It may be a FA Cup semi-final weekend, but the English Premier League continues and we take a look at two of the weekend’s fixtures from a betting angle.

Let’s start with a look at the latest Outright Betting where Manchester City have shortened back into 4/11 after drawing with Liverpool last weekend and that means their fate is in their own hands. Liverpool are the only other runners in the betting at 23/10 and you can get 500/1 and better the balance.

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SATURDAY

SOUTHAMPTON v ARSENAL

Southampton have fallen to 14^th on the table after a poor run that has seen them take just 1 point from the last 15 they have played for. They reached their lowest ebb last time out when Chelsea hammered them 6-0 at home and that was their 3^rd successive home defeat.

Arsenal are 5^th on the table, 3 points behind Tottenham who are 4^th, but with a game in hand. However, their form hasn’t also been impressive with 3 losses and a win in their last 4 starts. They suffered back-to-back defeats 2-1 at home to Brighton and 3-0 on the road to Crystal Palace, but prior to the Palace defeat they had won 4 successive home matches.

Looking at the goal stats of these sides, 6 of the 16 Southampton home matches have had 3 goals or more in them and interesting despite their games been low scoring the last 3 games have all delivered for over 2.5 goal backers. In Arsenal’s case, 8 of their 14 away games have seen 3 goals or more scored.

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Southampton 29/10

Draw 27/10

Arsenal 19/20

Suggested Bet: Arsenal win at 19/20

Neither of these sides are in great nick, but Southampton look to be in real trouble and I think an Arsenal team chasing 4^th place can take advantage and grab the 3 points.

SUNDAY

NEWCASTLE v LEICESTER

Newcastle are currently 15^th on the log and got a much needed victory last time out when they beat Wolves 1-0 away. That broke a run of 3 successive defeats all of which came on the road. Newcastle have been in excellent home form though and are undefeated in their last 5 with 4 successive victories.

Leicester are 9^th on the table and they have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their last 5 matches. Last time out they beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at home and their last away game was a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. Overall on the road this season they battled with just 3 wins and 4 draws in their 14 matches and have only won 1 of their last 5 on the road.

Having a look at the goal scoring stats of the teams, Newcastle home matches have seen just over 50% of the games reaching the 3 goal mark but Leicester away games tend to be high scoring averaging 3.4 goals each with 9 of the 14 delivering you a profit had you backed over 2.5 goals. The recent trend though is for Leicester matches to be low scoring with 4 of the last 5 games failing to get above 2 goals.

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Newcastle 5/4

Draw 12/5

Leicester 23/10

Suggested Bet: Over 2.5 goals at 10/11

I am going to let the head-to-head form swing me here as this bet would have arrived in the last 5 meetings between the sides and goals tend to flow when the pair meet in each other.

Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change