5 Premier League Tips for the Weekend’s Action - 18/12/21

Leeds United and Arsenal go head to head at Elland Road on Saturday night in a clash of 16th versus fourth in the Premier League table.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side will be looking to regain some pride following their heavy 7-0 defeat at Manchester City in midweek so will likely want to put on a more respectable display in front of their home crowd, having narrowly lost 3-2 at Chelsea in the previous match, as well as drawing 2-2 and 0-0 with Brentford and Brighton, either side of a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Arsenal have won three of their last five matches in the Premier League, having beaten West Ham United 2-0 on Wednesday night, as well as Southampton 3-0 last weekend. Their other victory in this sequence came over Newcastle in late November by a 2-0 scoreline, before being beaten 3-2 and 2-1 by Manchester United and Everton.

Mikel Arteta’s side typically aren’t full of goals, as they have scored 23 in 17 outings, which is the eighth-most in the division.

Aston Villa face Burnley on Saturday at 3 pm, with Steven Gerrard’s men looking to carry on their good start under the former Rangers manager.

Villa have won four out of their opening six matches under the former Liverpool captain, having defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, Crystal Palace and Leicester City by 2-1 scorelines, as well as Norwich City 2-0 in midweek at Carrow Road. Their only two defeats have came against Manchester City and Liverpool.

Burnley have won just one of their opening 15 Premier League matches so far this season and consequently, are without a win in their last five outings following their 0-0 draw against West Ham last weekend, as they have been beaten 1-0 by Newcastle, as well as drawing 0-0, 3-3 and 1-1 in this sequence of matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Chelsea.

A player to look out for in this tip is Ollie Watkins who has been in fine form of late under Gerrard, as the 25-year-old England international scored Villa’s second in their win at Norwich, meaning that his tally currently stands at three goals in his last six games.

West Ham United take on Norwich City at the London Stadium on Saturday, with David Moyes’ side looking to bounce back from a defeat to Arsenal in midweek.

The Hammers will fancy their chances against a Canaries side that seemingly lack quality up-front, having drawn blanks against Aston Villa and Manchester United in their last two outings and haven’t registered a win since Dean Smith’s first match as manager against Southampton.

Moyes’ side haven’t won since they beat Chelsea on 4th December via a late Arthur Masuaku goal which is something they will be desperate to rectify if they are to compete for a European qualification place in back to back seasons.

A player who will be looking to get back on goalscoring form is Michail Antonio. The 31-year-old Jamaica international has scored six goals and created five assists so far this season, but, his last goal came against Tottenham Hotspur in late October. The last time Antonio faced Norwich with West Ham, he scored all four goals in a 4-0 win back in July 2020.

Wolverhampton Wanderers host Chelsea at Molineux on Sunday, with Thomas Tuchel’s men desperately trying to stay on the heels of Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League standings.

The home side are in a poor run of form having won just one of their last five games, which came against Brighton on Wednesday night, as Romain Saiss scored the only goal of the match. Prior to this, Bruno Lage’s team had lost to Manchester City and Liverpool 1-0, as well as drawing 0-0 versus both Burnley and Norwich.

On the other hand, Chelsea have been involved in plenty of matches where both teams have scored, such as in 1-1 and 3-3 draws against Manchester United and Zenit St Petersburg, as well as in 3-2 and 2-1 victories over Leeds United and Watford either side of a shock 3-2 defeat away at West Ham.

The final tip on this list comes from the Tottenham Hotspur stadium where Spurs face Liverpool in a battle of seventh versus second, with Jurgen Klopp’s side 12 points better off, having played two more matches.
This is expected to be a close game with two sides with bundles of attacking talent going toe to toe in search of a crucial result for their seasons.

Spurs will be looking no further than Son Heung-min to inspire them, as the South Korean is their top scorer with seven goals and three assists in 18 matches, and managed two of these in their last two Premier League fixtures against Brentford and Norwich City at the start of December.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah has been in outstanding form for Liverpool this season, having found the back of the net 21 times in 22 matches, having also created nine assists in that time. The 29-year-old Egyptian has managed eight goals in 14 appearances against the Lilywhites in his career.