This midweek also features English Premier League Round 31 with some very interesting encounters scheduled for Wednesday. As usual, we will give you a special three match preview and this Round we have picked the Hull City FC who will host the Middlesbrough FC, the matchup between the Southampton FC who will measure their strengths against the Crystal Palace FC at the St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton, and the Liverpool FC who will go head-to-head with AFC Bournemouth. Many games but also many opportunities to make some money, so let’s check out the analysis and see what’s in store!!!
HULL CITY FC vs. MIDDLESBROUGH FC
3-Way: 1: Hull City +120; X: +240 Draw; 2: Middlesbrough +330
Spread -0.5: Hull City +112; Middlesbrough -116
Total +2: Over -133 ; Under +121
HULL CITY FC
Hull City is currently ranked just below the relegation line in the English Premier League table with 27 points in 30 games. They have four more points than their next opponents and a win here would greatly improve their chances of survival. The Tigers are 3-2-3 in last eight games and 3-1-0 in their last four home games. They are 6-4-5 at home this season with 21-24 goal difference (28-59 overall) and they rank 14th in the home league table with 22 of 45 possible points earned.
Hull City conceded at least one goal in 93% of their home matches and 75% of their total goals are scored at home. 60% of their home games are over 2.5 goals while 27% of their matches are over 3.5 goals in total. Most common result at home is a 2:1 win (occurred four times). Robert Snodgrass tops the team in scoring with seven goals while Michael Dawson and Abel Hernandez have three goals each on their accounts. Snodgrass also tops the team in assists with three while Curtis Davies and Ahmed Elmohamady collected two each so far.
Moses Odubajo (Patella Fracture) is expected to be out until at least May 1st, while Will Keane (ACL Knee Injury) and Ryan Mason (Fractured Skull) don’t have specified dates of return. Dieumerci Mbokani (Hamstring Injury) is expected to be out until at least April 8th while Evandro Goebel (Calf Strain) could be available on Wednesday. Omar Elabdellaoui (Back Injury) is a major doubt with unspecified date of return.
MIDDLESBROUGH FC
The Middlesbrough FC needs a positive result in the Wednesday’s game if they want to stay in the battle for survival. If they lose, they might fall seven points behind the spot that ensures the Premier League football next year and that might represent a too big of a task for them with only eight games before the end of the season. Boro’ is 0-3-5 in the last eight games and 0-1-3 in the last four away games as they haven’t won a game since December 17th of last year.
They are 1-7-7 on the road this season with 8-16 goal difference (20-33 overall) and they rank 14th in the away league table with 10 of 45 possible points earned. 63% of their away games are under 2.5 goals and 87% of their road matches are under 3.5 goals in total. They also haven’t scored a goal in their last five away games. Most common result on the road is 1:0 loss and a 0:0 draw (both occurred four times this season). Alvaro Negredo and Cristhian Stuani top the team in scoring this season with four goals each. Negredo also tops the passing segment with four assists while Gaston Ramirez and Stewart Downing collected three and two assists so far.
Calum Chambers (Foot) and George Friend (Calf Strain) are expected to be out until at least April 8th, while Gaston Ramirez (Ankle Injury) has unspecified date of return and is major doubt for the next game. Fabio Da Silva (Concussion) is expected to be out until at least April 17.
Hull City is a very good team at home and Middlesbrough has been struggling at home and on the road for the entire season. I give the advantage to the home team.
MY PICK: Hull City to win (+120)
SOUTHAMPTON FC vs. CRYSTAL PALACE FC
3-Way: 1: Southampton -114; X: +275 Draw; 2: Crystal Palace +445
Spread -0.5: Southampton -112; Crystal Palace +114
Total +2.5: Over +117; Under -122
SOUTHAMPTON FC
Southampton FC is in the middle of the Premier League table with 34 points in 28 games and they are without pressure because they are already pretty much set up from the relegation and also far away from any spot that leads to the European competitions next season. Their form hasn’t been on the spot lately as they are 3-1-4 in the last eight games and 1-1-2 in the last four home matches. They are 5-4-4 in front of their home crowd this season with 14-14 goal difference (33-36 overall) and they rank 15th in the home league table with 19 of 39 possible points earned.
54% of their home matches are over 2.5 goals while 79% of their home games are under 3.5 goals in total. Most common result at home is a 1:0 win that occurred three times so far. Charlie Austin tops the team in scoring this year with six total goals while Nathan Redmond and Manolo Gabbiadini have five and four goals in their accounts. Ryan Bertrand, Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse lead the team in assists with four each so far.
Jeremy Pied (ACL Knee Injury) is expected to be out until at least June 1st. Alex McCarthy (Hamstring injury) and Virgil van Dijk (Foot) are both major doubts with unspecified dates of return. Sofiane Boufal (Knock) is expected to be out until at least April 5th, Manolo Gabbiadini (Groin Strain) is expected to be out until at least April 8th, and Matt Targett is expected to be out until at least April 15th, while Charlie Austin is expected to be out until at least April 25th.
