrick and Gary O’Neil, along with Julen Lopetegui.
Added to those are the usual suspects such as Brendan Rodgers, Rafa Benitez and Sam Allardyce.
It wouldn’t be the same if Big Sam wasn’t on the list.
West Ham sit in 8th place with 48 points from 34 fixtures played.
Remaining fixtures-
West Ham v Liverpool
Chelsea v West Ham
West Ham v Luton
Man City v West Ham
Liverpool did feature in the midweek fixtures, taking on their Merseyside rivals Everton at Goodison Park.
After watching Arsenal destroy Chelsea the night before, it was imperative for Jurgen’s Reds to gain a victory over Sean’s Toffees, regardless of the score.
Unfortunately for the Red Side of the Mersey, Everton, who had played like Hartlepool against Chelsea last week, played like Real Madrid on Wednesday and smashed a sorry set of Jurgen’s Reds by a 2-0 score.
The devastating defeat against the Toffees leaves Liverpool’s Title Chances in tatters.
Liverpool dropped to 3rd in the Premier League table with 74 points following the midweek fixtures, now the outsiders in the Three Horse Race for the Trophy.
Man City sit 2nd with 76 points and Arsenal are at the summit with 77.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal have completed 34 games whereas Man City have only played 33 times.
If Liverpool fail to win today, then surely the Title Challenge has gone.
Regarding Jurgen Klopp and the next Manager of Liverpool, it appears that Arne Slot, who is the current Feyenoord Boss, is the Man heading to Anfield.
The Liverpool faithful will be hoping that Arne performs a bit better than his Dutch Mate Erik Ten Hag, otherwise, Klipperty might just say,
‘I’ll be back!’
Remaining fixtures-
West Ham v Liverpool
Liverpool v Tottenham
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Liverpool v Wolves
In the Game Week-6 encounter at Anfield, Liverpool gained the victory over West Ham by a 3-1 scoreline.
Mo Salah converted a penalty after 16 minutes before Jarrod Bowen equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota scored the 2nd-half goals to give Jurgen’s Reds the win over David’s Hammers.
Betfred offer West Ham at 4/1, the draw at 16/5 and Odds On 1/2 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 21/10 that Jarrod Bowen Scores Anytime and slight Odds On 10/11 that Liverpool Score in Both Halves.
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FULHAM v CRYSTAL PALACE
15.00 in England
Fulham come into this London Derby against Crystal Palace off the back of a defeat against Liverpool at Craven Cottage last Sunday.
Timothy Castagne did score to equalise Liverpool’s opener on the stroke of half-time, however, the away team scored 2 more after the break to inflict the defeat on Fulham by a 3-1 scoreline.
That leaves Fulham in 13th place with 42 points from 34 games played.
Remaining fixtures-
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Brentford v Fulham
Fulham v Man City
Luton v Fulham
Crystal Palace are on fire at the moment.
After gaining emphatic victories over Liverpool and West Ham, it was a 3rd in a row on Wednesday, when a Jean-Philippe Mateta double gave Palace the win over Newcastle by a 2-0 scoreline.
It appears from the outside that Oliver Glasner has been able to get his methods over to the boys pretty quickly which sets up the Eagle Ultras for an exciting new 2024/25 campaign watching their idols.
Crystal Palace sit in 14th place with 39 points from 34 fixtures completed.
That is 3 points adrift of today’s opponents, however, Fulham do have a far superior goal difference between the two which would mean that even a victory for Palace today, wouldn’t change the league position unless Palace win by an 8-0 scoreline.
Fulham- 42 points, scored 50 and conceded 54 (minus-4)
Crystal Palace- 39 points, scored 44 and conceded 56 (minus-12)
Remaining fixtures-
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace v Manchester United
Wolves v Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
The scorer wasn’t needed when these two teams met at Selhurst Park back in mid-September 2023, with the game finishing in a draw by a 0-0 score, or as some might say, a goalless draw.
That was the 2nd goalless draw and the 3rd drawn game out of the last 4 meetings.
With the other 2 being by a 2-2 score and a 0-3 scoreline in favour of Fulham.
