Our football pundit looks at the top five possible results and talking points in this weekend’s English Premier League action.
There are some mouthwatering encounters in the Premier League this weekend with Manchester City’s visit to Anfield headlining the fixtures. Everton are priced up at 10/1 against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United host Stoke City with whom they’ve drawn the last three meetings. Our pundit looks at the possible shock results of the weekend.
Liverpool wake up to City clash with Coutinho hangover
It’ll be interesting to see how Liverpool get on without Coutinho who completed his £142m move to Barcelona earlier this week. Of course, Jürgen Klopp would have loved to have the little Brazilian on hand for the visit of Manchester City.
The Reds will need to move past the disappointment of losing their star player as the Mancunian juggernaut bears down on Anfield. City have been almost unstoppable this season with only Shakhtar Donetsk beating them in a competitive fixture.
It will be very interesting to see how Klopp will approach this game. I have no doubt that we’ll see Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino in the front three with either Adam Lallana or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain occupying the number 10 position in behind the ‘false nine’.
Who plays in as the midfield two is where things get interesting. One feels that Emre Can will crack the nod despite his relative lack of mobility while the continued absence of Jordan Henderson will likely see James Milner provide extra cover for the back four.
Of course, the Arrival of Virgil van Dijk will help shore up a leaky defence. His partnership with Joel Matip is the perfect “fire and ice” combination with full-backs, Joe Gomez and Andrew Robertson both nailing down their positions in recent weeks with magnificent performances. Don’t be surprised if the reds hand Guardiola his first league defeat of the season.
Everton are not a 10/1 side
I was shocked when I saw Everton priced up at 10/1 against Spurs this weekend. Of course, the Toffees endured a pretty torrid start to the season but have come in in leaps and bounds under to tutelage of Sam Allardyce.
In fact, they’ve only lost twice in eight Premier League appearances under the former England manager. Spurs haven’t enjoyed the best of seasons thus far and saw an excellent four-game winning streak broken at home against West Ham last week in a 1-1 draw.
Spurs appear to be rattled ever so slightly by the move to Wembley. The pitch dimensions are different to White Hart Lane where they enjoyed so much success while getting to and from the Stadium is an absolute nightmare. Not to mention the fact that it’s every English lad’s dream to play at the National Stadium from a young age, so to be given the opportunity to do just that adds incentive for opposition to up their game.
While it’s worth noting that Everton have lost their last two Premier League games, they’ll most certainly be up for a Wembley scrap this weekend and look a fantastic outside bet at 10/1 – make sure not to miss out on a massive price!
Burnley desperate for win against resurgent Eagles
It’s absurd to think that Burnley are in decline really. Sure, they’ve endured a rough run of five league fixtures without a win. What a lot of people fail to mention is that three of those matches came against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.
The Tykes have been the fairy-tale story of the season thus far but risk undoing all of their good work if they continue to drop points so regularly. This fixture then could prove a pivotal moment in Burnley’s season. A big win against a team on the up will restore confidence.
Has Sanchez played his last game for Arsenal?
There is an almighty tug-of-war going at the moment for Sanchez. Manchester City were believed to be in pole position to sign the Chilean, however, reports have surfaced suggesting that Manchester United have enquired about the player’s availability with an even better offer.
Sources say the Red Devils are willing to pay both the player and the club more for the transfer andnon top of that give the player a better salary and offer Arsenal Henrikh Mkhitaryan as part of the deal. However, The Gunners manager, Arsene Wenger says he has no intention to sell the player whose contract expires at the end of the current campaign.
It remains to be seen if Sanchez will be in the starting line-up this weekend as Wenger’s men take on Bournemouth away from home. He only came on as a substitute in their EFL Cup semifinal against Chelsea earlier this week which fuelled speculation that the team is preparing for life after him.
Will Stoke City survive a Monday night at Old Traford?
In the wake of Stoke City’s defeat at the hands of Coventry City which saw them crash out of the FA Cup in the third round, they sacked Mark Hughes and they face an insurmountable-task of toppling second-placed Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams. The Potters head into this one under the tutelage of interim coach, Eddie Niedzwiecki who has been Hughes’ assistant since his days as the Welsh national team in the early 2000’s.
They visit a well-rested Manchester United side which has been training in Dubai over the last couple of days. The last three meetings between these two finished in draws, including a 2-2 scoreline back in September which ended United’s 100% start to the season. It will take a mighty miracle for the visitors to get something out of this fixture.
