Premier League Tips: Leeds in with a chance of survival in 93/1 acca

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  • 5:00 min read
Big Sam can still pull off a shock survival

After his 108/1 acca came in last week, Alex Keble predicts that Leeds will beat Spurs while Leicester and Everton will drop points...

  • Villa to snatch 7th

  • Leeds should beat Tottenham

  • Everton to struggle without Calvert-Lewin


Aston Villa v Brighton

Brighton's 5-1 defeat to Everton remains the most interesting recent game under Roberto de Zerbi because of the way Sean Dyche was able to sit deep, give Brighton too much territory until their patterns of play disintegrated, and then spring simple counters behind the constantly-advancing Brighton defensive line. Unai Emery will do something similar.

More specifically, Emery will target how one Brighton centre-back tends to roam forward, pulling Brighton deep into the Villa half while refusing to press hard onto the visitors, leading to more passive football from De Zerbi's team before Ollie Watkins, Jacob Ramsey, and Leon Bailey look to sprint in behind.

Villa could be especially skilled at this thanks to Emery's tendency to play a very narrow 4-4-2 off the ball, with wide midfielders Ramsey and John McGinn coming inside to help swarm and congest the central column of the pitch. This should severely limit Brighton's favourite area to attack and leave them vulnerable to playing the game at Villa's speed.

Back Villa to win @

11/10

Leeds v Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur initially took the game to Brentford before being pushed back and beaten in the second half, a match in north London that highlighted the best and worst of Ryan Mason's attempts to coach attacking football to a team that have spent years learning only how to play in a reactive system. Leeds United will know how to counter-act the gung-ho 4-2-4.

For a while, Brentford were overwhelmed in midfield by the volume of numbers Spurs put into the final third, as well as the excellent press-resistant work from Yves Bissouma in the middle.

However, once Brentford brought on a third central midfielder they were able to regain control and, via longer passes forward, bypassed the Spurs front four to leave Bissouma and Oliver Skipp with too much space to cover in front of a static and disorganised defence.

Sam Allardyce will have taken notes. His Leeds are extremely defensive, playing an even safer and even more long-ball game than Brentford, so it would not be a surprise if we saw a similar outcome.

Look out for Spurs committing bodies, going all out to end on a high, and Leeds waiting for chances to pick them off.

Back Leeds to win @

17/10

Everton v Bournemouth

The other two matches involving teams in the relegation battle don't matter if Everton get the win they need, and yet that is by no means guaranteed with Dominic Calvert-Lewin a major doubt.

Bournemouth have lost three consecutive matches and don't seem as interested now they have secured their place in the Premier League, but Everton just can't score without a striker.

Despite a lack of goals (two all season) Calvert-Lewin's hold-up play has been essential in ensuring Sean Dyche's longer passes forward find a target, bringing Alex Iwobi and Demarai Gray into play at speed and in more dangerous areas. Without a centre forward it will be Gray up front and he tends to drift wide, causing Everton to run down cul-de-sacs.

This is particularly worrying for Everton supporters because Bournemouth are very defensive, putting every man behind the ball in recent matches.

They will feel comfortable defending crosses into the box without Calvert-Lewin there and will be happy spoiling the fun with a low block at Goodison Park. In front of a nervy crowd, it is easy to imagine Everton failing to get the goal they need.

Back the draw @

18/5

Leicester City v West Ham

Dean Smith cannot afford another hesitant performance like the one at Newcastle on Monday evening, when Leicester City were lucky to get a point after a timid display that betrayed their nervousness.

Instead, we can expect them to be expressive in a rough and disorganised way, which has become the norm under Smith as the better players are unleashed.

A 5-3 win for Fulham earlier this month showed the problems here, as Marco Silva's side easily passed through the middle of the pitch, picking apart the decompressed lines to score almost at will.

Even if West Ham rest a few players ahead of their Conference League final, and they well might, the Hammers look rejuvenated recently in a more attacking 4-2-3-1 formation led by Lucas Paqueta.

Paqueta should dominate this game in the number ten space, finding room - as everyone does - between Boubakary Soumare and Youri Tielemans (Wilfried Ndidi is out injured).

West Ham, organised and cautious off the ball, but sharp at taking advantage of porous opponents, are particularly tricky opponents. Although it would require an Everton defeat, there is a genuine chance that, against the odds, Leeds United could stay up at 10/111.00.

Back West Ham to win @

13/5

Back all four tips in an Acca @

93/1

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Back all four tips in an Acca at just over 90/191.00

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