It’s worth noting that the 3 draws involved Roy Hodgson as the Palace Manager, with the defeat being overseen by Patrick Vieira.
Betfred offer Fulham at slight Odds On 19/20, the draw at 12/5 and 12/5 for Crystal Palace to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 13/10 that Rodrigo Muniz Scores Anytime and 21/10 that Eberechi Eze Scores Anytime.
Away Win 1-2- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
MANCHESTER UNITED v BURNLEY
15.00 in England
Manchester United were trailing twice in the relegation battle against Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
After conceding a Sheffield opener, Harry Maguire scored an equaliser, to take both teams in level at the break.
The away team then scored a 2nd, 5 minutes after the restart which was again equalised, this time by Bruno Fernandes on the hour mark, with the Captain Arm Thrower converting a penalty.
Bruno added his 2nd and United’s 3rd before Rasmus Hojlund rounded off the scoring to give Manchester United the victory by a 4-2 scoreline.
Obviously, the ‘relegation battle’ quote was said tongue in cheek, however, Manchester United are diabolical at the moment, playing 3 different types of games over the 90 minutes.
In some parts, United are excellent, then resort to being poor, then play in a way that is indescribable.
In the FA Cup Semi-Final on Sunday, against Coventry, who without being disrespectful to, are a mid-table Championship team, United scored 3 goals to comfortably lead going into the final 20 minutes.
United then conceded 3 goals and were a millimetre close to conceding a 4th and ultimately being knocked out of the Cup.
The dreaded VAR saved Erik Ten Hag’s Men who went on to win a penalty shootout and possibly gave Erik a stay of execution.
Performances like that one and the one against Sheffield United, the worst team in the Premier League for some time, doesn’t bode well for Mr Ten Hag’s future in Manchester.
The strange anomaly is, that United haven’t lost many games this year, however, it’s more of the performances that are worrying to the Red Devil faithful.
Erik came out after the FA Cup game and stated some of the media and the comments were a ‘disgrace!’
Well unfortunately for Erik Ten Hag, the Manchester United display was a ‘disgrace’ and folk, whether in the media or fans of the club, are right to expect more from the Management and the Players.
Erik Ten Hag and his Ten Bobs are simply not good enough at the moment and something needs to change.
Whether that means a change in the Manager or the Players is for the United hierarchy to decide, however, don’t be surprised if Erik Ten Hag is replaced at the end of the season, with the possibility that Gareth Southgate will take charge.
Despite the abject display against the Blades, married with a defeat by Newcastle, the victory lifted United up to 6th in the Premier League Table with 53 points from 33 games played.
Three points ahead of the Magpies.
At the moment, 6th would usually mean a Europa Conference League place but that has been upgraded to a Europa League spot because the winners of the FA Cup are automatically in that competition.
If Man City win the FA Cup, then the Europa League place goes to whoever finishes 6th, currently Manchester United.
If United win the Cup, they will be in the Europa League, regardless of the league position.
The team finishing 6th (if it’s not United) would go into the Europa Conference League.
Added to that, Aston Villa have qualified for the Semi-Final of this season’s Conference League and if the Villains win the Trophy then normally the winners are automatically entered into next year’s Europa League, however, Villa are currently in the Champions League places.
That extra Europa League spot will not, repeat, will not go to an English club.
There was a chance that there would be 5 Premier League clubs in next season’s Champions League, however, due to none of the English clubs progressing to the Semi-Final, the extra places will probably go to the Italians and Germans.
As it stands at the moment the European places are as follows,
Champions League-
Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Europa League-
Tottenham and Manchester United.
Conference League-
Newcastle.
Obviously, the European places are unclear but that will work itself out, suffice to say, English clubs will only have 4 in the Champions League, 2 in the Europa League and 1 in the Conference League.
Remaining fixtures-
Manchester United v Burnley
Crystal Palace v Manchester United
Manchester United v Arsenal
Manchester United v Newcastle
Brighton v Manchester United
Burnley remain in 19th place with 23 points from 34 games, despite gaining a victory over the worst team in the Premier League, Sheffield United last weekend.
