SUNDAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews Sunday’s Premier League action which includes MAN U v LIVERPOOL at 4.30pm. All matches include a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.
BRENTFORD V LEICESTER
2pm What a fantastic Super Sunday in the Premier League! I’m sure all the talking points will be focused on Manchester United v Liverpool later in the day, but we have two fascinating markets in the 2pm games to get through first. It’s going to be a very interesting day on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. We start the afternoon with Brentford hosting Leicester in what should be a very good game. There’s going to be some big opinions on the prices here in my opinion. Brentford have been pretty impressive this season, and Leicester have been poor. They made the headlines last weekend when beating Manchester United but in general they have been poor. You could even suggest that Brendan Rodgers job was under pressure before that United win.
We have the most open market of the day here, and with both sides so close together in the betting it’s only natural to get a lot of different opinions on who should be favourites. At the moment, Brentford are marginal favourites and I would agree with the market in that sense however I would have Brentford shorter. Brentford are huge fans of xG and its shining through in their play this season. They play an open and attacking game, and it’s working. They may have lost 1-0 here last weekend to Chelsea, but they absolutely bossed the game and it was one of the most unlucky losses of the Premier League season. xG finished 2.16 to 0.31 to Brentford! When you put that game together with the Liverpool performance here too, I feel Brentford look massive at 2.74. Leicester have been average this season and they have given away a lot of chances – Brentford can make them pay.
The Striker Says:
Three points win Brentford to beat Leicester at 2.74 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQBrelei
MATCH STATS
● Brentford are winless in their last seven meetings with Leicester in all competitions (D1 L6) since a 3-2 win in the second tier in March 1953.
● Leicester have won each of their last five away games against Brentford in all competitions, winning there in the FA Cup in each of the last two campaigns (1-0 in January 2020, 3-1 in January 2021). Only against one other side in their history have Leicester recorded a run of 6+ straight away wins in all competitions, beating Leyton Orient seven times in a row in away games between February 1925 and May 1980.
● Leicester have won their last four Premier League away games against promoted sides, by an aggregate score of 11-2. However, the Foxes are winless in their last four away league games in London (D1 L3), conceding more goals in these games (11) than they had in their previous 10 in the capital (9).
● Both of Brentford’s Premier League defeats so far have come in home games (vs Brighton and Chelsea), while five of their seven goals conceded in the competition have come at the Brentford Community Stadium.
● Following their 4-2 victory against Manchester United last time out, Leicester are looking to pick up consecutive league wins for the first time since April. However, the Foxes have conceded twice in each of their last four league games, last having a longer such run in December 2016 (5).
● Since recording back-to-back shutouts at Fulham and Wolves back in February, Leicester haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 11 away Premier League matches, their longest such run since October 2019. However, the Foxes have scored in each of those 11 games also, with those matches averaging 3.3 goals per game.
● Only Chelsea (15.5%) have a better shot conversion rate in the Premier League than Leicester so far this season (13.5% – 13 goals from 96 shots).
● Kasper Schmeichel has played in each of Leicester’s last 122 Premier League games, while fellow Foxes player Youri Tielemans has played in their last 64 in the competition – they’re the two longest current unbroken runs of consecutive appearances in the division.
● Since the start of March, only Mohamed Salah (12 goals, 6 assists) has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho (12 goals, 4 assists), with the Nigerian averaging a goal or assist every 77 minutes in that time.
● Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has scored in each of his last four Premier League games. A goal here would see him become the eighth player to have three different runs of scoring in 5+ consecutive Premier League matches, after Sergio Agüero (7), Alan Shearer (5), Ruud van Nistelrooy (4), Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane, Michael Owen and Robin van Persie (all 3).
WEST HAM V TOTTENHAM
2pm We have a fascinating London Derby here. Spurs started the weekend sitting in fifth position in the table, but they have been pretty poor performance wise. The xG table puts them in 15th and before last weekend they were in the relegation zone on that table! Harry Kane is woefully out of form, and this is another interesting game to see how they get on. They’ve beaten the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle over their last two fixtures, conceding goals but getting the job done – West Ham are a step up from those sides. They lost midweek in the Europa Conference League but I wouldn’t be bother by that as they played the second XI. West Ham come into this game in good form, and had a smooth 3-0 win on Thursday in the Europa League to make it three from three in that competition after an impressive win against Everton last weekend.
It’s no surprise to see a reasonably open market, but isn’t it a sign of how far Spurs have fallen that West Ham are trading 2.36. Perhaps I’m being unfair on West Ham there, because they have improved immensely under David Moyes. There’s a fair chance should the current performance levels continue that West Ham finish ahead of Spurs in the table. West Ham have thrown in a few dodgy performance this season – midweek in the Europa League wasn’t great and they have at times conceded too many chances. It’s clear that they aren’t as good as last season, but it’s also clear that Spurs are heading in the wrong direction. I would be surprised if they weren’t mid-table this season given the chances they are giving away. This is a game for small stakes for me, but West Ham are worth a small investment to get the job done against a very average Spurs side.
The Striker Says:
One point win West Ham to beat Tottenham at 2.36 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQWestot
MATCH STATS
● West Ham avoided defeat in both Premier League meetings with Spurs last season (W1 D1) – they haven’t gone with three league games without defeat against their London rivals since May 2006.
● Tottenham have won three of their last four visits to the London Stadium to face West Ham in the Premier League, though they did lose this exact fixture 2-1 last season.
