Sports Blog 02/04/2015: Match Preview – Premier League Easter Weekend, Saturday 4th to Monday 6th April 2015

The Easter weekend is not just a time for egg-shaped chocolate; a bumper weekend of Premier League football sees important battles at the top and the bottom as the top flight of English football races to a close.

The biggest and most important game of the weekend may indeed be the first, when Liverpool travel to North London to face Arsenal at 12.45pm on BT Sport 1. A loss on Saturday could dash the Reds’ hopes for a place in the Champions League next season. Despite a fantastic run that saw them unbeaten in the league in 2015, until a loss against Man United two weeks ago still leaves Liverpool 5th, 5 points off of United and 6 points off of Arsenal. The resurgence in the second half of the season will be for nought if Liverpool can’t secure a place in Europe, so the pressure is on. Luckily for Liverpool, they haven’t conceded an away goal in 9 hours and 19 minutes; unluckily for Liverpool they still haven’t found a consistent source of goals.



Arsenal’s strengths, on the other hand, all lie up front, with the Emirates Stadium proving to be fertile ground for the Gunners’ frontline. They sit in 3rd, one point behind second place City, and have won all of their past 6 games. A win on Saturday would be a big boost to their top four push, and Wenger will be looking to the in-form Giroud (9/2 to score first) and the tired looking Alexis Sanchez (5/1 to score first) to make the different. For what it is worth, Liverpool will likely need a strong performance from Raheem Sterling, fresh off a lively performances for England, who is at 17/2 to score first. Our Spreadex traders fancy the Gunners to break the Reds' clean sheet run, at an Arsenal/Liverpool Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 0.6-0.8 with a Total Goals spread of 2.8-3.

Saturday’s other game should give Chelsea a chance to firmly secure their place at the top of the table when they face Stoke at 5.30pm on Sky Sports 1. The Blues are 6 points clear of Man City with a game in hand, and have only conceded 6 goals at home this season. In fact, it is nearly a year since Chelsea have lost at Stamford Bridge in the league, and in Stoke play a side that has lost their last 7 trips to Chelsea without scoring a single goal.



Stoke are currently at a respectable, if deeply unexciting, 10th place, level on points with West Ham in 9th, and will largely come into this game wanting to disrupt things for the sure-to-be champions. Chelsea have Diego Costa and Loic Remy at 3/1 to score first, whilst Stoke will be looking to Peter Crouch and Mame Biram Diouf at 14/1. Unsurprisingly, our traders and clients alike fancy the home side at a Chelsea/Stoke Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 1.65-1.85 with a Total Goals spread of 2.7-2.9.

Sunday then sees an important game for Tottenham and Burnley, at 1.30pm on Sky Sports 1, but for very different reasons. Burnley are currently sitting in 18th and desperately need a win to drag them out of the relegation battle. There is only a point between them and 17th place Sunderland, and only 3 between Burnley and Hull and Aston Villa, both on 28 points. A bit of luck and a win on Sunday could pull them out of the mire. However, Burnley only have 4 home wins all season with a dismal 2 wins in their 11 matches in 2015.



Tottenham, on the other hand, are sitting in 7th, level on points with 6th place Southampton and only a point away from 5th place Liverpool. With the Reds having that tough trip to Arsenal, Spurs could use this opportunity to leapfrog their scouse rivals. A dream international debut for Harry Kane will hopefully translate into another strong performance for Tottenham’s star man given that is the main thrust behind the fact that Spurs have scored two or more goals in 8 of their last 9 games. On paper this should be a walkover for Tottenham, but Burnley’s win over Man City complicates things, leaving our traders to offer a narrow Tottenham/Burnley (h) Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 0.25-0.45 with a Total Goals spread of 2.7-2.9.

There could be trouble on Sunday afternoon with a Tyne-Wear derby at 4pm on Sky Sports 1 likely to be tense, with Spreadex offering a Bookings spread of 64-68. As mentioned, Sunderland are in 17th, just, and need a win to keep those teams in the relegation scrap at bay. Yet Sunderland have failed to score in 6 of their last 7 games, with new manager Dick Advocaat failing to inspire much change in his first match in charge, a lifeless 1-0 loss to West Ham.



Yet they will be against a Newcastle side that is merely playing for pride. The Toon are 12th and are in for another limp end to the season, already losing their past 3 games in a row. The Black Cats will be praying that either Jermain Defoe (11/2 to score first), Steven Fletcher (13/2) and Connor Wickham (8/1) can start to find the back of the net, whilst Newcastle have Ayoza Perez at 6/1, Emmanuel Riviere at 11/2 and Remy Cabella at 17/2. The fact that a win for Sunderland would have significant consequences for them compared to the relative unimportance of a Toon win has seen the Black Cats with an incredibly narrow Sunderland/Newcastle Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 0-0.2.

Finally, Bank Holiday Monday sees Manchester City try and hang on to second place against a rejuvenated Crystal Palace at 8pm on Sky Sports 1. With only one point separately them and Arsenal, City have slowly gone from potential champions to potentially slipping out of the top four. Whilst that extreme eventuality is unlikely, the fact it is even a possibility reflects have shaky City have been of late, with the Manchester side losing 4 of their last 6 games, a 1-0 defeat to Burnley being their nadir.



In contrast, Crystal Palace have scored 8 goals in their past four games, and whilst they have won 3 and lost 3, almost a like-for-like match to City’s form, this is an impressive feat given where they were before Alan Pardew took over. Palace may have lost their last 3 games against top 6 opposition, leading our Spreadex traders to offer a Man City/Crystal Palace (h) Goal Supremacy spread betting quote of 0.75-0.95 with a Total Goals spread of 2.7-2.9, but this spread is far tighter than it should be for a team of City’s quality and, more importantly, cost.