Jacob Bruun-Larsen and Lorenz Assignon scored in the 1st-half at Bramall Lane to give the Clarets a comfortable lead at the break.
Sheffield United did pull a goal back just after the restart but further goals from Lyle Foster and Joey Gudmundsson gave Burnley the points from a 4-1 scoreline.
That leaves Vincent’s Clarets 3 points from safety, however, games are running out to try and avoid relegation.
The safe team at the moment is Nottingham Forest, who Burnley meet in the final fixture of this campaign.
If Vincent Kompany can keep his Clarets within touching distance of Nuno’s Tricky Trees then that final game could become an exciting decider as to who stays in the Premier League and who goes down.
Remaining fixtures-
Manchester United v Burnley
Burnley v Newcastle
Tottenham v Burnley
Burnley v Nottingham Forest
Bruno Fernandes scored the only goal of the game at Turf Moor, on the stroke of half-time, to give Manchester United the victory over Burnley by a 1-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Manchester United at Odds On 4/9, the draw at 100/30 and 9/2 for Burnley to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Marcus Rashford Scores First and slight Odds On 1/2 that Both Teams Score.
(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 9/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
NEWCASTLE v SHEFFIELD UNITED
15.00 in England
Newcastle suffered a defeat against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Wednesday, with the home team gaining the victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Eddie Howe can’t have any excuses as most of the first eleven were on show in South London, so the defeat just needs to be put to bed and move on to this home game against the Blades.
Newcastle dropped to 7th in the table with 50 points from 33 games played.
At the moment, 7th isn’t a guaranteed European place but as mentioned in the above preview, there is still a chance that 7th will offer up the opportunity to compete in the Europa Conference League
Remaining fixtures-
Newcastle v Sheffield United
Burnley v Newcastle
Newcastle v Brighton
Manchester United v Newcastle
Brentford v Newcastle
The copy and paste is back in action following the Blades’ latest outing.
Sheffield United suffered another defeat on Wednesday, this time against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
As mentioned in previous columns, the first 6 words of the start of a Blunts’ preview can just be copied and pasted, then add the day, opponent and venue.
Sheffield United started well against Manchester United on Wednesday when Jayden Bogle scored to put the away team in front.
United did score an equaliser to leave both teams level at the interval.
Ben Brereton-Diaz scored just after the restart to reinstate the lead but then the wheels fell off, with Manchester United scoring 3 times to inflict the defeat on Sheffield United by a 4-2 scoreline.
It leaves the Blades at the foot of the table with 16 points from 34 games played and on the brink of relegation, which will be confirmed if a defeat occurs today.
In truth, a victory against Newcastle won’t prevent relegation, it will just delay the inevitable.
Remaining fixtures-
Newcastle v Sheffield United
Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest
Everton v Sheffield United
Sheffield United v Tottenham
James from Swinton, nowhere near Bramall Lane, is acquiesced about going back to the Championship but is happy that the Passport won’t be needed for trips to Molineux, Goodison Park and the GTech Stadium.
This fixture against Newcastle always brings back memories for Little Jimbo, walking down the lane looking up and seeing Black and White birds and asking the lovely Jade what they were,
‘Magpies James!’
Later on the road, Jim stops and looks in the field, scratching his head and says to the wife-to-be,
‘Those are big Magpies love.’
The weary fiancé replies calmly,
‘Those are cows, you daft little Blunt!’
James isn’t bothered, the little lad just laughs and heads to the pub for a ‘Gallon of Magnets’ hoping for a ‘Greasy Chip Butty’ to round off the night.
If one remembers, Newcastle gained the victory over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane by a devastating 8-0 score (Eight!)
Amazingly there were 8 different Magpie goal scorers on the day.
Sean Longstaff, Dan Burn, Sven Botman, Callum Wilson, Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak all notched to give the Toon Army a brilliant ‘Night Out In Sheffield.’
Betfred offer Newcastle at Odds On 1/5, the draw at 5/1 and 9/1 for Sheffield United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/4 that Alexander Isak Scores First and slight Odds On 4/5 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 9/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
WOLVES v LUTON
15.00 in England
Wolves suffered a a narrow defeat against Bournemouth at Molineux on Wednesday with the Cherries getting the victory by a 1-0 away night scoreline.
