The English Premier League Round 30 is ahead of us, with several interesting matches catching my focus. One of them is certainly the Merseyside derby between the two Liverpool city teams going at each other at the Anfield. The Liverpool vs Everton is probably the most interesting matchup on Saturday’s schedule, which is why we have decided to cover that game separately. The match preview for the Liverpool derby you can check out here. On the other side, we will continue with our tradition of giving you a three match preview for the weekend, and for the Round 30 we have picked the following matchups:
BURNLEY FC vs. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
3-Way: 1: Burnley +475; X: +300 Draw; 2: Tottenham -137
Spread +0.5: Burnley +131; Tottenham -137
Total 2.5+: Over +112; Under -111
The Burnley Clarets have so far proved to be a tough cookie for the top English Premier League teams, having already defeated Liverpool and managed to pull a draw against Chelsea, while coming close to pulling an upset against the Manchester City and Arsenal. On Saturday, they will try to continue their good play against the top teams when they host the Tottenham Hotspurs at the Turf Moor.
The Clarets have especially been convincing at their home soil, where they have won 7 out of their last 10 games in all competitions, most recently taking down Leicester (1:0) the current EPL champions. In addition, the Clarets defeated Bournemouth (3:2) and Southampton (1:0), both teams that are ranked higher on the league table. Over their last five games at the Turf Moor, the Clarets have scored 2 goals on average and allowed only 3 goals, which only shows their super play at home. In their first meeting with Tottenham, the Clarets managed to score a goal but came up short in the end, as the Hotspur scored two goals, winning by 2:1.
The Clarets will not be able to count on Gudmundsson and Marney, while Arfield and Long are questionable to play in the English Premier League Round 30 matchup.
The London side will travel to Turf Moor without their top scorer, Harry Kane, but with the pressure to win points, as the battle for the top four spots is still heavy. The Tottenham Hotspurs have not been defeated in their last 6 games, including all competitons. Three of those 6 matches came in the EPL and all three games were played at the White Hart Line. Tottenham won all three matches, defeating Southampton most recently with 2:1, while also taking down Everton 3:2 and Stoke City with 4:0. However, in their last three road games, Tottenham has not tasted a victory, losing to Liverpool (0:2) and recording two draws, against Manchester City (2:2) and Southampton (0:0). Overall, Tottenham has won only won 4 out of 13 road games, while losing 3 times and recording 6 draws.
Against the Clarets, coach Pochettino will not be able to count on Kane, Lamela and Rose.
Withouth the injured Harry Kane and with a great home performance of the Clarets, this should turn out to be a very interesting matchup. The visitors have been active on the score sheet, but no one has rolled over the Clarets that easily on their home turf, which is why I expect less than three goals scored in this game. The most reasonable outcome is a draw!!!
MY PICK: Under 2.5 goals (-111);
Additional Pick: Draw (+300)
LEICESTER CITY vs. STOKE CITY
3-Way: 1: Leicester +110; X: +254 Draw; 2: Stoke +309
Spread -0.5: Leicester +110; Stoke -114
Total 2.5+: Over +104; Under -109
The King Power stadium will welcome Stoke City on Saturday afternoon who will take on the home team, the Leicester City Foxes during the English Premier League Round 30. The current English Premier League Champion, who has struggled throughout the season, forcing the management to sack the highly celebrated manager Claudio Ranieri, will look to extend their positive momentum at their home turf. The Foxes have seen a bit more success in the last 7 meetings with Stoke City, winning 2 games and losing 1, with 4 games ending up in a draw. The visitors celebrated only 1 victory at the King Power stadium over their last 8 visits, suffering 4 losses and pulling away with 3 draws.
The Foxes have been struggling to find the right form ever since the beginning of the new season and it seems like that the sacking of Claudio Ranieri was the right move that shook up the players. Ever since Ranieri was replaced with Craig Shakespeare, the Foxes are playing rejuvenated, claiming 3 straight wins in the EPL and slowly climbing their way out of the danger zone. Most recently Leicester took down West Ham with a 3:2 away win. Prior to that game, Leicester defeated Hull City and Liverpool, both games with 3:1 at home. The Foxes currently hold the 15th position with 30 points won and 6 points clear of the relegation zone. With three EPL games scheduled to play in less than 10 days, the Foxes will try to win as many points as possible prior to clashing up with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on April 12th.
