5 Premier League Tips for the Weekend’s Action - 1/1/21

On Saturday, league leaders Manchester City travel to the Emirates Stadium where they’ll face fourth-place Arsenal in the bid to extend their gap to both Chelsea and Liverpool who both dropped points in midweek.

Arsenal have a torrid record against City in recent seasons and were even hammered 5-0 by City back in August, as Ilkay Gundogan, Ferran Torres (2), Gabriel Jesus and Rodri all got on the scoresheet. City have won in both of their last two visits to the Emirates Stadium, doing so 1-0 in the Premier League last season, as well as 4-1 in the Carabao Cup.

Both sides come into this match having won their last five matches across all competitions, however, it is the manner of which they are playing and superior quality in their squad of which gives Guardiola the edge, as suggested in recent 7-0, 4-0 and 6-3 victories over Leeds United, Newcastle United and Leicester City.

Leicester take on Norwich City on New Year’s Day, looking to build on their impressive victory over Liverpool in midweek and move further up the Premier League standings.

At present, the Foxes are ninth in the table, whilst Norwich currently sit in 19th place, following five losses in a row in the Premier League, most recently, a heavy 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Former Fleetwood Town and England international Jamie Vardy is the player that we have chosen for this tip, as the 34-year-old will likely fancy his chances against a defence that has already leaked 42 goals in 19 games. Vardy has scored 11 goals in 22 appearances for the Foxes across all competitions this season, averaging a goal every 146 minutes, hence why he is priced at 11/4 to score first at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Watford versus Tottenham Hotspur is the final game from Saturday on this list, as the Hornets look to cause an unlikely shock to Antonio Conte’s men.

Claudio Ranieri’s side have been nothing short of abysmal since defeating Manchester United 4-1 on 20th November, as they have lost every match since, losing 4-2 to Leicester City, as well as 2-1 to both Chelsea and Brentford, with further 3-1 and 4-1 defeats being suffered to City and West Ham either side of their loss against the Bees.

Meanwhile, Spurs are unbeaten in the Premier League under Antonio Conte and have won three of their last five matches, defeating Norwich and Crystal Palace by 3-0 scorelines, as well as West Ham 2-1, with their other two matches in this sequence being 2-2 and 1-1 draws against both Liverpool and Southampton.

On Sunday, Chelsea host Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a game that could ultimately knock either side out of the running in this season’s title race.

Thomas Tuchel’s side have been in faltering form over the festive period, as their 1-1 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek now means that they have won just one of their last four Premier League games, having also drawn via the same score against a depleted Everton side, as well as 0-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. Chelsea’s only win came against Aston Villa at Villa Park, where Jorginho scored a penalty brace on either side of a Romelu Lukaku equaliser.

On the other hand, Liverpool have failed to win either of their last two matches, following their 1-0 loss to Leicester in midweek, as well as their 2-2 draw away against Tottenham Hotspur. Prior to these matches, Jurgen Klopp’s side had won their last six Premier League matches, which included 4-0 and 4-1 wins over the likes of Arsenal and Everton, showing that their attack has the capability to blow any side away when in form.

In their last eight meetings with Chelsea, Liverpool have won five of them, drawing once and losing just two of them.

The final tip on this list comes from the Brentford Community Stadium where Brentford go head to head with Aston Villa in a battle of 14th versus 12th in the Premier League standings.

Both of these sides come into this match in suspect form, as Brentford have won just one of their last five matches, which was in a 2-1 win versus Watford where Bryan Mbuemo’s 96th-minute penalty gave them all three points, whilst Villa have won just two of their last five league games, following 2-0 and 2-1 victories over Leicester City and Norwich.

Two players which we are focussing on this tip is Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins. Toney has been a key performer for Brentford in the Premier League so far this season, as the 25-year-old former Peterborough United striker has scored four and assisted two, of which his last two goals came in late November against both Newcastle United and Everton.

Ollie Watkins, who is a former Brentford player himself and has already begun to excel under Steven Gerrard, having scored three goals in seven appearances under the former Ranger coach, doing so against Brighton, City and Norwich.