English Premier League

Sunday Betfair Build Ups: Cunha and Son can win Match Ups on Super Sunday

Tottenham striker Son Heung-min
We're backing Son to have more shots on target than Bruno on Sunday

We look to have two cracking games on Super Sunday, and Mike Norman fancies two strikers to out-do their opponents in a pair of Match Ups using Betfair's new player v player product Build Ups...


Liverpool v Wolves
Sunday 16 February, 14:00
Live on Sky Sports Football

Match Ups - Cunha to have more shots than Gakpo

Runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool host relegation threatened Wolves on Sunday afternoon, and on balance - and certainly according to the Match Odds - the Reds should win comfortably.

But it's never that simple in football, and although Liverpool could easily run out as convincing winners, there's a chance that Wolves give it a real go at Anfield with their league position becoming more desperate by the game.

With that in mind, an entertaining game could well be played out on Sunday afternoon and we're happy to take a punt on Wolves' star man Matheus Cunha having more shots than Liverpool's Cody Gakpo.

Player vs Player

English Premier League

18

Cody Gakpo

Liverpool

English Premier League

10

Matheus Cunha

Wolves

Gakpo Cunha

Appearances 26 26

Goals 8 13

Shots 44 86

Shots on target 17 35

Assists 3 4

Chances created 30 44

Passes 418 764

Fouls 14 37

Fouls won 19 58

Yellow cards 4 3

Red cards 0 0

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As you can see from the stats above, Gakpo, who has featured in 24 Premier League games this term, has registered far fewer shots than Cunha who has featured in one less game.

However, that' slightly unfair on the Liverpool man as he's played a lot less minutes than Cunha so we must take into account the shots per minutes averages.

Gakpo averages one shot every 33 minutes while Cunha averages a shot every 26 minutes. In a 90 minute game of football, plus a chunky piece of stoppage time, that means that Gakpo registers about three shots per game while Cunha is more close to four per game. 

But a key thing to note is that Gakpo rarely plays the full game. In his last three matches alone he was brought off after 69, 70 and 68 minutes, which means his average of one shot every 33 minutes would suggest he's likely to have no more than two shots if being subbed off again two thirds into the game.

Cunha on the otherhand usually always plays the duration, and even though Wolves are playing away from home here and are big underdogs, we're happy to take a chance at 17/102.70 that he registers more shots than Gakpo on Sunday afternoon.


Tottenham v Manchester United
Sunday 16 February, 16:30
Live on Sky Sports Football

Match Ups - Son to have more shots on target than Fernandes

Sunday's second live Premier League game looks set to be a cracker between two of the division's most underperforming teams this season as Tottenham host Manchester United.

Both teams appear to be struggling in all areas - Spurs more down to injuries admittedly - and both will see this game as an opportunity to win a crucial three point against an out-of-form side.

In terms of the outcome I simply can't call it, no one should be surprised if we get a crazy number of goals, but even if we don't see the net bulge many times we should at least get plenty of attacking phases and shots at goal. With that in mind, I'm backing Tottenham' star man Son Heung-min to have more shots on target than United's star man Bruno Fernandes.

Player vs Player

English Premier League

7

Son Heung-Min

Tottenham

English Premier League

8

Bruno Fernandes

Man Utd

Heung-Min Fernandes

Appearances 26 28

Goals 7 8

Shots 52 75

Shots on target 25 24

Assists 9 9

Chances created 49 66

Passes 744 1543

Fouls 5 22

Fouls won 26 32

Yellow cards 1 3

Red cards 0 2

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The case for backing Son in this Match Up at first looks a pretty simple one, in that Tottenham have home advantage, are favourites to win the game, and that Son has registered more shots on target this season than Fernandes despite playing two fewer games.

But the case for Son looks even stronger when considering the amount of minutes each player has been on the field this season.

Son has played 1,591 Premier League minutes this term, so his 22 shots on target in that time averages out at one shot on target every 72 minutes. Fernandes meanwhile has played 1,928 minutes this season, and his 18 shots on target averages out at one shot every 107 minutes, significantly worse than Son.

Like their teams, both players have been below their best this term, but as long as they're fit we know that both will start, so with Son being used as a striker at times this season, while Bruno has been played much deeper in midfield in recent games Son looks a decent bet at 6/42.50 to register more shots on target. In fact, I'm staggered that Fernandes is the 6/52.20 favourite in this Match Up.


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