Bournemouth were reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute, however, Wolves couldn’t take advantage of the extra person and ultimately suffered the loss.
That leaves Wolves in 12th place with 43 points from 34 games completed.
Remaining fixtures-
Wolves v Luton
Man City v Wolves
Wolves v Crystal Palace
Liverpool v Wolves
Luton suffered another defeat last time out, the 9th from the last 12 Premier League outings.
Probably the scoreline from the fixture against Brentford was a surprise, as apart from Man City gaining a victory by a 5-1 scoreline, Luton’s games are usually pretty tight.
Unfortunately for Rob Edwards and his Hatters, Brentford also gained the victory by the same 5-1 scoreline, with Luke Berry scoring the Luton consolation goal in the final minutes when the Bees had scored 5.
Luton stay in the relegation zone, sitting 18th with 25 points from 34 games completed, now a point away from safety.
If one looks at Luton’s remaining games, there doesn’t appear to be any tough fixtures so there is a chance the Hatters can still jump up a few places, considering Nottingham Forest have to face Man City and Chelsea in 2 of their 4 games left.
Remaining fixtures-
Wolves v Luton
Luton v Everton
West Ham v Luton
Luton v Fulham
There is probably only Nottingham Forest that Luton and Burnley can catch, Everton have 8 points more than Luton so it would mean the Hatters have to win at least 3 of the 4 and hope the Toffees lose all 4.
As everyone can see, one of the 4 remaining fixtures is a matchup between Luton and Everton, however, that game could be irrelevant if Luton fail to win today and Everton gain all 3-points.
It would then be a straight shootout between Nottingham Forest, Burnley and Luton as to who stays up and who goes down.
After a goalless 1st-half at Kenilworth Rd, which had seen the Wolves Midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellagarde sent off, 2nd-half goals from Wolves’ Pedro Neto and Luton’s Carlton Morris gave both teams a share of the points from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Betfred offer Wolves at slight Odds On 9/10, the draw at 5/2 and 12/5 for Luton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/4 that Matheus Cunha Scores Anytime and 5/2 that Cauley Woodrow Scores Anytime.
Home Win 4-2- Get 40/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Jordan Pickford- Everton
RIGHT-BACK- Ben White- Arsenal
CENTRE-BACK- Jarrad Branthwaite- Everton
CENTRE-BACK- Harry Maguire- Manchester United
LEFT-BACK- Josko Gvardiol- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Martin Odegaard- Arsenal
MIDFIELDER- Phil Foden- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Bruno Fernandes- Manchester United
FORWARD- Jean-Philippe Mateta- Crystal Palace
FORWARD- Dominic Calvert-Lewin- Everton
FORWARD- Kai Havertz- Arsenal
STAR MAN- Phil Foden- Man City
EVERTON v BRENTFORD
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Everton gained back-to-back victories by the same 2-0 scoreline on Wednesday, with the victims being the Merseyside Neighbours Liverpool.
In truth, the Toffees outplayed their City rivals, with goals from Jarred Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin giving Sean’s men the points.
Everton sit in 16th place with 33 points from 34 games played, which although is not mathematically safe, there is a gap of 8 points between themselves and Luton both with 4 games remaining.
That would mean, Luton would have to win at least 3 of the 4 games and Everton lose all 4.
Whilst not impossible, that simply isn’t going to happen so it should mean Everton are safe for another season in the Premier League, which wasn’t a certainty a couple of weeks back.
A victory today, added to a Luton defeat would confirm that statement.
Remaining fixtures-
Everton v Brentford
Luton v Everton
Everton v Sheffield United
Arsenal v Everton
Brentford smashed Luton at Kenilworth Rd last time out, with the Bees gaining the victory over the Hatters by a 5-1 away day scoreline.
Yoane Wissa scored the opening 2 goals, to give Brentford a lead at the break before Ethan Pinnock, Keane Lewis-Potter and Kevin Schade added the others in the 2nd-half.
There was a bit of indecision when offering up a prediction for the game, however, once John Newsome knew Ethan Pinnock was back from injury, a Brentford victory was given.
