West Brom to take derby spoils from Villa

 

Christian Crowther uses Opta's wisdom to identify bets for four Premier League clashes...

 

Newcastle v Reading (Saturday, 15:00)

Reading have lost all seven away matches against Newcastle in all competitions, conceding at least three goals on each of their last six visits

The Royals would have been on cloud nine after conjuring their remarkable comeback against West Brom but, judging by past form, a trip to St James' Park looks set to  bring them crashing back down to earth. It's certainly true that Newcastle are not in a great moment themselves, though two other teams in the bottom four have been  accounted for at St James' Park since the beginning of December, including a 3-0 thrashing of Wigan. With Demba Ba gone, Papiss Cisse should prosper, especially with  chief creator Yohan Cabaye back in the side.

 

Swansea v Stoke (Saturday, 15:00)

Swansea are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games, but four of those have been draws

After three games away from the Liberty Stadium in all competitions, Michael Laudrup's wandering charges will be glad of familiar surroundings. In visitors Stoke, they  face a side who have been turned over twice by top three sides in their last two fixtures - conceding seven goals and scoring none - so Tony Pulis will no doubt  approach this with a defensive mindset. Stoke's desire to keep it tight, combined with Swansea's inability to get over the line in recent home league games, should  prove conducive to a draw.

 

West Brom v Aston Villa (Saturday, 17:30, ESPN)

There have been six draws in 13 Premier League meetings in this fixture, but all seven victories have been by a 2-1 scoreline

All of West Brom's brilliant pre-Christmas work has begun to unravel recently following three straight defeats in the Premier League. However, they were by far the  better side in their last game against Reading until a crazy last ten minutes when it all fell to pieces. The Baggies have a good recent record in this derby too,  winning two and losing none of the last four encounters. In Romelu Lakaku, the hosts have a striker in prime form to take advantage of Villa's porous defence.

 

Southampton v Everton (Monday 20:00, Sky Sports 1)

Everton have gone eight games in the league away from home without a clean sheet

This Monday night encounter should prove a good tonic for the early-week blues as two entertaining sides clash at St Mary's. The Saints will be buoyed by their midweek  comeback at Chelsea, though they'll have their work cut out containing a fresher Everton outfit, who've won their last three on the road in all competitions, notching  nine in the process. As the above stat indicates however, Everton rarely keep it tight at the back on their way to victory and Southampton have only failed to register  once in their last eight games.

 

Recommended Bets:

Back Newcastle to score three goals or more v Reading @ 3.65

Back Swansea and Stoke to draw @ 3.4

Back West Brom to beat Aston Villa 2-1 @ 9.2

Back over 2.5 goals in Southampton v Everton @ 1.86

 

Bet HERE

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