There was one mid-week game in the Premier League, which saw Crystal Palace and Everton play out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park. The point means little to both teams in terms of what they can achieve in the league this season and the real action resumes this weekend.
Starting at the top of the table and both Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur achieved good results last weekend. Leicester defeated relegation threatened Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light and Tottenham beat Manchester United 3-0 at White Hart Lane. This week, it’s Leicester who play first again and they welcome West Ham to the King Power Stadium. West Ham will be disappointed to have gone out of the FA Cup on Wednesday night and are sitting 5 points off the Champions League places. Slaven Bilic’s team are scoring goals but failing to keep them out at the other end, which has resulted in five games without a win in all competitions. Leicester on the other hand, have won each of their last five and have not conceded a goal in the process.
That being said, it’s impossible to write off West Ham, who have produced some great performances on the road this season. This might be the game which sees Leicester concede a rare goal but having played in mid-week, West Ham will not have the same energy or confidence levels as their opponents. Leicester are Evens with BetFred to win the game and 3/1 with Bet365 to win, with both teams to score.
Tottenham look to keep up the pressure on Leicester when they travel to Stoke City on Monday night. Following their elimination from the Europa League, Tottenham have picked up 7 points from a possible 9, with dropped points coming against Liverpool at Anfield. Stoke on the other hand, have won just one of their last five Premier League games and can’t seem to keep a clean sheet, conceding 4 goals in their last outing, which was at Anfield. Mauricio Pochettino will be expecting a tough game at the Britannia Stadium but his team have the fire power to down Stoke. This could be an entertaining game, with plenty of goal mouth action and over 2.5 goals is available at Evens with William Hill. You can also get over 2.5 goals, with Tottenham to win at 15/8 with PaddyPower.
At the bottom of the Premier League table, Sunderland travel to Carrow Road to take on Norwich, in the biggest game of the relegation battle this weekend. After two good wins over West Brom and Newcastle, Norwich went down 1-0 at Crystal Palace last weekend but are still the form team out of the two. Sunderland have failed to win any of their last six games, although they have only been defeated twice during that period. Having finally won at home against Newcastle, Norwich will have a bit more belief in themselves at Carrow Road and with Sunderland picking up just two wins away from home all season, the home team will believe they can ease their relegation worries with a win. Norwich are 11/8 with Bet365 to pick up maximum points, with the draw at 12/5. A home win, if it comes, is unlikely to be by a large margin and Norwich to win by 1 goal is on offer at 3/1 with SkyBet.
With Norwich and Sunderland playing each other, Newcastle have to pick up points, if they are to stand any chance of staying in the Premier League. A win seems a long way off for Rafa Benitez’s team at present, whereas Swansea have turned their form around in recent weeks, including a good 1-0 win over Chelsea last weekend. At home, Newcastle have lost just one of their last five games but have failed to win the last two. Swansea will be playing without pressure and could prove to be very dangerous opponents. The away win is on offer at 11/5 with SkyBet. You can also back set-piece specialist, Gylfi Sigurdsson, at 14/5 with Ladbrokes, to score at any time for Swansea. The Icelandic international has scored in the last two games for Swansea and is their top goal scorer this season.
Strap yourselves in, for what is going to be another thrilling weekend of Premier League football, with so much at stake.
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed herein are that of the author and not necessarily those of Hello Punter, and should not be taken as betting advice. No bets are guaranteed, and you may lose more money than you get back. Please gamble responsibly.
