4th December, 2020
Another week of Premier League action is here, with nine matches on the cards after the Aston Villa versus Newcastle United game was postponed.
An outbreak of COVID-19 at Newcastle, with a number of staff and players testing positive left the league management with no option but call of the game.
That would have been the first game of Match Day 11, but now, action will wait for 24 hours, when Burnley hosts Everton in the early kickoff on Saturday.
Burnley hopes to rise from that horror showing at Manchester City, where they were blanked 5-0 right after registering their first win of the season.
However, meeting an Everton side also badly in need of a win after managing just one in six will call for a lot.
This can be a tough game to call, but the fact that both sides have led at half time in one of their last five league matches each hint at slow starts. A draw at half time would thus be good here.
Manchester City will be the next in line, hosting Fulham at the Etihad Stadium.
Fulham head there on the back of their first win of the season, having beaten Leicester City 2-1 but they could get the same treatment Burnley got.
While City are still far from their best, here they have the chance to get back to back wins in the league for the first time this season.
However, they may not have it as easy as they did against Burnley, with Fulham having shown better attacking attributes.
Fulham have scored 11 goals in their 10 matches so far, just four short of Manchester City and while City are backed to win, top experts in betting tips here back both teams to score in this match.
Another Manchester side, Manchester United will travel to London to take on West Ham United, and they will be hoping to put behind them the midweek disappointment in the Champions League.
United have had a slow start to the season but have shown a glimpse of the potential they have.
It has been much easier for them away from home and will be glad to be out of Manchester for this clash. With a run of eight straight away wins, and ability to open up low block defences following Edison Cavani’s arrival, a pick on
United winning this game will be good. West Ham have three wins in their last four home league matches but have not been very comfortable in the last two and they may get exposed here.
Chelsea have reaped well from a huge investment in playing staff, and especially defensively, and they head to Round 11 straight from a huge win in Europa League.
Their defensive resolve will, however, get a real test when they face Leeds United. Both sides have quality in attack and while the Blues have conceded just one goal in the last five league games, that order may be broken here.
West Bromwich Albion got their first win of the season in Round 10, beating Sheffield United 1-0. Still, the Baggies weren’t good enough and some elements of discomfort were seen in their game even as they faced the weakest side in the league.
They will get to test themselves again against Crystal Palace, who are on two straight losses. Palace have missed a key player in Wilfried Zaha in the last two matches and it has shown. Not many goals have been seen in these two sides’ recent matches and here under 2.5 goals could be in the offing.
If Sheffield thought they had tough luck against West Brom, it is bound to get tougher. They next face-off with a Leicester City side hungry for a win after failing in their last four matches.
On Thursday, in the Europa League, Leicester suffered their third defeat in four matches getting to the weekend, they have huge upgrade with three key men returning from injury, and all of them defensive players.
Holding midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, centre back Caglar Soyuncu and Ricardo Pereira are all back in the team and a win for Leicester looks very likely.
The biggest game of the weekend, without doubt, will be in North London when Tottenham Hotspur hosts Arsenal.
Spurs head to this game top of the table and determined to stay there. Arsenal on the other hand, have been on a constant slump and are closer to the drop zone than ever.
Their successes under Mikel Arteta are all washed up now and a lot of scrutinies have been directed at the Spaniard.
Arsenal head to this game from an impressive outing in Europa League, like it has been all season in the competition, but they have largely disappointed in the league. A big fight is expected between these two sides on Sunday, but Spurs are odds on to carry the day.
Champions Liverpool will be at home to not only continue with their title defence but also defend their unbeaten run at home.
However, they suffered another major blow with the confirmation that keeper Alison will miss their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Their struggles without the keeper are well documented and he just adds to a long list of injuries. Liverpool were poor against Atalanta at home, losing 2-0, then were average against Brighton and lacked their usual spark most recently in their win over Ajax.
For Wolves, who head here after a win over Arsenal, this could be their perfect chance to try and end the Reds’ impressive home run. However, a draw seems the likeliest outcome here.
The final match of the round will see Brighton host Southampton, with the sides coming to this game with mixed results from their past few matches.
Brighton had a controversial equalizer to pick a point against Liverpool in their last game while Southampton let a 2-0 lead slip away to lose 3-2 to Manchester United.
For Brighton this will be their 10th attempt at winning a league game at home and coming against a Southampton side unbeaten in the last four away league matches will not be easy.
Southampton have scored 17 goals in their last seven league matches, and have been the best in the league on that front in that period of time.
They will look at this as another winnable game and handing them a 2-0 win on the correct score predictions could pass here.