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The games are coming quick and fast at the moment
The JOE Group Bet is now entering its fourth matchday; how time flies when you’re trying to accurately predict the results of football matches.
With the FA Cup coming up in the middle of February it means that there are a lot of Premier League games in a short space of time currently, which to be honest is only a good thing.
So as we have done with the past three matchdays, we will use Sky Bet’s Group Bet feature, in which we put the four of our football brains – Si, Matt, Reuben and Wayne – together in the JOE Sky Bet Group Bet league.
N.B. Odds are correct at the time of publication.
Fan Boy – Matt: BTTS in Blackburn Rovers vs Brentford – 8/13
After a poor December in terms of results, Tony Mowbray appears to have started the new year on the right footing. Since January 1, we have four wins out of four in the Championship, most recently defeating in-form Hull City to leave us just three points outside of the play-off places.
Saturday’s opponents Brentford are also on a decent run in the league, which is why I believe this one will most likely see both teams scoring. Looking at both of our respective goal differences, Rovers have 40 goals scored and 41 conceded, while Brentford 43 scored and 39 conceded. Add to this the fact that they have one of the league’s best striker in Neil Maupay and I struggle to see how this will finish with anything other than a lot of goals.
Captain Obvious – Reuben: Manchester City to beat Arsenal – 3/10
Manchester City have not lost to Arsenal in the Premier League since late 2015, and while City come off the back of a surprise defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday, the history in this tie suggests that Pep Guardiola’s side will come out on top.
Arsenal will be encouraged after their victory against Cardiff brought them within 9 points of City, but like all the great Premier League sides, this iteration of City are always most dangerous after a defeat.
Dark Horse – Si: Manchester United to beat Leicester City – 17/20
Some may expect the wheels to stall on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s momentum train at Old Trafford after their draw at home to Burnley, but Leicester City should be the perfect opponents for them to bounce back, if this season’s home and away statistics are anything to go by.
United have the fifth best away record in the Premier League this season, while the Foxes have lost three of their last five at home, resulting in a sombre atmosphere at the King Power Stadium.
Because of this, I believe that Solskjaer will get his next win and potentially lift United into the top four, if only for a while.
The Stat Man – Wayne: Over 2.5 goals in West Ham United vs Liverpool – 8/15
Liverpool – over their last four Premier League matches – have beaten West Ham United by a aggregate scoreline of 16-2. In each of those games Liverpool scored 4, and in just one did West Ham score at all.
To cap this off, the previous league game before this run of fixtures finished 2-2, so I am supremely confident this fixture will end with more than 2.5 goals scored.
