Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Premier League Preview – Matchday 30

Deke Hardman in Editorial, English Premier League 9 Mar 2018

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All eyes will be on Old Trafford Saturday lunchtime as matchday thirty in the Premier League kicks off with Manchester United versus Liverpool.

The sides go into the game in second and third place respectively with United two points ahead of their rivals following last weekend’s results.

With Manchester City needing only a few wins from their remaining fixtures to clinch the title, this game is all about the race to be second best while both will be keen to avoid defeat as they look to cement their place in the top four.

Tottenham Hotspur, who were knocked out of the Champions League midweek after losing their last-sixteen tie with Juventus are also looking to strengthen their grip on a top-four spot as they travel to Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

Race for Europe

They currently sit five points clear of reigning champions Chelsea, who know that anything other than victory over Crystal Palace will deal their hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League a blow though while Arsenal are almost certainly going to have to win the Europa League to ensure they are dining at the top table next season.

The Gunners gave themselves a great chance of doing just that after ending a run with four defeats with an impressive win at AC Milan on Thursday afternoon and are likely to rotate for Sunday’s visit of Watford ahead of next week’s second leg.

That news will be welcomed by the Hornets, who themselves have designs on securing a top seven finish and with it potential European qualification and Javi Gracia’s side can be backed at 13/2 for the win.

Bear pit

Burnley are the current occupants of seventh spot and travel to West Ham United, who after back-to-back 4-1 defeats are, along with Huddersfield Town and Swansea City just three points above the bottom three.

As if by magic, Huddersfield and Swansea face off at John Smith’s Stadium while sixteenth plays seventeen as Newcastle United take on Southampton at St James’s Park.

West Bromwich Albion showed improvements last time out only to eventually lose again and they are running out of time fast.

They go into Saturday’s match with Leicester City stuck on twenty points, eight from safety and they still have three of the top four to play.

Momentum

Tenth place Brighton and Hove Albion go into their game with Everton ahead of the Toffees on goal difference and will be keen to build on the momentum gained from last weekend’s impressive win over Arsenal while the action concludes on Monday evening as struggling Stoke City take on champions elect Manchester City.

Stoke sit in nineteenth one point from safety and have the worst goal difference in the division so will be extra keen to stop the free scoring league leaders from running riot.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deke Hardman


Freelance football writer with a love of the game that goes back to the mid nineties when both his beloved Nottingham Forest and England had genuine hope of acheiving some level of success. A regular contributor to both SoccerNews.com and FreeBetting.com, Deke also dabbles in music journalism with his heart and head still stuck in the latter years of the twentieth century.

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