After another day of surprises, thrills and spills in the Premier League on Saturday there are four more matches to complete the weekend on Sunday.
Not only are there four matches but for two cities/areas the biggest match of the season takes place as Sunderland, Newcastle, Man Utd and Man City take on their local rivals in huge matches. Bournemouth host Tottenham and Liverpool welcome Southampton to Anfield in the other two matches.
The day begins with the lunchtime kick off at the Stadium of Light as two of the worst sides in the Premier League meet to decide whose faint survival hopes remain intact and whose get even more remote when Sunderland host Newcastle.
This is Sam Allardyce’s first home match in charge so if the crowd needed a reason to get behind their men they certainly have it. He will be hoping his side can build on an improved performance from last week. Steve McClaren will be hoping his side can pick up where they left off last week when they trounced Norwich 6-2.
Newcastle were rampant last week but I fully expect this to be a much tighter and tenser affair with so much on the line. Sunderland have actually won the last five matches between these two and I’m not surprised at that because they have the more home grown players and I always think they get what this match means more than foreign imports.
On the level ball handicap Sunderland look a decent enough price so I will take them on that given that Allardyce is likely to want to keep things tight against his former club rather than get too expansive. I certainly think their extra home grown players will give them the edge here.
After that Bournemouth host Tottenham and I’m very much favouring the visitors there. Bournemouth’s injuries really aren’t helping them and their defence keeps getting opened up all too easily for my liking.
Tottenham have one or two injuries themselves but Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane are fit and they have the ability to open up Bournemouth on their own. Bournemouth’s attacking instincts might well serve them well but by and large Tottenham have been much better defensively this season.
I don’t see Tottenham losing the game so the 1.90 on them on the -0.25 asian line looks well worth a stab in the non-televised game of the day.
All eyes will be on Old Trafford while Bournemouth and Spurs are going at it as Man Utd host Man City in an eagerly anticipated derby match. Both sides are in good form so this should be a cracking match.
United looked really good at Everton last week while City have warmed up for this match by taking Newcastle and Bournemouth to the cleaners so I’m expecting to see a few goals here with both sides eminently better going forward than they are defensively so it looks natural to have some goals.
If I knew for sure that Vincent Kompany was playing I would tempt myself in on City at the prices too but given we’re not completely sure I will just stick with the overs in this one.
Finally at Anfield Liverpool and Southampton meet in a real banana skin for the home side. I’m not sure if Southampton have any inner feeling for Liverpool after seeing a raft of players leave them for Anfield but if they do then they won’t be short of motivation.
Liverpool remain an ordinary looking side and I wouldn’t be surprised if Southampton get something from this match but Jurgen Klopp’s influence will have an effect at some point so I’m happy to leave that match alone.
Back Sunderland (0AH) to beat Newcastle for a 4/10 stake at 1.82 with BetVictor
Back Tottenham (-0.25AH) to beat Bournemouth for a 4/10 stake at 1.90 with Bet365
Back Man Utd vs Man City – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.87 with BetVictor
