IT’S THE FINAL round of Premier League fixtures this weekend and with plenty still to play for, we’ve picked our five best bets out that could fill your pockets.
Swansea to beat Crystal Palace @ 11/5
The initial honeymoon period for Alan Pardew is over at Selhurst Park. A Premier League table over the last five games would see Palace sit second from bottom, with only Pardew’s former club Newcastle sitting below them. Last weekend’s victory over Liverpool was impressive, but the Reds are not showing any consistency and were overcome by Steven Gerrard’s big day.
Garry Monk has been the managerial revelation of the season, guiding the Welsh club to the heady heights of eighth place. They’ve won three of their last four and go into this game in a relaxed mind-frame. Jefferson Montero has been mightily impressive upon his return from injury and his pace and trickery will likely leave Pape Souaré reaching for the panadol after the game. A Swansea win for me here.
Leicester vs QPR over 4.5 goals @ 3/1
The proverbial dead rubber. The final day of the season usually has at least one game that throws up a bucket-load of goals and it could be this one. The Foxes have plundered 14 goals in their last eight games and have shown an increasingly attractive attacking verve in recent weeks. They were nullified last week by Sunderland (kings of the 0-0 draw), but they face a QPR side that probably don’t care about the result this weekend.
The fact that Jamie Vardy and Charlie Austin have both been called into the latest England squad will give them a confidence booster, they can be backed at 5/1 and 7/1 for first goalscorer on Sunday afternoon while Leanardo Ulloa has rekindled his love of scoring goals of late and the odds on him hitting a double are a tempting 7/1.
Just back plenty of goals in this one.
Stoke to beat Liverpool @ 13/5
Liverpool were rotten against Crystal Palace last weekend and in the midst of all the doom and gloom over Raheem Sterling’s contract situation, they aren’t in a good head space going into this one.
Stoke are one of the oddest sides in the division consistency-wise. They can breeze past the likes of Spurs and Southampton, but struggle to beat sides such as Sunderland and Burnley. At odds just short of 3/1 however, they can’t be ignored here. Steven N’Zonzi appears to have the beating of Gerrard in the middle of the park in the Englishman’s farewell at the Britannia and Mame Biram Diouf’s pace could further unsettle the permanently confused Dejan Lovren.
Charlie Adam is a decent bet at 10/1 to score the first goal against his former club.
Arsenal(-2) to beat West Brom @ 13/5
Arsene Wenger is likely to shake things up a bit for his battle with old foe Tony Pulis when West Brom visit the Emirates on Sunday. The Baggies may have dismantled 10-man Chelsea on Monday night but you would have to expect that the Blues couldn’t have been too bothered about that game, especially after Cesc Fabregas saw the line for a beautifully executed ping of the ball to the back of Chris Brunt’s head.
The Arsenal front line looked tired on Wednesday against Sunderland, so expect to see Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and perhaps Tomas Rosicky come in for the Gunners. Walcott will be aiming to prove a point to Wenger, who may well choose to move him on this summer. Arsenal look good for a victory by at least two goals to appease their fans, after the midweek snooze fest against the Cats.
Newcastle to draw with West Ham @ 3/1
When a team that hasn’t won a game in 10 attempts is available for the draw at 3/1 or 7/2 to back against them, you can’t ignore it.
Newcaslte are an utter shambles at the moment, and the fact that the fans also have their minds on protesting against Mike Ashley following the game will do little to lift the moods of the players. West Ham may not be in the best of shape going into this one, but they’re surely more likely to get a result from this one than the Magpies.
A team that can’t win against a team that doesn’t care points to a draw. If you think Steve Bruce’s men are going to stay up, you can get a double on a Hull win (11/5) and a draw in this game for just under 12/1.
– First published 14.33, 22 May