It’s becoming very congested at the top of the Premier league with just one point separating leaders Manchester City and fifth placed Tottenham. Arsenal have the chance to go top for the first time this season when they take on Sunderland in Saturday’s early kick off. Against a side that hasn’t been able to beat them in the last nine encounters that’s a great opportunity. Trailing the Gunners on goal difference are Liverpool and they’ll be hoping to close the gap by securing a handsome victory against a Crystal Palace outfit that have struggled for clean sheets once again this year.
On Sunday, third placed Chelsea are in action following their hugely emphatic 4-0 win over Manchester United last week. It seems that Antonio Conte’s team have been given a new lease of life lately and they’ll be in high spirits for their tricky looking away fixture against Southampton. Everton may not have been able to keep up with the leading pack despite their strong start to the season but they’ll be looking to make amends with three points against West Ham, who seem to be slowly recovering from a rather awful patch of form.
Saturday 29th October 2016
Sunderland v Arsenal (12:30) – Arsenal to win by one goal (11/4 with Ladbrokes)
The Gunners squandered their chance to go top of the table last weekend when being held to a goalless draw at home to Middlesbrough. Despite picking up 20 points this season, this sort of result shouldn’t have come as a huge shock as they were far from convincing during their wins against Burnley and Swansea earlier this month. The absences of Santi Cazorla and Oliver Giroud were very noticeable against Middlesbrough but if they are both fit enough to feature here then a more threatening performance would be almost a certainty.
As for Sunderland, their meagre total of two points from 10 games has really mounted the pressure on David Moyes. While performances have been far from outstanding, he can consider himself a little unlucky to have such a low tally as late goals conceded against Manchester City, Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham have cost him five points already. The signs are there that a good result isn’t too far away once Moyes can keep his players’ concentration levels up for the full 90 minutes. If they can do that here then they should be able to keep things fairly close but expect the Gunners to triumph in the end.
Crystal Palace v Liverpool (17:30) – Liverpool to win and both teams to score (23/10 with Betfred)
Back to back defeats have signalled the end of Crystal Palace’s good patch of form which had pulled them into the top half of the table. A third loss in a row looks a real possibility as Alan Pardew’s men face a very impressive looking Liverpool side. The good news for the home side however is that Liverpool are shaky when it comes to defending set pieces and only West Brom (6) have scored more from corners and free kicks than Palace (4). They were very unfortunate not to find the back of the net in their last home game against West Ham but they should be able to score this time.
While Palace may have a goal or more in them though, it’s looking like Liverpool will be able to outscore them. The joint top scorers in the league are also the joint top scorers away from home and their fluid attack of Sadio Mane, Phillipe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino look a handful for any defence, let alone a Palace one which has now gone 14 league games without a clean sheet. The Reds had to rely on a very late and controversial penalty to secure the three points on their last visit to Selhurst Park but this time they should be able to win with a little more comfort.
Sunday 30th October 2016
Everton v West Ham (13:30) – Everton to win (4/5 at BetVictor)
Five consecutive victories for Everton in all competitions has since been followed by five games without a win and the Toffees are in desperate need of some momentum before they begin to tail off even further. If their recent 2-1 defeat to Burnley is anything to go by though, then a change of fortunes is not far off as it was a game Everton dominated and one they certainly didn’t deserve to lose. They weren’t overly impressive against Crystal Palace in their last home fixture but improvements should be visible this time.
West Ham may have recovered from their slump but their two recent league victories have been far from convincing. They needed a missed penalty to secure a narrow victory against Crystal Palace and it took them until injury time to beat bottom of the table Sunderland at home. Problems still lie with the Hammers and while the return of Aaron Creswell from suspension will help fix some of their defensive ones, going forward they still look like struggling until one of Andrew Ayew or Andy Carroll returns. With Slaven Bilic’s side looking short on ideas going forwards, Everton are too well priced to turn down for the win.
Southampton v Chelsea (16:00) – Under 2.5 goals (10/11 with Betfred)
Chelsea’s excellent response to their 3-0 drubbing to Arsenal continued with their huge win against Manchester United and it has now put Chelsea right back in the mix as title contenders. This is likely to be their toughest challenge since playing Arsenal however, as the Saints have not lost any of their last nine home Premier League matches and have conceded just three league goals at St Mary’s this season. They have a very well marshalled defence, protected by the impressive Oriol Romeu and they should be able to keep Chelsea’s attack fairly quiet here.
It looks as though the Southampton attack will struggle to fashion too many chances of their own however. The Saints have looked more dangerous in front of goal in the last few weeks but they are still averaging considerably fewer goals than they managed last season. This weekend they are up against a defence that has now recorded three consecutive league clean sheets since switching to three at the back. With the Blues defence looking far more robust and organised following Conte’s tactical switch, a low scoring affair looks on the cards for this one.