Thomas Frank’s Bees are a lot better team when Ethan is playing than without the Big Lad.
Ivan Toney didn’t feature against Luton due to a slight injury but with the two ex-Barnsley players in the team, there won’t be any relegation concerns.
Brentford sit in 15th place with 35 points from 34 fixtures completed.
Two points more than today’s opponents meaning the winners will be above the losers.
Along with that, it’s 10 points more than Luton who sit in the final relegation place.
Remaining fixtures-
Everton v Brentford
Brentford v Fulham
Bournemouth v Brentford
Brentford v Newcastle
At the GTech Stadium back in September, it was the away team that gained the victory.
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the opener for Everton which was equalised by Brentford’s Mathias Jensen to take both teams in level at the break.
James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in the 2nd-half which gave the Toffees the win over the Bees by a 3-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Everton at 13/10, the draw at 11/5 and 7/4 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 21/10 that Dominic Calvert-Lewin Scores Anytime and 15/8 that Bryan Mbeumo Scores Anytime.
Draw 1-1 Get 11/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ASTON VILLA v CHELSEA
20.00 in England
TNT Sport
The single girls and boys are overjoyed with the prospect of watching football on a Saturday Night, a glass of wine in hand (other beverages are available), a slice of Pizza in the other, whilst the married Men and Women, which includes the Manchester Stick and Ball Thrower and the Iccle Fat Lad from Penistone, have to watch Britain Hasn’t Got Any Talent or some other rubbish that defines itself as Light Entertainment.
Britain has got a wealth of talent, however, none are included in the dreadful acts who go in front of Ant and his Mate and the New Look Simon Cowell.
Aston Villa gained a victory over Bournemouth by a 3-1 scoreline last Sunday, as predicted in this EveryTip column.
After conceding a Cherries goal, Morgan Rogers equalised for Villa on the stroke of half-time.
Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey then added 2 and 3 in the 2nd-half to give Unai Emery’s Claret and Blues the points.
That was after a dramatic penalty shootout victory against Lille in the Europa Conference League the previous Thursday, where following a defeat in the 2nd-leg by the same 2-1 scoreline as Villa’s victory in the 1st-leg, the game went to spot-kicks.
Emiliano Martinez was the star of the show, as the Argentinian loves to be, saving the vital Lille penalty to win the game and see Aston Villa progress to the Semi-Final against Olympiacos, so at worst, a nice little jolly over to Greece for the Villains at the beginning of May.
Fiorentina or Club Brugge await the winner in the Final of the Conference League that will also take place in Greece on Wednesday the 29th of May 2024.
Maybe a few of the faithful will head to Greece for an extended break to cover the Semi-Final and the Final.
The winners of the Europa Conference League are automatically entered into next season’s Europa League, however, with Aston Villa in the Champions League places, their extra Europa League place will go to a team outside of England.
The Premier League would only get an extra Europa League spot if Villa win the Conference League and finished outside the European qualification via the league, which is not going to happen.
UEFA describe the Europa Conference League as ‘the third season of Europe’s tertiary club football tournament.’
Firstly, the word ‘tertiary’ was unknown to John Newsome and had never been spoken or heard in the 54 and a bit years of existence.
The meaning of ‘tertiary’ as per the English Oxford Dictionary is-
1- Third in order or level.
‘the tertiary stage of the European Competition’
2.-Geology-
Relating to or denoting the first period of the Cenozoic era, between the Cretaceous and Quaternary periods, and comprising the Palaeogene and Neogene sub-periods.
There are a few more words there that this EveryTip contributor will leave alone.
Remaining fixtures-
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Brighton v Aston Villa
Aston Villa v Liverpool
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa
Chelsea’s last 2 Premier League fixtures have produced 11 goals, however, following the brilliant victory against Everton by a 6-0 score, the Blues suffered a devastating defeat against Arsenal on Tuesday at the Emirates by a 5-0 away night scoreline.
Following the weekend’s tight affair against Man City in the Semi-Final of the FA Cup, it was assumed that Chelsea would hold their own against Arsenal, however, that wasn’t the case, with the Gunners being simply too good for the Blues.
