Premier League Key Battles: Back the midweek acca at just over 16/1

• Brentford can bully Chelsea
  
• Casemiro v Kane the key battle
• Leicester to get back to winning ways
  

Visitors could be bullied by Toney

Brentford v Chelsea
Wednesday, 19:30
Live on Amazon Prime

This fixture has come at a very unfortunate time for Chelsea. They were out-played by Aston Villa on Sunday largely because Chelsea just could not sort themselves out in the wing-back positions, with Raheem Sterling in particular struggling with his role, in turn over-stretching the back three and allowing Villa's speedy forwards to burst into dangerous positions.

Brentford are back to their bullish best and, returning to a 3-5-2 for such a big game, Thomas Frank can expect a much better performance than in the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.

They were far too passive in that game, pressing foolishly in the wrong moments, which should mean they go into a much more defensive shape for this one.

Chelsea are at their worst when facing a deep block because Graham Potter's measured possession football is yet to click, so this is likely to be a frustrating afternoon and a low-scoring game.

However, with Chelsea having been muscled by Villa's front three there is a decent chance Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney will cause all sorts of problems winning challenges after long balls forward.

Back double chance Brentford/draw at 2.111/10

Casemiro v Kane the defining battle

Man Utd v Spurs
Wednesday, 20:15
Live on Amazon Prime

Manchester United are surviving through moments of individual quality, with Erik ten Hag's tactical revolution getting off to a very slow start.

Cristiano Ronaldo's return to the starting line-up shows Ten Hag is admitting as much, and this slight incoherence in possession should favour the deep block and fierce defensive football from Tottenham Hotspur.

Antonio Conte's conservatism didn't work at all in the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal but Mikel Arteta's side are miles ahead in terms of their in-possession tactics.

United, by contrast, won't have the patterns memorised to stretch the shape and cause issues, which points to a pretty dour and low-scoring game at Old Trafford.

The match should hinge on the battle between Casemiro and Harry Kane when the latter drops off the front line.

Spurs will only threaten from counter-attacks and, in Dejan Kulusevski's absence, they will not manage to get up the pitch unless Kane finds space in the transitions to drop either side of Casemiro. No matter who wins that battle, there won't be many goals.

Back under 2.5 goals at 2.0521/20

Villa's new front three can counter to success

Fulham v Aston Villa
Thursday, 19:30
Live on Amazon Prime

As previously mentioned, Villa's quick forwards were impressive in the defeat to Chelsea, and certainly it looks like the best trio for Steven Gerrard to get out of this crisis.

He is managing by trial and error at the moment and, without any obvious plan emerging, the intricate play of Philippe Coutinho and Emiliano Buendia just complicates things further. They need directness.

That is particularly true for a game at Fulham, who continue to concede goals thanks to Marco Silva's attack-minded approach and basic flaw in organising a defence.

Bournemouth scored two counter-attacking goals on Saturday as Fulham, yet again, pushed too many men forward. Consequently, with Fulham looking to dominate the ball and press high, Villa should find lots of opportunities to break with speed via Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey, and Danny Ings.

What's more, Fulham tend to attack narrowly because their wingers just aren't up to scratch, and Villa's narrow 4-3-2-1 tends to block the centre relatively well. Gerrard will back his players to keep things steady in their own third and rely on the odd counter to win the points.

It might just work, although given Fulham matches are very high scoring and Villa's confidence is low, the safest bet is for plenty of goals.

Back over 2.5 goals at 1.855/6

Narrow Leicester attacks a concern in transition

Leicester City v Leeds United
Thursday, 20:15
Live on Amazon Prime

Leeds United are a very strange team, looking much more defensively sound than they were under Marcelo Bielsa but nevertheless are without a win since August due to a basic lack of quality in all areas.

Thursday's game looks like a six-pointer, and unfortunately for Leeds, Leicester City have just the tactical identity to draw Leeds into a pressing game and expose the spaces behind.

Jesse Marsch's team might not be as wild as Bielsa, but if given encouragement they will press hard in a way that tends to unravel.

This is precisely what Brendan Rodgers wants; his Leicester play in sharp vertical lines, passing directly through an opposition high press by deploying Harvey Barnes and the banned James Maddison in narrow positions to give a line of four players essentially featuring as number tens.

Leicester will wait, then, for Leeds to engage the press and then rip through the middle. Given the difference in confidence between the teams, with Leicester unbeaten in their last two home games, that tactical note should be the difference between the sides.

Back Leicester to win at 2.26/5