The Premier League season is almost over (don’t worry, there’s an FA Cup final, play-offs, two European finals and the World Cup just around the corner… and the new season will be here before you can say “Bah humbug!”) and after these midweek “games in hand” we should have a much clearer idea of who will finish where and what they key battles at both ends of the table will be going into the final day.
There are just three midweek Premier League games for us to consider this week which means we’ve spent a little longer than normal analysing the stats and as such we are confident we’ve got a cracking bet for each game.
Tuesday 6th May 2014
Manchester United v Hull City (19:45) – Man United/Man United in the half time/full time market (4/5 with Ladbrokes)
Man United play at home to Sunderland prior to this one whilst Hull are away at Villa and whilst neither side has anything much to play for, there are some interesting subplots. Temporary United boss Ryan gigs has said his side are determined to gain entry to the Europa League – whether his permanent replacement thanks him for that or not is another matter – and they will certainly want to give their tormented fans something to cheer, as they did recently when beating Norwich 4-0. For Hull, this game may give certain players a chance to force their way into the FA Cup final squad or team so the contest may be more competitive than one might imagine.
Hull have seemed distracted of late though, putting in some average performances and given their woeful record against sides in the top half of the table (eight points from 18 games) we don’t think they’ll get anything here. The atmosphere will be lively and we fancy United to start quickly, with odds of 4/5 looking very good for them to be ahead both at the break and at full time.
Wednesday 7th May 2014
Manchester City v Aston Villa (19:45) – Man City -2.5 goals (13/10 with bet365)
City are fighting for the title whilst Villa are still in a relegation battle and although much will depend on how the pair get on against Everton and Hull respectively prior to this, we fancy a big home win regardless. The Citizens can be backed at odds of just 1/5 with BetVictor here but against a somewhat hapless Villa, devoid of goal threat without Christian Benteke, we fancy them to win to nil, as they have eight times at the Etihad already and also to win by three goals or more, the latter our main tip at 13/10 with bet365.
Sunderland v West Brom (19:45) – Sunderland to win 2-1 (8/1 with Coral)
Sunderland’s revival in April has been astounding. They lost 1-0 at home to Everton on the 12th of the month, their fifth consecutive defeat, and looked doomed to life in the Championship next season. Fixtures away at Man City and Chelsea loomed and they were adrift and looking hopeless. I hear football is a funny old game and so it proved, the Black Cats promptly drawing 2-2 at the Etihad before becoming the first team ever to win at Jose Mourinho-managed Chelsea in the league. For good measure they then gave fellow relegation candidates Cardiff a good 4-0 spanking to end April on a serious high.
Whether they can get a result at Old Trafford the weekend prior to this remains to be seen but with West Brom visiting Arsenal it seems likely both sides could come into this one on the back of defeats. Depending on results elsewhere at the weekend, West Brom could already be safe, whilst Sunderland may know that a win here would be enough to secure Premier League status. Either way, given Sunderland’s fine form and flowing, tangible confidence levels, we have to fancy the home side and evens with BetVictor looks a top bet, although we fancy taking a punt on them to win 2-1 at longer odds is the way to go here.