Premier League match previews, team news, stats, predictions, kick-off time and how to follow | Football News

Team news, stats, predictions and how to follow the Premier League this Wednesday, including Manchester City vs Brentford, Tottenham vs Southampton, Norwich vs Crystal Palace and Aston Villa vs Leeds.

Man City vs Brentford – Wednesday; kick-off 7.45pm

Team news: Manchester City are without forward Gabriel Jesus when they host Brentford in the Premier League on Wednesday.

The Brazilian also missed Saturday’s FA Cup win over Fulham with a minor issue sustained on international duty recently but is not expected to be sidelined for long.

Youngster Cole Palmer is also still out but City have no other notable absentees.

Christian Eriksen is training with Brentford but will be given more time to get up to speed before making his debut.

Josh Dasilva played his first minutes for nearly a year in the weekend’s FA Cup defeat by Everton and could make his Premier League return along with goalkeeper David Raya.

Tariqe Fosu (hamstring) will be given minutes in a friendly match next week while Julian Jeanvier (knee) and Mathias Jorgensen (thigh) remain sidelined.

Jones Knows prediction…

Finding fault with the way Manchester City play football is a pedantic task. But I do have the urge to nit-pick at Pep Guardiola’s side. I’m not fully convinced their attack is functioning at peak City levels.

In fact, there has been plenty of evidence of this in their last four Premier League fixtures. Just four goals scored from open play with the backdrop of a non-penalty expected goals total of 4.43 is dipping way below the usual average of what a Guardiola attack produces and that theory is backed up on the eye-test.

Jack Grealish looks a little lost whilst Phil Foden has yet to find his usual sparkle – scary really, considering the way they have ripped up the Premier League. For most of the first half against Southampton, they lacked zip in their approach and much the same was on show in the win over Arsenal where they were fortunate to leave with all three points.

Brentford restricted them to just 1.04 worth of expected goals in the 1-0 win for City in the reverse fixture. Now, I’m not advocating going wild on the 25/1 quotes for an away win here – far from it – but the odds surrounding Brentford’s ability to keep the score respectable certainly do appeal to me, especially now they have upgraded their goalkeeper from Alvaro Fernandez to David Raya, who is back from injury. I’m happy to invest in Brentford with a +3 goal handicap, meaning we’ll cop a return if they win, draw, lose by one or lose by two.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-0 | BETTING ANGLE: Brentford +3 handicap (10/11 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Opta stats…

• Following a 1-0 win earlier this season, Manchester City are looking for their first league double over Brentford since 1936-37, a season in which they won their first top-flight title.
• Since losing 2-0 against Crystal Palace in October, Man City have won their last six Premier League home games by an aggregate score of 20-4. Overall, Man City have scored 771 goals in 353 Premier League games at the Etihad Stadium (2.2 per game), the best ratio of any side at a specific venue in the competition (min. 20 games).
• This is Brentford’s first visit to Man City in any competition since October 1989 in the League Cup, losing 4-1 at Maine Road under Steve Perryman.
• Brentford have lost each of their last four league games, with the Bees last losing five in a row back in December 2007 under Terry Butcher in League Two.

How to follow: Follow Man City vs Brentford in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

Tottenham vs Southampton – Wednesday; kick-off 7.45pm

Team news: Tottenham will be without Eric Dier, Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga for the visit of Southampton.

Dier is struggling with a recurring thigh issue, Skipp has a groin problem and Tanganga is out with a knee injury.

Boss Antonio Conte hinted that new signings Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur will again start on the bench.

Southampton‘s seven-goal striker Armando Broja will be assessed after hobbling off during Saturday’s FA Cup win over Coventry with a knee problem.

Lyanco suffered a serious hamstring injury in the same game and boss Ralph Hasenhuttl expects the Brazilian defender to be out for eight to 12 weeks.

Nathan Tella continues to nurse a groin injury, but Moussa Djenepo could re-join the squad after playing for Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Jones Knows prediction…

Tottenham made me look a tad stupid against Chelsea. Not for the first time, many will argue.

Yet my faith in the north Londoners under Antonio Conte hasn’t been knocked too much despite doing my beans on a Spurs win at Stamford Bridge. Conte has taken a sledgehammer through the side, trimmed the fat and has quickly realised the players he trusts and how to best utilise them. With Harry Kane playing at his current level, they will be a match for anyone in this Premier League when at full strength. Since Conte took charge, only Manchester City and Liverpool are averaging a higher expected goals total per 90 minutes than Tottenham (2.03 per 90).

