The English Premier League has reached an interesting point. With so many games being played so closely together, teams are suffering a little when it comes to player numbers. There are also a couple of teams that look to be struggling so this season’s final five or six may look completely different to last seasons.
It seems the European competitions next season will be different – Liverpool will struggle to get anywhere near the top six while Aston Villa look to be struggling to stay out of the drop zone. In the top half of the table, Bolton and Sunderland are trying to make strong runs to be in contention for Europe and they are not without a chance, especially if Chelsea and Spurs continue to sputter.
This weekend brings in the New Year and the opening round of the year could once again bring some changes to the competition table. Manchester City and Spurs appear to have relatively easy assignments and there is a real chance that City could finish the weekend on top of the competition table. They share top spot with arch-rivals Manchester United, but United have the tougher game for the weekend.
In fact, United have to travel to unpredictable West Bromwich. Manchester United road form is poor this season with only one win from eight attempts. Fortunately, they haven’t lost any either. West Brom have a good home record so their odds of 6/1 look good. United at 4/7 are poor value so if you want to have a bet, we suggest the draw at 3/1 for value.
Liverpool host Bolton and while a home game for the Reds normally means an easy victory, their current forms suggests otherwise. In fact, their current form suggest total unpredictability. Bolton are in good form and will give Liverpool a big run for their money. The Reds are poor value at 8/11, even at home. They should win, but at 5/1, Bolton look to be good value. The draw at 3/1 is also good value. We tip Bolton in a close game.
Saturday’s final game to catch our betting attention is that between Arsenal and Birmingham. Arsenal have a reasonably good record on the road this season but Birmingham’s home record has been excellent, including holding United to a draw last time around. We’re tipping another draw to come out of this game with online bookmakers again being generous and offering 3/1. We look to be in for an interesting run to the finish line again this season.