Weekend Football Betting Tips: 20th & 21st Feb

It is fair to say that Southampton manager Ralph Hassenhutl is in the midst’s of another disappointing run as Saints boss. Since beating Liverpool at the start of January, the Saints have lost all their last six Premier League games and have dropped down the table as a result. A worrying turn of events for a team that has had somewhat streaky form over the last couple of seasons.

In contrast, since appointing Thomas Tuchel as manager, Chelsea’s fortunes have improved. After a draw with Wolves, the Londoners have racked up five successive wins in all competitions and they have moved back into contention for a top four spot in the Premier League as a result of that.

Chelsea’s improvement has been built on the strength of a much-improved defence which has kept five clean sheets in their last six matches. It is clear the new German manager feels that this is the way to ensure his team picks up points and they have become effective at doing so in the last few games.

As such, I think Chelsea will keep things tight here and will strike on the counter to claim the win. I have decided to go for a rare correct score tip here as I think 2-0 is a very good price and fits the stats and form of both teams nicely.

There is sure to be plenty of spice between these two teams when they kick off at Anfield on Saturday night. The Reds resentment from the unpunished Virgil van Dijk injury, plus a dubious last-minute winner being ruled out for a scandalous offside, will surely fire them up for this game even more so.

However, they face an Everton side who have picked up 23 points out of 33 on the road this season and who showed in that game at Goodison that they have the players to cause Liverpool plenty of problems. Especially with the Reds struggling at Anfield at the moment. That is going to be a huge concern for Reds fans heading into this game and a source of hope for Blues.

Everton’s record at Anfield is awful but Carlo Ancelotti has overseen big wins over the Reds in the past and he has a good record against them. Despite that win in Hungary in midweek over Leipzig, I am still not convinced Liverpool have their issues sorted, especially at home.

So, I am going to go with the form book here and say that Everton will take advantage of their good away record and Liverpool’s poor home form at the moment to claim a long-awaited win at their most fierce rivals.

Both of these teams have an away record that is much better than their home form. Leicester have taken 27 points on the road compared to 21 at home, while Aston Villa have taken 20 points on the road compared to 17 at home.

Along with Wolves, these teams have been at the heart of a resurgence in Midlands football over the last couple of years. Villa have had the benefit of a week to prepare for these games due to the fact that Leicester had a Europa League tie to play in the Czech Republic in midweek (where they drew 0-0 with Slavia Prague).

That extra rest time will have helped Villa, but I think Leicester are set up to exploit teams on the road well and I think they will be itching to gain some revenge for their loss at home to Villa back in October.

As such, while this one will be close and it may be just a single goal that wins it, I feel it will be Leicester that take the points here.

Really, a quick look through the stats for this game makes grim reading for Arsenal fans. Their record against Manchester City is awful. Their FA Cup semifinal win over City last season apart, the Gunners have lost all of the other nine games in the last ten between the two and they have scored just four goals over all those games. City have netted 25 in reply.

Add to that the fact that City have won all their last 17 games in all competitions, have raced into a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League while Arsenal languish in mid-table in the middle of another worrying dip in performances and there’s not a lot Arsenal fans can cling to here for a win.

As you would expect in such circumstances, I’d be backing a City win here but the odds on that are so very short that they are effectively not worth backing. So what I have done is take a look at games between these teams and there have been 7 out of the last ten games with 3 or more goals scored over that period.

As such, I am going to go for the unusual Over 3.5 goals market here as I think the form City are in they can get three goals here and I’d back Arsenal to perhaps grab a scant single goal as a consolation.