After a busy week of European football, the best of the Premier League action is reserved for Sunday.
Chelsea host Arsenal with the Gunners still smarting from their 6-0 thrashing in Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game in charge. The Blues raced into a 2-0 lead in the first seven minutes before Kieran Gibbs was sent off for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin’s handball. Things went from bad to worse for Wenger and it seemed for a while that his long reign at Arsenal was drawing to a close.
The FA Cup and Champions League qualification were sufficient to give him a lifeline for this season and Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Galatasaray has raised expectations yet again for their supporters. Their form has been patchy in the League and their recent record against Chelsea is poor.
Jose Mourinho’s side had much the tougher Champions League fixture this week in a gruelling encounter with Sporting Lisbon. Diego Costa spent as much time on the floor as on his feet on Tuesday night but Mourinho is adamant that he will start on Sunday. If teams become fixated in stopping Costa, Chelsea have plenty of other players capable of hitting the target. Take Chelsea to edge it by a single goal.
Manchester United host Everton on Sunday with the Toffees returning from a 1-1 draw in Russia on Thursday. United obviously have no European distractions this week so have a huge advantage. Their incredible 5-3 defeat at Leicester reminded United fans that it takes more than £150million of talent to make a team. Van Gaal will have been working overtime in trying to sort out their defensive frailties and this looks like a game that they can win.
Southampton continued their incredible run to second in the table by beating QPR last week. The spelling may be slightly different but Pelle lived up to his name with a wonder goal to seal the three points. They travel to Tottenham on Sunday and a meeting with old boss Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs have had their ups and downs this season but played well at Arsenal and this could result in a draw.
Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat in Basel on Wednesday and their Champions League prospects look bleak with two matches against Real Madrid ahead of them. Their league form has been indifferent and a home game against West Brom on Saturday is exactly the sort of game to pose problems. Rather like United, they are having trouble moulding a team out of a bunch of talented individuals and Brendan Rodgers will be looking for signs of improvement here.
Manchester City were held by Roma on Wednesday and now travel to Aston Villa. A draw was not the result that they were hoping for but they played well against a good side. Frank Lampard continues to impress and he has scored more goals against Villa than any other Premiership side. I would be surprised if he doesn’t play a part on Saturday and City can grab a comfortable three points.
Liverpool 1 West Brom 0 @15-2 BetVictor
Aston Villa 1 Man City 3 @12-1 William Hill
Frank Lampard to score first @7-1 Paddy Power
Man United 3 Everton 0 @15-1 BetVictor
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 @8-1 Bet365
Tottenham 1 Southampton 1 @13-2 BetVictor
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
