This weekend’s action gets underway with a London derby between West Ham and Tottenham. A return to the London Stadium will bring back painful memories to many Spurs players who saw their title challenge effectively ended with defeat here last season. Speaking of stadium returns, Liverpool face their second trip to the King Power Stadium in less than a week. Leicester hosted the reds for a mid-week League Cup clash and they will go head to head once again this Saturday.
Sunday’s sole fixture pits the Championship winners against the Championship runners-up. Brighton don’t have many familiar foes with this being their first ever Premier League season but Newcastle is one side they know well and Chris Hughton will have this down as a winnable fixture. Just the one game on Monday night too and it’s one that sees West Brom travel to London to face Arsenal. With the Gunners having failed to make a commanding start to the season, another bad result is not something they can really afford.
Saturday 23rd September 2017
West Ham v Tottenham (12:30) – Under 2.5 goals (23/20 with Coral)
Despite Tottenham being the more successful of the two London clubs in recent years, the Hammers have come out on top a fair amount whenever they’ve met. Last season they ended Spurs’ nine league game winning streak with a 1-0 victory at the London Stadium, the third time in four years they beat their rivals at home. Form often goes out of the window for West Ham in this fixture and this means we should see a far more competitive side than the one that lost 3-0 to Newcastle last month.
Tottenham’s draw with Swansea last weekend showed that they can be frustrated by a well marshalled, deep lying defensive line. No side has conceded more goals than West Ham in the league this season but with this being a derby, it could be enough to spur a strong and committed defensive display. Their clean sheet against West Brom last week will give them confidence and the east Londoners will fancy themselves to frustrate a Spurs side that often lacks a plan B. This is shaping up to be a closely contested derby and whichever way the result goes, many goals don’t look likely.
Leicester v Liverpool (17:30) – Both teams to score (4/6 with Ladbrokes)
Although Liverpool have not enjoyed their league travels on the road so far this season, they did boast the fourth best away record last year. Eight goals conceded in two games makes for poor reading although the total would surely be less if Sadio Mane avoided his first half red card against Manchester City. Nevertheless, Liverpool’s defence should not be trusted especially against a side who find the back of the net so regularly in front of their own fans. There was concern that Leicester top-scorer Jamie Vardy might be ruled out injured for the clash but he’s expected to shake of a minor problem in time.
As for Liverpool, they remain without the services of Mane but Phillipe Coutinho is back in the fray at least. The Brazilian has made his first Reds start of the season with the 1-1 draw to Burnley and his manager will be hoping he can regain his form of old. If not, Liverpool should still have enough strength going forward with Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah being one of the key danger men. With both teams boasting better attacks than defence, you should back both teams to score.
Sunday 24th September 2017
Brighton v Newcastle (16:00) – Under 2.5 goals (3/5 with BetVictor)
Many Newcastle fans were feeling gloomy after a lack of activity in the transfer window but three consecutive victories have helped lift the mood dramatically. The Magpies find themselves sitting in fourth coming into this round of fixtures and confidence will be sky high. Their last visit to Brighton saw them comeback from one behind to pick up three points in a top of the table clash. Neither side has changed dramatically since then so it wouldn’t be a big shock if Newcastle grabbed the three points again.
Life in the Premier League has unsurprisingly been tough for the Seagulls but they look capable of making a good fist of their first top flight season. Their 3-1 victory over West Brom earlier in the month showed what they are capable of and Chris Hughton will be looking for a another strong home showing this Sunday. Three goal hauls will be rare for Brighton this season though as they look a little light in quality upfront. The same can be said of Newcastle too and with this in mind, this game is not shaping up to be a high scoring affair.
Monday 25th September 2017
Arsenal v West Brom (20:00) – Arsenal to win by one goal (13/5 with Betfair)
Arsene Wenger endured a particularly painful afternoon when these sides last met during a 3-1 defeat at the Hawthorns. His side’s vulnerability at set pieces was exposed that day and this will be West Brom’s best chance of scoring here you would fancy. Tony Pulis’ side have often struggled to create chances from open play and it’s hard to see them working may openings here with Arsenal set to have the lion’s share of possession. History certainly suggests this is likely to be the case as the Baggies have lost each of their last six trips to the Emirates, scoring just one goal in this time.
Arsenal had to hammer on the door for a long time before grabbing the all-important opening goal last time they faced West Brom at home. They’ll be hoping for a more comfortable evening this time but Pulis knows exactly how to set up for these sorts of games. His men may have let in three goals against Brighton but aside from this, they have been very solid this season. With an often tough to break down defence, the Midlanders will pose a sterner test than Bournemouth did when they travelled to the capital. Although the Gunners still look good value for the three points, a hard-fought victory of a slender margin looks likely.