The relentless Premier League schedule ramps up this week and there are two matches taking place on Tuesday.
At 19:30, Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Burnley to Molineux, while the 20:15 kick-off will see relegation-threatened Luton host league leaders Arsenal.
- Wolves to win
- Arsenal to win and both teams to score
Brighton vs Brentford
Brighton’s lack of Premier League victories has to be a growing concern for manager Roberto de Zerbi, but the Seagulls can get back to winning ways when Brentford visit the Amex.
It’s just one victory in eight top-flight matches for Brighton, but the south coast side have drawn four of those games, they have faced tricky ties against Aston Villa, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea and the performances have generally been of a high standard.
The Seagulls have recorded 30 shots on target in their last six matches and while injuries are mounting up for De Zerbi, Brighton should be too strong for Brentford.
The Bees are a capable outfit, but they are not the ruthless force of old without the suspended Ivan Toney and they have won only two of their seven away matches in all competitions this season.
Both road victories both came in London and Brentford could struggle further afield on the south coast.
Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth
Bournemouth picked up excellent back-to-back Premier League victories over Newcastle and Sheffield United, and although they were unable to make it three on the bounce when drawing 2-2 with Aston Villa at the weekend, that was still a good performance.
The Cherries won the shot count 13-6 against a rampant and in-form Aston Villa side at the Vitality Stadium and that bodes well for their chances when they head to south London on Wednesday.
Crystal Palace remain a solid side, but they are not a hugely progressive side and Roy Hodgson has seen his team win just two of their last 11 matches.
Injuries haven’t helped the Eagles, but they appear to be taking on a side growing in confidence and Palace look far too short at 5/4.
Fulham vs Nottingham Forest
Fulham put up a spirited performance and scored three goals in a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday and that followed a three-goal haul when beating 3-2 at Craven Cottage.
However, those results are the outliers for the Cottagers, who had previously managed just seven goals in nine Premier League matches.
Goalscoring is certainly the worry for Marco Silva’s men and the same can be said for Wednesday's rivals Nottingham Forest.
Steve Cooper’s side have failed to score in three of their last four top-flight away games and they looked pretty toothless when failing to score and managing only two shots on target at home to Everton at the weekend.
Perhaps Fulham will just edge this Craven Cottage contest, but at the prices, backing under 2.5 goals looks a solid wager.
Sheffield United vs Liverpool
Chris Wilder returns to the Sheffield United dugout, but he is unlikely to be pleased with what he sees when the Blades take on Liverpool.
The Blades have lost 11 of their 14 Premier League matches, and while Paul Heckingbottom's dismissal feels harsh given the lack of investment at Bramall Lane, it has to be pretty demoralising for United's squad to be getting pumped every week.
The south Yorkshire side were crushed 3-1 at home by Bournemouth prior to last weekend’s 5-0 hammering at Burnley and those results certainly don’t inspire confidence for their clash with Liverpool.
The Reds have hit 25 goals in their last nine matches, they have lost only one Premier League game all season, and although there have been defensive issues, they have looked thrilling going forward.
It’s even-money that Liverpool win a game featuring at least four goals, and that's bet that has copped in eight of Liverpool's last 15 games.
LIVERPOOL TO WIN AND OVER 3.5 GOALS
Aston Villa vs Man City
Man City dropped two points in a 3-3 draw with Tottenham and the Citizens could find themselves five points behind Arsenal by the time they kick off at Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
City missed some glaring opportunities against Spurs, but there was more damage done than just two points lost to their rivals.
Jack Grealish and Rodri both picked up suspensions on Sunday, meaning they will miss the trip to Villa Park, while Jeremy Doku limped off against Spurs and is a doubt for the Villa clash.
City have lost at Arsenal, Wolves and Newcastle this season, they have failed to beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs and they don’t look like the force of last term.
A pretty bizarre commentary on Sunday suggested that City were complacent and Spurs were there for the taking, meanwhile Ange Postecoglou’s men were scoring three goals and looking extremely dangerous every time they crossed into City’s half.
The narrative that Pep Guardiola’s side have become complacent, and they will raise their standards for the bigger games doesn’t ring true either, when you consider they have taken only two points from five games against Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool this season.
Aston Villa have lost only one of theri last 12 matches, they have won all of their six home Premier League matches this season and Unai Emery’s men should outrun odds of 15/4 on Wednesday.
Man Utd vs Chelsea
Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford is looking increasingly precarious and Man Utd have lost nine of their last 17 matches.
Newcastle had ten first-team players missing on Sunday, and while it was still a tricky tie for United to win, the Red Devils could certainly have hoped to have recorded more than one shot on target at St James’ Park.
Chelsea have been inconsistent this term, but the Blues have shown that they are capable of some top-level performances, most notably when winning 3-1 at Spurs and sharing the spoils in an eight-goal thriller with Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have outplayed Liverpool and Arsenal this season and Chelsea look an excellent bet to increase Ten Hag’s woes.
