WPL 2018/19 - Week 16

Bournemouth v/s Liverpool - Away
Arsenal v/s Huddersfield - Home
Burnley v/s Brighton - Home
Cardiff v/s Southampton - Home
Man Utd v/s Fulham - Home
West Ham v/s Crystal Palace - Draw
Chelsea v/s Man City - Away
Leicester v/s Tottenham - Home
Newcastle v/s Wolves - Draw
Everton v/s Watford - Home

League leading Man City, Liverpool and Spurs have tough trips this week-end and there is a strong chance of them leaving points on the table. Fifth-place Arsenal will certainly get closer to them as they should have the easiest of matches against visiting Huddersfield.

Southampton are a team in disarray and will find it hard to put their act together with the departure of Mark Hughes. They need a big-name manager to rescue them and at this point, there is value to go against them. Cardiff could very well make the most of the Saints' predicament this week-end.

Finally, Man Utd should get the better of Fulham. The Red Devils are in a totally unfamiliar and unacceptable position and the pressure is on Mourinho to mount a winning sequence or the axe should soon fall. The Red Devils should overpower visiting Fulham.

Accumulator: Cardiff/Man Utd/Arsenal

EPL 2018/19 - Week 15

Bournemouth v/s Huddersfield - Home
Brighton v/s Crystal Palace - Away
West Ham v/s Cardiff - Home
Watford v/s Man City - Away
Burnley v/s Liverpool - Away
Everton v/s Newcastle - Home
Fulham v/s Leicester - Away
Wolves v/s Chelsea - Away
Man Utd v/s Arsenal - Home
Tottenham v/s Southampton - Home

Accumulator: Crystal Palace/Chelsea/West Ham/Bournemouth/Tottenham

EPL 2018/19 - Week 14

Crystal Palace v/s Burnley - Home
Huddersfield v/s Brighton - Home
Leicester v/s Watford - Home
Man City v/s Bournemouth - Home
Newcastle v/s West Ham - Draw
Southampton v/s Man Utd - Draw
Chelsea v/s Fulham - Home
Arsenal v/s Tottenham - Away
Liverpool v/s Everton - Home

Jurgen Klopp might think that tomorrow's Everton side is the best he's faced so far, but the Kops should still have too much quality for the Toffees. There is a slight worry that Liverpool might be worse off fit-ness wise after their mid-week loss to PSG but this is a Merseyside derby at Anfield which should pump up the home team. Everton are overachieving at the moment and scraping out the good results without being overly dominant. The Reds should be able to over-power them.

Crystal Palace got a great point at Old Trafford last week-end and could have stole a win with more luck. They have Zaha back and will be a much better team than in the previous weeks without their taslisman. Burnley are in a rotten form with the spectre of relegation looming. The Eagles should win this one.

Chelsea lost their unbeaten record to Spurs last week but should get back to winning ways against Fulham. Granted, this will not be an easy match for Sarri's men as Fulham have found new vigour under new coach Ranieri. Still, the Blues are dominant at home and with Hazard pulling the strings, they should have too much in store for the visitors.

Accumulator: Liverpool/ Man City/ Crystal Palace/ Chelsea

EPL 2018/19 - Week 13

Brighton v/s Leicester - Away
Everton v/s Cardiff - Home
Fulham v/s Southampton - Away
Man Utd v/s Crystal Palace - Home
Watford v/s Liverpool - Away
West Ham v/s Man City - Away
Tottenham v/s Chelsea - Home
Bournemouth v/s Arsenal - Home
Wolves v/s Huddersfield - Home
Burnley v/s Newcastle - Home

Everton and Wolves are banker home wins. I just cannot see them being threatened by 2 of the worst sides in the league.

Man Utd should win their match against Crystal Palace although it would be no shock if they were to lay an egg in front of the Old Trafford faithful. The more Mourinho can focus on managing the team without making the back page news, the more the Red Devils will inspire confidence. The international break might have come at an opportune time for them as they try to bear down on a good winning run.

My value pick of the week is Spurs as I think they have enough in them to see off visiting Chelsea and hereby inflict the first defeat of the Blues this season. Tottenham will always give trouble to any team and the fact that Chelsea have been scraping results lately leads me to believe that Sarri's team are in for a hot Saturday evening. Harry Kane should be a handful as ever and the return of Vertoghen at the back will bring more stability to the Spurs defence. Contrary to many other pundits, I see Chelsea's unbeaten record in serious danger here.

