1. Arsenal (-2) to win at home against Sunderland (9/5)
The Gunners have wobbled a bit of late but we are backing them to get back on track with a comfortable home win against a limited Sunderland side.
The Black Cats haven’t won at Arsenal since 1983 and this is Arsenal’s easiest home game of the season to date following the visits of Liverpool, Stoke, Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham.
They may be without Alexis Sanchez this week but with the likes of Olivier Giroud, an in-form Mesut Ozil and a possible return to action for Theo Walcott, they should have enough firepower to win this convincingly.
2. Manchester United to beat West Ham United 1-0 (11/2)
Wayne Rooney is a loss for Manchester United but with only two league goals so far this season, it’s not quite the disaster it would have been in the past.
Dimitri Payet’s absence is a different story for the Hammers, who are also without Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho this weekend. And they take on a United side that have conceded only once at the Theatre of Dreams in the Premier League this season.
Slaven Bilic’s side haven’t kept a clean sheet in England’s top tier since September 14 and that was against a woeful Newcastle. If it wasn’t for this we would plump for the very tempting 0-0 (11/1) but that porous West Ham defence will probably be breached again.
3. More than three goals to be scored in Southampton v Villa (5/2)
Since Remi Garde’s first game in charge, an organised display which resulted in a 0-0 draw with Manchester City, Aston Villa’s defence has been awful.
He has suggested changing it up this weekend, with Ireland’s Ciaran Clark rumoured to be in danger of losing his spot.
Jordan Ayew is in great form for Villa going forward though and this fixture has a history of producing plenty of goals. You may remember Sadio Mane scored the fastest Premier League hat-trick in this fixture last season in a 6-1 win for the Saints.
Southampton welcome back top scorer Graziano Pelle from suspension after conceding six mid-week against Liverpool. Everything is pointing towards goals in this.
4. Daniel Sturridge to score first in Newcastle v Liverpool (4/1)
What a difference a week makes.
Daniel Sturridge lit it up for an hour against Southampton on Wednesday night, reminding us all what he can do when he is fit and ready to play.
There have been no more rumours of niggles yet so we assume he will start against a Newcastle side that have looked rudderless under Steve McLaren.
We expect Liverpool to have a multitude of chances at St James’ Park. Sturridge to be the first to put one of those away looks the value bet here.