There is a rare midweek fixture list in the Premier League this week with the first three matches taking place on Tuesday night which includes a televised match live on BT Sport.
The TV game sees Newcastle taking on Man Utd in what might be a much lower key match than it looked when it was selected for live coverage. The other two games see struggling Aston Villa hosting Crystal Palace and Bournemouth playing West Ham.
I’ve found Man Utd matches just as hard to bet on this season as they are to watch. One thing we can take from both sides in recent times is a lack of goals and I wouldn’t be sitting down to watch this one expecting an avalanche of them here.
Newcastle haven’t scored in their last four matches in all competitions while United have only scored more than once in one of their last six games so we’re pushing it to think this will be full of goals barring something remarkable.
There hasn’t been a single goal in the first half of a Newcastle game in any of their last three Premier League outings while you have to go back to the 12th December for the last time United scored in a first half so I wouldn’t be surprised if this one is all square at the break which leads me to believe a small punt on the second half to be the highest scoring could be the way to play this match.
In the other matches I’m just waiting for West Ham to come back to proper form before I get involved in them again. I was thinking of chancing them here but Bournemouth have signed plenty of striking artillery in recent times so that has put me off.
Aston Villa haven’t been losing as regularly as they were earlier in the season in recent times but you only had to look at the reaction of their draw at Wycombe on Saturday to see that fans have had enough and having Crystal Palace in town might not be the best thing.
Palace are enjoying a wonderful season and have every chance of making Europe if they can maintain their form. They are particularly good on the road and that spells danger for a Villa side who never convinced me defensively.
You rarely get easy chances against Palace at the best of times and the pace they have in attack makes them a real dangerous proposition. I’m surprised you can get the sort of prices you can on a level ball handicap here. I just don’t see Palace losing so I’ll have a good chunk on them winning without the draw in play.
Back Newcastle vs Man Utd – 2nd Half Highest Scoring half for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Sportingbet
Back Crystal Palace (0AH) to beat Aston Villa for a 5/10 stake at 1.72 with Ladbrokes
