The Barclays Premier League football returns after the international break on Saturday with eight matches in the top division as the season hits the home straight now.
Saturday is a big day at the top and the bottom of the table as Tottenham have the chance to put the pressure on Leicester who don’t play until Sunday. The race for the Champions League places intensifies and then the sides involved in the relegation battle are all in action too so this promises to be an important day.
Early game
The action begins at Villa Park as Aston Villa continue their slide to the Championship when they host Chelsea.
Remi Garde was a dead man walking for a while and he finally felt the bullet in midweek as the Villa hierarchy again refused to take any responsibility for creating the mess they are in. Eric Black takes over the reins until a permanent manager is appointed and he has already laid a marker down by suspending Gabby Agbonlahor for an incident while he was away.
Chelsea should win this match but they have no motivation to do so anymore and with Diego Costa suspended I can’t be betting on them. We saw earlier in the season when they can’t be bothered to put the effort in they come unstuck and it remains to be seen what they’ve got left in them this campaign with nothing to play for. I’ll give the early game a swerve.
3pm kick offs
There are six matches which kick off at 3pm. Some of them are big games. Arsenal’s season completely unravelled when Watford knocked them out of the FA Cup but they have the chance for revenge on Saturday. Bournemouth host Champions League chasing Man City while there is a huge clash at the bottom of the table when Norwich take on Newcastle.
The other games in the traditional slot see Sunderland hosting West Brom in a match they need to win, Stoke facing Swansea and West Ham playing Crystal Palace in a London derby which could well be a rehearsal of the FA Cup final next month.
I considered backing Arsenal. Watford have been on a poor run in the league in recent times but a lot of Arsenal’s star players have been away and I can’t really trust them especially when the handicap is quite big.
Bournemouth were another side I considered especially with City’s away form average at best and with them surely having one eye on the Champions League match coming up but the Cherries were taken apart by Spurs last time out which is a concern.
History has told me to go nowhere near the bottom of the table matches this season. The Norwich vs Newcastle match has so much pressure on it that I can’t possibly work out an angle in and the same goes for the Sunderland vs West Brom game.
Stoke would probably have been a bet for me but Jack Butland’s injury puts me off there. The England stopper has been immense for them this season and I’d feel much more confident were he in the sticks.
I will go with one in the London derby and that is on the home side West Ham. The Hammers are going along so well at the Boleyn this season and it is a sign of how far they have come in this campaign that they were visibly disappointed with a draw at Chelsea last time out.
I’m not entirely sure what has happened to Palace in the league but they’ve dropped like a stone. They’ve shown they still have what it takes in the FA Cup but their woes in the league show no sign of ending and with the injuries they have in attacking areas it might not take a lot for West Ham to win this game.
We’ve seen all season that West Ham can rely on the mercurial talents of Dimitri Payet to win a game on his own but while he rightly gets all the plaudits they’re not all about him. The likes of Lanzini, Moses, Antonio and Valencia all play big roles and the sum of those parts can lead West Ham to another important win in their chase for the Champions League places.
Late game
The late game sees Liverpool hosting Spurs in a match which should be vital in the race for the title. Anything but a Tottenham win in this match and the door is wide open for Leicester on Sunday but were Spurs to leave Anfield with the 3pts there would be huge pressure on the Foxes when they play.
It is hard to assess Liverpool in this match. Prior to the international break they surrendered a 2-0 lead at Southampton and you wonder what their motivation will be like here when they have a huge Europa League clash with Dortmund coming up in midweek.
That makes it hard to bet on this game. I’m tempted by Spurs draw no bet but the pressure is all on them here so I think I’ll sit this one out and stick to West Ham.
Saturday Tips:
Back West Ham to beat Crystal Palace for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with William Hill
Back them here:
