Premier League preview: Saturday’s games including Arsenal vs Newcastle
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest
After an impressive first half of the season, Villa have lost a little of their shine in the last couple of months. Unai Emery’s side have lost their last three home games – but a visit from Forest offers the Villans a chance to right their listing ship.
The visitors have their own problems, even if they won against a poor West Ham last time out. That victory was the side’s first league win in 2024. Still, Nuno Espirito Santo’s team have been finding the net regularly – could they possibly catch Villa out?
With the hosts suddenly oddly vulnerable at home, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Forest at least score on Saturday. Forest’s Callum Hudson-Odoi could be worth backing to hit the onion bag; he’s done so in each of his last three league games, and is 6/1 to score here.
Brighton vs Everton
The Seagulls took advantage of Mason Holgate’s early dismissal last week to smash five goals past Sheffield United; could De Zerbi’s team be in the mood to do a similar number on Everton?
Brighton did beat Crystal Palace 4-1 in their last home game; now they face another team struggling for results. Everton’s win drought continues, with the side now going eight league games without earning a victory.
It’s not all bad news for Sean Dyche. After all, last time the south coast side hosted Everton, the visitors enjoyed a stunning 5-1 victory.
A similarly emphatic win for Dyche’s men this week seems unlikely. But at least the Toffees can look to that previous result to try and bolster their confidence. And in fact, Everton have won their past two trips to the Amex.
Still, with former sharp-shooter Dominic Calvert-Lewin without a goal in his last 19 games, it’s tough to see where Everton’s goal threat comes from, even if they can keep things tight at the back.
Backing the hosts to win at 17/20 is one option; alternatively, you could pack Pascal Gross to provide an assist at 3/1. Gross has nine this season, including three in his last three matches.
Crystal Palace vs Burnley
Oliver Glasner kicks off his reign at Palace with a winnable game against relegation strugglers Burnley. The Clarets remain winless in 2024, so there’s a good chance the new manager bounce will be in full effect here.
That said, you have to go back to Alan Pardew to locate the last manager who actually won his first game in charge of the Eagles. Is Glasner at least as good as Pards? Let’s hope the Austrian doesn’t break out the robot in celebration this week.
As for the opposition, Vincent Kompany can look at Burnley’s recent trips to Selhurst Park to rally the troops; the Lancashire side are unbeaten in their last three visits between 2020 and 2022, winning twice.
Does that history count for much in the here and now though? Perhaps not.
With the new manager looking to give Palace fans something to cheer, this looks a great chance for Glassner to start on the front foot. Back Palace to win at 49/50.
Man Utd vs Fulham
United started in frenetic fashion against Luton last time out, Rasmus Hojlund scoring the opener with 39 seconds on the clock, then adding another in the seventh minute.
The Manchester side certainly lost some of that intensity as the match went on. But United have now won four league matches in a row. There’s been vaguely positive news off the field too, with billionaire Jim Ratcliffe buying a 27.7 per cent stake in the club earlier this week.
Good vibes and the momentum of good results could combine for another three points on Saturday, then. United have won their last four games against Fulham in all competitions, while the Cottagers haven’t won an away game in the Prem since the opening day of the season.
United are strong favourites to land the win of course. But with Hojlund out injured, maybe you can bolster that bet by backing Marcus Rashford to score here – in the Dane’s absence, he should get plenty of opportunity. Combine United to win and Rashford to score in a double at 9/5.
Or, for a chancier bet, you could try backing Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz to find the net at 14/5 – he has four goals in his last three league games.
Bournemouth vs Man City
City might have had to work for their win over Brentford earlier this week. But Erling Haaland eventually got his goal. And if City can beat Bournemouth on Saturday they’ll move to just one point behind leaders Liverpool.
Are Bournemouth doing anything to suggest they can thwart City? Winless in their last four, they did earn a draw away to Newcastle last time out. But the Cherries were beaten 4-0 at home by Liverpool last month, and Andoni Iraola’s side may find this opposition similarly overpowering.
The hosts have also never beaten Man City in a league game, while City have a 100 per cent win record against Bournemouth. With past form like that, it will be no surprise to see City are a modest price to win this match.
Still, backing goals might be a good alternative. The last three meetings between these sides have all yielded at least four goals. And City’s last three away games have all featured over four goals too, so backing over 3.5 at 11/10 could be the way to go.
Arsenal vs Newcastle
Arsenal look to rebound from a disappointing trip to Porto in the Champions League by resuming their excellent Premier League form.
The Gunners went down 1-0 thanks to a last gasp goal at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday, but have won their last five league games, scoring 21 goals in the process.
Newcastle are in reasonable shape themselves, having won their last two away games in the Prem. But they’ve also been shipping goals, conceding in each of their last eight league games; Forest and Bournemouth each scored two goals against the Magpies in recent games, while Luton found the net four times at St James’ Park at the start of the month.
With the hosts well fancied to win by the odds makers, this looks like another game where goals could be the way to go. You can back over 3.5 at 6/5.
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