Weekend Premier League Tips 20th & 21st May

For Liverpool, the mantra has to be to keep on winning to keep putting the pressure on Newcastle United and Manchester United and hope that one, or both, slip up. I am going to rule Newcastle United out here because that win over Brighton in midweek means they need just one more win from their last two games to be assured of Champions League football and I think that they deserve and will get those final 3 points.

So that would leave Liverpool chasing fourth and by no means certain of getting it given Manchester United’s run in. However, Jurgen Klopp will want his side to maintain the momentum they have built up over the last few weeks against Aston Villa here, as well as saying goodbye to four members of their squad who are moving on (Firmino, Milner, Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain).

For Villa, they will want to build on their great form under Unai Emery and a win at Anfield would certainly do that. However, the Villains record against the Reds is not that great, especially away from home and it looks like a big ask for them to land the win here, though I do think they will keep things close.

Wolves have been out of danger for a while now, but their erratic form has continued, losing 6-0 at Brighton and then following that up with a superb 1-0 win over Aston Villa at home, but they then lost 2-0 away to Manchester United last week. However, Wolves have won five of their last six home games, including all of the last four without conceding a goal.

Everton were well-beaten by Manchester City last weekend which will be a worry for Sean Dyche as he hads into what is a game that the Toffees will know that they must get something from. A defeat coupled with a Leeds draw would see Leeds move above Everton and if Leicester were to win on Monday night, then they too would go above Everton.

So the situation is critical here for the Merseysiders who have a lot more to play for than Wolves, but going to Molineux and picking up a win is no easy task, especially of late and while I think Everton may grab a goal, I am backing Wolves to win a narrow one by a 2-1 scoreline here.

Both of these teams come into this game needing to get something from it. Arsenal need a win to at least make Manchester City have to win the title on Sunday afternoon against Chelsea at the Etihad, otherwise their challenge will be over. They’ll also want to bounce back from that poor 0-3 home defeat to Brighton last weekend.

For Forest it is simple, a win here and they would almost certainly be safe and if they can pick up a point and Leeds United lose, then they would be safe. So there’s plenty to play for here for Steve Cooper’s team too and let’s not forget, they are the last EPL team to stop Man City winning a game (when they drew 1-1 with them a couple of months back).

So this may not be the walk in the park that Arsenal fans expect it to be, but with Forest having one of the worst defensive records in the division, Arsenal one of the best attacking and both teams needing to score goals to achieve their aims, I think we will see a game with plenty of goals here so I am backing the over 3.5 goals market here as it is a pretty flexible bet given all goals will count.

What can we expect from Manchester City here after their 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid in midweek? Well, what I do know is that Pep Guardiola will not have taken his foot off the accelerator pedal just yet, however the Spaniard will know that if he can wrap up the title here with a win (or an Arsenal loss at Nottingham Forest) then he will be able to rest players in their final two games of the season next week.

As such, I am expecting nothing less than the usual full-throttle Manchester City performance here and I think the players would also like to win this game in style, in front of their home fans and against one of their usual big rivals in the Premier League.

That all spells bad news for Chelsea who have been leaking goals for the last 2/3 of the season and who sit in an awful 11th place in the league by their standards. They are going to play the role of sacrificial lambs here at the weekend I am sure and I don’t think it will be pretty for them.

So much so I believe that Manchester City will get a big win here and I am backing Erling Haaland to finish the season with a bang and having the started the season with hat-tricks aplenty, I think he will like to end it with one, especially having been denied three times in midweek against Madrid.