And my money will be following them across a variety of markets between now and the end of the season. The 13/8 with Sky Bet for a top-four finish needs serious consideration for starters.

Unfortunately, we’re not getting any fancy prices about this game being a relatively straightforward home win. Spurs are 8/13 with Sky Bet for good reason.

However, when you factor in Tottenham’s high expected goals tally, the current form of Kane and the return of Heung-Min Son, goals should be on the menu and backing Spurs to win and over 3.5 goals at 100/30 with Sky Bet looks a savvy play. Southampton’s games on the road this season are averaging 3.27 per 90 minutes with 64 per cent of those matches seeing four or more goals scored.

SCORE PREDICTION: 3-1 | BETTING ANGLE: Tottenham to win and over 3.5 goals (100/30 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Opta stats…

• Tottenham have won seven of their 10 home Premier League matches this season (D1 L2), only the second time in the last 10 campaigns they have won as many as seven of their first 10 home games, winning eight in 2016-17 under Mauricio Pochettino.
• Antonio Conte has won 20 of his last 21 home league matches as a manager across spells with Inter Milan and Spurs, drawing the other 2-2 with Liverpool. He is unbeaten in his first five with Spurs, with only Peter Shreeves (first six games in 1984) and George Graham (first 11 games in 1998-99) having a longer unbeaten home start as Spurs manager in the top-flight
• Since the start of 2021, Southampton have conceded 57 away Premier League goals, 18 more than any other team. Under Ralph Hasenhüttl, Saints have shipped three or more goals in 19 of their 60 away games (32%) with only Dave Jones (35%) seeing his teams concede 3+ goals in a higher percentage of away games in Premier League history (min. 50 away games).
• Southampton have dropped 20 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, with only Newcastle dropping more (21). Saints have drawn five of their last seven league games after taking the lead (W2).

How to follow: Follow Tottenham vs Southampton in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

Norwich vs Crystal Palace – Wednesday kick-off 7.45pm

Team news: Norwich have a doubt over forward Josh Sargent for the Premier League match against Crystal Palace.

USA international Sargent dropped out of the side for the FA Cup win at Wolves after feeling unwell during the warm-up and continues to be assessed, but midfielder Lukas Rupp (hamstring) is available again.

Defender Andrew Omobamidele (back) should return to contention at the weekend, while centre-half Ozan Kabak (illness), midfielder Jacob Sorensen (knee) and goalkeeper Tim Krul (shoulder) remain sidelined.

Wilfried Zaha looks likely to make his return to action for Crystal Palace. It would be a first club appearance for the forward since being on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate, who helped Senegal win the tournament in Cameroon on Sunday with victory over Egypt on penalties, will not be involved at Carrow Road.

James Tomkins and James McArthur are two more who could make comebacks in the contest, both having returned to training after injury, but boss Patrick Vieira has said Nathan Ferguson has “had a step back”.

Jones Knows prediction…

This is a tough one. I can’t back Norwich. And I can’t back Crystal Palace away from home.

Dean Smith’s side aren’t fooling me despite winning their last three games. They were pretty dreadful vs Watford up until Josh Sargent’s moment of magic/slice of luck to open the scoring in a game where that opening goal was going to be more crucial than ever. Despite winning 3-0 and playing against 10-men for the majority of the second half they still managed to lose the expected goals battle. Confidence should be on the up but there is still a clear lack of quality across the pitch.

That said, I’m not comfortable putting faith in Crystal Palace at 21/20 with Sky Bet. They are positing relegation numbers away from home, barring in their only road victory this season, unbelievably, at Manchester City. In 10 away matches they have amassed just a total expected goals figure of 8.2 this season, failing to score at Leeds, Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Then again they have drawn with Arsenal, West Ham and Brighton and beat Manchester City, so maybe I’m overplaying their poor run. Patrick Vieira had similar problems scoring goals on the road at Nice, where his team averaged just 0.9 goals per 90 minutes in his 37 matches managing the French side away from home. Perhaps his possession-based, controlled style is tough to implement when opposition teams play with more belief at home.

The under goals line have been well found by the market so I’ve headed to the half-time correct score market where 0-0 is a runner at 7/4 with Sky Bet. Norwich have failed to score in 77 per cent of their first halves this season whilst Palace aren’t far behind them having drawn a blank in 72 per cent of their matches before the break.

