Manchester City v Chelsea: Best bets for all Sunday’s Premier League games
Our betting expert with tips for the champions at the Etihad, West Ham against Leeds and Southampton at Brighton PLUS a Serie A angle
It’s been pretty much party time at the Etihad all season long.
Manchester City are W27 D1 L1 on home soil going into today’s match against Chelsea (4pm).
After Arsenal ’s defeat at Nottingham Forest last night, City are officially the Premier League champions before this one even kicks off.
That might have some additional impact on Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up this afternoon, with two big finals in the offing for his side.
But you’d be expecting him to ring the changes after Wednesday’s Champions League heroics regardless.
It’s not easy to pick any City XI that you’d fancy this featherweight Chelsea to lay a glove on.
Erling Haaland has scored as many Prem goals on his own as the entire Blues squad has managed together – and City’s no one-man band.
Two of Guardiola’s gold-standard ‘spares’ - Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez – combined for the fourth goal against Real Madrid in midweek.
Neither would take a start today lightly – even if the pitch was knee-deep in party poppers, and Pep was chugging on a Speckled Hen.
Punt Alvarez ‘anytime scorer’ at 7/4 (Hills) if he gets the nod - he’s notched in 11 of his 21 City starts this term.
The market makers seem to have taken a view for Leeds’ trip to West Ham (1.30pm), and their view is Leeds need this more. That hasn’t very obviously been helping Leeds up to this point.
West Ham could well shuffle-in Danny Ings – and ‘Ings anytime scorer’ at 9/4 (Hills) looks right on his starts data. Add in that his Prem shot-conversion rate has been equal to Ivan Toney’s, and all evidence points to a punt.
Relegated Southampton head to Brighton (2pm) and look ripe for a proper hiding. But lately the Seagulls seem to be specialising in spanking favourite-backers instead.
Brighton have produced a string of longshot scorelines, for and against, are struggling with injuries, and look a bit iffy for the WIN at 1/5. I’d rather trust the hunger of rising Brighton goal-threat Deniz Undav ‘anytime’ at 12/5 (Fred).
Over in Italy, Napoli host Inter Milan (5pm) in Serie A and the stats shout for a tight tame one – punt UNDER 2.5 goals at 10/11 (Bet365).
