Premier League preview: Saturday’s action including Chelsea vs Man Utd
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool
When Brighton faced Forest earlier this week, the Seagulls dominated the game, firing a total of 19 shots to Forest’s three. Sure, that game ended goalless – but Liverpool’s attack is liable to be a good deal sharper than Brighton’s.
Liverpool may not be quite back to their best, with the side having to fight to get the job done against West Ham earlier this week. But a trip to the City Ground should give the visitors an opportunity to rack up a few goals.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that Liverpool go on a rampage, and Steve Cooper will doubtless try to set his side up to be tough to break down.
But perhaps that means Liverpool will get the job done after the interval. In their encounters with Forest last month, both Fulham and Bournemouth scored three goals in the second half.
On a similar theme, Liverpool put six past Rangers after the interval last week in the Champions League, after the Glasgow side had held their own for the first 45 minutes.
With that in mind, it could be worth backing over 2.5 goals in the second half at 9/4.
If you prefer to focus on the full 90 minutes, maybe the shots market is a better bet; Liverpool are evens to have over 6.5 shots on target. In seven of the Merseyside team’s last nine games in all comps, that bet would have paid off.
Everton vs Crystal Palace
It’s three straight defeats for Everton, but Crystal Palace come to Goodison Park seeking their first away win of the campaign. The Toffees, meanwhile, have won one match at home all season.
Palace are surely in better shape, but it’s tough to put too much faith in either side, in a match that’s likely to be tighter than a gnat’s chuff.
Palace’s last two away matches have been goalless; Everton themselves have scored a total of three goals in their five home games this season, and failed to find the net in their last two outings (away to Spurs and Newcastle).
Under 2.5 goals is a 7/10 shot – not exactly the most thrilling flutter, but nonetheless a bet that looks to have a fair chance of coming in.
Man City vs Brighton
City slipped to their first defeat of the season against Liverpool a week ago (actually, the second if you want to count the Community Shield).
Pep Guardiola’s post-match complaints about his side falling victim to an implied Anfield bias rang a little hollow. But will the Spanish coach have something more justifiable to moan about on Saturday afternoon?
It seems a tall order. City’s opponents Brighton were utterly dominant against Nottingham Forest earlier this week, registering shot after shot against Cooper’s side – but without actually scoring.
The Seagulls have now drawn a blank in their last three matches. Fair to say it will be tricky for Roberto De Zerbi to earn his first Prem win at the Etihad. Even if Brighton did score three goals in a barnstorming match at Anfield for the Italian’s first game in charge.
City themselves are without a goal in their last 180 minutes of play, while Erling Haaland could only score once against Southampton the last time the Manchester side won. Given the Norwegian’s astonishing prolificity this season, that almost qualifies as disappointing.
Normal service will likely be resumed here, but the City win is a massively odds on price. The big man is a similarly skinny price to find the net, too. Perhaps a decent alternative would be backing Phil Foden to score.
With Haaland understandably grabbing the headlines, Foden has gone a little under the radar. But the England man has five goals in his last four league games, and is 9/5 to find the net at any time. Phil your boots…
Chelsea vs Man Utd
Chelsea have adapted to Graham Potter’s methods pretty quickly, even if the Blues had to settle for a point against Brentford earlier this week. That draw ended a five-match winning run for the West London side; Chelsea look to be in generally good form as they welcome Man Utd.
The visitors are also in a pretty fine place though. Even Cristiano Ronaldo’s early walkout couldn’t detract from Man Utd’s convincing 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday. Ten Hag’s side are now just a point behind Chelsea in the league table.
It all suggests these two sides could be fairly evenly matched at the moment. And each of the last four encounters between these teams have ended in low-scoring draws, too.
Banking on history repeating itself seems a reasonable approach. The draw is a 5/2 shot; under 2.5 goals is available at 49/50.
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