PREMIER LEAGUE - WEEK 21
Chelsea vs Bournemouth
Chelsea will look to get their season back on track with a win at home to the Cherries. Enzo Maresca’s have only accrued two points from a possible 12 in their last four top-flight games, most recently having to settle for a 1-1 draw at London rivals Crystal Palace, leaving them 10 points adrift of leaders Liverpool having played a game more than the Reds.
Since last falling to defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion in late November, Bournemouth have made club history with an eight-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League, and only the top two - Liverpool (15) and Arsenal (10) - are currently on longer sequences without a loss.
A hot streak on the road has proved pivotal to the Cherries' continental push - the visitors have scored multiple goals in each of their last five Premier League away games - but they are winless in six against Chelsea following September's Nkunku-inflicted 1-0 home defeat. Check our Chelsea vs Bournemouth markets here.
Prediction – Under 3.0 @ 2.23
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool
There are just two places and six points between the two title contenders in the top-flight standings, as the Reds square up to one of only two teams to have outwitted Arne Slot so far this season.
Nottingham Forest made it seven wins on the spin and five clean sheets on the bounce when Luton Town paid a visit for the FA Cup third round. The surprise package of this EPL season will have no fear of the visiting league leaders.
Liverpool possess the only unbeaten away record left in the 2024-25 Premier League and have struck at least two goals in each of their last 12 top-flight matches; five games in that sequence have come on rival territory. Check our Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool markets here.
Prediction – Draw @ 4.00
Everton vs Aston Villa
It’s a case of out with the old and in with the old as David Moyes makes his return as boss of Everton. Moyes managed Everton for more than 500 matches from 2002 to 2013 and returns to Goodison Park with the home side in poor form and in a precarious position, just one point above the danger area after back-to-back defeats to Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
The Toffees have only managed a single win in the previous eleven league contests. They failed to register a single shot on target in a 0-1 loss at Bournemouth in the first game of the year and badly needed a boost in their quest for survival
While Aston Villa will be wary of a potential ‘new manager bounce’, they travel to Merseyside in solid form, losing just one of their last five competitive games (W3, D1). Such positivity has been in short supply on the road of late for Unai Emery’s men, with Villa coming into this clash on the back of five successive away league defeats. They’re also without a league clean sheet on the road for 11 matches stretching back to April at Arsenal - something that should give the misfiring home team some hope. Check our Everton vs Aston Villa markets here.
Prediction – Draw @ 3.20
Arsenal vs Spurs
Still the only team with their unbeaten Premier League home record intact this season, Arsenal are on a mission to right their recent knockout wrongs in Wednesday's mouthwatering North London derby with Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates. The Gunners carry a 2-0 deficit into the 2nd leg of the EFL Cup against Newcastle in early February and were knocked out of the FA Cup on Sunday at home to Man Utd.
Yet with four consecutive Premier League clean sheets on home soil (W3, D1), the home side are well placed to continue an unbeaten run at home to Spurs in this competition that spans more than one decade (W8, D5).
Needing 120 minutes to win away to non-league Tamworth in FA Cup action on Sunday on an artificial pitch certainly wouldn't have helped fatigue despite Postecoglou insisting otherwise. The 0-0 90-minute scoreline against such a lowly opponent certainly won’t instil confidence in a side that have won just two of their last eight competitive away games against top-flight opposition (D1, L5). Check our Arsenal vs Spurs markets here.
Prediction – Under 3.0 @ 2.26
Man Utd vs Southampton
Buoyed by the FA Cup win over Arsenal, Manchester United will look to give fans yet another reason to celebrate when they take on Southampton at Old Trafford. They will be without the suspended Diogo Dalot but confidence in on the way back and they will have enough to take all three points here. The hosts have lost their last three home league games and will surely be fully focused on getting back to winning ways in the EPL.
For the first time since early November, Southampton are gearing up for a match on the back of a win. Ivan Jurić’s first victory in the Saints dugout came via a 3-0 success over second-tier Swansea in the FA Cup, but three consecutive losses under his leadership in the Premier League shows the scale of the job in front of him as he looks to achieve mission impossible.
A whopping ten points from safety pre-round, that gap will only grow if Southampton’s astonishing 17-match winless away run in the Premier League continues much longer (D4, L13). That’s the second-longest such streak in the club’s top-flight history, but Old Trafford has become a friendlier venue for them of late, as after losing 13 of their first 14 Premier League visits here, the Saints have lost just three of the last ten (W2, D5). Check our Man Utd vs Southampton markets here.
Prediction – Over 3.25 @ 2.13
