After last weekend’s FA Cup Third Round games, we have already seen a number of shocks in that tournament with some big name Premier League teams going out of the competition, notably Newcastle United, Everton and Chelsea.
Then in midweek, we had the four Carabao Cup quarterfinal ties which saw Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton and Nottingham Forest make it through to the two-legged semi finals.
Manchester United drew Nottingham Forest, while Newcastle will face Southampton in those two-legged games which will be contested on the 24th (1st leg) and 31st (2nd leg) of January.
This weekend, we switch our attention back to the Premier League but what a weekend is in store as we have two huge games affecting the top six positions in the table, both of which just happen to be fierce local derbies!
Of course, bet365 Sport will be taking plenty of bets on these games and the other Premier League matches coming up, which includes an extra game on Thursday night as Fulham and Chelsea play their rearranged game and which also sees a rare Friday night game as Aston Villa host Leeds at Villa Park.
While it is the two big derby games at the weekend we are going to focus on in this article, let’s first give you a rundown of the full set of games coming up in the Premier League.
Kick off times are 3pm unless otherwise stated.
Outside of the two derby games we are focusing on, there are some intriguing other matches including Brighton facing Liverpool in what looks a tricky tie for Jurgen Klopp’s team.
There’s also a Midlands derby of sorts when Nottingham Forest and Leicester City clash and then on Sunday, the fourth derby of the weekend takes place as Chelsea host Crystal Palace just three days after their game with Fulham, who incidentally face Newcastle United at the same time.
However, the two games we are focusing on this week are the Manchester and North London derbies and we will start with the action that gets underway at Old Trafford at 12.30pm on Saturday.
Man Utd – (4-2-3-1) – De Gea (GK), Dalot (RB), Malacia (LB), Shaw (DLC), Varane (DRC), Casemiro (DMC), Eriksen (MC), Fernandes (AMC), Rashford (AML), Antony (AMR), Martial (AC)
Man City – (4-3-3) – Ederson (GK), Walker (RB), Ake (LB), Stones (DC), Laporte (DC), Gundogan (MC), Rodri (MC), De Bruyne (AMC), Silva (AML), Foden (AMR), Haaland (AC)
Somewhat unusually, Manchester United come into this game with the better record over the last few games than City, but City have won four of the last five Manchester derbies, including a 6-3 thrashing of United earlier on this season, which came on top of a 4-1 win last season.
However, the teams had differing experiences in the Carabao Cup in midweek, as United progressed against Charlton, while City unexpectedly went out of the competition losing 2-0 at Southampton.
Whether that will impact this game or not I am not sure but recent history between these two does seem to suggest a game with plenty of goals.
Both teams have plenty of attacking talent, but have looked suspect defensively at times this season and the way both teams are set up, I think they can both hurt each other, which should result in a game with plenty of chances and, hopefully, goals.
As such, I can see this being an open and end to end encounter and while I can see United scoring a goal, I think City will also get a few in return and as such, I think that Pep Guardiola’s team may well just come out on top here, perhaps by the odd goal in five.
Correct Score Prediction – Man Utd 2-3 Man City (22/1)
Tottenham – (3-4-2-1) – Lloris (GK), Lenglet (DC), Dier (DC), Romero (DC), Perisic (DML), Doherty (DMR), Hojbjerg (MC), Skipp (MC), Son (AMC), Gil (AMC), Kane (AC)
Arsenal – (4-3-3) – Ramsdale (GK), White (RB), Zinchenko (LB), Saliba (DC), Gabriel (DC), Partey (DMC), Odegaard (MC), Xhaka (DMC), Saka (AMR), Martinelli (AML), Nketiah (AC)
Both teams come into this game in need of a win. Arsenal dropped two points when drawing 0-0 at home with Newcastle last time out in the Premier League, which saw Manchester City cut their lead at the top of the table down to five points, while Tottenham’s 4-0 win at Crystal Palace saw them open up a five point gap on Liverpool in sixth as well as keeping Man Utd and Newcastle in their sights in the top four.
The Gunners won the first game between the two this season with a 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium and they will be confident of getting something here due to Spurs on/off form in recent weeks where they have played well one week and poorly the next.
However, Spurs have not lost at home to Arsenal in the Premier League since 2015 and they will be itching to dent their London rivals title hopes with a win here.
I can’t quite see Spurs doing enough to clinch the win, but in another game I think will see plenty of goals, I am going for a score draw here.
Correct Score Prediction – Tottenham 2-2 Arsenal (14/1)
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