That was Chelsea’s first defeat in 8 Premier League games plus the 5 goals Arsenal scored confirmed the highest number the Blues have conceded in one season.
Probably the main reason for the abject display was the fact that Cole Palmer was missing from the squad, with what the Chelsea bosses referred to as an illness.
It was pointed out in the media the day before the game against Arsenal that,
‘Mauricio Pochettino has challenged Chelsea to prove that they are not ‘Cole Palmer Football Club’ should Chelsea have to take on Arsenal on Tuesday without their player of the season.’
The result sort of answered Mauricio’s challenge, with Mikel’s Young Guns hammering Cole Palmer FC by a 5-0 score.
CPFC will want their star man to be back for this Saturday Night Football against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
However, without Cole Palmer, Chelsea will find it difficult.
Added to the fixtures against Arsenal and Everton, the previous 5 Premier League games that Chelsea have been involved in have produced 4 or more goals in each fixture, so expect goals when the Blues are playing.
Chelsea remain in 9th place with 47 points from 32 games completed.
Remaining fixtures-
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Chelsea v Tottenham
Chelsea v West Ham
Nottingham Forest v Chelsea
Brighton v Chelsea
Chelsea v Bournemouth
A single Ollie Watkins goal scored midway through the 2nd-half gave Aston Villa the victory by a 1-0 scoreline over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Game Week-6 encounter.
Malo Gusto was shown a straight Red Card leaving Chelsea a man short that Villa took advantage of 15 minutes later with Ollie scoring the winner against the 10 men.
These two have met in the Carabao Cup earlier this year, which saw Chelsea victorious following a replay.
The initial game at Stamford Bridge finished in a 0-0 scoreline which was followed by a victory for the Blues at Villa Park by a 3-1 score.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 23/20, the draw at 5/2 and 9/5 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/2 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and 6/4 that Aston Villa 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 3-2- Get 16/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Sunday 28th
TOTTENHAM v ARSENAL
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
Tottenham come into this North London Derby off the back of a devastating defeat against Newcastle at St James Park last time out.
That last time out was on the 13th of April which means Tottenham will have had over 2 weeks to dwell on the performance against the Magpies.
Added to that it does give the players time to recover from any niggling injury.
Richarlison hasn’t played for a while so with the break, could feature today.
Tottenham sit in 5th place with 60 points from 32 games played.
Aston Villa had 66 points coming into this weekend’s set of fixtures and technically could have 69 points before Tottenham take to the field as Villa play on Saturday.
That said, Aston Villa will have completed 35 games by then, leaving Tottenham with 3 games in hand.
Remaining fixtures-
Tottenham v Arsenal
Chelsea v Tottenham
Liverpool v Tottenham
Tottenham v Burnley
Tottenham v Man City
Sheffield United v Tottenham
This is pure hearsay but it’s thought Ange Postecoglou is a Liverpool fan.
Good luck Arsenal and Man City!
Arsenal come into this fixture, sitting proudly at the Summit of the Premier League following the midweek victory over Chelsea at the Emirates.
Goals from Leandro Trossard and a couple apiece from Ben White and Kai Havertz gave Mikel’s Young Guns the points from an emphatic 5-0 scoreline.
Arsenal were at the summit before the midweek fixtures and went first before Liverpool and Man City played their games.
The Gunners have 77 points from 34 games completed plus a far superior goal difference.
Liverpool missed the opportunity to join Arsenal at the summit and still have 74 points now from 34 fixtures and sit 3rd, with Man City jumping above up to 2nd place with 76 points, however, City have only completed 33 games, so it is still in Pep Guardiola’s hands.
Mikel Arteta can only keep sending his team out to gain a victory in the hope that the other two slip up at some point (which Liverpool did on Wednesday), however, it could be today that Arsenal come unstuck against the North London Rivals.
Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp will certainly hope that’s the case and will be Tottenham fans for the day.
Remember also that Tottenham have to face Liverpool at Anfield, as well as Man City at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium, so Ange Postecoglou’s Men will have a say in where the Premier League Title will end up.
