Saturday’s footballing day starts with an all-London clash, as Crystal Palace entertain Arsenal.
The hosts will fancy this game. They have a reasonably good recent record against the Gunners, being undefeated in their last three clashes.
Key man for Palace remains Wilfried Zaha. The winger has pace, power and ability, and can be tricky to stop in full flight. The person tasked with stopping him is likely to be Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The young fullback has only been booked twice this season, but both yellows have come since the arrival of Mikel Arteta. The new manager has seemingly decided to toughen up what has been quite a soft defence. We’ll take Maitland-Niles to see yellow once more given the tricky task at hand.
The late live game is the high-profile clash between Tottenham and Liverpool.
The Reds are on a roll – 13 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, World Club champions, and relatively rested given the decision to play the kids in their FA Cup tie with Everton last week.
Tottenham, on the other hand, have only won once in their last four league games, are struggling to avoid conceding (one clean sheet in 11 games under Jose Mourinho), and have lost their talisman Harry Kane to injury.
This all points to a Liverpool win, and although this won’t be easy we tend to agree. The bookies know this though, and the odds for Liverpool anytime scorers are very cramped. As a result we’re going to side with Sadio Mane to open the scoring. The Senegalese striker has scored six times in his last nine league appearances.
Recommendations:
Crystal Palace/Arsenal: Maitland-Niles to be booked, 1 pt, at 5/1, bet365
Tottenham/Liverpool: Mane to score first, 1 pt, at 23/5, Unibet
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