Every week we preview three fascinating things to look out for in the big Premier League games – including Arsenal v Tottenham. And we have further analysis from Betfair’s Football…Only Bettor podcast
Bruce’s slide could reach new low against Villa
What really hurts for Newcastle fans isn’t just the lurking threat of relegation but the sheer joylessness of the football being played and Steve Bruce’s passionless press conferences, in which he appears perfectly satisfied with the job he is doing. Bruce is tone-deaf to the ambitions and expectations of the fanbase and seems infuriatingly self-assured in fulfilling Mike Ashley’s brief – something Aston Villa fans will remember all too well.
During his disappointing tenure in Birmingham, Villa fans would regularly mock Bruce for repeating the phrase “there or thereabouts” when referring to the club’s ambitions to challenge for a Championship play-off place. It betrayed a lack of ambition, a willingness to tread water, and a total disregard for the supporters’ passion. ‘Thereabouts’ isn’t good enough.
Newcastle are sliding down the league table just as Villa did under Bruce, but what separates the two clubs is that while Villa had ambitious new owners at the helm, the Magpies are stuck with a man who has traditionally waited too long to make a change. Newcastle are sleepwalking into trouble and the hosts will probably lose again on Friday.
Back Villa to win at 19/20 (Betfair)
Ancelotti and Dyche are at critical junctures
You would not necessarily expect an Everton versus Burnley match on a Saturday evening to have a lot riding on it. Ordinarily both of these teams are floating in relatively harmless positions, one safely treading water in the Europa League spots and the other well clear of relegation, but this season things are a little more tense for both sets of supporters.
Everton can win their game in hand and move within one point of the Champions League places, and yet their 2-0 defeat at Chelsea last weekend was a damaging psychological blow to their chances of overtaking Thomas Tuchel’s side. Burnley are four points clear of the bottom three and roughly on the points total (30 from 28 games) you would expect, and yet Fulham’s improving form threatens to suck them into a relegation battle. Carlo Ancelotti and Sean Dyche face each other at a particularly crucial juncture as we approach the 10-game countdown to the end of the season.
Goals are hard to come by for both teams at the moment, and with Burnley winning a point from Leicester City and Arsenal in their last two games, Dyche will be confident of further success at Goodison Park. He deserves credit for reacting to the defensive sloppiness of the 4-0 defeat to Spurs by sitting his team deeper, rather than going for the erratic press that tends to elongate Burnley’s formation.
Everton, switching regularly between a too-narrow diamond and a too-flat traditional 4-4-2, haven’t quite been able to recapture the creativity that defined the first third of their season. Unfortunately for neutrals that probably means a low-scoring game and a point apiece.
Back the draw at 12/5 (Betfair)
Bale and Kane can reignite Mourinho tenure at Arsenal
This frankly ridiculous Premier League season keeps throwing up new ways to confound us, the latest being Tottenham Hotspur re-entering the top-four race after three consecutive wins. Jose Mourinho was supposed to be finished, his short tenure in north London supposedly reaching an early end with absolutely no way back, and yet here Spurs are, active in three competitions and still on to achieve all of their targets for the season.
They have Gareth Bale to thank for the resurgence. His blistering form from the right wing has rejuvenated Mourinho’s attack, mimicking how Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane reached new heights in the first half of the campaign. In all three cases, it comes down to individuality; to a manager trusting the players’ attacking instincts and giving them free rein to play however they see fit.
That sort of absolute creative freedom makes Spurs particularly emotional, hence the awful sequence of performances prior to Bale’s return to the fold, but this team of extremes are superb to watch when on a high. Mourinho’s hands-off tactical approach also means the approach play is relatively simple and fragmented; Bale has given Spurs balance, drawing attention away from Son’s side of the pitch, and when he picks the ball up intelligently between the lines the Welshman can either drive straight at the defence or quickly switch the play to Son.
Arsenal may well struggle to deal with Bale, and certainly Tottenham’s upturn in form suggests this will be a very entertaining game. Mikel Arteta’s defence frankly always looks a little ropey in these sorts of matches, while the manager’s desire to play quick, vertical football should mean the match descends into end-to-end chaos for a while.
Kane’s record in the north London derby is well-documented. Bale is similarly a big-game player. Arsenal are an erratic team at the moment and yet in Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Emile Smith Rowe possess the sort of direct attackers that will worry Mourinho’s flat-footed back four. For once, we can genuinely hope for an entertaining ‘Big Six’ game.
Back over 3.5 goals at 11/5 (Betfair)
From Betfair’s Football…Only Bettor podcast: “I like what Jose Mourinho has been doing recently by releasing the shackles and brining Gareth Bale and Dele Alli in from the cold.”
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