● Tottenham have lost each of their last four Premier League London derbies, as many as they had in their previous 17 such games combined (W7 D6). Spurs haven’t lost more consecutive league derbies since a run of six between March 2003 and January 2004.
● West Ham have lost their last two home league games, both by a 2-1 scoreline and thanks to winners in the 89th minute (vs Man Utd) and 90th minute (vs Brentford). They’ve not lost three consecutively at home in the competition since a run of four under Manuel Pellegrini in December 2019 – his final four such games at the club.
● None of Tottenham’s last 14 Premier League games have ended level (W9 L5), their longest run without a draw in the competition since a run of 32 between April 2018 and February 2019.
● No side has used fewer different players in the Premier League this season than West Ham (18), with David Moyes’ Hammers also making a league-low four changes to their starting lineups this term.
● Tottenham’s Harry Kane has only scored more Premier League goals against Leicester (15) than he has against West Ham (11), although only three of those have come away from home.
● West Ham’s Michail Antonio has scored more Premier League goals against Spurs than he has versus any other side (5). Three of these goals have been scored in one-goal victories (and have been worth six points to the Hammers), while the other two were scored in 3-2 defeats.
● Son Heung-min’s goals (4) and assists (1) have been worth eight points to Tottenham in the Premier League this season, more than any other player in the competition so far this term.
● West Ham pair Saïd Benrahma and Michail Antonio have created 17 chances for each other in the Premier League this season, more than any other duo in the competition.
MANCHESTER UNITED V LIVERPOOL
4.30pm Here we are! For some this is the highlight fixture of the season, an old rivalry that will never go away. Britain’s two most successful clubs go to battle again, and we have a huge amount of talking points coming into this game. The media are trying to drive a narrative that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer doesn’t want Ronaldo in his system, but it’s Ronaldo that’s scoring all the goals at the moment. Sloakjaer is also seemingly under immense pressure, also from the media, but the fans were signing his name midweek in the Champions League. United found themselves in huge trouble 2-0 down, but they produced a remarkable comeback to win 3-2, again Ronaldo with the winner. United clearly have issues at the moment though, they are not solid at the back and their performance away to Leicester last weekend was very poor. Leicester haven’t been that good this season either. You get the feeling that they are there for the taking in the big games at the moment.
Liverpool also recorded a 3-2 win midweek in the Champions League away to Atletico Madrid. They conceded plenty of chances, but what will win this game today is Liverpool are creating way more than Man United at the moment. Both sides are dodgy at the back, and excellent going forward – perhaps this points to a host of goals, but more times than not we get a very cagey and boring affair. That wasn’t the case over the last two meetings with a 4-2 win to Liverpool and 3-2 win to Man United, but prior to those two games we four games with under 2.5 goals. I would expect another cagey start, but with an early goal this game could fly wide open. As Gary Neville said on Sky Sports, this United side are an “odd bunch” they can play woefully bad and then produce stunning performances against the top sides, however Liverpool arrive here in peak form and it’s a good time to back them. Mo Salah is firing at the moment and Liverpool good the best bet here at 2.42.
The Striker Says:
Three points win Liverpool to beat Manchester United at 2.42 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQMunliv
MATCH STATS
● Manchester United have won just one of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D6 L3), losing this exact fixture 4-2 last season.
● Following their 4-2 win at Man Utd in May, Liverpool are looking to secure consecutive league victories at Old Trafford for the first time since January 2002.
● Manchester United shipped four goals in a home Premier League game for only the fifth time in last season’s encounter with Liverpool, losing 4-2. The last team to score 4+ goals in consecutive top-flight visits to Man Utd was Burnley in 1961-62 (won 4-1) and 1962-63 (won 5-2).
● Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 25 Premier League matches against ‘United’ teams (W18 D7) since losing 2-1 away to Manchester United in March 2018. Should they avoid defeat here, it would be the joint-longest unbeaten run against ‘United’ teams in the history of the Football League, matching Brentford’s 26-game run between October 1998 and November 2000.
● Manchester United are without a clean sheet in any of their last nine home league matches, their longest run without one since a run of 10 between September 1970 and February 1971. Meanwhile, the Red Devils have only picked up eight points from their last seven home Premier League matches (W2 D2 L3), winning twice as many points in their previous seven at Old Trafford (16 – W5 D1 L1).
● Liverpool are unbeaten in 18 league games, the longest current run in the top four tiers of English football (W13 D5). Away from home, the Reds have scored at least three goals in each of their last five Premier League games (17 in total), with only Man Utd last season having a longer such run in the competition (6).
● In the Premier League, only Wayne Rooney (six goals) has scored more times for Manchester United against Liverpool than Marcus Rashford (four goals in eight appearances).
● Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scored three goals in his two away games against Manchester United last season (2 in the FA Cup, 1 in the Premier League) – no Liverpool player has ever scored in three consecutive away games against Manchester United before.
● Each of Roberto Firmino’s last 10 Premier League goals for Liverpool have come away from home. In the competition’s history, only three players have had longer such runs – Ryan Giggs (13 between 2001 and 2003), Harry Kane (13 in 2017) and Ole Gunnar Solskjær (11 in 2002).
● With 26 shots and 31 chances created, Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes has been directly involved in a higher share of his team’s attempts this season than any other player in the Premier League (41% – 57/138). Nine of his chances created have been for Mason Greenwood, with no player setting up a teammate more so far this term.
