with the fa cup taking centre stage at the weekend, we’ve got a bonus round of premier league fixtures in midweek to enjoy. manchester city are running away with the title, despite their recent defeat to liverpool, but there is still plenty to play for in the second half of the season.
here we preview the best of the action with spurs hosting man united and three matches that could have a big impact on the relegation battle. we will also give our predictions and betting tips for which sides we think will end up in the bottom three come the end of the season.
fifth placed tottenham host second placed man united at wembley on tuesday evening with mauricio pochettino’s men eager to haul themselves back into the top four. both sides have won three and drawn two of their last five league matches, with jose mourinho’s men having now won their last three on the bounce meaning they could be good value to take the three point at best betting odds of 12/5 with betfair.
having said that, united have a tendency of late to keep things tight when visiting other top sides in the premier league and mourinho could be tempted to keep things as tight as possible at the national stadium. as such, backing a low-scoring encounter could be the way to go. you can back under 2.5 goals to be scored in the game at nice betting odds of 5/6 with betvictor.
both west ham and crystal palace have benefitted from managerial changes this season. the hammers turned to david moyes, who appears to have reinvigorated a team that was cruising towards relegation. while palace, who were hapless and hopeless at the time, appointed roy hodgson and the former england boss has exceeded expectations.
west ham are now in 11th position in the table on 26 points with palace two places and a point behind them.
trying to predict which of these sides will have enough to take the points on the day is a tough task as we predict both will be going all out for the win. with not a lot to choose between them we think backing both teams to score could be the safest option at betting odds of 10/11 with coral.
southampton in 18th spot on 22 points and brighton in 16th on 23 are both in serious trouble. neither side has won in their last five matches and both managers will see this as the perfect opportunity to turn things around.
unfortunately for both sides, we predict they will cancel one another out and we’re backing the draw at odds of 12/5 with bet365. we also think taking the 6/4 on offer with boylesports for the game to be goalless at half time could be worth considering.
stoke v watford: potters hope to build momentum
stoke finally got rid of mark hughes after a run of awful form put them well and truly in the relegation dogfight. the potters appointed paul lambert, to the consternation of many of their fans, but the former norwich and aston villa man guided stoke to a fine 2-0 home win over huddersfield in his first match.
we fancy lambert will be able to repeat the trick here as watford are not the best of travellers having lost at leicester, burnley, crystal palace and brighton since the start of december. backing the potters to get the victory looks a handsome prospect at best betting odds of 6/5 with ladbrokes.
whilst lambert wasn’t the most popular choice with the potters faithful, the scot is determined to rebuild his reputation as a decent manager and we think he might just do that at stoke.
while the title race has become more of a procession, man city having looked unstoppable for weeks, the relegation scrap has plenty to get excited about.
as things stand, with all sides having played 24 games, it is swansea who are rock bottom on 20 points with west brom just ahead of them on goal difference. the saints are in 18th spot on 22 points, and then 10th to 17th positions are separated by just three points: watford and west ham on 26 points, bournemouth and crystal palace on 25, huddersfield on 24 and newcastle, brighton and stoke on 23. in short, the relegation battle is wide open.
it is no surprise to see swansea as the 1/2 favourites for the drop with most bookies, though they have shown some signs of getting themselves together with recent victories over watford and – most impressively – liverpool. they have a lot of work to do though.
we think west brom are the side most in trouble and they can be backed at betting odds of 7/5 with bet365 to get relegated. to replace the strong and stable tony pulis with the sometimes chaotic alan pardew seemed a strange move, and we think the baggies will pay for it.
of the rest of the sides in trouble, we think it will be southampton who run out of steam in the top flight, while huddersfield look to be in free-fall at the moment. those sides can be backed at respective odds of 5/1 with betfred and 6/5 with unibet.
whatever you choose to bet on, be sure to make good use of our betting odds comparison tables so you can quickly find the best value and hence maximise your profits.