THE STRIKER: previews Wednesday’s Premier League games between BURNLEY v LEICESTER, SHEFFIELD UNITED v ASTON VILLA and CRYSTAL PALACE v MANCHESTER UNITED all with extended stats and a recommended BETDAQ bet.


The Striker is a professional football punter who focused solely on football in the UK. He has over ten years of experience using exchanges and he’s been a full-time professional punter for more than five years. UK football is his edge and he sticks to it!

Thankfully The Striker has agreed to share his best bets with BETDAQ Tips! He will use a staking system between one and five points to give readers a clue as to how confident he is with each individual bet. He uses his own analysis to price up matches and loves advanced stats like xG, goal stats and current form.


BURNLEY V LEICESTER

6pm The Premier League action just keeps on coming and we have another excellent night ahead on Wednesday. As kick the evening off with Burnley hosting Leicester after both sides suffered big defeats at the weekend. Burnley were hammered 4-0 by Spurs, while Leicester lost 3-1 to Arsenal which would have been a big blow for them. Brendan Rodgers rested players in the Europa League for that game, and they ended up crashing out of the Europa League and then losing the weekend. They still have a cushion sitting in third, but they won’t want to see that gap close any further with Chelsea gaining ground – plus Liverpool haven’t gone far away and you’d assume they will come with a charge for a Top Four spot before the season is over.

So, this is a big game for Leicester to try and get back to winning ways. It would be very disappointing if they couldn’t beat this Burnley side and would cap a terrible week for them. Burnley would have been pleased to see Fulham only draw at the weekend meaning they are five points away from the relegation zone, with Brighton and Newcastle in between them too. I know Leicester are having a bad week, but the 2.14 on BETDAQ Betting Exchange is too tempting to turn down. You don’t become a bad side overnight and although they didn’t create much against Arsenal – Burnley will give them more time and space here and I would have Leicester marginally odds on, not as big as 2.14.

The Striker Says:
Two points win Leicester to beat Burnley at 2.14 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQburlcr

MATCH STATS

  • Burnley have won three of their last four home league games against Leicester (L1), more than they had in their previous 13 against them at Turf Moor (W2 D3 L8).
  • Leicester are looking to complete their first ever top-flight double over Burnley, last beating them home and away in any division in the 2012-13 Championship.
  • Leicester have won just three of their 26 top-flight away games against Burnley (D6 L17), with two of those victories coming in their five Premier League visits to Turf Moor.
  • Burnley’s home games have seen fewer goals than any other side in the Premier League this season, with just 24 goals being netted in 13 games at Turf Moor so far (F10 A14).
  • No team has won more away Premier League games than Leicester this season (W9 D3 L1). Indeed, only in their 2015-16 title winning season (11) have the Foxes won more away top-flight games than they have this term.
  • Leicester have lost their last two games in all competitions, last losing three in a row back in February 2019 in Claude Puel’s last three games in charge. Manager Brendan Rodgers hasn’t lost three in a row since November 2014 when he was Liverpool boss, a run of four consecutive defeats.
  • Burnley have won two of their last 21 Premier League games against teams starting the day in the top-three of the league (D4 L15), though one of those wins was a 2-1 home victory over Leicester in January 2020, who were 3rd and Burnley in 15th on the day of that game, the same positions as the teams will go into this match.
  • On the day of this game, it will be two years since Brendan Rodgers’ first Premier League match in charge of Leicester, a 2-1 defeat at Watford. Since that date, only Man City (79) and Liverpool (77) have won more away points in the competition than Leicester (62).
  • Burnley striker Chris Wood has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances against former side Leicester. The only player to score in four consecutive Premier League games against a side they’ve previously played for in the competition is Craig Bellamy against Newcastle between 2007 and 2011.
  • Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has only found the net in one of this last 12 appearances in all competitions (v Liverpool in February) and hasn’t scored in his last five games on the road since December 2020 versus Spurs.

SHEFFIELD UNITED V ASTON VILLA

6pm At this stage of the season Sheffield United are just playing for pride, however you could say the same about Aston Villa who have slipped down to mid-table after a run of erratic results. Villa have had a very up-and-down run since their strong start to the season, and they can’t seem to put a run of wins (or losses!) together. Sheffield United have been very poor this season, and this is an excellent chance for Villa to pick up three points. Villa aren’t a million miles away from a Europa League spot so I was harsh above when saying they had little to play for; the reality is they are extremely likely to come up short considering the fact that Chelsea and Liverpool aren’t even in the Top Four at the moment.

Much like the Burnley v Leicester game on at the same time this evening, it’s very difficult to look past Villa here at 2.1. I know Sheffield United have had some good performances at certain stages of the season, but they haven’t got the results even when they have played well. They have been conceding a lot of chances in recent weeks too and it’s hard to see how they can stop Villa from scoring. Villa have been keeping things reasonably tight at the back in recent weeks too which is a very good sign as they will likely keep Sheffield United out. Sheffield United haven’t scored in their last three games either, and I can’t ignore the 2.1 here for my best bet. Villa have been one of my favourite teams to back this season as they have offered a lot of value at times, and this evening is another example.

