This Saturday is a rare one with no fewer than eight Premier League matches taking place on a bumper day of action in England’s top flight.
The football begins at White Hart Lane where the leaders Man City have the chance to move five points clear for a few hours when they take on Tottenham in the lunchtime kick off.
The 3pm matches see Leicester hosting Arsenal, Liverpool taking on Aston Villa at Anfield, Man Utd going up against Sunderland at Old Trafford, Southampton play Swansea at St Mary’s, Stoke face Bournemouth and West Ham play Norwich.
The action then concludes at St James’ Park as under pressure Newcastle boss Steve McClaren tries to get the better of Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea side in the 5.30pm kick off.
From a betting point of view my interest begins right away as I like Man City at the price they currently are. I can’t say I’ve been impressed by Spurs at all yet this season and they will need to up their game on the performances they showed against Sunderland and Palace to control a City side who are rampant on their day.
City lost at home to West Ham last week but they have Vincent Kompany back this week and they are always a much different side when he is in their ranks. With the likes of Aguero, de Bruyne, Sterling and Toure in good nick I’m expecting City to continue their recently very strong record at the Lane.
City aren’t the only side in Manchester that I’m taking this week. I’m going to take United as well. Initially I was a bit wary of taking United given their Champions League game in midweek but Sunderland have looked abject for too long now and with Anthony Martial in good form and Wayne Rooney scoring in the cup in midweek I can’t see how United won’t be too good here.
To make matters worse for Sunderland it looks like they are going to be without Jermain Defoe for this match so their goal threat going the other way is going to be severely diminished and you would think the only way they stay within two of the home side is if they score. Bournemouth covered this handicap against Sunderland last week so I’ve got to believe Man Utd will too.
I considered a couple of goal lines in the other 3pm matches but there’s enough doubt in my mind to ignore them so my final bet comes in the later game where I see Chelsea as good things.
Jose Mourinho’s men might be without Diego Costa but they still have enough of a goal threat in the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar, Pedro and Loic Remy et al. On the flip side Newcastle look to be in a bit of a mess right now.
Steve McClaren staged an emotional press conference in the week where he explained his team are going through a number of changes and he hinted that not everyone has come on board with the changes as quickly as perhaps he would like.
That didn’t sound good to me so with Chelsea improving with every game I expect them to be at least a goal too good for the Toon here and with a strong start this might get ugly for the home side so I’m firmly with the champions there.
Back Man City to beat Tottenham for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Ladbrokes
Back Man Utd (-1.75AH) to beat Sunderland for a 5/10 stake at 1.86 with BetVictor
Back Chelsea (-0.75AH) to beat Newcastle for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with BetVictor
Blog football YTD: -28.46pts
