Our Premier League Tips for the Weekend - 19/02/22

Everton have made a giant leap under Frank Lampard from his first few games in charge but have also been pegged back tremendously. In fact, the former Chelsea man has now won two and lost two following an excellent 3-0 performance against Leeds United where the likes of Donny van de Beek were in great form, but with a 3-1 loss to Newcastle United in there too, they were brought back down to earth greatly.

Lampard has got his side scoring as it's now eight goals in three games for the club, but on the other hand, they have also conceded four within this time too. The Saints, however, have been in astonishing form in 2022 with only their loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers being the only negative.

Southampton have smashed Brentford 4-1, drew with Manchester City and Manchester United, and edged past Tottenham Hotspur in the league too, while also winning both FA Cup ties.

We think Everton are hitting some form for the first time this season, however, and we predict them to win but also concede a goal or two.

The Premier League takes a trip back to the opening day on Saturday when Arsenal hosts Brentford at the Emirates with the two clubs meeting as the first league fixture of the season back in August where the Bees stunned the country with a 2-0 win in their Premier League debut.

It also started a period of disastrous form from Arsenal to which they were closer to fighting relegation than the top four after the first seven games, but now, Mikel Arteta's men are in a great position to fight for the Champions League spots.

The 1-0 win over Wolves showed resilience we never knew existed for Arsenal under Arteta and with Brentford conceding 21 goals from the nine games they've played in 2022, we anticipate the Gunners getting their revenge on their London rivals.

City play hosts to Spurs in stunning form once again just as the Lilywhites hit their worst period of form under Antonio Conte, and the champions are now subsequently the 1/4 favourites just to win the game.

Now, with the north London outfit now winless in the league since that stunning win over Leicester City, it's tough to see how City don't get the job done following a 5-0 thrashing of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Despite the poor form, Harry Kane has returned to his goalscoring ways in some capacity under Conte and the England captain now has five of Spurs' 13 goals scored in 2022. At the same time, Bernardo Silva's season-best displays continued in midweek, as he netted twice against Sporting to take his tally to 10 goals in all competitions this year.

The Portugal star also has an eye for goal against top six sides too, and we think he and Kane will score here, despite City's unbeaten run.

Manchester United will travel to Elland Road in a weird stint of form where the club are creating a countless amount of chances, but failing to finish practically all of them. Against a Leeds side who they have beaten 5-1 and 6-2 and drew 0-0 with since their return to the Premier League, this should work wonders as these two attacking sides will go at each other, and as has been the case since their promotion, United's superior talent should shine through.

In reality, we don't see it going any different here with Leeds losing 3-0 recently to an out-of-form Everton and how only Norwich have conceded more than the Whites' 46 goals this campaign. Yes, United are lacking the final product, but with a recent 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, and with 83 shots coming in the club's four games since the winter break, Leeds are set to be up against it here and are simply going to need to hope that United can't finish these chances again.

Marcelo Bielsa will not change his style, even when the stats suggest he must. This will only play into Ralf Rangnick's hands and this, ironically, might be the perfect game for United to get back to high-scoring, comfortable ways.

While much of the attention around the top four battle has been on the resurgence of Arsenal, the continued threat from West Ham United, and the lack of form from the Red Devils, it's easy to forget that Wolves are right in there too and may just be the favourites for the final spot given the form of everyone involved.

Within the past month alone, Bruno Lage has snatched the Manager of the Month award, beaten Spurs and United, and only narrowly by the tiniest of margins, lost to Arsenal. The club are now just six points off the fourth-placed United, and with two wins in their two games in hand, Wolves could force themselves into the top four if the north London clubs stutter again.

Raul Jimenez has been excellent recently too, and defences have had a real problem controlling his stature once more. The Mexican scored against Spurs last time out to end a three-game goal drought, and with Leicester conceding late on against West Ham and proving once again incapable of getting a much-needed result, we're backing Jimenez to score and win here for his side.