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Tottenham and Liverpool remain on top of the EPL despite being held in 1-1 ties on the road over the weekend. Spurs let slip a lead at Crystal Palace while the champions survived a scare coming from a goal down to rescue a point at Fulham. Both teams will be looking to bounce back in their next fixture, which happens to be a clash against each other at Anfield. If there is to be a winner, they will open up a three-point cushion on the other in what is turning out to be one of the most competitive leagues in years. Just five points separate the top eight sides ahead of the hectic schedule over the next three weeks. Here are some soccer bets that stand out to me on DraftKings Sportsbook for this weekend’s slate of games.
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Wolves vs. Chelsea
Chelsea travels to Wolves in a fixture between two sides looking to bounce back from defeats last weekend. On Saturday, Chelsea failed to score for the second time in three league games as they were beaten 1-0 at Everton. Earlier in the day, Wolves was beaten by the same score at home by Aston Villa courtesy of a penalty four minutes into injury time. Wolves was sorely missing leading scorer Raul Jimenez, who remains sidelined with a fractured skull, and the team has failed to score in the past two EPL games. Wolves’ home games this season have been low-scoring affairs with the past five producing two goals or fewer. For good measure, Chelsea’s previous two road games have seen under 2.5 total goals scored which could be the bet to go for in this fixture.
Manchester City vs. West Brom
Manchester City to win both halves (-136)
Saturday may have been a missed opportunity for Manchester City in the first Manchester derby of the season, which ended in a goalless draw, but Pep Guardiola received some good news with Tottenham and Liverpool both dropping points at the top of the standings. A home game against West Brom offers City an opportunity to get back to winning ways. City’s record against teams in the bottom half of the table is very impressive. They have faced six teams 11th or lower and Guardiola’s side has taken 16 points out of a possible 18. That does not bode well for West Brom, which has never beaten City in the league at the Etihad Stadium. West Brom’s last win at City was in February 2003 when Maine Road was still in operation. City is far from out of the title race even though it ended the weekend ninth in the standings, but the team needs to start picking up wins on a more consistent basis, starting with this fixture.
Leeds vs. Newcastle
Leeds is beginning to realize that the margins between winning and losing in the Premier League are very small. After 12 matches back in the top flight, Marcelo Bielsa’s side has 14 points, but Leeds knows they should have 20 points which would see them much higher up the standings. In their past two contests, Leeds has opened the scoring only to go on to lose fixtures at Chelsea and at home to West Ham. Those six points lost from winning positions could be the difference between staying up and avoiding an immediate return to the Championship at the end of the campaign. Scoring in the fourth and sixth minute gave their opponents plenty of time to turn the game around. Newcastle, however, has scored late winners in their past two games to beat Crystal Palace and West Brom. In fact, Saturday’s winner was the 14th goal scored in the 80th minute or later in games involving Steve Bruce’s side. The Magpies have scored seven of them.
Liverpool vs. Tottenham
Over the years, Liverpool and Tottenham have produced some memorable fixtures, and this could well be another to enjoy. Both sides dropped points on the road on Sunday as Spurs was held 1-1 at Crystal Palace before Liverpool came from a goal down to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham. They both have 25 points, one point more than Leicester who was the biggest benefactor of the leaders’ slip-ups. Liverpool has won the past four meetings with Spurs and they will start as favorites. A bet that stands out for me is for both teams to score. Liverpool has scored in all 12 of their league games this season while Spurs has found their opponents’ net in all but one of their past 11 contests. Neither side will have much time on the practice field to improve on the issues they had in their last outings. Tottenham’s philosophy under Jose Mourinho seems to be score first and then defend, which is why their past five games have seen under 2.5 total goals land.
West Ham vs. Crystal Palace
In recent seasons, this has been a battle between two sides fighting to stay in the EPL. This season, both teams’ goals are to finish in the top half of the table at the very least. West Ham sits sixth in the standings five points behind the leaders, but a win for Palace will see the Eagles join the Hammers on 20 points after 13 fixtures. The Hammers have the better form going into this fixture with four wins from their past five, while Roy Hodgson’s side has picked up one win in their past four EPL games. In the past six meetings, there has been at least one goal for both sides and that includes Palace’s 2-1 win at the London Stadium in October 2019. Palace won both meetings last season with Jordan Ayew scoring the winner on each occasion. Ayew has only scored once this season so this could be the perfect game for the forward to improve his tally.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is CharliePMullan) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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