Cardiff v Everton: Draw – 11/5
Everton currently sit 11th in the table, but three defeats on the trot means that Marco Silva’s men are still peering nervously down the table rather than up. With some of the teams below them picking up points while the Toffees are stuck in a rut, Everton need a result here to keep them clear of the dogfight raging below them.
Speaking of dogfights, Cardiff are in the thick of it right now. Just one point above safety, they will be eager to capitalise on Southampton’s defeat to Arsenal by moving four points clear of the 18th-placed Saints before they play Fulham on Wednesday. The Bluebirds looked like they were building momentum having won two in a row heading into Friday’s game against Watford, but then they got utterly stomped.
With both teams needing a result, it’s set up to be a cagey affair. Everton have been struggling to find a consistent source of goals and might find it hard to break down Neil Warnock’s side.
As for Cardiff, they don’t draw much, but when they do, they do it in the best way possible: without scoring – they’ve drawn just four times in the league and they’ve all been goalless, so we reckon this one ends in a stalemate.
Huddersfield v Wolves: Wolves win – 8/11
Unfortunately for Huddersfield fans, their team looks down and out at this stage of the season.
Sitting bottom of the table with just two wins and 14 goals from their 27 league games, each passing defeat increases how foregone their conclusion to this season really is — they’ve earned just one point in 2019, a thrilling scoreless draw against Cardiff (one of the Welsh side’s famous four).
Wolves, on the contrary, are enjoying a delightful spell of form. Unbeaten in their last five league outings and into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, the only reason they dropped to eighth over the weekend was because Watford leapfrogged them on goal difference thanks to their 5-1 demolition of, you guessed it, Cardiff.
While Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have drawn their last two games 1-1, given how contrasting the fortunes are of both teams at the moment — as well as the fact the Terriers have notched just one goal in their last six games (against Arsenal, hilariously) — we can’t see past a Wolves win here.
Leicester v Brighton: Leicester – 5/6
Well, Leicester City have done it again — they’ve sacked their manager.
Things hadn’t been going great for Claude Puel in recent times, with Leicester losing five of their last six games, so they pulled the trigger, meaning the former Premier League champions are now looking to hire their fourth permanent gaffer in 23 months. Oh, and did we mention Brendan Rodgers is the early front-runner for the vacancy.
After their 4-1 annihilation at the hands of Palace ensured they remained within six points of the dropzone, whoever takes over at the King Power Stadium will have the mammoth task of steadying the ship enough to ensure Leicester don’t drift into the choppy waters of the relegation battle.
Yet, the timing of Puel’s sacking may be fortuitous for the Foxes.
They’re set to host a Brighton & Hove Albion side who aren’t in great shape themselves at the minute. With just two points from their six league games in 2019, Chris Hughton will be well aware that Brighton cannot afford to drop too many points against the sides in and around them in the table — the Seagulls hover just two points above safety themselves.
With all that in mind, we reckon Leicester provide a classic post-managerial sacking performance full of vigour and hope — and Jamie Vardy havin’ a party — to record a huge win in this one.
Newcastle v Burnley: BTTS – 19/20
To cap off the night’s midtable-mediocrity-but-also-fearing-relegation-dogfight fare, we have two sides who are actually in great form at the moment. Newcastle have won three and drawn one of their last five league games, yet this run has only been enough to keep them a hair’s breadth above Cardiff and Southampton in the table.
Burnley, meanwhile, haven’t lost in eight Premier League games, winning five and drawing three of those, and come into this one off the back of proving they’re a superior outfit to Borussia Dortmund — ie, they were able to stuff Spurs where the Bundesliga league leaders couldn’t. Also, frontman Chris Wood has been sensational in this period for Sean Dyche, netting six goals.
For the Geordies, Salomón Rondón is showing signs of life after his goal and assist against Huddersfield at the weekend, so we reckon these two sides are nicely poised to find the net on Tuesday night.
- Bet summary: An accumulator on these four best bets pays out at approximately 20/1 with Paddy Power.
* All odds correct at time of posting.