It’s league leaders Man City who are first up this weekend in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola’s men face the challenge of Burnley, a side who are looking to end a run of three consecutive home defeats. Boasting a more impressive home record is Arsenal who are up against Sam Allardyce’s Everton. The former England boss once had a quite the rivalry with Arsene Wenger but the two are on much better terms these days.
Moving on to Sunday and two relegation-threatened sides, Crystal Palace and Newcastle face a crunch test with some very important points up for grabs. This is followed by an exciting looking affair between Liverpool and Tottenham, two sides who are known for their attacking football. To finish the round of fixtures, Watford with their new manager Javi Gracia take on Antonio Conte’s Chelsea at Vicarage Road.
Saturday 3rd February 2018
Burnley v Manchester City (12:30) – Burnley to win with +2 handicap (evens with Ladbrokes)
After enduring a poor patch of form, a fixture against Manchester City is not what Sean Dyche would have been hoping for. The Clarets have struggled to win games since mid-December and this has seen their push for a European place quickly fade with a whimper. City were the side who ended Burnley’s impressive unbeaten away streak earlier in the season. The game finished 3-0 in Manchester although it was far from the easiest game Pep Guardiola has faced this season with Burnley well organised at the back.
Guardiola can expect much of the same from Burnley here, plenty of defensive resolve but likely offering little going forwards. The Clarets have managed a mere eight goals from their 12 league matches at Turf Moor and the absence of striker Chris Wood will not make improving this record any easier. There is an expectation Burnley can restrain a lot of City’s attacking talents though given their very strong defensive record that has seen them ship in just nine home goals. With their backline almost back to full strength, it’s hard to see City winning this game easily.
Arsenal v Everton (17:30) – Arsenal to win to nil (11/10 with Coral)
Arsenal will look to keep on the pressure for a top four finish with what is a winnable looking match against Sam Allardyce’s Everton. The Gunners thrashed Everton when the pair met at Goodison Park and Arsenal’s record is far better at home than away. Arsene Wenger has seen his side lose just one league game at the Emirates and the two draws both came against strong opposition in the form of Chelsea and Liverpool. With a very impressive home record, you can’t look past the Londoners here.
Backing Arsenal for the win will offer very little returns though so combining three points and a clean sheet looks to be the way to go in this match. Everton have been notoriously unadventurous going forwards in recent weeks, failing to register a shot on target against Man United and Chelsea. January signings Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott may give the Toffees more bite but this is not the sort of game in which Allardyce will be happy to send men forward.
Sunday 4th February 2018
Crystal Palace v Newcastle United (14:15) – Draw (12/5 with BetVictor)
Palace’s strong home record suggests that they should be able to avoid defeat in this game at the very least. The Eagles have lost just one of their last 10 matches at Selhurst Park, that one coming against Arsenal. In this time they’ve held Manchester City to a draw and beaten both Chelsea and Burnley who sit far higher up in the table. With confidence high on home turf, Roy Hodgson’s men look set for another good showing in south London.
Newcastle hold a poor record against teams higher up the league but against sides closer to them, they often show plenty of fight. Points collected the past few weeks have come against the likes of Swansea, Brighton and Stoke and Rafa Benitez also has few injury concerns to deal with. The Toon Army have only lost two matches away from home against teams lower than eighth in the league so a draw looks very attainable for them here.
Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur (16:30) – Both teams to score (4/7 with Betfred)
Games between these two sides rarely disappoint and they’ve amassed 39 goals over the last 12 times they’ve met. Spurs came out on top when the pair last went head to head during a 4-1 drubbing but it was the first time Mauricio Pochettino had got the better of Jurgen Klopp. The key difference in the most recent meeting was that Tottenham were far eager to take the game to Liverpool, beginning the game with a very attacking side that featured no defensive midfielder.
The Reds’ calamitous defending played a big part too in the Wembley defeat and it’s far from the only time they’ve had a defensive collapse on the road. At Anfield the Reds play with far more assurance however and they’ve shipped in just seven league goals there. Tottenham should still be fancied to score though as it’s something they’ve done in every away game since mid-November. You can fully expect Liverpool to fire back with strikes of their own though in what should be an end to end match between two attacking sides.
Monday 5th February 2018
Watford v Chelsea (20:00) – Chelsea to win (8/15 with BetVictor)
Javi Gracia’s reign as Watford boss didn’t get off to a flying start as his side lost 1-0 to Southampton in front of some rather frustrated travelling fans. The Spaniard promised the supporters he would make recent woes disappear but he faces a tough task to do that in this game. The Hornets haven’t beaten the Blues since 1999 and although they put up a very impressive fight last October, the confident and fluid Watford we saw earlier in the season has not been seen for some time.
Gary Cahill recently came out in support of boss Antonio Conte and insisted they are 100% behind the manager. There certainly seemed to be no issues during Chelsea’s last league away trip when they had the beating of Brighton 4-0. They’ll have been disappointed to have been knocked out the EFL Cup to Arsenal but the Gunners had a big slice of luck in both their goals. Generally the Blues can be expected to perform on the road and providing they avoid any unfortunate incidents here, they are worth backing to beat an injury ridden Watford.