Soccer Picks

Chelsea are emerging as Liverpool’s main rivals for Premier League glory this season after a couple of underwhelming campaigns and they should not lose any ground when they head to Everton on Sunday. The Toffees produced a strong defensive performance at Arsenal last week to hold the Gunners to a goalless tie, but it is difficult to see them getting the better of Enzo Maresca’s side, having scored in just 1 of their last 6 league outings. Chelsea have been full of goals – they hit 5 at Southampton and 4 at Tottenham in their last 2 road league matches – while the packed squad at Stamford Bridge contains plenty of fringe players who are doing the business in the Conference League too.

Despite Everton’s issues in attack, they did thump Wolves 4-0 in their last home game and Sean Dyche’s team will be confident they can make their mark as Chelsea have found shutouts hard to come by. The Blues have had just 1 shutout in their last 11 league outings, but finding the net could be as good as it gets for the Toffees. Chelsea possess an abundance of attacking riches and it makes sense to back a victory for them in a match featuring at least 3 goals.

Tottenham fans were left to sweat again on Thursday as a couple of hair-brained moments almost cost them an EFL Cup victory over Manchester United, but they did eventually prevail 4-3. Crazy games seem the order of the day at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium under Ange Postecoglou and we should be treated to another thriller when Premier League leaders Liverpool head to N17 on Sunday. Spurs can be rampant going forward while their defending often leaves their followers with their heads in their hands, but they should be able to threaten Liverpool. The Reds have conceded at least twice in 3 of their last 4 matches against Southampton, Newcastle and Fulham, and Tottenham are arguably stronger going forward than that trio, so plenty of goals can be expected in this one.

Tottenham’s defending cannot be trusted and it would not be a big surprise if Liverpool left with the points. Postecoglou has been digging around for reinforcements as he is without his first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and his best 2 central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, and those absences have exposed frailties. Stand-in keeper Fraser Forster’s confidence could be hit by a couple of horror moments in the win over United, and given Liverpool’s strength up front we should see plenty of goals in this one.

Aston Villa fell to defeat at Nottingham Forest last weekend, but prior to that they had won 3 straight games and they could get back on track against a Manchester City team in utter turmoil. The Villans have been subject to some criticism this season but, despite the naysayers, they find themselves 7th in the Premier League and 5th in the new-look Champions League standings. They have lost just 2 of their 12 competitive home games and have taken positive results from Juventus, Bayern Munich and Manchester United at Villa Park.

Manchester City, already 9 points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, hit a new low on Sunday as they saw a 1-0 lead in the Manchester derby overturned in the space of 3 Amad Diallo-inspired minutes at the Etihad. Barring a brief respite in the form of a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, it has been a wretched couple of months for the reigning champions, with 1 win, 2 ties and an incredible 8 defeats leaving them licking their wounds. As a big home underdog, Aston Villa look to have plenty of value to add to City’s misery.

Brentford have dropped just 2 home points in the Premier League this season but their away record has been dismal – Wednesday’s defeat at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup was their 8th road loss of the season – and that is stifling their progress. Goals have been virtually guaranteed at the Gtech Community Stadium this season – Wolves are the only team in the league whose games have featured more – but while Thomas Frank can call upon the excellent Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa among others, they are still prone to presenting their opponents with plenty of opportunities. Despite 5 straight home victories, the Bees have conceded 11 goals in those games and there looks a strong chance that their flimsy defense could be severely tested by this season’s surprise package, Nottingham Forest.

The Tricky Trees are dreaming of reliving the glory days of the 1970s as they head towards Christmas in 4th place in the EPL, having been the only team to have beaten leaders Liverpool this term. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team has demonstrated that Anfield win was no fluke with a series of strong results, including recent wins over Manchester United and Aston Villa, and it is no disgrace that their only road defeats of the season have been at Manchester City and Arsenal. Expect Forest to take it to their red-hot hosts and fight for 3 points.

Crystal Palace put in a solid performance against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the EFL Cup on Wednesday and would have taken plenty of positives from it despite their 3-2 defeat. The Eagles opened the scoring after just 4 minutes and were unlucky not to get a result as Gabriel Jesus’ second goal looked offside but the officials did not give it and there was no VAR in operation. Eddie Nketiah netted against his old club and the Eagles proved that they can cause real issues for the Gunners, who struggled with the pace and power of Jean-Philippe Mateta. After a poor start to the season, Oliver Glasner’s team has now lost just 2 of their last 10 games in all competitions and have beaten Tottenham, Aston Villa and Brighton in that time, as well as earning ties with Manchester City and Newcastle.

Arsenal will undoubtedly field a stronger team than they did in the EFL Cup game between these 2 teams with Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and William Saliba likely to return to the starting lineup. It will be interesting to see if Mikel Arteta persists with Kai Havertz as a central striker following Gabriel Jesus’ hat-trick. The Gunners have struggled to create from open play this term but have been deadly from set pieces this season, as no team in the Premier League has scored more goals from such situations than Arsenal. This pair put on an entertaining affair on Wednesday and their EPL could follow suit, with both teams expected to find the net.  Both teams have scored in 7 of Crystal Palace’s last 9 in all competitions and they could play their part in another thriller.