A lot has happened since we last spoke. For one – Leicester City are the Champions of England. It was a tough one to take for bookmakers, but a great one for fans of the underdog. Basically everyone except Man City and Chelsea supporters – both of whom will soon defect to the Foxes anyway. In an era where the size of your cheque book dictates your finishing position, what Leicester have done is truly remarkable. On the final day of the season, the outgoing champions Chelsea will give Leicester a guard of honour and Claudio Ranieri – the man deemed not good enough to end the Blues 50-year title drought – will be lapping up the adoration. Dilly ding dilly dong!
Saturday 7 May
34/10 Norwich | Draw 26/10 | Man United 8/10 (13:45)
Before the celebrations begin, though, there is some actual football to be played. The meeting of Manchester United and Norwich City at Carrow Road will have massive ramifications at the top and bottom of the table. Man City’s focus on Europe has opened the door for United, who can close the gap to just one point with victory on Saturday. For Norwich, defeat to Louis van Gaal’s side will leave them with a mountain to climb if they’re to save themselves from the drop. The Canaries were shock winners at Old Trafford earlier this season, but I don’t see them repeating that here. United at 8/10 looks like a good addition to your multiples.
9/2 Aston Villa | 3/1 | Newcastle 6/10 (16:00)
Aston Villa’s season plummeted new lows at the weekend as they tossed away a lead in injury time to lose to Watford. Pride has gone out the window – there is nothing left for these players to play for. Newcastle should pick up three vital points at Villa Park on Saturday. Rafa Benitez has brought some defensive stability to the Magpies and helped lift them out the drop zone. Now they need to stay there. If they can continue to keep clean sheets, there is enough about their forward thinking players to knick the odd goal. Matches between these two have been tense, low-scoring affairs in recent times and Saturday’s meeting will be no different. The Magpies should triumph by the odd goal, which comes in at 26/10.
17/20 Bournemouth | 26/10 | West Brom 31/10 (16:00)
Dean Court will be the venue for perhaps the most uninspiring match of the weekend as 15th placed Bournemouth host 14th placed West Brom. Both are safe on 41 points and couldn’t give a damn about what happens from here on out. The Baggies haven’t won since beating Man Utd at the beginning of March, but that won’t worry Tony Pulis much. His Premier League survival record is still in tact. His job is done. Progress is for hippies. Finishing in the exact same league position as last year takes perseverance and planning. Bournemouth are the better side here and look more likely to steal a victory. At 17/20, they’re not a bad price either.
1/1 Crystal Palace | 24/10 | Stoke 27/10 (16:00)
Much like the previous fixture, the meeting of Crystal Palace and Stoke has another dead-rubber look about it. Palace have a FA Cup final to look forward to, while Stoke have all-but secured a top 10 finish once again. The fact that neither side could get one over their relegation threatened opponents at the weekend says it all. These two don’t care much for Premier League football at the moment. They’re already eying out their holiday destinations for the summer. Palace have already beaten the Potters in the league and cup this season, but it is a bit difficult to back a team with just one Premier League victory in 2016.Under 2.5 Goals might be the way to go at 8/10.
18/10 Sunderland | 5/2 | Chelsea 14/10 (16:00)
Having dropped points against Stoke, Sunderland need to pull something out of the bag against Chelsea on Saturday. Fortunately their record against the Blues suggests this is not entirely out of the realms of possibility. Guus Hiddink’s side sparked into life during the second half on Monday, after a half-time melee seemed to stoke something deep inside them. Eden Hazard seems to have returned from his season long malaise and is a half-decent footballer again. Will it be enough at the Stadium of Light? The Black Cats will be well up for this. Fabio Borini has a penchant for scoring big goals and the Italian could prove pivotal here. Back him to score and Sunderland to win.Otherwise the home win comes in at 18/10.
5/10 West Ham | 33/10 | Swansea 52/10 (16:00)
West Ham’s quest for Champions League football goes on. With both Manchester clubs dropping points over the weekend, Slaven Bilic’s team have been handed an opportunity. In their way this weekend is a stubborn Swansea side, whose recent form suggests they’ll be no pushover. They swept aside a Liverpool B-side on Sunday, with Gylfi Sigurdsson once again proving the architect. It’s easy to forget the Icelandic international is only 26 years-old. He’s a classy little player and one that can consider himself unfortunate not to be playing at a bigger club. As for a result here – West Ham will surely win and set up a winner-take-all clash with Man Utd in their final home match at the Boleyn Ground.However, I’d rather play the Over 2.5 Goals at 15/20 and enjoy the action.
1/1 Leicester | 27/10 | Everton 26/10 (18:30)
Featured game to follow!
Sunday 8 May
9/10 Tottenham | 27/10 | Southampton 29/10 (14:30)
Spurs’ last 30 minutes at Stamford Bridge showed just how well Leicester have dealt with the title run in. They’ve hardly bottled it, because they were never really in it. Now they fight for second place and more importantly the chance to finish above Arsenal. Next up for them is a meeting with an in-form Southampton side who tore Man City apart at the weekend. Sadio Mané was at his unplayable best, bagging himself yet another Premier League hat-trick. Moussa Dembele is likely to miss out after offering Diego Costa a free optometrist appointment. He’ll be a massive loss to Spurs, who are already without Dele Alli.I’m going with an away win at 29/10, but the Southampton Double Chance also looks decent value at 8/10.
9/20 Liverpool | 36/10 | Watford 57/10 (17:00)
The atmosphere around Anfield on Sunday will depend very much on how things go on Thursday night. If they manage to see off Villarreal and book their place in the Europa League final, I’ll be expecting a routine victory over Watford. Go out on Thursday and their disappointment will likely be compounded by the Hornets. Watford managed a 3-0 win when the side’s met earlier this season in one of the worst performances seen by Jurgen Klopp’s Reds. The defensive headaches remain, with Mamadou Sakho ruled out for the rest of the season, so I fancy a couple goals here. Both Teams To Score at 8/10 – I’ll have some of that.
5/4 Manchester City | 5/2 | Arsenal 2/1 (17:00)
Featured game to follow!
Written by Commodore Vegas
EPL Picks
Man United WIN 8/10
Newcastle WIN BY 1 GOAL 26/10
Bournemouth WIN 17/20
Crystal Palce UNDER 2.5 GOALS 15/20
Sunderland WIN 18/10
West Ham OVER 2.5 GOALS 15/20
Southampton WIN 29/10
Liverpool BTTS 8/10
