As always after a European week there is a bit of a split in the Premier League weekend and as such just six matches take place on Saturday.
With BT Sport focusing their attention on the FA Cup there is no early kick off but there are five at the traditional 3pm slot. They see Aston Villa hosting Swansea in a battle of two managers under real pressure, Leicester take on Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium, Norwich host West Brom, Stoke face Watford and West Ham welcome Chelsea to Upton Park. The day rounds off with Arsenal vs Everton in the 5.30pm game.
Swansea looked awful against Stoke on Monday night and I would have been looking to take them on this weekend but sadly they face arguably an even worse side in Aston Villa. I’ve no idea who will be the worst on Saturday so I’ll leave that alone.
I’m tempted by the overs in the Leicester match but Palace don’t concede as many on the road as I would like them to in order for me to pull the trigger. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are three goals or more but the 1-1 stands out as a real danger score so I’ll pass that up.
West Brom look a fair price at Norwich who will be going into the game off the back of that absolute mauling at Newcastle. If I had any confidence in West Brom as an attacking force I would be looking at siding with them but I don’t so I’ll leave that game alone as well.
West Ham have a decent record against the bigger sides this season but they have all been away from Upton Park and it will be interesting to see if they can apply their counter attacking game to Chelsea at home. Chelsea are in need of a big win on the road to settle all the doubters down so while I think this will be a good game I’m not sure which way it will go or where to start from a betting angle.
Arsenal look to be hitting a nice groove and they will be full of confidence after their last three wins. Everton will be smarting from their defeat to Man Utd but I have a feeling this might not be the straight forward home win that it looks. Romelu Lukaku could be a real threat on the break and Aaron Ramsey’s injury isn’t ideal. I still expect Arsenal to win but there is not enough value in any handicaps to lure me in.
One bet I do like on the card comes at the Britannia Stadium where a Stoke side on the up face a Watford side who are on the decline. That combination usually equates to a short price on the home side but that isn’t the case here.
Stoke have won their last four in all competitions and have only conceded one goal in that time so they should relish going up against goal shy Watford who have only scored four in eight games since the opening day of the season.
Gone are the days where Stoke are a physical, boring side. They now have a lot of technical ability and keep possession as well as most in the league and that possession combined with the creativity of the likes of Arnautovic, Bojan, Afellay and Shaqiri et al leads me to believe the Potters will get it done here.
Back Stoke to beat Watford for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Skybet
Blog football YTD: -18.95pts
