With the international break just around the corner, we have one more weekend of Premier League football to enjoy before the domestic game takes a two week break. TV and Europa League commitments mean we have four games moved to Sunday, but there’s still plenty of action on Saturday, kicking off with the huge clash at Anfield between struggling Liverpool and league leaders Chelsea.
We’ll of course be looking at that game, as well as champions Manchester City travelling down to face QPR, a game which surely always brings back good memories for City fans. We’ll also be looking at Newcastle’s meeting with West Brom, two sides very much on the up, and Arsenal’s trip to Wales to face sixth placed Swansea City.
Saturday 8th November 2014
Liverpool v Chelsea (12:45) – Chelsea to win (23/20 with Coral)
Starting at Anfield, unbeaten Chelsea come here looking to repeat their famous 2-0 win from last season, a result which heavily dented Liverpool’s title chances, and it was all done with a weakened side. Since then, Liverpool have qualified for the Champions League, and after their meeting with Real Madrid on Tuesday night, they might not be at their sharpest for this one. Chelsea are also away in Europe this week, but their Champions League experience, coupled with them facing Maribor who they beat 6-0 in their last meeting, should mean they’re able to deal with that pretty easily.
Liverpool are currently struggling with a few injuries, while Chelsea come here with an almost fully fit squad. They have Ramires back, which means Mourinho can come here with the 4-5-1 formation he prefers in these kinds of games. Given how much the Blues have improved this season, plus Liverpool’s defensive worries and goal scoring problems, you have to go for a Chelsea win here. They’re very well priced at 23/20 with Coral, but if that’s too short for you, take a look at the Blues to win to nil at 3/1 with Sky Bet.
QPR v Man City (17:30) – City to win and BTTS (9/5 with BetVictor)
Just like Liverpool, Manchester City’s midweek exploits pose a slight worry. After their crunch clash with CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night, just how much will they have left for this one? European nights seem to take it out of City, and they’ve struggled in all three of their PL games after playing in the Champions League, winning just one. They need to improve on that record, and, thankfully for them, they’ve got a trip to relegation-threatened QPR to take advantage of.
With QPR stuck down in 19th in the table, City should be able to win at Loftus Road and maintain their title chase. Just like last week, if Chelsea win City will kick off nine points behind them, so the pressure will be on Manuel Pellegrini’s side. QPR looked impressive against Chelsea last week, and Harry Redknapp said they produced the best performance of his reign at home to Liverpool a few weeks ago. QPR clearly raise their game for these fixtures, but even then that probably still won’t be enough. While QPR can do enough to worry City, we can’t see them coping with the form that Sergio Aguero is in right now.
Sunday 9th November 2014
West Brom v Newcastle (13:30) – Newcastle to win (12/5 with Bet Victor)
This game sees two sides who, despite awful starts to the season, come in to this game in mid-table. West Brom, in 11th, host 12th placed Newcastle with both sides in great form after turning around their fortunes. The Baggies have lost just one of their last six games in the league, while Newcastle are on a four-game winning streak that has taken them up the table and into the quarter finals of the Capital One Cup.
That’s quite a turnaround when you remember that West Brom failed to win any of their opening four games, while Newcastle didn’t win any of their first seven. Now both sides are in great form, they’re scoring goals and looking confident, but at least one of them will see their good run ended here. With Newcastle still out as long as 12/5 to win here despite their recent successes at Spurs and Man City, it’s hard to look past them. Newcastle are a confidence side, who will be more than up for this one after how they’ve played of late. With odds like that after four successive wins, it’s well worth backing the Magpies.
Swansea v Arsenal (16:00) – Arsenal to win (23/20 with Bet365)
The final game of the weekend sees Arsenal travelling to Swansea on the back of their first back to back league wins of the campaign. Victories over Sunderland and Burnley gave Arsenal six points from six for the first time in the league this season, and they’ll be looking for a third consecutive win against sixth placed Swansea. Gary Monk’s side are only two points behind Arsenal at the moment, and they were level on points before last weekend.
Although, that maybe says more about Arsenal than Swansea, as the Swans have won just one of their last seven games. After starting the season with three consecutive wins, Swansea have gone off the boil, and have somehow managed to say high in the table as other teams around them struggle. Their draw with Everton at the weekend was a good result, and they probably deserved more after having a penalty appeal controversially turned down. But, if Arsenal come here with real focus, with many of their squad returning from injury and Alexis Sanchez in top form, they should have enough to get a win, and put more distance between themselves and the Swans.
That’s all of the televised games this weekend, but if you are looking for a slightly riskier bet with a bigger reward, try the accumulator. These four tips combined come to a 42/1 fourfold with BetVictor, which might be worth a punt.