Premier League Tips: Back 7/1 midweek Acca with West Ham able to limit Man City

• Palhinha v TAA at Anfield

• Potential KDB absence could boost West Ham

• Brighton to beat Man Utd

Palhinha v TAA the key battle

Liverpool v Fulham
Wednesday, 20:00

Liverpool have been rejuvenated by a tactical change that has brought back the surging attacking football but condemned them to even greater chaos.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's new position in central midfield mimics a modern trend, and yet while in theory he helps Fabinho screen against counter-attacks the 2-2-6 model is too strange to cover all the gaps.

In the 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool looked superb in possession because Alexander-Arnold's presence in the middle, and forward distribution, freed Harvey Elliot and Curtis Jones to get high and wide, joining Andrew Robertson and a narrow front three to overwhelm Tottenham's two-man midfield.

Fulham seem far less vulnerable in this regard than Spurs.

Joao Palhinha is an exceptional tackler and has been controlling central midfield for some time, and with Marco Silva likely to add a third central midfielder (surely Tom Cairney after an excellent second-half performance dragging Fulham up the pitch at Manchester City) it is possible Liverpool will be slowed down more than usual.

What's more, Fulham have the pace on the counter to cause damage. The 2-2 defensive screen leaves big gaps on the wings and with Bobby de Cordova-Reid and Daniel James looking to burst ahead of play as often as possible, Fulham should be drawn into an entertaining game.

Alexander-Arnold v Palhinha battling in the same space should define the contest.

No KDB could help Rice and Soucek

Man City v West Ham
Wednesday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports Main Event

Kevin de Bruyne is an injury doubt for Wednesday's game after missing out in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham.

His absence in that game had a serious impact, because although Man City were deserved victors they played with far less fluency than usual, struggling to connect passes through midfield into the final third.

West Ham will, of course, sit off Man City and attempt to frustrate them with a low block, using Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek to cut off the passing lanes into where De Bruyne usually operates.

However, they were ripped open repeatedly by Crystal Palace last weekend as Eberichi Eze and Jeffrey Schlupp easily found space on either side of these two, thanks, mostly, to the fact David Moyes's 4-4-1-1 has Lucas Paqueta too advanced to help out.

Pep Guardiola may choose a new method of adapting without De Bruyne. He could deploy Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan as two eights ahead of Rodri, which would build on Palace's idea and should allow Man City to play progressive passes into the final third.

However, if he continues with the same formation as last weekend then West Ham have a chance of slowing the game right down.

But ultimately Man City are moving too freely to be stopped by a team that always seem to go through periods of looking passive, and with Kurt Zouma out injured there is an even higher chance of Erling Haaland breaking the Premier League goalscoring record on Wednesday.

United's long balls can cause open game

Brighton v Man Utd
Thursday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports Main Event

Erik ten Hag came up with an unexpected method of stopping Aston Villa last weekend.

He told his players to hit long balls over the top as often as possible, with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bruno Fernandes constantly making runs on the shoulder of the last defender to catch out Villa's high line and push them back. It led to the winning goal - and created several other big chances.

It was an unlikely way to force Villa into a rethink, and it should be deployed again at Brighton, where Roberto de Zerbi's high press leaves them even more exposed to the sort of direct attacking play we rarely see from a Big Six side.

Manchester United will want to see Brighton backpedalling because this should disrupt their capacity to play meticulous and vertical football as planned, instead seeing their patterns collapse under the pressure.

However, should United commit to long balls as much as they did against Villa then they risk the match descending into end-to-end chaos, because De Zerbi is very happy with longer passes into the front line.

United's pressing has been much sharper of late, yet Brighton are superb at breaking a press with sudden vertical passes into the forwards, and so when United pour forward and lose the ball their counter-press may keep the tempo high.

This has the hallmarks of a basketball game and, on current form, Brighton are the likeliest to score the most points.