Weekend Football Tips – 19th & 20th February

Newcastle will come into this game feeling very confident after their recent upturn in form saw them win all their last three games. Not only have they moved out of the relegation zone on the back of that, but they also have a good recent record against West Ham in the Premier League.

However, they face a West Ham team that have been superb for the past 18 months or so and deservedly sit fourth in the Premier League table. The Hammers also ran out 4-2 winners at St James’ Park earlier in the season, their first win in five games against the Toon Army.

Eddie Howe was backed in the transfer window with some big signings and they seem to have paid off, although Kieran Trippier’s injury is a worry for Newcastle as he has been so influential since signing and also weighed in with a couple of key goals.

For me though this game is about two players who have shone of late, Allan Saint-Maximin of Newcastle and Jarrod Bowen and I wanted to bet on either of these players and I felt the best option was for the in form Bowen to grab the first goal of the game here.

One thing seems certain here, Crystal Palace fans won’t be looking forward to this game. They have lost all the last eight between the teams, winning two of the last 12 only, both back in 2017. Furthermore, Chelsea have scored 14 goals against Palace in the last four games between the teams.

So, it’s not looking good on a Palace win here and when you look at the wins, three of the last four have seen both teams score, two of those games taking place at Selhurst Park. Plus Palace have been finding goals hard to come by in recent times, scoring more than once just once in the last five games.

However, the statistics show that at home, Palace do tend to score a goal, but I think the form of Chelsea is such that Thomas Tuchel’s men badly need the boost of a win here to keep on the shirt tails of Liverpool and Manchester City above them.

So working through all the options, I do actually feel as if the Both Teams to Score bet is the one to make here and although a draw is tempting given both side’s recent form, I just feel Chelsea have that extra touch of class to get the win here.

Is there any case to be made for anything other than a Manchester City victory here? I’m not sure there is to be honest. Antonio Conte’s Spurs have had a few false dawns in the last couple of months, but they are still nowhere near the team they were just a few years back.

However, Spurs did beat City on the opening weekend of the season, a 1-0 win, and over the years they have given the Citizens a few problems, but moreso when they have played them at home. City have been the dominant force when they face each other at the Etihad.

So it’s a Manchester City win for me here but the question is will that fearsome Tottenham forward line be able to get something going in this game. I am not so sure that it will as they have struggled for form and confidence this season.

With City’s defence being the meanest in the Premier League and the home side not looking likely to drop points any time soon, I am backing City to pick up a solid win here without Spurs troubling the scoresheet.

A look at the stats of these two teams reveals that in terms of goal scoring and goals conceded, they are somewhat polar opposites. Leicester have the highest percentage of games with both teams scoring in the Premier League, Wolves the fewest and in all other goalscoring categories you find these two teams at either ends of the table.

Add to that a history of games where very few goals have been scored and you have the recipe for a low scoring game here. However, occasionally, you can get goals such as the 4-3 between the two teams back in January 2019.

So what does this tell us? Well, in truth not a lot. Form says a Wolves win by a 1-0 scoreline. However, that goes against all the trends for Leicester which suggest that both teams will score, so does that make a draw more likely? I’m not so sure.

So with that uncertainty, I have gone for the anytime goalscorer market and I feel Wolves striker Hwang Hee Chan is overdue a goal at this point and with Raul Jimenez likely to attract most of the attention, I am backing him to use that to his advantage to grab a goal here.