English Premier League Tips

Premier League Tips: Arsenal to go down at Man City in this 50/1 ACCA

  • Alex Keble
  • Published on
  • 5:00 min read
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta

Alex Keble picks four key battles in the Premier League this weekend and says that Man City's high pressing will lead to further errors from Holding and Arsenal...

  • Leicester to rip through Leeds

  • Man City high press to beat Arsenal

  • Everton can beat Newcastle


Renewed transition speed will trouble Leeds

Leeds v Leicester
Tuesday, 19:45
Live on BT Sport 1

Leicester City were surprisingly attack-minded in their 2-1 win over Wolves, with Kelechi Iheanacho feeding runner Jamie Vardy as Patson Daka drifted infield from the left. Dean Smith has clearly decided to embrace the counter-attacking speed in his team and bring back the Leicester of old: a transition-centred team that looks for vertical passing lanes via Youri Tielemans.

Leeds United conceded 11 goals in two games against Crystal Palace and Liverpool because of how erratically they are pressing under Javi Gracia. They continue to rush out to their markers, becoming unusually vulnerable to opposition dribbles and runners, hence why Palace's Eberichi Eze and Liverpool's forward line tore through them.

Consequently Leicester should find success. They rank sixth in the Premier League for completed through balls (63) and these will only increase with Vardy back in the team. The sheer volume of fast attacking footballers running at the Leeds defence can cause a repeat of the goal frenzies earlier this month, allowing Leicester to leapfrog Leeds and increase Smith's chances of getting the job full-time.

Back Leicester to win @

2/1

City left-sided press to deepen Arsenal problems

Man City v Arsenal
Wednesday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 1

Three consecutive draws means Arsenal really have to win at the Etihad, but the way in which they crumbled under Southampton's early high press makes that seem an almost impossible task. Without William Saliba's calm control of possession, and with Rob Holding clearly not a good enough stand-in, Man City can target Arsenal's right side and look to press their way to victory.

Kevin de Bruyne will lean further to the left than to the right to provide close support to Jack Grealish, whose dribbling is going to be a serious problem for Ben White and Holding, especially if Man City can pinch the ball high up the pitch. If that happens then Erling Haaland's pace in behind - again targeting Holding - is a worrying thought for Arsenal supporters.

Perhaps, sensing Arsenal's brittleness in building through midfield, Pep Guardiola will even risk playing Bernardo Silva in midfield to pack the attacking midfield space with bodies as he did in the 3-1 victory over Leicester. Certainly Arsenal are there for the taking.

Back Man City to win @

11/20

Calvert-Lewin v Isak the key battle

Everton v Newcastle
Thursday, 19:45
Live on BT Sport 2

Everton's 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace was a decent result, in that it was the club's second clean sheet away from home all season. With the defensive side of things much improved (their xG against of 0.5 was a joint low this season) Everton are a step closer to being a proper Sean Dyche team. Now they just need Dominic Calvert-Lewin to start scoring.

SeanDychePointing1280.jpg

Everton played lots more long balls at Palace and Calvert-Lewin was dominant in the air, almost leading to a winner. His challenge from a long Jordan Pickford punt found Alex Iwobi with the second ball, whose pass put Calvert-Lewin through on goal. It is notable that Villa's midfield found huge space between a decompressed Newcastle defence and midfield line recently, so Dyche-ball should see possession drop to Everton bodies in dangerous areas.

Andre Onana and Abdoulaye Doucoure should both return for this match, which will patch up their midfield holes and - with Everton in a deep formation - deny space for Alexander Isak to link in the ten space. Dyche will present an entirely different problem to Cristian Stellini's Tottenham, meaning that 6-1 win has little bearing on what will happen at Goodison Park.

Back Everton to win @

18/5

Midfield dominance should topple Spurs

Tottenham v Man Utd
Thursday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 1

Christian Stellini - if he is even in the job - is not going to use a 4-3-3 again. His defence had no idea how to defend in a four, which was hardly surprising considering Pedro Porro and Ivan Perisic are wingers by trade, and Tottenham hopelessly decided to play a high defensive line without pressing the opponent. This allowed Newcastle United to easily pick out passes and get in behind. Surely Stellini will return to a more reserved, and deep, 3-4-3 for the visit of Manchester United.

As such United are likely to be passive again, as they were in Bournemouth's 3-2 win. Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, and Bruno Fernandes being back together has significantly improved Erik ten Hag's side and there is once again strong control of the tempo in the Man Utd midfield again. The same cannot be said of Tottenham's drifting two-man midfield, which is why Stellini unbalanced things by adding a third body for the trip to Newcastle.

The three-on-two in the middle will define the match. Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane have both been in good form recently but almost exclusively when dropping into narrow attacking positions, which via Casemiro happens to be the area in which Man Utd are most assured. Another damaging defeat for Stellini beckons.

Back Man Utd to win @ 11/8

11/8

Back the acca @

50/1

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