PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews LEICESTER v TOTTENHAM and BRENTFORD v MAN U both with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended match stats.
LEICESTER V TOTTENHAM
7.30pm The midweek Premier League action continues on Wednesday and hopefully both games go ahead! There’s been a lot of drama this week since the Spurs v Arsenal game was postponed at the weekend and you have to feel that at this stage clubs are using the rules to their own advantage and not in the spirit of the game. The Premier League needs to draw a line in the sand and just play the games now. Anyway, we continue with these catch up fixtures and it’s a busy time on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. We have two cracking games tonight and we start with Leicester hosting Spurs. Both sides will be feeling fresh after they had their games postponed at the weekend, and that’s two games in a row postponed for Leicester. They actually have played a Premier League game in 2022 yet! Spurs would have likely the North London Derby to go ahead at the weekend as I felt it came at a good time for them; perhaps that’s why I agree with Gary Neville that Arsenal were bending the rules to suit themselves, and other than the Carabao Cup games against Chelsea Spurs have been in good form.
Both these sides have a lot of work to do when you look at the table. Leicester haven’t been having a good season, and they sit in midtable. It looks like they will miss out on Europe this season, which is a huge disappointment given they have been fighting for a Top Four spot over the last two seasons. Spurs are sitting in 6th, but they are actually in a reasonably strong position in the race for a Top Four finish. They have four games in hand on West Ham sitting in 4th and they are only four points behind. A win here would obviously be massive, as they also have two games in hand on Arsenal and Manchester United. So far Conte has had a lot of home games as Spurs manager, but they have been performing very well at home. It will be interesting to see how they fare here away from home in a tricky tie, but Leicester have been giving away a lot of sloppy goals this season. The 2.46 on Spurs is very tempting, but this game screams goals to me. Over 2.5 goals is 1.83 and that looks ten ticks too big in my opinion, these two have a good history of entertaining games and Leicester have been playing a very open game this season.
The Striker Says:
Three points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.83 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQLeittm
MATCH STATS
● Leicester have won two of their last four Premier League games against Tottenham (L2), as many as they had in their previous 12 against them (D3 L7).
● Tottenham won this exact fixture 4-2 in May last season, last winning back-to-back away league games against Leicester in October 2003/December 2014.
● Since Leicester returned to the Premier League in 2014, their 14 meetings with Tottenham have produced 54 goals – only Arsenal vs Liverpool (62), Crystal Palace vs Liverpool (55) and Crystal Palace vs West Ham (55) have seen more goals scored in the competition in that time.
● Leicester have won 38% of their Premier League games played on Wednesdays (20/53), the Foxes’ best win rate on a specific day of the week in the competition’s history.
● Tottenham have lost four of their last five Premier League away games played on Wednesdays (W1), more than they had in their previous 15 such games in the competition (W10 D2 L3).
● Leicester have won their last three Premier League home games, their longest winning run at home since a run of seven between August-December 2019. However, two of their three home league defeats this season have been against London sides (0-2 vs Arsenal, 0-3 vs Chelsea).
● Tottenham have scored just seven goals in eight away league games this season (0.9 per game), compared to an average of 1.7 per game last season (33 in 19). Indeed, it took Spurs just 97 minutes (excluding stoppage time) to score seven Premier League away goals last season.
● Tottenham are unbeaten in all eight of their Premier League games under Antonio Conte, the best unbeaten start for a Spurs manager in their league history (W5 D3). Only two managers to join a Premier League club during a season have had longer unbeaten starts – Ole Gunnar Solskjær at Manchester United in 2018-19 (12) and Thomas Tuchel with Chelsea last season (10).
● In his entire club career, Tottenham’s Harry Kane has scored more goals against Leicester in all competitions than he has versus any other side (17 in 16 games). 11 of these have come in his last eight appearances against them, including a four-goal haul at the King Power Stadium in May 2018.
● Leicester midfielder James Maddison has been directly involved in seven goals in his last six Premier League appearances (4 goals, 3 assists), more than he had in his previous 26 games in the competition combined (3 goals, 3 assists).
BRENTFORD V MANCHESTER UNITED
8pm We finish the evening with Brentford hosting Manchester United in a fascinating game. We landed a nice lay on Manchester United at the weekend away to Aston Villa and this is a very similar set-up. They are trading 1.9 at the time of writing, and the big question is should they be odds on away to a solid side like Brentford given the run of form they are in at the moment? Even in the 2-2 draw to Aston Villa at the weekend which was disappointing at face value, they finished the game with a lower xG than Villa in another pretty weak performance. I’m not sure what’s gone wrong with United recently, but they have been woeful on the pitch under Rangnick. The fans have started to turn on the players, which is understandable given what we have seen and it seems we’re just all waiting to see what happens in the summer now. In my opinion, they need a big clear out – Roy Keane is right when he says there is too many bluffers at the club, and they need to get rid of anyone not happy or not working. If you believe the rumours, that’s a lot of them! They are seemingly unhappy with Rangnick wanting them to work harder, which is laughable really.
Brentford have been hammered in their last two games coming into this fixture, but they have come away from home. At home, they are a different side. They have played well here all season, and much like the Aston Villa game for United at the weekend – United will need a certain level of performance to win here and I’m not sure they can deliver that. Manchester City only won 1-0 here and they were kept to an xG of 1.09. Liverpool were held to a 3-3 draw when Brentford finished with a higher xG and Chelsea won 1-0 but Brentford were so unlucky in that game finishing with an xG of 2.16. Given how poor United have been going forward under Rangnick, I just can’t see them creating more than Brentford here and I can’t have them at odds on. It’s quite rare I have a Max Bet lay but I feel this calls for it – Brentford will make life very difficult for this United side.
The Striker Says:
Five points lay (liability) Manchester United to beat Brentford at 1.9 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://bit.ly/BDQBremnu
MATCH STATS
● This is the first league meeting between Brentford and Manchester United since April 1947, a goalless draw at Griffin Park in the top-flight.
● Manchester United won the last time they faced Brentford in any competition, winning a League Cup tie 2-1 at Old Trafford in September 1975 thanks to goals from Lou Macari and Sammy McIlroy.
● Only Liverpool (57) have won a Premier League game in more different stadia than Manchester United (54), with Brentford Community Stadium the 60th different ground at which the Red Devils will have played in the competition.
● Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League away games against London sides since a 2-0 loss at Arsenal in January 2020. It’s their longest league run without defeat in the capital since a streak of 13 between December 2011 and December 2013.
● Starting with a 5-3 loss at Leicester in September 2014, Manchester United have lost seven of their last 22 Premier League away games against promoted sides. The Red Devils had only lost seven of their first 66 such games in the competition (W38 D21).
● Brentford have won three of their last four Premier League home games (L1), and have taken seven points from their four games played against the ever-present Premier League sides at the Brentford Community Stadium so far (wins against Arsenal and Everton, draw against Liverpool, loss against Chelsea).
● Manchester United have won 61% of their Premier League games played on Wednesdays (71/116), the highest win rate on this specific day of all teams to have played in more than one campaign in the competition.
● Manchester United have scored in all 10 of their Premier League away games this season, the best such 100% record in the competition this term. However, three of the last four times they’ve failed to find the net on the road in the league have been in games in London (all last season vs Arsenal in January, Chelsea in February and Crystal Palace in March).
● Brentford have lost three of their last four league games played on a Wednesday (W1), as many as they had in their previous 17 such matches (W10 D4).
● Brentford have scored 12 home goals in the Premier League this season, with these being scored by 11 different players – Yoane Wissa is the only player to score more than once for the Bees at the Brentford Community Stadium this season.
