After a weekend away due to the FA Cup, Premier League football is back with an exciting round of midweek of fixtures.
As always, there are some fantastic matches for fans to enjoy, with the most eye-catching being the likes of high-flying Nottingham Forest hosting league leaders Liverpool, Arsenal taking on Tottenham in the North London derby, and Chelsea welcoming Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge.
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*All odds are subject to change
Chelsea to draw with Bournemouth @ 4.45
Chelsea have had a challenging past few weeks that has seen them win just one of their last five Premier League matches, with two draws and two defeats completing that run. Despite this, they still remain tucked inside the top four positions, though they’ve given up ground to those around them, including a resurgent Newcastle who are just one point behind.
Just three behind Chelsea are this week’s opponents Bournemouth, who have maintained an impressive level this season so far, putting them firmly in the conversation for European qualification. The Cherries are unbeaten in their last five (although that does include three draws), so will go to Stamford Bridge with the confidence of a side that haven’t lost since November.
In the reverse fixture in September, Chelsea won narrowly by a goal to nil, but as mentioned earlier, form and fortunes have shifted somewhat. We can see a draw.
Nottingham Forest to draw with Liverpool @ 4.20
The Premier League’s form team Nottingham Forest will tussle with the league leader Liverpool in a game that nobody would have imagined would be significant in the title race.
Forest have won six games in a row (seven if you include their FA Cup win vs Luton) and are obliterating preseason expectations by being just six points off the top of the table with 20 games played. That, of course, can be cut to three should they beat Liverpool at The City Ground, and it’s certainly not as unlikely as it may have seemed once upon a time. Forest inflicted Arne Slot’s first defeat as Liverpool manager when these teams met back in September, so everyone in The Reds’ dressing room will be fully aware of the threat.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last five but two draws bookending that run constitutes a dip in form compared to the levels they hit in the early part of this season. Regardless, we think they’ll have enough to get a draw and maintain the six-point gap between the sides.
Arsenal to beat Tottenham @ 1.40
Whisper it quietly, but there’s a potential crisis brewing at The Emirates. Despite being 2nd in the league, and going well in the Champions League, the last week has seen them dumped out of the FA Cup in disastrous circumstances against Manchester United, and essentially out of the EFL Cup after losing the first leg of the semi-final 2-0 to Newcastle.
They will be without Bukayo Saka for the foreseeable future, and their forward options took another hit at the weekend as Gabriel Jesus was stretchered off with what looked like a nasty knee injury. Add to that the poor form of Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard at the moment and it’s no wonder the Arsenal fan base is close to breaking point in relation to this season.
Sounds like a great time to play Spurs, then! The Lilywhites are lingering in 12th having won just one of their last five league games, and it took them extra time to defeat Tamworth in the FA Cup at the weekend. It’s bound to be another tense and exciting North London derby as both teams are desperate to arrest the relative slumps they both find themselves in. We agree with the bookmakers – home win.
Manchester United to beat Southampton @ 1.32
The mood in the Manchester United camp has taken an upturn in the last week, despite just one win in their last five. The reason for this was a credible draw at Anfield and getting through their FA Cup third round tie against Arsenal on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
This could be seen as an indication of how far expectations have fallen in the red half of Manchester, but it’s more a signal of how big a job Ruben Amorim has on his hands. After travelling to Anfield and The Emirates, it should come as a relief that their next fixture is at home to the team bottom of the Premier League and looking almost certain to stay there.
Southampton have had a rough time of it back at the top level, and their one win in 20 games has caused some to speculate if they’ll earn less points than the infamous Derby County team of the 2007-08 season, who managed just one win and 11 points before going down and being labelled as the worst team in Premier League history. United win.
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