Manchester United v Manchester City, Everton v Tottenham and West Ham v Liverpool are the games in focus in the English Premier League Round 11 preview including goals markets and goalscorer betting tips courtesy of @Olimp_SA
English Premier League Round 11
Manchester United vs. Manchester City, Saturday 6 November 14:30
The Red Devils managed to end their four match winless run last week with a promising victory in London against Spurs. Maximum points last weekend has allowed Solskjaer’s men to creep back into the Top 5 where they sit in fifth place with 17 points. On Wednesday evening Man United had another close call in the Champions League with Cristiano Ronaldo saving the day once again with a last minute goal that allowed his side to steal a point and remain at the top of their group. They remain unbeaten in the Champions League Group Stage and hopefully their success there along with their victory in the EPL last week has signaled the end of their league slump. It doesn’t get any easier for the Red Devils this week as they take on one of the best defenses in the league in the Manchester Derby on Saturday.
It was a disappointing performance last week at the Etihad for Manchester City which saw them go down 2-0 against Crystal Palace. After conceding early on things got worse for the Sky Blues when they were reduced to ten men at the end of the first half due to a Laporte red card. With a defender sent off they were forced to reshuffle things and this inevitably had a negative impact on their attack. Pep’s men will be disappointed about giving up cheap points in their race towards the title and they now sit in third place with 20 points, five points off of league-leaders Chelsea. They have a great opportunity to bounce back against Man United this week provided they can keep their discipline and forget about their nightmare against Crystal Palace. Despite conceding two goals last week they still have the second best defense in the league, while their opponents are lagging far behind defensively.
In the last five Manchester Derbies that have taken place in the EPL Man United have won three, Man City have won one and there has been one draw. The last clash between these two sides was back in March which saw the Red Devils winning 2-0 at the Etihad, while the last match at Old Trafford ended in a goalless draw.
Prediction
Despite Man United’s win against Spurs I feel that I need to see a few more performances like last week against stronger opposition before I will be convinced that their EPL slump has ended. Their H2H record against Man City in the EPL might be good, but their record against Man City at Old Trafford tells quite a different story. With one draw and four losses in their last five clashes at Old Trafford the Red Devils will be feeling the pressure on Saturday. Furthermore, in their four matches prior to last week they only managed to score an average of one goal per match against pretty average opposition so it’s hard to see them scoring many or any goals against the tight defense of Man City.
Even when they were down to 10 men last week Man City only leaked one goal which speaks volumes about the quality of their defense. I think Man United will make a good effort at holding off Man City for most of the game on Saturday, but ultimately they will end up conceding one or two goals. I am expecting the match to remain tight for most of the game and there’s a good chance that we will only see goals in the second half. I am expecting Man City to put in an extra big effort on defense this week to make up for their last match and I expect Man United to struggle to find the net.
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Everton vs. Tottenham, Sunday 7 November 16:00
Things looked promising for the Toffees after they managed to force a stalemate at Old Trafford at the beginning of October, but one month after this result it’s quite the opposite story. A 2-1 loss in Wolverhampton last week means Everton now sit in tenth place with fourteen points. They have now lost three consecutive matches in the league and have a record of four wins, two draws and four losses. On a positive note, they have managed to find the net in four out of their last five matches. However, their defense just seems to have crumbled as of late with nine goals conceded in the same amount of matches which includes five goals against Watford.
Some of their other recent results include a 1-0 loss at home to West Ham, a 2-0 win at home to Norwich and a 3-0 loss away to Aston Villa. I am confident that the Toffees won’t have any problem finding the net on Sunday, but all eyes will be on their defense and whether or not they are going to end up costing the home side the match.
After a brief turnaround in form in the first half of October things have gone downhill once again for Spurs and Nuno has been sent packing. Their 3-0 loss at Old Trafford means they are again in a position where they have lost back-to-back matches and now find themselves in ninth place on the table with 15 points. Tottenham have brought in Antonio Conte and excitement is high amongst the fans ahead of his first EPL fixture at the club with the hopes that he can turn things around right away.
The attack in particular is in desperate need of a makeover and after another two goalless performances from Spurs they have still only managed to find the net nine times this season. The only team that have scored less goals than them is Norwich which is downright embarrassing. Some of Spurs’ other recent results include a 1-0 loss away to West Ham, a 3-2 win away to Newcastle, a 2-1 win at home to Aston Villa and a 3-1 loss away to Arsenal. The big question on Sunday will be how immediate is the impact of Antonio Conte going to be? Against a leaky defense like Everton’s there is certainly is the potential for him to get a win in his first EPL game at the club.
