After an interesting midweek round of matches in the Premier League we have eight more in the division on Saturday in what is looking like being a pivotal weekend of the season.
The reason for that is that the top two get the action underway when Man City hosts Leicester at the Etihad in the lunchtime kick off. After that there are six 3pm kick offs before Southampton and West Ham close the show in the evening kick off.
If Leicester beat Man City in the early game they will be guaranteed a five point lead at the top of the table with just 13 games left and all of a sudden people will have to take them seriously.
There will be a time when reality hits home for the Foxes. That doesn’t mean they will lose necessarily but they might not play their expansive, high speed counter attacking style when it hits home. They’ll go into protection mode but the style of their midweek win over Liverpool suggests it hasn’t happened yet.
If anyone was getting edgy you could make a case for it being Man City. They laboured to a very fortunate win over Sunderland in midweek although given their away form I’m sure any win was welcome for City in that game. Back home at the Etihad they are a different proposition altogether which is why they are such warm favourites.
When these two met at the King Power earlier in the season they both looked scared to lose rather than daring to win but I don’t think that will be the case here. Their styles should ignite this one. City like to be on the front foot at home while Leicester love to counter attack so both should be in their comfort zone here which with the attacking talent we have on display should see us to more than 2.5 goals.
The 3pm games all look a little tricky for me to call in fairness. Norwich have a massive chance to get a much needed three points at Villa but is the game too big for them? It could be. Villa look like they’ve given up but if Norwich feel the pressure it might give Villa a chance. I’m leaving that one.
The Liverpool vs Sunderland, Newcastle vs West Brom, Stoke vs Everton and Swansea vs Crystal Palace matches don’t really interest me. I might have been interested in Swansea given Palace’s woeful recent form but there is no value in them at all.
I nearly backed Tottenham but they’re another who are going to realise where they are soon and what looks a winnable came could easily become difficult especially with Watford set up to be hard to beat so that’s another to leave alone.
The late game is one I can’t leave alone though. West Ham look a massive price to me even allowing for the fact that Southampton look to have regained their mojo again.
The Saints are unbeaten in four matches and haven’t conceded a goal in any of them but they face a West Ham side who are set up to be successful on the road and as a result only Leicester, Tottenham and Arsenal have more points than them away from home this season.
Southampton still aren’t a free scoring side in my eyes and this West Ham side can certainly keep things tight. They are hard to beat as one defeat in their last 10 matches highlights and the fact we can get them on a +0.75 handicap line I have to side with them.
With Dimitri Payet back and pulling the strings I think West Ham have enough in their ranks to leave Hampshire with a draw at the very worst.
WIN – Back Man City vs Leicester – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
Back West Ham (+0.75AH) to beat Southampton for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