The Foxes manager Shakespeare will most likely not be able to count on Danny Drinkwater who is dealing with a minor muscle problem, while Wes Moran is still not fully recovered from a back injury.
It has been a while since Stoke City scored a goal on the road. In fact, the last time the Potters found the back of the opposing net was back in January, when they celebrated a 3:1 road win over Sunderland. Since then, they have played three more EPL games on the road, suffering two losses, to West Brom (0:1) and Tottenham (0:4), while coming out undefeated against Manchester United (0:0). Out of their 10 EPL games in the 2017, the Potters have won 15 of possible 30 points, enough to be ranked 9th on the EPL table with a total of 36 points. Somehow, the Potters have not managed to find any kind of consistency, playing with a lot of ups and downs. The public opinion about the Potters chances at the King Power stadium look very pessimistic, especially because of the fact that the Foxes have been playing superbly, which is why Stoke City will have to pull it together and try to win at least 1 point.
Calf injury has bothered Xherdan Shaqiri, which is why he is most likely going to sit this game out. Glen Johnson and Jack Butland will also miss this game with minor injuries.
I am going with the Foxes momentum and say that they will win in this one. They have pretty much the same team from the previous season and they finally seem to have found the needed form to win games, especially at home.
MY PICK: Leicester City to win (+110)
MANCHESTER UNITED vs. WEST BROMWICH
3-Way: 1: Manchester United -250 ; X: +450 Draw; 2: West Brom+1025
Spread -1.5: Manchester United +118; West Brom -114
Total 2.5+: Over -109 ; Under +106
Another very interesting matchup of the Saturdays English Premier League Round 30 is the game between the 5th ranked Manchester United and the 8th ranked West Bromwich. The visitors travel to the Old Trafford with 2 games more and 9 points less than the Red Devils. However, both teams have recorded victories (3:1 both) prior to the National teams break. In the first meeting this season, the Red Devils celebrated a 2:0 win on the road.
Anything other than a win is out of question for the Manchester United considering that the Red Devils have finally reached the 5th position and are only 4 points behind the 4th ranked Liverpool and the qualifying round for the Champion league in the next season. With two games less than the Reds, Manchester United has good chances to climb even higher. However, the first obstacle on that quest is the next opponent, the West Bromwich Baggies. With enough time to rest during the National team fixtures, Jose Mourinhos team seems ready to make the final push and leave a strong mark on the slightly underachieved season, so far. The Red Devils have recently won the EFL cup title with a 3:2 win over Southampton, after which they knocked out FK Rostov out of the elimination round of the Europa League, where they will up next face the Belgian team Anderlecht on April 13th.
Their biggest star Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the game with a suspension. Same situation is with Herrera, while defenders Jones and Smalling have to sit out with an injury. Pogba and Rooney will also miss the game with minor injuries, while Rojo remains questionable.
The visitors from Birmingham will travel to Manchester after a huge 3:1 win over Arsenal in their most recent EPL game. The confidence level has significantly improved after that win, especially taking in consideration the two losses prior to the Arsenal game. After that win, the hopes are high going into the matchup with the Red Devils, also knowing that the Tony Pulis knows how to motivate his players for big games.
Although they play rather defensively against the big teams, waiting for an opportunity through quick counter attacks and set pieces, there is no doubt that the visitors will create enough chances offensively as well and put the Red Devils defense on a test.
Phillips will once again miss this game, while Morrison could start the game on the bench as he is still not fully recovered.
Coach Pulis has somehow found a way to motivate his team to play well against the top teams this season. The West Bromwich team is considered to have one of the toughest defensive units in the league and I am sure that scoring on them won’t be easy for the Red Devils. Considering that the home team will be without their main goal scorers, I don’t expect too many goals on either side, which is why I am picking the Under 2.5 goals.
MY PICK: Under 2.5 goals (+106)
