5 Tips for Football's Midweek Action - 11/01/21

Wednesday night sees Manchester City take on Brighton & Hove Albion at the Etihad, with the hosts looking to close the gap to top of the table Liverpool to just one point.

City have been in good form of late, winning their last six games in all competitions, including impressive victories away at Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. Last time they failed to win a game was on 15th December against West Bromwich Albion in a 1-1 home draw.

Pep Guardiola’s side are the tenth top scorers in the Premier League with 24 goals in 15 games but do tend to get a lot of clean sheets, as City set a new club record of six clean sheets in a row in mid-December.

City to win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 is priced at 15/8, they have won in this score range eight times in all competitions so far this season - Click here to claim this bet in your bet slip!

In Midweek Aston Villa face Tottenham Hotspur, where a win for the hosts would see them move ahead of Jose Mourinho’s side on goal difference, whilst a Spurs win would move them up to third place ahead of Leicester City.

Tottenham come into this game as firm favourites, as prior to Friday night’s game against Liverpool, Villa had 14 first team players missing and are set to do so until this coming Friday.

Mourinho rotated the majority of his side against Marine in the FA Cup on Sunday, as his side beat the Northern Premier League Division One North-West side 5-0. There could be a similar scoreline at Villa Park in midweek, as despite Louie Barry scoring a memorable equaliser for the Villains, Liverpool won the game 4-1 and had 83% possession and 29 shots to Villa’s two, indicating how hard the task in hand will be.

This game has the odds of 11/4 for there to be more than 4.5 goals.

In form Brentford take on Bristol City this Wednesday, where a win for the Bees will take them into the automatic promotion places.

Brentford have won four out of their last five Championship fixtures, including a vital 2-1 win against Bournemouth in late December, whilst Bristol City have lost four of their last five matches in the league, with their solitary victory coming in a 2-1 win against bottom of the table Wycombe.

Ivan Toney is the top scorer in the Championship, having scored 16 goals in 22 games for the Bees. The former Peterborough United striker has been involved in 55% of Thomas Frank’s sides goals and is priced at 9/4 to score first or last against the Robins - Click here to claim this bet in your bet slip!

On Wednesday night there is just one clash in League Two, which sees Oldham Athletic take on in-form Mansfield Town at Boundary Park.

The Latics have only won two of their 11 home fixtures in the league this season, which has been detrimental to their hopes of pushing for the play-offs, as Harry Kewell’s side sit seven points off Morecambe who occupy seventh place. Oldham have the fourth-best attack in the division having scored 33 goals in 21 games, but have the second-worst defence, leaking 37.

Meanwhile, Nigel Clough’s Mansfield have won their last three league games, against Salford City, Port Vale and Scunthorpe United, scoring seven goals in the process, which means at present they have the second-best form in the league, only behind Morecambe.

The Stags are priced at 5/1 to win with both teams to score.

Fifth-placed Livingston take on third-placed Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership at the Tony Macaroni Arena, with the hosts being the second most in-form team in the division, with only runaway leaders Rangers being better off.

Livingston have won their last eight matches in all competitions under Dave Martindale, whilst visitors Aberdeen come into this game having won two out of their last five matches, most recently against St Johnstone on Boxing Day.

The Lion’s top scorer so far this season is Alan Forrest, the younger brother of James who plays for Celtic, and has 11 goals in 25 matches so far this season. In Livi’s most recent win against Ross County, the 24-year-old made an assist for Scott Pittman and settled the result with a goal of his own in the 91st minute to win the game 3-1.

Forrest is priced at 7/1 to score first or last like he did on Sunday against County.