We are five rounds in the new football season, and judging by early results, Liverpool and Manchester City are once again the main candidates for the title. The Reds are the only team which maintained 100% win rate so far, already having decent five points advantage over the reigning champions. Both teams were also involved in heavy mid-week action in the Champions League, playing on the road in Ukraine and Italy, so fitness might represent an issue for upcoming duels. Sixth round of the Premier League is getting opened on Friday night with an encounter between Southampton and AFC Bournemouth. The most interesting clashes are Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City v Watford, West Ham United v Manchester United, and of course, the big derby match between Chelsea and Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. Let’s take a look at some stats, previews and our football tips for this weekend!
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
Leicester City were undefeated in the first four matches, all until the last week when they paid a visit to Old Trafford. Manchester United were a better opponent and took deserved 1-0 victory against the Foxes, pushing them down to the 5th position with eight points. Brendan Rodgers and his squad are having a tough schedule, with a very little time to recover. They are hosting Tottenham Hotspur this Saturday, and this clash is going to open the action on this day. As expected, visitors are warm favorites for the win, priced at 13/10. Jamie Vardy has been playing great so far this season, scoring three goals in five appearances. Fans are expecting much from the most recent acquisition Ayoze Perez, but Spaniard striker has been silent so far. James Maddison is once again playing one of the key roles in midfield, but he still didn’t make it to the scoring sheet. When it comes to injuries, Matthew James and Daniel Amartey are most likely going to miss this match for the hosts.
Tottenham had a couple of turbulent weeks as well. The first defeat of the season didn’t come against Manchester City on the road like many predicted. Spurs survived Etihad with a 2-2 draw, but the follow up match has turned into a true disaster. They were big favorites at home against Newcastle United, but lost the match 1-0. Right after that, Mauro Pochettino’s squad played a derby match against Arsenal FC. It was a fantastic match, ending in a 2-2 draw. The most recent performance was brilliant though. Tottenham welcomed and demolished Crystal Palace last Saturday 4-0. Man of the match was Heung-Min Son, scoring two goals. Harry Kane is still sitting at the top of team’s scoring leaderboard with three goals in the Premier League season 2019/2020. Backing any of these two to score against Leicester City would be a decent betting move.
Leicester City don’t have a good record in the most recent head to head clashes against the Spurs. The last time they were hosts, in December 2018, visitors took convincing 2-0 victory. As the matter of fact, The Foxes lost last three encounters against Tottenham with a total goal difference of 5-10! Can also this be a signal to back goals this Saturday?
West Ham United v Manchester United
The Red Devils have opened the new football campaign with a flashy performance and 4-0 victory against Chelsea FC. However, the follow up duels have cost them a lot of points. Liverpool are already seven points ahead of Manchester United after five rounds, so Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad is hardly going to catch up without some big winning streak. Can they earn second consecutive victory this Saturday in London against West Ham United? Hosts are miles away from form or quality from the previous season, especially after the departure of Marko Arnautovic. The Hammers are big underdogs going into this clash, priced at 21/10 to win the game. The odds on Manchester United’s victory at the moment of writing this are 11/10.
Norge expert is having a lot of troubles with injured players. Besides Luke Shaw, Eric Bailly and Diogo Dalot who have been absent for a long time, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial are the most recent additions to the injury list. There are some indications French internationals might recover, but nothing was confirmed yet. Manchester United have earned big 1-0 victory against Leicester City last weekend and finally ended an unpleasant series of three games without a win. We are still in the early stages of the season, so everything is possible, but Red Devils need to start playing much better to fight for top 4.
West Ham are currently in red-hot form, having won eight points from the last four EPL clashes. The premiere performance against Man City was a pure disaster, but the Hammers recovered successfully. They are currently occupying the 8th place with the same number of points as Man Utd.
Chelsea v Liverpool
Can Frank Lampard be the first one to stop Liverpool FC in this season? The Blues are having a lot of troubles with consistency, and that was very obvious during the mid-week clash against Valencia in the UEFA Champions League. Despite the domination Chelsea have lost that game in front of the home crowd 0-1. As for the EPL performances, they also have eight points so far. Last week’s game against Wolves was a true refreshment for the fans, winning it 5-2.
Liverpool also got defeated in UCL match on the road against Napoli 0-2. Jurgen Klopp didn’t look particulary worried after the match in a press conference, stating that his players are now turning to domestic obligations. As mentioned above, The Reds are the leaders and only team which has 100% win rate in the EPL at the moment.