Accumulator: Everton/Wolves/Man Utd/Tottenham

EPL 2018/19 - Week 12

Cardiff v/s Brighton - Draw
Huddersfield v/s West Ham - Away
Leicester v/s Burnley - Home
Newcastle v/s Bournemouth - Away
Southampton v/s Watford - Home
Crystal Palace v/s Tottenham - Draw
Liverpool v/s Fulham - Home
Chelsea v/s Everton - Home
Arsenal v/s Wolves - Home
Man City v/s Man Utd - Home

Although Man Utd got the perfect result during their travel at Juventus in mid-week, their performance on the pitch will have left a lot desired for many. Any such repeat while visiting neighbours Man City looks doomed to failure and possibly catastrophe. The Red Devils were shackled for long periods in Italy only to find their footing in the last minutes of the match and reverse what looked like a detrimental result. On the other hand, the Citizens are flying at the moment and scarily scoring at free will. I cannot see them getting beaten at home based on the form of the Red Devils and I think Guardiola's men will easily win this contest.

Leicester will be back from a long trip to Thailand and fitness-wise might not be at their peak but they should have too much class for a desperate Burnley team.

Liverpool is a banker to thrash Fulham and I suspect Salah will have another field day.

Last but not least, I like Southampton to get something out of their match against Watford. The Saints will have to rack up the points at home if they are to stay up and while visiting Watford are proving to be a decent bunch this year, I can still see the home team prevailing by the tightest of margins in this one.

Accumulator: Liverpool/Man City/Leicester/Southampton

EPL 2018/19 - Week 11

Bournemouth v/s Man Utd - Home
Cardiff v/s Leicester - Home
Everton v/s Brighton - Home
Newcastle v/s Watford - Away
West Ham v/s Burnley - Home
Arsenal v/s Liverpool - Away
Wolves v/s Tottenham - Away
Man City v/s Southampton - Home
Chelsea v/s Crystal Palace - Home
Huddersfield v/s Fulham - Draw

Man City and Chelsea have easy outings and should bag whole points at home. I think Spurs have the form and squad to go grasp full points on their visit at Wolves. For accumulator purposes, I  see value in including the Hammers who look to have an easier task than most in overwhelming a Burnley team with a very poor away record.

Accumulator: Man City/Chelsea/Tottenham/West Ham

EPL 2018/19 - Week 10

Brighton v/s Wolves - Home
Fulham v/s Bournemouth - Away
Liverpool v/s Cardiff - Home
Southampton v/s Newcastle - Home
Watford v/s Huddersfield - Home
Leicester v/s West Ham - Home
Burnley v/s Chelsea - Draw
Crystal Palace v/s Arsenal - Away
Man Utd v/s Everton - Home
Tottenham v/s Man City - Away

Accumulator Win: Liverpool/Man City/Watford/Man Utd

EPL 2018/19 - Week 9

Chelsea v/s Man Utd - Home
Bournemouth v/s Southampton - Draw
Cardiff v/s Fulham - Away
Man City v/s Burnley - Home
Newcastle v/s Brighton - Home
West Ham v/s Tottenham - Draw
Wolves v/s Watford - Home
Huddersfield v/s Liverpool - Away
Everton v/s Crystal Palace - Draw
Arsenal v/s Leicester - Away

Just a quick note here. I will go for a Man City/Liverpool/Leicester accumulator as value punt of the week. Man City is a banker to win, Liverpool should be too strong for Huddersfield and Leicester has the capacity to stun the Gunners who although are on a good run, have shown defensive weaknesses that can be exploited by the Foxes.

Accumulator: Man City/Liverpool/Leicester

Arc de Triomphe 2018 - Enable on the steps of Treve

All questions revolve around Enable in this year's Arc. If the reigning champion is anywhere near the maximum of her powers, she should crush the field at Longchamp. How she overcomes the dreaded "bounce factor", the theory that a horse that runs well after a long lay-off will run badly on their second run, will be the main determinant of the result of the race. She came back from injury in the most comforting of fashions by easily overcoming top-class Crystal Ocean on the synthetic track of Kempton a few weeks ago. My belief is that her class will tell and that she will emulate Treve and win her second Arc. 

Of the rest, I will pick possibly the next filly superstar in Sea of Class and the trio of Fabre runners in Waldgeist, Cloth of Stars and Talismanic. Sea of Class has been supplemented for the race and looks set to be a major force in the middle distance division, male and distaff, next year. She will benefit of the all-important 3-pound allowance but her outside draw and the soft conditions will play against her. She can definitely place in the first 3 though.

