Star Sports ambassador ALEX CROOK looks ahead to the return of weekend Premier League action…
🔵 EVERTON v ARSENAL 🔴
Saturday, 12.30pm
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Arsenal briefly cut the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool by beating Fulham 2-1 on Tuesday.
But the Gunners head into the final eight games of the season needing to claw back 12 points after the Reds beat Everton 1-0 in Wednesday’s Merseyside derby.
Arsenal’s victory over Fulham came at a cost, with centre-back Gabriel pulling up with a hamstring injury we now know will rule him out for the rest of the season.
It will be interesting to see if Mikel Arteta reacts to that by resting any players ahead of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid on Tuesday.
Either way, that game has to take priority, which makes the odds on Everton getting a positive result appealing.
The loss at Anfield was the Toffees’ first since David Moyes returned to Goodison Park and they could have taken a point when Beto hit the post.
Beto has been rejuvenated under Moyes and is 16/5 to score at any time with starsports.bet
The stats tell us Arsenal are a lot more susceptible to conceding when Gabriel does not play and Everton had scored in every game under Moyes before this week.
They have stalemated in each of their last three home games so backing the draw and both teams to score at 4/1 with starsports.bet represents good value.
🔴 MANCHESTER UNITED v MANCHESTER CITY 🔵
Sunday, 4.30pm
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Manchester United’s dismal season sunk to new depths as they went down to a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, the first time the Tricky Trees have done the double over them since the glory days of Brian Clough.
Ruben Amorim saw reasons to be positive about the performance after racking up more than 20 shots, but the reality is United rarely looked like cancelling out Anthony Elanga’s early opener.
Only winning the Europa League can salvage anything from a miserable campaign so they could probably do without having to play their ‘noisy neighbours’ on Sunday knowing they have a make-or-break trip to Lyon in mid-week.
City themselves will be pleased to see the end of the 24-25 season, but the FA Cup semi-finalists still have every chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Having already pulled off a shock victory over City at the Etihad, United have the opportunity to beat Pep Guardiola’s side home and away in the same season for the first time since 2020.
It is also worth noting that the loss at Forest was the Red Devils’ first in five Premier League games, backing up Amorim’s claims his side are improving as they go.
City’s away form has been one of the main factors in them surrendering their grip on the title they have won in each of the last four seasons.
The champions have taken just 11 points from their last 11 games on the road, with their three victories coming at struggling Leicester and Ipswich and at Tottenham.
Erling Haaland is unavailable after hobbling off against Bournemouth last weekend, but United will have to be wary of the Norwegian’s in-form deputy Omar Marmoush.
After announcing on Friday that he will leave City at the end of the season, Kevin de Bruyne will want to ensure his last ever Manchester derby is one to remember while United skipper Bruno Fernandes has just been named Premier League player of the month for March.
My build-a-bet for this game is both de Bruyne and Fernandes to score at any time and Diogo Dalot to be shown a card, which returns 38/1 with starsports.bet
🦊 LEICESTER v NEWCASTLE ⚫️
Monday, 8pm
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Leicester aren’t so much drinking in the last chance saloon as waiting for their designated driver to take them back to the Championship.
The Foxes could be 12 points adrift by the time they kick-off at home to Newcastle on Monday and their recent form is nothing short of horrific.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men have lost 14 of their last 15 games and failed to score in 12 of them, including each of their last seven.
There are also strong rumours of player unrest, not just with van Nistelrooy but with the hierarchy at the King Power Stadium.
Newcastle also have a great record in this fixture, having avoided defeat in each of the last five meetings.
Eddie Howe’s men are still basking in the glory of winning their first domestic trophy in 70 years by beating Liverpool in the EFL Cup final and have a golden chance to enhance their claims for a Champions League place.
Newcastle will win and it is purely a question of how wide the margin of victory will be.
RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK Everton versus Arsenal: Draw and both teams to score 1pt at 4/1 (⭐️
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BACK Beto to score at any time 1pt at 16/5 (⭐️
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Build-a-bet: Kevin de Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes both to score, Diogo Dalot to be shown a card 1pt at 38/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Newcastle -2 on the handicap 1.5pts at 10/3 (⭐️
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ALEX ACCA: Burnley, Bristol City, QPR, Wrexham at 14.91/1 with starsports.bet
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2025-04-04 13:53:21