As the curtain temporarily comes down on the Premier League, our tipster Jones Knows takes to the prediction chair and thinks Newcastle will thump Chelsea.
Manchester City vs Brentford, Saturday 12.30pm
Manchester City have won their last 16 home games in all competitions, scoring 61 goals. A home win it is. Boring. Move on.
With such a one-sided encounter anticipated my eyes have wandered elsewhere for a potential angle in. This game has the potential to fizzle out long before the whistle so the chances of a lack of cards certainly makes appeal. Both these teams rank very low for average cards per-90 with City bottom of the pile with 2.67 and Brentford are only just above them at 2.92 per-90.
A look at previous meetings between the teams also adds further fuel to the low card count argument as in both Premier League clashes last season no cards were shown. Brentford are happy to play in a low block away from home against the top teams so chances for the game to be stretched are low which in turn decreases the likelihood of cynical or reckless challenges.
A very generous 11/10 for under 30 booking points is on offer from Sky Bet meaning we’ll cop a return if there are two or fewer bookings in the match and no red cards. Those that like backing longer shots should snaffle up the 10/1 with Sky Bet on the game following the pattern of the last two meetings and producing zero cards. Since Pep Guardiola took charge, City have had eight Premier League home games vs ‘non-big-six’ teams where no cards have been shown. This could be the ninth.
PL Predictions: Newcastle to thump Chelsea
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The key conundrum here is how to get with Arsenal and get a bigger price than the 1/2 on offer with Sky Bet on the away win. Adding under goals is the way to get there.
The hectic schedule is making it tough for Arsenal to produce fireworks and high energy for longer periods in matches which is seeing the total goal count in their matches drop quite considerably. Over the first 11 games this season, Arsenal matches were averaging 3.5 goals per game. However, over the past nine matches, they’ve only managed to score more than two goals in one of those encounters – the 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
This should be another one of those ‘job done’ type of wins, so the Arsenal to win and under 3.5 goals selection at 5/4 with Sky Bet looks a play.