Sky Sports pundit also tipping home double on Super Sunday
Thursday 29 January 2015 16:44, UK
It's a weekend for revenge - as well as a crucial tussle at the top.
The round of Premier League fixtures in late September threw up some extraordinary results, none more extraordinary than Leicester's 5-3 win against Manchester United on Super Sunday. Back then, West Brom also won at White Hart Lane, West Ham dismantled Liverpool at Upton Park and Crystal Palace won a thriller at Everton. This weekend, those teams get their chance for revenge.
You sense the pressure was turned up a notch on Louis van Gaal after Manchester United's goalless draw at Cambridge in the FA Cup and they are under big pressure to hang on to a top-four spot with Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham and Liverpool breathing down their neck.
Sky Bet have United at 1/3 to see off Leicester this time but the way they are playing it's a brave man who goes steaming in at that short price. They badly need to get Angel di Maria back to his best to inject pace to their game, plus Leicester will be buoyant after dumping Spurs out of the FA Cup.
Prior to that game Tottenham looked on an upward curve but will find Tony Pulis' West Brom a really hard unit to break down, while Everton are reunited with Crystal Palace again at the worst possible time. Palace are absolutely flying under Alan Pardew.
I saw them at St Mary's last weekend and was very impressed. Pardew started with Sanogo, Zaha, Chamakh, who was man of the match by a distance, and Fraizer Campbell. They were dangerous on the break throughout and Everton will have to tread carefully on Saturday. Selhurst Park will be rocking. Their fans were the best and noisiest we've had at St Mary's all season.
The big game of the weekend - and potentially the pivotal match in the title race - is on Saturday Night Football. Chelsea v Manchester City. The showdown between the best two sides in the country. A must-not-lose game for the champions.
As things stand Sky Bet have Chelsea as their red hot 1/5 favourites to win the Premier League title, with Manchester City at 9/2. If Chelsea win and open up an eight-point gap at the top they'll shorten to 1/16 and it could be done and dusted. A City win will mean it's game on - big time.
It's a huge night at Stamford Bridge. The two heavyweights clash with Chelsea odds-on with Sky Bet at 10/11, Manchester City at 14/5 - the biggest price they will be on the road all season - and the draw is a 13/5 chance.
The game has match-winners all over the field and so many ingredients. For starters, it's the best home team against the league's best away side.
Despite struggles at home in the cups, Stamford Bridge has been a fortress once more under Jose Mourinho in the league with Chelsea winning all 10 home games so far. In the top five European leagues, only Bayern Munich can match their 100 per cent home league record.
City have been brilliant away from home. They have won more games (7), more points (24) and scored more goals (25 - they've scored 20 at the Etihad) than any other Premier League side away from home. However, they have an awful record at Stamford Bridge with only one victory in their last 16 Premier League visits: the 4-2 win in February 2010, a game infamous for Wayne Bridge refusing to shake John Terry’s hand.
We've seen all sorts from Chelsea in the last couple of weeks. Imperious against Swansea. Woeful versus Bradford. Then, at their intense, bruising best against Liverpool on Tuesday night. What a compelling, competitive cup tie that was. Those who back Chelsea at odds-on will hope it's a combination of the flair that destroyed Swansea and the grit that saw off Liverpool.
A big blow for City is the Ivory Coast reaching the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning Yaya Toure and Wilfred Bony will face Algeria in Equatorial Guinea, rather than Chelsea in London.
Without Toure the worry for City is getting overpowered in midfield. Manuel Pellegrini's side have failed to win any of the four league games this season when he hasn’t featured. At the start of the season I was continually asking our experts why Yaya wasn't playing at his best. His absence has really told us just how important he is to this team.
Toure and Bony would have grabbed plenty of attention but the headline-maker will be Frank Lampard. He dominated the back pages after his equaliser in the 85th minute of the sides' first meeting this season. Lampard is 3/1 to score as he returns to Stamford Bridge for the first time since joining City and for the first time as an opposition player since he returned with West Ham in August 2000.
A great story looks guaranteed. It's a game not to miss on Saturday evening.
We then have two really interesting games on Super Sunday.
First up, Arsenal play Aston Villa at the Emirates. It will be fascinating to see what team Arsene Wenger names.
Francis Coquelin has surely nailed down the defensive midfield role, while Wenger now has a wealth of attacking talent at his disposal. Tomas Rosicky must be hard to leave out after his display against Brighton, while Santi Cazorla has thrived playing in a central position and was sensational in the win at Manchester City.
Where does that leave Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and co.?
Villa finally got amongst the goals in the FA Cup last weekend but in the league it's a sorry tale. They have failed to score in the last five Premier League games, equalling a unwanted club record. Villa have gone eight hours and 42 minutes without scoring a league goal and failed to score in 13 of 22 games this season. They are the lowest scorers in country with 11 league goals.
Paul Lambert's side have a habit of pulling out a result when you least expect it and have done a job on Arsenal before but I sense they are catching the Gunners bang in form and at just the wrong time.
Southampton look to be catching Swansea at just the right time in our second live game. The Saints head into the weekend as the Premier League's form side, winning 16 points from the last 18 available. This run has included wins against Arsenal and Man Utd, plus a draw at home to Chelsea.
Swansea have gone off the boil with no wins from their last four league games - including the 5-0 thumping by Chelsea. They were then dumped out of the FA Cup last Saturday by Blackburn, which was overshadowed by the other big shocks on that bizarre afternoon.
Scoring goals is the problem. Swansea have scored seven goals in their last eight Premier League games. Top scorer Bony has been sold, while their second-highest scorer and player with most assists, Gylfi Sigurdsson, misses the next three games through suspension.
The other big issue is Swansea's poor away form. They have won only nine points on the road - only Burnley (7), Leicester (7) & QPR (0) have got less.
The form book points to a home-win double on Super Sunday.
