Is Chelsea the Play This Weekend?

Enzo Maresca’s men were impressive in their 1-1 draw at Manchester United last weekend, and though they are above Arsenal on goal difference, they go into this game as underdogs. Chelsea have gone five games without a win against their London rivals, but given the form of the two teams, this looks a great chance to take the points and pile the pressure on Mikel Arteta. Team news could well play a part, with Chelsea hoping their talisman Cole Palmer can shake off a knock, while Arsenal hope that Martin Odegaard is finally fit to make his comeback.

If Arteta is feeling the heat, so is his mentor Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, whose team have also been well off their best of late. City have lost their last three games, going out of the Carabao Cup at Spurs, losing by the same 2-1 scoreline at Bournemouth last weekend in the EPL, and being thrashed at Sporting Lisbon, under incoming Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, 4-1 in their midweek Champions League clash.

As ever, City are odds on to claim all three points at the Amex Stadium, but Brighton are no pushovers, and looked like upsetting leader Liverpool for much of last weekend’s game before succumbing to two late goals to do down 2-1.

Guardiola came out fighting after that thumping in Lisbon, saying he is ready for the challenge of turning around this poor run of form. They are still only two points off the top of the table after that shock first defeat of the EPL season at Bournemouth, but a fourth straight defeat in all competitions would be as close to a crisis as City have got in the past few dominant seasons.

Liverpool reclaimed top spot last weekend with that late win over Brighton coupled with City’s reverse on the south coast, and having won eight and drawn one of his first 10 EPL games, Arne Slot could be forgiven for thinking the Premier League is easy.

Having started with a favourable run of fixtures, the Reds have taken a battling point at Arsenal before beating Brighton in the League and Cup and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

Villa have gone seven games without a win against Liverpool since that amazing 7-2 victory in 2020, and it’s hard to make a case for anything other than a home win here. A day after the Reds thrashed German champions Leverkusen, Villa went down 1-0 at Belgian minnows Club Brugge to fall off their perch atop the Champions League standings, a third straight defeat after the home Carabao Cup loss against Crystal Palace and 4-1 EPL reverse at Spurs last week.

Other Premier League games this weekend:

• Brentford vs Bournemouth
• Crystal Palace vs Fulham
• West Ham vs Everton
• Wolves vs Southampton
• Manchester United vs Leicester
• Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle
• Spurs vs Ipswich

Turn to the WPT Global Sportsbook each day and each week to find your favourite teams, odds and bets to place.