Fabre has a strong-hand in his 3 horses and were it not to the 2 above-mentioned fillies, he would have been in a great nick to win the Arc for the 8th time. Waldgeist looks his best chance as this son of Galileo has won his last 4 races and beaten his 2 other stablemates in the Prix Foy. The German star should be at the finish. Cloth of Stars came second to Enable last year and seems to have gotten in better form over the course of the year. He definitely has the class to place again. Finally, Talismanic is certainly able to pick up the pieces should Enable fail to fire. The soft ground might play against him as his best form is on quick ground.

Win: Enable
Place: Sea of Class, Waldgeist
Top 5: Talismanic, Cloth of Stars

EPL 2018/19 - Week 8

Brighton v/s West Ham - Away
Burnley v/s Huddersfield - Home
Crystal Palace v/s Wolves - Home
Leicester v/s Everton - Home
Tottenham v/s Cardiff - Home
Watford v/s Bournemouth - Home
Man Utd v/s Newcastle - Home
Fulham v/s Arsenal - Away
Southampton v/s Chelsea - Away
Liverpool v/s Man City - Away

West Ham seem to have turned a corner and I see them getting the full points on their away trip to Brighton. Much has been said after Man Utd's woes but the Hammers were convincing in their win against the Red Devils last week. Pellegrini has righted the ship and I expect them to steadily climb up the standings.

I see value in pouncing on the accumulator on the following home teams: Burnley, Leicester, Tottenham and Man Utd. The gap with the visiting teams are enough for those teams to warrant comprehensive wins.

I also see Crystal Palace as a value draw-no-bet option against visiting Wolves. The Eagles usually keep matches close and they will be hard to beat at home. Wolves have been overachieving since the start and will be expected to give a good account of themselves and I expect Palace's odds to be higher as a result. The home team should either win or draw this match.


Win: West Ham
Win accumulator: Burnley/Leicester/Tottenham/Man Utd
Draw-no-bet: Crystal Palace

EPL 2018/19 - Week 7

West Ham v/s Man Utd - Away
Arsenal v/s Watford - Home
Everton v/s Fulham - Home
Huddersfield v/s Tottenham - Away
Man City v/s Brighton - Home
Newcastle v/s Leicester - Away
Wolves v/s Southampton - Draw
Chelsea v/s Liverpool - Draw
Cardiff v/s Burnley - Home
Bournemouth v/s Crystal Palace - Home

All the headlines from Old Trafford have been the months-old Mourinho-Pogba clash that have culminated into the French star kicked out of his vice-captaincy role. It seems plausible to say that one or both of them will have to look for greener pastures soon. Although it is too early at this point of the season to conclude that Man Utd's chances of winning the title are over, even the most ardent Red Devils supporters will agree that Man City and Liverpool will be all-too hard to catch. They are still a top 4 team and should be able to wrestle the 3 points out of their visit to West Ham provided their latest distraction is far off their minds. The players' performance in this match will go a long way to giving the best indication of the atmosphere reigning in the Mancunian changing room. Mourinho has to win matches like this to save his job and I believe this is a very possible result on Saturday morning.

Tottenham should stop its rotten series of results by getting a win at Huddersfield. This match comes at a perfect time for Spurs to regain some momentum in the league. The hosts are hapless upfront, having scored the fewest goals in the league so far. They are equally inept at the back, having conceded the most. So, even without star playmaker Ericksen, Pochettino's men should have no trouble getting the much-need win.

Win Accumulator: Man Utd/Tottenham

EPL 2018/19 - Week 5

Tottenham v/s Liverpool - Away
Bournemouth v/s Leicester - Draw
Chelsea v/s Cardiff - Home
Huddersfield v/s Crystal Palace - Away
Man City v/s Fulham - Home
Newcastle v/s Arsenal - Draw
Watford v/s Man Utd - Home
Wolves v/s Burnley - Home
Everton v/s West Ham - Home
Southampton v/s Brighton - Home

The 4 teams that stand out this weekend are Chelsea, Man City, Crystal Palace and Southampton. The first 2 can be considered bankers. Chelsea have proven me wrong so far and while I still expect them to fade at some point, getting 3 points from weak Cardiff should prove no hassle. Man City should be their dominating self against visiting Fulham.

Zaha might be a doubt for this match but Crystal Palace should have more than enough to get more than a share of points at Huddersfield. The Eagles have been somewhat disappointing in their last 2 matches but should be able to bounce back on this travel.

Finally, I really like the way Mark Hughes has settled in Southampton and the Saints have been competitive in the opening matches. A win is well within their grasp in the encounter against visiting Brighton.