CRYSTAL PALACE FC
Crystal Palace FC is sizzling hot right now with four consecutive victories, longest winning streak of their season. They’re coming off from a big 2:1 win over the leaders Chelsea in London and they are slowly making their case for the survival in the Premier League. Currently they are ranked 16th with 31 points in 28 games and they are four points above the relegation line. Palace is 5-0-3 in the last eight games and they are 3-0-1 in the last four road games.
They are 5-3-7 on the road this season with 23-27 goal difference (38-47 overall) and they rank seventh on the away league table with 18 of 45 possible points earned. Crystal Palace has also scored 61% of their goals on the road. 52% of their away games are over 2.5 goals and 33% of their road matches are over 3.5 goals in total. Most common results on the road are 1:2 and 0:2 wins (both occurred twice so far). Christian Benteke tops the team in scoring this season with 10 goals while Wilfried Zaha and James McArthur have six and five goals in their accounts. Zaha leads the team in assists with seven while Jason Puncheon collected three assists so far.
Pape Souare (Broken Leg) and Jonathan Benteke (Knee Injury) are both major doubts with unspecified dates of return. Steve Mandanda (Knee Surgery) is expected to be out until at least April 15th, Connor Wickham (ACL Knee Injury) is expected to be out until at least August 1st, while Loic Remy (Muscular Injury), Mathieu Flamini (Muscle Injury) and Frazier Campbell (Muscle Injury) should be available depending on their fitness. Patrick van Anholt (Ankle Injury) should be out until at least April 15th, James McArthur (Back Spasm) should be out until at least April 10th, James Tomkins (Calf Injury) should be out until at least April 14th and Scott Dann should be out until at least May 6th.
Southampton is a solid team, especially at home and Crystal Palace is on the winning streak. This could be potentially a very high-scoring game, which is why I am taking the Over 2.5 goals offered at +117.
MY PICK: Over 2.5 goals (+117)
LIVERPOOL FC vs. AFC BOURNEMOUTH
3-Way: 1: Liverpool -238; X: +450 Draw; 2: Bourneouth +851
Spread -1.5: Liverpool +114; Bournemouth +114
Total +3: Over -119; Under +110
LIVERPOOL FC
The FC Liverpool is riding a 4 game undefeated streak, for the first team since the German Manager Jurgen Klopp has taken over the Reds. Now, they are hosting the AFC Bournemouth and with a win in this game, the Red could secure their spot among the top four teams in the English Premier league. The Reds are coming off a huge 3:1 win in the Merseyside derby over their city rivals FC Everton. Once again, our prediction was spot on for the Merseyside derby as we predicted a lot of goals.
With the win in the last round, the Reds are now ranked 3rd with 59 points in 30 games played, one game and one point more than the 4th ranked Manchester City, while also behind 3 points from the 2nd ranked Tottenham. The Reds have are also ranked 3rd on the Home table winning 36 of possible 45 points in 15 games played at home, holding a 39-14 scoring differential. The Liverpool Reds have, in fact, been the most efficient scoring team in the league with 64 goals scored, while defensively the are somewhere in the middle, conceding 37 goals. Liverpool has been very successful against the Cherries winning 5 of their 6 all-time meetings.
However, the last time the two foes met, back in December of 2016, the Reds held a 3:1 lead with less than 15 minutes of regulation, but the lack of concentration in the final minutes allowed the Cherries to score 3 more goals, eventually winning all three points in front of their home crowd. Good news for the Reds is the return of Daniel Sturridge, but the bad news is that their best scorer Sadio Mane (13 goals) is out with a knee injury. Adam Lallana and Jordan Henderson will also miss the game.
AFC BOURNEMOUTH
The AFC Bournemouth has seen their stock rise after connecting four games without suffering a loss (2W, 2D). Both of the wins came at home against West Ham (3:2) and Swansea (2:0), while the draws came on the road against Manchester United (1:0) and Southampton (0:0). However, on the road the Cherries cannot brag of an impressive performance, especially lately recording 3 losses and 2 draws.
The last time they won points on the road was back in December of 2016, when they celebrated a 3:0 win against the Swansea FC. The Cherries have scored 42 goals but also conceded 54, winning a total of 34 points and currently holding the 11th spot on the table. 31 of those 54 goals came on the road (2W,4D,9L), where they also have scored only 16, or just above 1 goal per game. Andrew Surman will most certainly miss the game after suffering a knee injury, while Tyrone Mings is serving his 5 game suspension.
The Reds have not been too impressive against the teams from the bottom part of the table, but this could be the perfect time to show full strength against a team that has defeated them in the away fixture with 4:3. I see some revenge in sight, but don’t believe that the Cherries will be able to score many goals, if any at all. Therefore, I am going with the AH, predicting the Reds to win with +2 goals.
MY PICK: AH Liverpool to win with 2+ goals (+117)