Remaining fixtures-
Tottenham v Arsenal
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Manchester United v Arsenal
Arsenal v Everton
Both teams shared the points from a draw by a 2-2 score back at the Emirates in September 2023.
Christian Romero was credited with an Own Goal to give Arsenal a lead before Son Heung-Min equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Bukayo Saka converted a penalty just after the restart to reinstate Arsenal’s lead, however, Son Heung-Min scored his and Tottenham’s 2nd to give both North Londoners a point apiece from the Archbishop’s favourite scoreline.
Betfred offer Tottenham at 11/4, the draw at 11/4 and Odds On 8/11 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 15/8 that Son Heung-Min Scores Anytime and 6/5 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
Draw 2-2- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BOURNEMOUTH v BRIGHTON
14.00 in England
Bournemouth gained a great victory over Wolves at Molineux on Wednesday.
Antoine Semenyo scored the only goal of the game to give the Cherries the points from a 1-0 scoreline.
That was the 1st win in 4 after 2 defeats and a draw, leaving Bournemouth in 10th place with 45 points from the full complement of 34 fixtures played.
Remaining fixtures-
Bournemouth v Brighton
Arsenal v Bournemouth
Bournemouth v Brentford
Chelsea v Bournemouth
Brighton suffered a defeat against Man City on Thursday by a disastrous 4-0 scoreline.
In truth, it was a very poor performance from the Seagulls who at times were culpable in conceding the goals.
Brighton stay in 11th place with 44 points from 33 games played, a place and a point behind today’s opponents but with a game in hand.
Remaining fixtures-
Bournemouth v Brighton
Brighton v Aston Villa
Newcastle v Brighton
Brighton v Chelsea
Brighton v Manchester United
Dominic Solanke scored the opener for Bournemouth when these two met at the Amex before a Brighton equaliser credited as a Milos Kerkez Own Goal meant both teams were level at half-time.
It was then left to Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma to score twice in the 2nd-half, giving the Seagulls the victory over the Cherries by a 3-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 6/5, the draw at 12/5 and 9/5 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/2 that Dominic Solanke Scores First and 13/8 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
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NOTTINGHAM FOREST v MAN CITY
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Nottingham Forest suffered a defeat against Everton last weekend with Sean Dyche’s Toffees gaining the victory over Nuno Espírito Santo’s Tricky Trees by a 2-0 scoreline.
It was the definition of the proverbial 3-pointer with Everton sitting just above Nottingham Forest by 1 point.
The defeat now leaves Forest in 17th place, 4 points adrift of Everton, plus the Tricky Trees have played a game more than the Toffees.
If one looks at the remaining fixtures, there are probably only 6 points that Forest can achieve from the 12 on offer.
That said, it’s not an exact science and other forces come into play when the Premier League games are coming to an end.
Other forces such as having, not one, not two but three blatant penalties turned down against Everton by the on-field referee Anthony Taylor and then the dreaded VAR not wanting to get involved.
It was shown on numerous media outlets that Ashley Young fouled 2 of the Forest players in the area and then punched the ball away, in a third instance that went unpunished.
At least 1 of the fouls and the handball should have been penalties or at worst, had the VAR get involved to send Anthony over to his pitch-side monitor to have a look for himself.
Nottingham Forest were not happy and made a number of comments about the incident after the game that did offer up the integrity of the officials, even suggesting that the VAR, Stuart Attwell should not have officiated the game due to being a Luton fan.
The problem when instances like this occur is no one can prove that Stuart made his decisions based on the fact that he wants the Hatters to survive and no doubt the lad consciously didn’t, however, there is always sub-conscious bias, so to avoid such conjecture, don’t put Stuart in that position in the first place.
It’s always known who a referee supports so take the argument out of the equation.
The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) could have put anyone in the Stockley Park office to avoid any discrepancy but decided to put a Luton fan in charge of the VAR for a relegation battle.
It appears that the Premier League are going to throw the book at the Nottingham Forest hierarchy for the comments made after the game, however, the ‘book’ will not be the ‘Football Rule Book’ as section 14 states-
Section 14 subsection 1-
‘If an Old Guy who’s almost 39 and still putting his boots on, kicks an opposing player up in the air because said Old Geezer is a tad too slow nowadays, then it’s a penalty.’
