Another important weekend in the Premier League begins on Saturday afternoon when seven matches in the top flight get played out over what is becoming the traditional three kick off slots across the day.
As ever we begin and end with TV matches on Saturday and then there will be all the usual updates in the various places on the five games which are played out away from the UK TV cameras at 3pm local time.
Early Kick Off
The action opens up at Villa Park where the race for Europe is very much in the spotlight when Aston Villa play host to Newcastle United. Aston Villa have been on such a good run in recent weeks that they have flown up to sixth in the table and can really get in the top five shake up with a win here. Newcastle begin the day in third place in the table but could quickly be looking over their shoulder in the race for Champions League football if they don’t win here so there is a lot at stake to open up the day.
3pm Matches
Tottenham Hotspur will move into fourth for 24 hours at the very least if they can avoid defeat on Saturday afternoon. The Londoners take on AFC Bournemouth who are fighting hard for the points themselves as they bid to avoid an immediate return to the Championship. Brighton and Hove Albion haven’t given up on European football next season either and if they can go to Stamford Bridge and do the double over Chelsea they will do their hopes no harm. Chelsea will have more than an eye on the return with Real Madrid in midweek.
The other three matches are all going to be about events at the bottom of the table in the main. Everton will be looking to pull clear of the relegation zone when they welcome their former manager Marco Silva and his Fulham side to Goodison Park. Wolverhampton Wanderers keep flirting with being safe and then a couple of poor results bring cloud over them again so they will hope to back up their win over Chelsea last week with another against Brentford. Southampton look cooked at the bottom of the table and Crystal Palace will hope to add another nail into their coffin when they meet at St Mary’s.
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Late Game
That leaves us with the title race for the final match of the day as well as the battle to avoid the drop. Manchester City can move to within three points of Arsenal for the better part of 24 hours at least if they can find a home win against Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium. Any hope Leicester had of getting a weakened City probably went when the third goal went in against Bayern Munich in midweek so if the Foxes are going to get the three points they desperately need in their first game under Dean Smith they are going to have to produce something a lot better than what we’ve seen from them in recent times.
Betting
It remains one of the bigger mysteries of the last week how Brighton and Hove Albion didn’t win at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend let alone come away having lost the game but I think their second trip to the capital in as many Saturdays will yield a much better outcome and I’m very surprised they are the slight outsiders to win at Chelsea. This isn’t just Chelsea they are playing. It is a pathetic version of them and one who openly admit they have both eyes on the Real Madrid match next week.
They will have chasing Real Madrid around for 90 minutes on Wednesday night in their legs anyway and the last thing they need is to be chasing this fluent, flowing, entertaining Brighton side around for another 90 minutes even with fresher legs. There isn’t really anything on the Chelsea bench which is going to change much from an attacking point of view so I fear for the Blues here. Brighton smashed four past Frank Lampard’s Everton team at the beginning of 2023 and if the visitors take the lead and start outplaying the home side Stamford Bridge could turn a little toxic. Brighton look a fantastic bet on the draw no bet line.
Tips
Back Brighton and Hove Albion (0AH) to beat Chelsea for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Bet365
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