After the midweek debacle at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s Premiership leaders have a point to prove at home to Southampton on Sunday. Chelsea have been widely condemned for their approach to the second leg of their tie with PSG and Manchester City have a chance to apply extra pressure on Saturday.
City travel to Burnley who fought back so valiantly to grab a point at the Etihad earlier in the season. More recently, they snatched an unlikely point at Chelsea following the dismissal of Nemanja Matic for retaliation. Burnley have a habit of playing better when they are behind but they cannot afford to take any liberties against City.
The champions had to work hard to beat Leicester 2-0 in their last league game and will have one eye on next week’s Champions League clash with Barcelona. Very few people are expecting them to win against the Spanish giants but Schalke’s performance against Real Madrid will certainly have reminded them that anything is possible. Even a narrow victory would be enough to reduce Chelsea’s lead to three points, until Sunday at least.
Arsenal face an uphill task recovering from a 3-1 home defeat by Monaco next week but must first make sure they take three points against West Ham. The Gunners have plenty of strength in their squad so can afford to rotate while the Hammers seem to be on a slippery slope. There is also a London derby in the early kick-off with Crystal Palace hosting QPR.
Rangers’ 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham summed up their season. They fought valiantly but never really looked like getting anything out of the game. Their away form is already the stuff of legends and Alan Pardew’s side can inflict another painful blow. Tim Sherwood has already taken Aston Villa to an FA Cup semi-final and inflicted two defeats on midlands rivals West Brom.
Unfortunately their FA Cup clash was marred by a moronic crowd invasion that revived memories of the late 1970’s. They now travel to relegation rivals Sunderland who also had more trouble off the pitch than on it last week as Gus Poyet and Steve Bruce almost came to blows. It should be a tough battle and a draw may be the smartest option.
Whether or not there is any merit in Jose Mourinho’s on-going siege mentality at Stamford Bridge, it has to be said that his side were awful against PSG. They played the type of football that is the polar opposite to everything that is good about the Premier League. Southampton are no mugs and Ronald Koeman will sense an opportunity here. The Saints haven’t given up on a top four finish odds of 11-2 are tempting. Chelsea did play extra-time on Wednesday and I’ll be surprised if they don’t make a nervous start.
Man United and Louis van Gaal came in for heavy criticism following their FA Cup exit against Arsenal and now face Tottenham at Old Trafford. Spurs picked themselves up well from their Wembley disappointment and 3-1 is also quite generous against a patchy United side. Liverpool conclude the week’s fixtures at Swansea on Monday and can boost their Champions League hopes with a narrow victory.
Crystal Palace to beat QPR @5-6 Bet365
Arsenal (-1.0) to beat West Ham @11-10 Sportingbet
Sunderland v Aston Villa DRAW @23-10 Sportingbet
Man City to beat Burnley by 1 goal @13-5 Bet365
Southampton to beat Chelsea @11-2 Bet365
Tottenham to beat Man United @10-3 Coral