Section 14 subsection 2-
‘If an Old Guy, who played in the same team as his Manager over 20 years ago, suddenly thinks he’s Rocky and starts punching the football ball as if training on a speedball in the Boxing Gym, then it’s a penalty.’
Section 14 subsection 3-
‘Top Man Ashley, despite the indiscretions against Nottingham Forest.’
Nottingham Forest have the ex-Professional Referee Mark Clattenburg as an advisor.
One question-Why?
One understands Mark’s side, earn a few quid, fair play but what do Nottingham Forest gain from having someone who has no connection to the PGMOL saying,
‘That decision was wrong Nuno!’
Remaining fixtures-
Nottingham Forest v Man City
Sheffield United v Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest v Chelsea
Burnley v Nottingham Forest
Man City moved above Liverpool up to 2nd in the table following Thursday’s emphatic victory over Brighton at the Amex.
Kevin De Bruyne scored a superb header to open the scoring, with Phil Foden adding another 2 to his tally (16) for the season so far.
Julian Alvarez added a 4th in the 2nd-half to round off a comfortable night on the South Coast.
Man City have 76 points, a point behind Arsenal but have only completed 33 games, not the 34 that the Gunners have played meaning it is still City’s title to lose.
The victory against the Seagulls by a 4-0 score, also reduced the goal difference to 8 between the Top Two, which now stands at,
Arsenal- 77 points, scored 82 and conceded 26 (plus+56)
Man City- 76 points, scored 80 and conceded 32 (plus+48)
Remaining fixtures-
Nottingham Forest v Man City
Man City v Wolves
Fulham v Man City
Tottenham v Man City
Man City v West Ham
Phil Foden and Erling Haaland scored in the 7th and 14th minutes respectively to give Man City an early lead against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad.
Probably the surprise then was, that there were no further goals in the remaining hour and a quarter leaving City with the home victory by a 2-0 score.
The significant factor of the fixture back in September was that Rodri was shown a Red Card early in the 2nd-half which meant the Spaniard missed the next 3 games, 2 in the Premier League and 1 in the Carabao Cup.
Man City suffered a defeat in all 3 games, one being against Arsenal.
Imagine the Premier League Title Race at the moment if Roadie Rodri had not been sent off against the Tricky Trees.
Sliding Doors!
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 6/1, the draw at 4/1 and Odds On 3/10 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/2 that Bernardo Silva Scores Anytime and slight Odds On 9/10 that Man City Score in Both Halves.
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There hasn’t been any action in the Scottish Premier League this midweek leaving the excitement at fever pitch at the summit.
Celtic sit top with 78 points and Rangers in 2nd with 75 points, both having 5 games remaining.
Dundee (who?) v Celtic
Celtic v Hearts (who?)
Celtic v Rangers
Kilmarnock (who?) v Celtic
Celtic v St Mirren (who?)
St Mirren (who?) v Rangers
Rangers v Kilmarnock (who?)
Celtic v Rangers
Rangers v Dundee (who?)
Hearts (who?) v Rangers
Celtic- 78 points, scored 80 and conceded 26 (plus+54)
Rangers- 75 points, scored 72 and conceded 23 (plus+49)
It means either can achieve a maximum of 15 points from the remaining games, however, not both as the two meet in 3 games time.
Say both win the next 2, they go into the Old Firm Derby with Celtic having 84 points and Rangers 81.
If Celtic get the victory, they would have 87 points, 6 more than Rangers with 2 games remaining and at the moment a better goal difference.
Obviously, that’s for the future and it will be tight whatever happens but John Newsome is going all out and predicting that one of the Glasgow clubs will be Pub League Champions (again) and as both are in the Scottish FA Cup Final, the prediction is, one of the Glasgow clubs will be Pub Cup Champions.
Exciting!
The loveable OzScot has just celebrated ANZAC day over in Melbourne.
Braveheart/Kylie wasn’t sure what that meant but wanted to join in and went out and bought a load of mints.
The beautiful wife had to point out that it was ANZAC day and not TIKTAK day.
He’s still spinning around.
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