The English Premier League season draws to a close on Sunday and all eyes are on the race for 4th place with Chelsea, Liverpool and Leicester all in contention. We take a look at the 3 matches involving those teams from a betting angle.
ASTON VILLA v CHELSEA
Aston Villa pulled off an excellent come from behind 2-1 win at Tottenham last time out and that result leaves them 11th on the table, a position where they will finish this season. 8 of their last 9 games has seen over 2.5 goal backers collect profits and likewise in 8 of their last 9, both teams have found the net.
Chelsea are currently 3rd on the table, 1 point ahead of Liverpool and Leicester so they have their fate very much in their own hands. Chelsea beat Leicester in a critical match 2-1 in midweek, having lost to that same side in the FA Cup Final at Wembley last weekend. Overall they have been in good form in the League winning 5, drawing 1 and losing 1 of their last 7.
Chelsea have their big Champions League Final fixture against Manchester City next weekend.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Aston Villa 21/4
Draw 7/2
Chelsea 5/10
Suggested Bet: Both teams to score, YES, at 17/20
Chelsea are predictably favourites for this one and had their Champions League Final been in midweek I might have suspected they would try and just do enough to win. As it happens though they can come out blazing for this one and I expect both teams to find the net, a result which has proven popular in Villa games and also in head-to-head clashes between the pair where it would have arrived in the last 3 meetings.
LIVERPOOL v CRYSTAL PALACE
Liverpool may have run into form too late to have any chance on the title defence, but they have given themselves every chance of finishing 4th, having looked down and out a few weeks ago. They are currently ahead of Leicester on goal difference and have now won 7 and drawn 2 of their last 9 EPL matches. Last time out they beat Burnley 3-0 on the road and over 2.5 goal backers would have collected in their last 3 matches.
Crystal Palace went down 3-1 to Arsenal at home in midweek and they now travel to Liverpool sitting 13th on the table. This will be the last match for manager, Roy Hodgson and they want to give him a give him a big send off, but have lost 5 of their last 7 games.
Liverpool hammered Palace 7-0 when they met back in December.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Liverpool 1/6
Draw 29/4
Crystal Palace 15/1
Suggested Bet: Both teams to score, YES, at 11/10
Over 2.5 goals is short here at 7/20 suggesting Liverpool are going to run away with the game and while I do think they will get the win think Palace will play their role in an entertaining fixture and can find the back of the net as well.
LEICESTER v TOTTENHAM
Leicester are 5th on the table behind Liverpool on goal difference, having conceded 4 more goals and scoring the same amount. They lost 2-1 to Chelsea in midweek and really need to win well here as Liverpool must be fancied to take the 3 points at home against Crystal Palace. Of course, if Chelsea fail to win their match Leicester can also leapfrog them in the table. Leicester’s last 5 matches in the EPL have seen both teams find the back of the net and over 2.5 goal backers would have collected profits in 6 of their last 7 matches.
Tottenham are 7th on the log and pretty inconsistent of late with 3 wins and 2 losses in their last 5. Last time out they went down 2-1 at home to Aston Villa and their last away game was a 3-1 defeat at Leeds.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Leicester 21/20
Draw 59/20
Tottenham 12/5
Suggested Bet: Leicester win at 21/20
I fancy both teams to find the net in this game as well, but 11/20 is a bit short for me. I think the better bet is Leicester to win the match against a Tottenham team that looks a bit out of sorts.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
