Liverpool v Arsenal, Manchester City v Bolton, and a preview of all Saturday’s games
Right let’s kick-off with some success from last week- We correctly tipped Pavel Pogrebnyak, Paul Scholes, and Grant Holt as scorers, as well as regular hitmen Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie. So keep reading for more of the same!
There is no better place to start than the weekend’s early kick-off, Liverpool v Arsenal.
The team news is that Steven Gerrard is out, and Robin van Persie is 50-50 and Thomas Vermaelen could also miss out for Arsenal. Don’t go crazy and sell van Persie, he may end up starting, but perhaps think twice about making him captain, this is a tough away fixture too after all.
Liverpool‘s defence may be more shaky without Daniel Agger, and Arsenal could look to exploit Jamie Carragher by playing Theo Walcott (8.8) up front.
We have a good feeling about Charlie Adam here too, who will have to be at his most creative if Gerrard is out, and the 8.4 rated midfielder could turn out to be useful.
Blackburn v Aston Villa will be another close contest, and it is difficult to see where Villa are going to score their goals with Darren Bent out, Robbie Keane back in the USA and Gabby Agbonlahor off form.
This looks like a contest made for Yakubu who has a terrific home record, but apart from that nobody else appeals from either side.
Onto Manchester City v Bolton it is pretty unlikely to see Bolton getting anything out of this one, after their dismal show away to Chelsea last week.
Roberto Mancini’s men will score goals, but as ever it is difficult to predict his starting line-up.
Sergio Aguero is usually a guaranteed starter, but after playing for Argentina in midweek you never quite know. Mario Balotelli did not play any internationals and should be fresh to start the match.
As ever David Silva looks a strong captain choice, while City and star defender Vincent Kompany also look good for a clean sheet.
Everton will be out for revenge against a QPR side who beat them 1-0 at the start of the season.
David Moyes has promised a different Everton to the one which turned up that day, and Denis Stracqualursi could be in amongst the goals.
QPR will be relying on Bobby Zamora, with Djibril Cisse still suspended.
Stoke v Norwich is a battle of the big men, Peter Crouch v Grant Holt. You’d back both to score in this one, although Crouch probably has the edge.
Noting Norwich’s proneness to giving away penalties, Stoke’s Jonathan Walters is a good option for this one.
West Brom will fancy their chances of beating a Chelsea side who edged them 2-1 early in the season.
The Baggies stunned Sunderland 4-0 last week, and in-form Peter Odemwingie (7.2) has five goals in his last two games and has to be fancied to continue his scoring run, despite Chelsea’s clean sheet against Bolton last time out.
Chelsea have said Daniel Sturridge is available despite his midweek injury and owners of Gary Cahill (5.2) will hope he can follow up his England goal with a strike here.
Didier Drogba has a fine record against West Brom and has been confirmed fit by his manager today and could follow up his goal against Bolton last week by scoring again here.
The Blues main threat will come through Juan Mata (9.7), with Frank Lampard (11.0) also rested in midweek.
Also on Saturday is Wigan at home to Swansea. The two sides drew 0-0 earlier in the season and anybody with Swansea defenders in their line-up will hope for a repeat here.
Michel Vorm will return to the line-up after uncharacteristically missing the game at Stoke with illness, and may be back in the points here.
We recommend Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson who is a gem priced at 5.0 who has scored 29 points since arriving in January and could continue his strong start against Wigan.
Our tips in summary: Odemwingie, Walters, Silva, Balotelli, Walcott, Drogba, Sigurdsson, Yakubu, Adam
See part two for our tips for all Sunday’s games including Tottenham v Manchester United
image: © Ben Sutherland
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