we have another round of premier league fixtures this week, with arsenal’s clash with man united taking top billing. however, there are plenty of great looking fixtures across the weekend, as the top flight edges towards the christmas fixture list. ahead of the first round of matches in december, we’ve picked out betting tips on the biggest clashes across saturday and sunday.
chelsea v newcastle: benitez faces rough return to west london
former chelsea boss rafa benitez heads to stamford bridge this week, with his newcastle side winless in five. they aren’t likely to end that run against a chelsea side who have four clean sheets in their last five league outings, having tightened up their defence despite rotating through their list of centre-halves. the blues will be looking to claim another victory and clean sheet when the magpies visit on saturday afternoon, but we think it could be tight.
the blues have seen over 2.5 goals land in just 29% of their home matches this season, while they’ve not been clinical scorers of late. while conte has seen his troops blow away west brom and qarabag 4-0 in recent outings, the blues have scored exactly one goal in four of their last five in the league. we like the look of a home win and under 2.5 match goals here, given that the magpies are really struggling for goals in the top flight this term. according to our odds comparison, that is best priced at odds of 12/5 with coral.
everton might be reconsidering the £6 million a year they’ve agreed to give sam allardyce, after david unsworth guided them to a 4-0 win over west ham in midweek. the former toffees’ defender exited his role as caretaker after winning a straightforward home game, and the new boss looks to have a nice welcome to goodison park with huddersfield the visitors this weekend. will he be able to get off to a winning start and carry his new side away from the drop zone?
huddersfield were another side who were handed a heavy beating in midweek, losing 5-0 away to arsenal. that thumping was the latest game in which the terriers have failed to trouble the opposition on the road. the gunners completely dominated, and their prospects for this weekend don’t look too great given how everton played on wednesday. given that huddersfield haven’t scored away since the opening day, we’re backing a clean sheet for big sam to get started here. an everton win to nil is our tip, which is priced at best betting odds of 9/5 with ladbrokes.
tottenham’s players are looking in dire need of a rest, but they have little chance of that with a tough trip to watford coming up this week. the hornets may have lost out to manchester united at home in midweek, but marco silva has them really impressing in the top flight this term, especially going forward. while tottenham will still pose a threat at vicarage road, can they hold off the hornets?
watford’s impressive scoring form has seen them score twice in eight of their last nine matches in the premier league, and we expect them to add to that form when they host a tired looking spurs. with momentum behind them, we see fantastic value in backing over 1.5 watford goals, which is priced at odds of 12/5 with bet365.
manchester united may have hit four goals in their latest away trip, but that was mourinho going after a shaky watford backline. we don’t expect him to let his men roam free in saturday evening’s clash with arsenal, as that isn’t really his style. mourinho has seen his side fail to score in nine of their last 10 trips to the top six in the premier league, largely because he likes to go into these matches with a defensive minded approach.
that might not be enough to stop this arsenal side, who have won their last 12 home games in the league. the gunners are looking really fresh thanks to their lack of european football for their biggest stars, and that could pay off when they host the red devils. united are likely to try and close this game up early, but the gunners have been solid at the back themselves, while their attack is seemingly just hitting form. we think arsenal are great value, they can be found at odds of 23/15 with 888sport on our odds comparison. on top of that, we’re predicting an arsenal win to nil at 15/4 with bet365.
following their 4-0 defeat to everton in midweek, the hammers should be worried ahead of this trip to man city. west ham were blown away by wayne rooney, so imagine how they’ll fare against the pace and power of this city attack. pep guardiola’s side will expect a much easier game than their tricky meeting with southampton in the week, and we expect them to get just that. city are heavy favourites across the board on our odds comparison, but we think we’ve found some value on them here.
west ham have been awful at the back so far, and they lost 12-1 in their meetings with city last season. given how the hammers have stumbled backwards while city have raced clear at the top of the league, we don’t expect this to be an easy night for the home side. we’ve run through the correct score market, and we think a 5-0 win for city looks like good value at 13/1 with william hill.