Win Accumulator: Man City/Chelsea/Crystal Palace/Southampton

EPL 2018/19 - Week 4

Leicester v/s Liverpool - Away
Brighton v/s Fulham - Away
Chelsea v/s Bournemouth - Home
Crystal Palace v/s Southampton - Home
Everton v/s Huddersfield - Home
West Ham v/s Wolves - Home
Man City v/s Newcastle - Home
Cardiff v/s Arsenal - Away
Burnley v/s Man Utd - Away
Watford v/s Tottenham - Draw


Man City should continue on their unbeaten run this week-end as they host the toothless Magpies. This is a banker win for the Citizens who will also look to enhance their goal difference.

I really like the chances of West Ham against Wolves. The Hammers have been arguably unlucky in their last couple of starts and are much better than what their position suggests. Having Wolves as visitors is a perfect tonic for them to get their season back on track. They are definitely the best value pick of the week-end.

Mourinho is reeling at the moment and unless the wheels are falling off completely for the Red Devils, I can see them bouncing back with a win at Burnley. No doubt that another loss will significantly weaken the Special One's position at Old Trafford. While it is true they got thrashed against Spurs last week-end, there is no doubt that the result could have been reversed if Lukaku had not missed the open goal in the first half. Missing those sitters against the likes of Tottenham can just be lethal. If the Mancunians play with the same energy and are not profligate in front of goal, they have every chance to win this.

Win: Man City, West Ham, Man Utd

EPL 2018/19 - Week 3

Wolves v/s Man City - Away
Bournemouth v/s Everton - Away
Arsenal v/s West Ham - Home
Huddersfield v/s Cardiff - Home
Southampton v/s Leicester - Away
Liverpool v/s Brighton - Home
Watford v/s Crystal Palace - Away
Fulham v/s Burnley - Home
Newcastle v/s Chelsea - Home
Man Utd v/s Tottenham - Draw

The bankers are obvious; Liverpool and Man City should be having field days playing the likes of Brighton and Wolves. The 2 league favourites will be looking to not only bag the 3 points but also give a healthy dosage to their goal difference as this might play a crucial part towards the end of the season.

I have three value plays and I'm hoping that at least 2 of them hit the target. They are Leicester, Crystal Palace and Newcastle. I think the Foxes have a great chance to steal the full points at Southampton. The Saints look a vulnerable team at the moment as Mark Hughes tries to put his system into place. Leicester are a well-oiled team that are difficult to break down and have the means to inflict damage at the other end.

I also like Crystal Palace as a draw-no-bet as they visit Watford. I expect Palace to finish in the top 10 this season as ex-England manager Hodgson has put together an organized squad. They will be hard to beat and they can definitely land the spoils with the likes of Zaha up front.

Finally, I think Benitez will have Newcastle put up a valiant fight against visiting Chelsea. I am not convinced by the Blues at the moment despite their unbeaten start with new manager Sarri and they will definitely start losing points as the manager gets to grips with the facets of the league. Newcastle looks a great value draw-no-bet.

Value Win: Leicester
Accumulator: Liverpool/Man City/Leicester
Draw-no-bet: Newcastle, Crystal Palace

EPL 2018/19 - Week 2

Cardiff v/s Newcastle - Away win
Everton v/s Southampton - Home win
Leicester v/s Wolves - Home win
Tottenham v/s Fulham - Home win
West Ham v/s Bournemouth - Home win
Chelsea v/s Arsenal - Away win
Burnley v/s Watford - Home win
Man City v/s Huddersfield - Home win
Brighton v/s Man Utd - Away win
Crystal Palace v/s Liverpool - Away win

This week-end is an opportunity for most leading teams to gather full points and enhance goal difference. Man City is a banker win against Huddersfield. Man Utd should have too much firepower for Brighton. Spurs should overcome Fulham although I think they won't win it in a canter. Liverpool should continue on their hot goal spree at Selhurst Park.

Leicester should continue to do well with Claude Puel at the helm and they are fancied to beat Wolves.

Chelsea hosting Arsenal is the main match of the week-end. The encounter is between 2 teams with new managers, so there is definitely an element of surprise that can creep in. It is not impossible to fathom Arsenal coming up trumps in this London derby. They have the firepower to inflict damage to any team and Chelsea will be more vulnerable at the back now that Courtois is gone. For a value win, Arsenal could be a nice play.

Win: Leicester
Win accumulator: Man City/Liverpool/Man Utd
Value win: Arsenal