after easing past middlesbrough on monday night, antonio conte’s chelsea will win the premier league title with victory at the hawthorns on friday.
despite a brave effort from mauricio pochettino’s tottenham hotspur, it looks as though spurs will have to settle for a uefa champions league spot.
with two cl places already taken up, it’s a four-horse race between liverpool, manchester city, manchester united and arsenal for the other two. the reds and city may be favourites, but there’s a lot of football to be played yet.
at the other end of the table, swansea city’s 1-0 victory over everton last weekend lifted them out of the relegation places, being replaced by hull city, who fell to a 2-0 home defeat to already-relegated sunderland.
we kick things off with friday’s huge game between west bromwich albion and chelsea. as we all know by now, three points for the blues in this one will be enough to claim a fifth premier league title for the west london club.
standing in their way, however, are a decent west brom side, who will be looking to close the curtain at the hawthorns with a good performance and a win. despite losing their last three home matches on the spin, the baggies have won half their league fixtures at the hawthorns this term. albion are priced at 10/1 (betfair) to shock the leaders, whilst the draw is 17/4 at bet365.
chelsea have without doubt been the premier league’s most consistent team this season, and when it’s mattered, they have got the job done. no side have taken more points on the road than the blues this term, and we’re backing them to seal the deal on friday. sky bet are offering betting odds of 4/11 for an away win.
this time last season, leicester city were celebrating their premier league title triumph. things have been very different this time around, but a top-half finish will be a great achievement, considering they were in the relegation zone in february. on saturday, craig shakespeare takes his troops to manchester city’s etihad stadium.
pep guardiola’s men have had an indifferent campaign this year, as they were out of the title race months ago. after exiting all cup competitions, a place in the top four is an absolute must for the citizens.
the hosts head into this one as the 5/18 favourites with sporting bet, whilst the foxes, who are unbeaten in three against the citizens, are available at massive odds of 12/1 (betvictor). however, we can see the pair cancelling each other out at the etihad, with betway’s 11/2 for the draw our betting tip.
arsenal have a dismal recent record at the bet365 stadium, which they will be looking to address when they travel to stoke city on saturday. arsene wenger’s men, who still have hopes of reaching the top four, know nothing short of three points will do at the home of the potters.
to be honest, it’s been a struggle all season for the gunners, but last weekend’s 2-0 home win over man utd has given them a glimmer of hope. arsenal are six adrift of man city, with a game in hand on the citizens and we predict they will make a run of things in the battle for the champions league places.
as for mark hughes’ stoke, it’s been another season of underachieving for the potters. city sit 13th, a point off the top half. despite having a superb recent home record against the london side, stoke are the 9/2 underdogs with betfred. you can even get the draw at odds of 10/3 (betway).
meanwhile, the best price you can get on an arsenal triumph is 13/20 (sporting bet), so we feel there’s better value in backing the gunners to win by a bigger margin at the bet365 stadium. betfair are offering 8/5 for wenger’s men to win -1, a price we believe is worth having a punt on.
moving on to sunday’s fixtures, sam allardyce’s crystal palace host relegation-threatened hull city at selhurst park for the day’s early kick off. the eagles are not out of the woods just yet, as defeat would see hull close the gap to just a point.
however, a draw will be enough to see palace in the premier league next season. if hull lose and swansea city win, the tigers will be the third relegated team, joining sunderland and middlesbrough in next season’s sky bet championship.
as expected, palace are the bookies’ favourites, with william hill offering evens. the draw, meanwhile, is available at 13/5 with sporting bet. nevertheless, we’re predicting marco silva’s men will keep their pl hopes alive with a win. the best price you can get on an away triumph is 3/1 with betvictor.
after beating tottenham hotspur last friday, west ham united will be full of confidence when they welcome liverpool to the london stadium on sunday. the hammers are safe, whilst the reds still have work to do in their quest for a champions league spot.
it’s been a difficult first season for west ham at their new stadium, but they can dust themselves down and kick on next year. as for liverpool, a champions league spot has been number one priority all term.
the merseyside club head to the capital as the 7/10 favourites with betway to leave with a vital three points. as for west ham, betfair have them as the 9/2 underdogs, with the draw available at 3/1 (sporting bet).
we believe jurgen klopp’s men will have too much heat for the irons to handle on sunday, especially as they need the points more than their hosts. therefore, check out coral’s 15/8 for the reds to win -1.
last up is arguably the most attractive fixture of the premier league weekend, as mauricio pochettino’s tottenham hotspur entertain jose mourinho’s manchester united in the last competitive match at white hart lane.
with spurs looking to close the curtain on the lane with a win, whilst united need the points to stay on the heels of their rivals, we should be in for a cracking match this sunday.
the lilywhites head into this big clash as the 3/4 favourites with betvictor, which is no surprise, considering they are unbeaten at whl in all competitions this season. man utd, who are four points adrift of the top four, are priced at odds of 21/5 with the same firm.
tottenham will be desperate to avoid defeat in their final game at their famous venue. meanwhile, united have been very hard to beat and will be looking to hit back after losing to arsenal. because of that, we think the value is in betfair’s 11/4 for this one to end all square in north london.