The Striker Says:
Two points win Aston Villa to beat Sheffield United at 2.1 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQsheavl

MATCH STATS

  • Sheffield United have won their last two home league games against Aston Villa, last winning three in a row against them between 1968 and 1976.
  • Aston Villa are looking to secure their first league double over Sheffield United since the 1993-94 campaign, following their 1-0 win against them earlier this season.
  • Sheffield United have won their last two Premier League games played on a Wednesday, having won just one of their first 13 such games in the competition (D3 L9).
  • Aston Villa have lost each of their three Premier League games played on a Wednesday so far this season, with these coming in three consecutive weeks between January 20th and February 3rd.
  • Sheffield United have lost 10 home league games this season, only losing more in one season in their entire history, losing 11 at Bramall Lane in 2010-11 in the Championship.
  • Aston Villa have kept more away clean sheets than any other Premier League side this season (8). The Villans have never kept nine clean sheets on the road in a single top-flight campaign before.
  • After winning their opening four Premier League games this season, Aston Villa have won consecutive league matches just once since, doing so against West Brom and Crystal Palace in December.
  • Sheffield United have lost 21 league matches this season, the most by a side managed by Chris Wilder since his Northampton team lost 21 in 2014-15 in League Two. In only one previous season in his managerial career has Wilder lost more than 21, losing 22 matches in 2003-04 as Halifax Town manager in the Conference (now National League).
  • Sheffield United defender Enda Stevens hasn’t ended on the winning side in any of his 18 Premier League appearances this season (D2 L16) – the last player to play more matches in a season in the competition without winning was Alan Hutton in 2015-16 for Aston Villa (P28 D6 L22).
  • Anwar El Ghazi is enjoying his best goalscoring season for Aston Villa in both the league (6) and in all competitions (7). Five of the Dutchman’s six Premier League goals this term have come away from home.

CRYSTAL PALACE V MANCHESTER UNITED

8.15pm Manchester United lost further ground at the top of the table at the weekend with a draw against Chelsea. However, it must be said that they would have taken a Top Four spot at the start of the season and they only ended up as title challengers because everyone else was dropping so many points – they were never playing like Champions. This is the type of time that they would have slipped up in the past; indeed you could probably say not much has changed considering they dropped points against Sheffield United and West Brom when they were “challenging” for the title. Crystal Palace are a very limited side, and United should beat them however the 1.46 doesn’t look like a price you’d want to lump on.

United have scored plenty of goals against the weaker teams this season, but under 2.5 goals catches my eye at 2.1. I wouldn’t read too much into their two recent 0-0’s as the game with Sociedad meant nothing after winning the first leg 4-0 and they would have been happy with a draw against Chelsea. Palace are a very boring side, and if they set up for a draw here it could be a very difficult night for United. I can see Palace starting the game in a very cagey way and they never create much going forward either. Their xG figures are very poor and if United win they will likely grind out a 1-0 or 2-0 win. Without much value on offer in the match odds market for example, under 2.5 goals looks the best bet at 2.1.

The Striker Says:
One point win Under 2.5 goals at 2.1 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQcrymnu

MATCH STATS

  • Crystal Palace have won two of their last three league meetings with Manchester United (L1), as many as they had in their previous 27 against them. The Eagles are looking to complete their first ever league double over the Red Devils.
  • Manchester United have never lost in 11 Premier League away games against Crystal Palace, the most one side has played at another without ever losing in the competition (W8 D3).
  • Manchester United have won nine of their last 11 midweek Premier League fixtures (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), winning all six away games in this run.
  • Only four clubs in English top-flight history have had a longer unbeaten away run than Manchester United’s current run of 20 (W13 D7). The Red Devils haven’t lost any of their last seven league games in London (W4 D3), last having a longer run without defeat in the capital between December 2011-December 2013 (13 games).
  • Manchester United have drawn five Premier League matches goalless this season – the only seasons they’ve had more are 2004-05 and 2016-17 (six in each).
  • Crystal Palace have managed just six shots in their last two Premier League matches, having three apiece in games against Brighton and Fulham. Palace have had as few as three shots in four games this season, with the last side to do so more often in a Premier League season being Swansea City in 2017-18 (five games).
  • 21 of Crystal Palace’s goals conceded this season have come in either the first 15 minutes (9) or the final 15 minutes (12) of action, more than any other team in the competition. Indeed, this accounts for almost half of the Eagles’ 43 total goals conceded this term.
  • Wilfried Zaha scored twice against former side Manchester United in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture. No former Man Utd player has ever scored home and away against the Red Devils in the same Premier League season.
  • Donny van de Beek scored just 13 minutes off the bench in his Manchester United debut in the reverse fixture against Crystal Palace this season. Since then (including the final 10 minutes of that match), the Dutchman hasn’t scored any more goals in 1045 minutes of action in all competitions for the Red Devils.
  • Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has 40 goal involvements in his 40 Premier League appearances so far (23 goals, 17 assists). However, three of the last four matches in which the Portuguese has failed to register a goal or assist have been in London (vs Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham).

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