Player to score – Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd v Crystal Palace)
Manchester United have won 10 of the 12 matches they have played since the World Cup break with Erik Ten Hag’s team building momentum as they head into the second half of the season. Marcus Rashford has been in excellent goalscoring form over this stretch, but Bruno Fernandes has also found his scoring touch.
Indeed, the Portuguese midfielder has found the back of the net three times in his last six appearances for United in all competitions. Ten Hag hasn’t shown much willingness to rotate his team much despite the fixtures piling up, which means Fernandes is also certain to start once again this weekend.
Under 1.5 total goals – Newcastle v West Ham
Newcastle United remain on course to finish in the Premier League’s top four and qualify for next season’s Champions League. The Magpies have built their top four challenge on the strongest defence in the division and have conceded just five goals in 10 Premier League matches at St James’ Park this season.
Meanwhile, only Nottingham Forest have scored fewer goals on the road than West Ham this season. Newcastle will rely on their defence to gain another good result with Eddie Howe’s team scoring just one goal in their last four Premier League outings. This match is unlikely to produce many goals.
Match to be a draw – Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich have struggled to build momentum after the World Cup break and questions are now being asked of Julian Nagelsmann and his team. Indeed, the defending Bundesliga champions come into this fixture on the back three consecutive draws which have allowed Union Berlin and RB Leipzig to close the gap at the top of the table.
While Wolfsburg have lost their last two games, they won six-in-row before that. Niko Kovac’s team have been strong at home this season, but have drawn three of the eight matches they have played in front of their own supporters. They will fancy their chances of taking points from Bayern Munich this weekend.
Both teams to score – Tottenham v Man City
Manchester City are favourites to come away from North London with a win over Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, but there’s good reason to believe Antonio Conte’s team will at least cause some damage to the defending Premier League champions. It was, after all, only two weeks ago that Spurs scored twice against City.
City also scored four in that match and they have only failed to score once out of their last 15 matches in all competitions. However, their high defensive line will give encouragement to Tottenham who have the pace and attacking threat to get in behind through the likes of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
GRAHAM’S BET BUILDER
Sean Dyche will take charge of his first match as Everton manager this weekend with the struggling Toffees welcoming table-toppers Arsenal to Goodison Park. The former Burnley boss will surely focus on steadying the defence of his new team and this will be an early test in that regard.
Everton have lost the second half in each of their last four home matches and there is overwhelming evidence to suggest Arsenal will ultimately break down their hosts on Saturday. Gabriel Magalhaes has been shown a yellow card in each of his last three away appearances and so he is also a good bet to receive a booking.
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