Sports Blog 04/12/2015: Match Preview – Premier League, Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th December 2015

The Christmas run-in ostensibly starts this weekend with this most open of Premier League seasons entering what could be its most decisive period.

First up on Saturday is a tougher than it looks trip to Stoke for Manchester City, at 12.45pm on BT Sport 1. A confident 3-1 victory over Southampton last weekend saw City leap-frog Leicester (if only on goal difference) to take their place back at the top of the table, whilst a 4-1 League Cup quarter-final victory over Hull may have taken a long time to full manifest itself (3 of City’s goals coming after the 80th minute mark), but was nevertheless another high-scoring affair that sees the Manchester side reach their 4th semi-final in 7 seasons. Yet for all their league topping form, and the powerful performances of Aguero and De Bruyne, at Super Mega PGMs of 48-56 and 23-28 respectively after scoring 9 goals apiece, City have shown moments of acute vulnerability, most recently in their 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool and a 1-0 defeat in the Champions League to Juventus.



Last Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Sunderland is no-one’s idea of a good result, bringing to an end an impressive (if only 2 game) run that saw Stoke beat both Chelsea (who they had already knocked out of the League Cup) and Southampton. Yet, the Potters soon bounced back, their mid-week 2-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday securing Stoke’s first League Cup semi-final since they won the trophy in 1972. If they are to get anything on Saturday, however, they will need Jonathan Walters and Bojan Krkic (both at a Super Mega PGM of 12-16) to keep up whatever mild momentum they currently have. Not that our Spreadex traders are too confident the Potters can get anything, offering a Man City/Stoke (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.7-0.9 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.7-2.9.

Saturday afternoon sees a baffling battle at the (nearish) bottom, as Chelsea host Bournemouth at 5.30pm on Sky Sports 1. November ended up as arguably Chelsea’s best month of the season so far, even if they still find themselves in 14th in the league and needing a point in the Champions League. Wins over Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Norwich (in Europe and domestically respectively), a loss against Stoke and a draw against Tottenham isn’t necessarily the form of defending champions, but is still far better than what has been on offer since August. However their issues upfront persist, and with Willian their top scorer with 6 goals, Diego Costa remains damagingly ineffectual, his meagre 4 goals capturing one of Chelsea’s key concerns this season.



The Cherries, already mired in the relegation battle sitting in 18th place on 10 points (equal to Newcastle in 19th and 2 behind Sunderland in 17th), have seen a relative improvement in the last fortnight. Whilst they threw away a 2-0 lead against Swansea to finish 2-2, it did bring to an end a 4 game losing streak. The inverse happened a week later, Bournemouth overcoming a 2-0 deficit against Everton only for the Toffees to seemingly nab a later winner, before Junior Stanislas dramatically saved the Cherries’ bacon for a 2nd time in one match. Yet frustratingly for Bournemouth despite all their current failings the Blues do appear to be in recovery mode, with Spreadex offering a Chelsea/Bournemouth Goals Supremacy spread of 1.35-1.55 with a Total Goals spread of 2.95-3.15.

Sunday then sees the terrible Toon take on the resurgent Reds as Newcastle host Liverpool at 4pm on Sky Sports 1. A staggering 6-1 win over Southampton on Thursday marked a fantastic first-start for Daniel Sturridge under Jurgen Klopp, his brace propelling the side past the Saints’ opener to their thrilling victory. That mid-week goal-fest brings Liverpool’s tally to 18 in their past 7 games, and leaves Klopp’s side not only in the League Cup semi-final but the last-32 of the Europa League and a respectable 6th in the league. And with the German manager on 1 loss, 3 draws and 7 wins since his tenure began the Kop have every reason to be very happy with Jurgen Klopp.



Newcastle fans likely feel somewhat differently about Steve McClaren. Since the former England manager took over the Toon have won a mere 3 games, have conceded 30 goals in the league (joint worst with Bournemouth) and sit in 19th place with a mere 10 points. Their most recent match, a trip to Selhurst Park, saw Newcastle not only give up a 10th minute lead courtesy of Papiss Cisse but crumble to a truly dismal 5-1 defeat to their former manager’s ascendant Crystal Palace. Arguably the only good news this season has been the emergence of summer signing, and top scorer, Georginio Wijnaldum, and even he hasn’t found the back of the net since mid-October. Things look unlikely to improve this weekend, with our Spreadex favouring the visiting side at a Liverpool/Newcastle (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.9-1.1 with a Total Goals spread of 2.8-3.