Last weekend we saw Chelsea inflict the second defeat in four games on Manchester City in the
Premier League, denying the Citizens a chance to claim the title in landing a potentially big blow ahead of the two meeting in the Champions League final later on in the month.
With Manchester United winning at Aston Villa, it closes the gap on City to ten points, with United having a game in hand, although City do need just one win from their remaining three games to ensure title success (and they have the next chance to do that on Friday night away to Newcastle United).
However, in midweek this week there are four absolutely pivotal matches that could be decisive in deciding who makes it into the top four this season, and claims that crucial Champions League spot, and who misses out.
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Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Everton are all involved in games that could make or break their chances of that crucial top four finish and none of the games are ones that you would say that each team should comfortably win. That makes the results this week, all the more intriguing.
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Now that we know where to head if we want to place a bet, let’s now preview the four crunch games coming up in the Premier League during midweek.
The second of three games for Manchester United in the space of five days sees the Red Devils
hosting FA Cup Finalists and fourth-place in the Premier League Leicester City at Old Trafford in a game that is a must-win for both sides.
For United, if they want to deny City the title, they must win all four of their remaining games and hope City pick up no more than one point from their remaining three. However, on a positive note, United are safely in second and with a Europa League final against Villarreal to look forward to at the end of May.
Leicester’s surprise defeat at the weekend to Newcastle was a huge blow for Brendan Rodgers, with his team facing a very tough finish to the season. Their remaining games see them face Man Utd, Chelsea and Tottenham in the League, with an FA Cup Final against Chelsea to come at the weekend. Only one of those games, against Tottenham, is at home for the Foxes.
With Liverpool, West Ham, Spurs and Everton breathing down their necks, the Foxes will be desperate for a win here on a ground where they have won just once since October 1974.
United are going to have to rotate players this week and I would expect a number of changes from the weekend’s trip to Aston Villa for this game and also with the fixture on Thursday in mind, but even so, I am still backing the Red Devils to land the win.
Tip – Manchester United 2-1 Leicester City – 10/1
It’s been a very good week if you are a Chelsea fan. Not only did your team clinch a place in the Champions League final to face Manchester City at the end of May, thanks to a superb 2-0 win over Real Madrid last week, but they then faced City at the weekend in Manchester and came away with a 2-1 victory.
Now, Thomas Tuchel’s side face London rivals Chelsea, looking for revenge for the 3-0 defeat the Blues suffered at the hands of Arsenal earlier on in the season, in what was one of Arsenal’s best performances of the year by a considerable margin.
The Gunners’ recent form has been very inconsistent and their 3-1 win over West Brom on Sunday, which condemned the Baggies to the drop, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to go into this game with any degree of form or confidence, especially after their limp Europa League semifinal exit last week.
Mikel Arteta has a lot of work to do to get this Arsenal team up to the standard of top six sides, let alone Manchester City at the top of the table and in truth, I think it is going to take him a lot longer than 12-18 months to achieve that given the Gunners current squad.
With that in mind, I see nothing other than a solid win for the home side here.
Tip – Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal – 16/1
Last season, it went right down to the wire before Aston Villa confirmed that they would remain
in the Premier League and avoid relegation. This season, the Villains have hardly been in the bottom half of the table and Dean Smith has led them to a much more successful campaign and relative mid-table safety.
However, after the defeat to Manchester United at the weekend, that means Aston Villa have won just once in their last five games, not a run that will give them huge confidence against an Everton side with one of the best away records in the Premier League.
The Toffees boosted that fantastic form on the road with a vital 1-0 win at West Ham at the weekend, a result which dented West Ham’s Champions League ambitions, as well as giving Everton’s a real boost. Carlo Ancelotti will know, he not only needs a few results to go his team’s way in these next few games, but also for the Toffees to win all their remaining fixtures.
The teams only met a few weeks back with Aston Villa running out 2-1 winners at Goodison Park on the 1st May, so this is a quick return game and in truth, I can see something of a similar result being the outcome here, with the away team once again landing the victory.
As such, I am backing Everton to land the victory here.
Tip – Aston Villa 0-1 Everton – 9/1
Manchester United will play their rearranged game against Liverpool on Thursday night, their third game in five days and it promises to be a very interesting match at Old Trafford between two of the biggest rivals in English football.
United have second spot shored up and a Europa League final to look forward to, however they need to win all their remaining games in order to keep the pressure on Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, indeed, if they were to lose any of those last games, then City would be Champions.
However, Liverpool also need a win due to the Reds chasing a Champions League qualification spot for next season, something Jurgen Klopp will be anxious to secure if he, as expected, intends to try and attract some new signings to the club to try and avoid the issues that have beset the Reds this season in terms of injury and a lack of form.
There’s no doubt that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will target this game as more important to win than the one against Leicester City earlier in the week and I think he will name a weaker team for the Leicester match and a near full-strength team for this game. That makes Liverpool’s task even more difficult.
That said, so many of these games in recent times have finished as rather boring and uninspiring draws and I have a feeling that a point is what both sides may end up with here.
Tip – Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool – 7/1
*All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport as of 12pm on Monday 10th May 2021.
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