In the last five EPL clashes between the two sides it is even-stevens. Both teams have won one clash each and there have been three draws. The last clash at Goodison Park was back in April with the match ending in a 2-2 draw. The Toffees have proven to be excellent at defending their home fortress against Spurs in the EPL and you will have to go all the way back to 2018 to find the last time Tottenham managed a win at this venue.
Prediction
Although Goodison Park has proven to be a tough venue for Spurs in the past I think the time has come for them to pick up victory here and end the drought. The Toffees are having no problems finding the net, but their defense just can’t seem to plug the holes and it’s almost a given that they won’t be keeping a clean sheet. Spurs have been far from perfect, but after last week’s low and the introduction of a new manager I expect a big performance from them.
At around 2.50 I am more than happy to back Spurs to win this match. Everton have been pretty consistent in scoring goals so both teams to score looks good to me as well and for goalscorers I am going to have a crack at Harry Kane to score the first goal. I don’t have any stats to back up my pick, but I feel Spurs are going to be finding the net first and hopefully he finds his form again under Conte’s guidance.
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Tottenham to win – 2.50
Both teams to score: yes – 1.82
First Goalscorer: Harry Kane – 4.60
West Ham vs. Liverpool, Sunday 7 November 18:30
The Hammers managed to pick up their third consecutive win last week with a 4-1 victory against Aston Villa at Villa Park. They continue to succeed expectations and now find themselves in fourth place on the table with 20 points. They have only let in a total of 11 goals this season which is not too shabby, but what is even more promising for them is that they have only let in three goals in their last three EPL clashes after letting in considerably more in the first five matches of the season. This very much gives the impression that their defense is getting stronger. Throw in a win on penalties in the EFL Cup against Manchester City just over a week ago and now suddenly you’ve got a team that’s brimming with confidence and looking likely to secure a spot in Europe next season.
Sunday will be a fantastic test of just how far West Ham can go this season and even just a draw against Liverpool will be a massive achievement for the club. Up until now West Ham have managed six wins, two draws and two losses. Some of their recent results include a 1-0 win at home against Spurs, a 1-0 win away to Everton, a 2-1 loss at home to Brentford and a 2-1 win away to Leeds. Moyes’ men would love nothing more than to make it seven wins on Sunday and the Reds certainly should not be taking this clash lightly.
Liverpool remains the only unbeaten team in the league but a few cracks are starting to show and it would be interesting to see how long they can stretch their run for. Klopp’s men would be disappointed at missing out on 3 points at home against Brighton last week after they drew 2-2 which was largely due to a poor second half performance. They now find themselves in second place on the table and three points off of league-leaders Chelsea. The Reds have now missed out on maximum points against both Brighton and Brentford, two games they really should have won and could be sitting at the top of the table right now. Their attack hasn’t slowed down and they remain the top-scoring team in the league. However, the goals seem to be slowly creeping past their defense and this should be worrying for Jurgen Klopp.
Out of the eight goals they have conceded this season, seven have come in their last five matches. The Hammers’ attack has been on fire as of late and if Liverpool can’t tighten their defense on Sunday at the Olympic Stadium they might just be suffering their first defeat of the season. Liverpool’s other recent results include a 5-0 win away to Manchester United, a 5-0 win away to Watford, a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City and a 3-3 draw away to Brentford.
Liverpool have absolutely dominated the last five EPL clashes between the two teams with four wins, while the best the Hammers have managed is a draw. The last time these two teams met was in January in London when Liverpool won 3-1 which included a double by Mo Salah. West Ham last managed to beat the Reds when they were still playing at the Boleyn in 2016 and the recent H2H is far from favouring the home team.
Prediction
I think we are going to be in for a cracker of a clash to end off the EPL weekend and I wouldn’t be surprised to see loads of goals in this one. Right now both teams’ attacks are red-hot, but at the same time both teams are still letting in some goals. Historically this fixture has seen plenty of goals and two out of the last three matches has had over 3.5 goals. You can get more than even money for there to be at least four goals in the match which I think is great value and worth a bet.
I am not confident in picking a team to win this clash despite Liverpool dominating the H2H but I do like a little bit of a West Ham double chance at 2.15. West Ham are in fine form right now and on the day in front of their fans they could certainly pull of an upset or at least force a draw. For goalscorers there is more value on the side of West Ham and I will have a crack at Michail Antonio to score a goal in the match.
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Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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