MY ACCOUNT
Just the four games are on the Premier League schedule this Saturday, here we run down our expert writers’ best predictions for each fixture.
Leicester vs Crystal Palace (Saturday, 12.30pm)
Leicester missed a huge opportunity to get their season back on track last weekend and now face an opponent who will be looking to spring their own surprise — and Crystal Palace look value at 2/1 to do just that.
A return of just nine points from eight matches is disappointing for Patrick Vieira’s men but the Eagles have faced an extremely tough set of fixtures and will feel unfortunate not to have got more out of some of those matches.
In just three meetings with opponents not expected to challenge for Europe, Palace have impressed, beating Leeds 2-1, Aston Villa 3-1 and earning a draw against in-form Brentford.
After a season of hard-luck stories, Vieira’s men have the quality to get their just deserts this weekend to deepen the gloom at the King Power Stadium.
Fulham vs Bournemouth (Saturday, 3pm)
Fulham look the better side both on the underlying numbers and on the eye test.
However, they are hard to trust at odds-on given both their poor head-to-head record against Bournemouth and the fact that the Cottagers have started to find unlikely ways to lose matches while the visitors keep grabbing unexpected positive results.
The safer bet might be to go for a high-scoring affair.
Neither team is anywhere near rock-solid in defence, with Bournemouth the third-leakiest team in the top flight, conceding 20 goals, while Fulham have shipped 18.
And Bournemouth are also starting to click in attack, netting six goals in their last four outings.
Backing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals at 21/20 looks a decent approach and one that would have paid out in eight of Fulham’s nine league games as well as in two of Bournemouth’s last four.
Wolves vs Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 3pm)
This match has all the hallmarks of being the last to feature on Match Of The Day.
Neither side offers much in the way of threat. Wolves are cautious in attack and are missing a slew of forward players, while a new-look Forest frontline perhaps lacks a little quality and is certainly short of cohesion.
And while Nottingham Forest’s sometimes naive defending could offer Wolves more chances than the hosts normally create, the importance of not losing this match combined with a lack of confidence in both squads indicates this could be a slow-burning, cagey affair.
Things could change if an opening goal is scored, but with Wolves having netted just three times in nine league games and Forest’s only away goal this season coming in the 81st minute at Everton in August, backing a goalless first half at 15/8 looks sensible.
Tottenham vs Everton (Saturday, 5.30pm)
Spurs have won 12 of their last 13 games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, leading at half-time in eight of those, which does hint at some value in the 21/20 available for the hosts to be ahead at the interval and the final whistle.
The Toffees are unbeaten in their last three away games, winning at Southampton on their last road trip. But away wins have been few and far between for them under Frank Lampard and this task looks like being beyond them.
Everton have scored in six of their last seven Premier League away games, however, and could do some minor damage to a Spurs defence that has shipped nine goals in the last six outings.