SCORE PREDICTION: 0-0 | BETTING ANGLE: 0-0 correct score at half-time (7/4 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Opta stats…

• Norwich City are winless in six Premier League matches against Crystal Palace (D2 L4) since a 1-0 win back in November 2013 under Chris Hughton.
• In their Football League history, the only team Norwich have beaten more often in league football than Crystal Palace (43 wins) are Queens Park Rangers (50), while Crystal Palace have more league wins against Norwich (47) than any other side.
• Norwich have won their last two Premier League games, netting 38% of their total goals this season in these victories (5/13). The Canaries last won three consecutive top-flight league games in December 2012.
• Only Burnley (0) have won fewer Premier League away games this season than Crystal Palace (1), with the Eagles’ sole victory on the road this term coming at reigning champions and current league leaders Manchester City in October.

How to follow: Follow Norwich vs Crystal Palace in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

Aston Villa vs Leeds – Wednesday, kick-off 8pm

Team news: Aston Villa have several players due to return for the visit of Leeds.

Bertrand Traore is back from the Africa Cup of Nations and Leon Bailey is training again after a hamstring injury. Calum Chambers is also expected to be in the squad for the first time after joining from Arsenal.

Marvelous Nakamba remains out with a knee injury, while Trezeguet is joining Turkish side Basaksehir.

Leeds United‘s injury problems are easing but they will still be without four players.

Patrick Bamford has not made progress in trying to recover from a concerning foot problem but Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Junior Firpo (all hamstring) are expected to return in the next couple of weeks.

Jamie Shackleton, Adam Forshaw and Charlie Cresswell are all available again.

Jones Knows prediction…

Much of the midweek Premier League fare does point to low-scoring, cagey games. Not this one.

Under the lights at Villa Park, all the ingredients should result in a very watchable, end-to-end football match with both teams fully rested up for two weeks following their exits from the FA Cup at the third-round stage.

Steven Gerrard isn’t a gung-ho type of manager, but, you can try and play as controlled and savvy as you want, but Leeds will draw you into engaging in a slug-fest of a match as the space they offer up in transitions is so inviting for opposition players. The home crowd will only encourage their side to adopt such an attack-minded approach – as seen in the reverse fixture last season that ended up with 39 shots being fired at goal across both teams – the third-highest seen in any game last season. I’m happy to back for the game to go a similar path this season too with the 31 or more match shots line worth an interest.

With fireworks predicted, cards have to be on the agenda too. Leeds’ games have averaged the most cards of any team in the Premier League this season (4.8) with Villa’s not too far behind them on 4.4. Jarred Gillett is a relatively inexperienced referee on these shores and has been very card-happy on what we’ve seen so far, brandishing seven yellows in Watford vs Newcastle and five in Brentford vs Norwich. Take advantage of Sky Bet’s double of 31 or more match shots and the game to produce 50 or more booking points at 8/1.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-2 | BETTING ANGLE: 50 or more booking points (11/8 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

JONES KNOWS BEST BET: Over 50 booking points & 31 or more match shots (8/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Opta stats…

• The home team has won just one of the last seven league meetings between Aston Villa and Leeds (D3 L3), a 1-0 Villa win in April 2018 at Villa Park.
• Steven Gerrard has lost two of his five home Premier League matches as Aston Villa manager (W2 D1) – he only lost three of his 59 home league games as Rangers manager (W48 D8).
• will be Leeds United’s 4,000th league match since joining the Football League in 1920. The last four teams to hit this figure as a Premier League side have lost their 4000th game – Spurs in November 2017 (1-2 vs Leicester), Watford in April 2018 (0-1 vs Huddersfield), Bournemouth in December 2019 (0-2 vs Brighton) and Crystal Palace in July 2020 (2-3 vs Chelsea).
• Since shipping eight goals in open play across their two defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal (four in each game), Leeds have only conceded once in open play in three Premier League games in 2022, a Pablo Fornals goal for West Ham. However, the Whites have conceded from both direct free-kick efforts they have faced this year (Maxwel Cornet for Burnley and Jonjo Shelvey for Newcastle scoring those goals).

How to follow: Follow Aston Villa vs Leeds in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

How to watch Premier League highlights on Sky Sports Digital

Anybody in the UK can watch highlights for free on the Sky Sports app or the Score Centre app on your iPhone or Android:

To watch the highlights on the Sky Sports App, download the app:

Sky Sports’ digital platforms are the home of live blogs for every Premier League game, including commentary, analysis and team line-ups. Users with a free Sky ID can watch in-game clips from Sky live games in our dedicated live blogs.

Premier League top-four race: Fourth place up for grabs?

With Manchester City pulling away at the summit and Liverpool and Chelsea on course for a top-three finish, Man Utd, West Ham, Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolves look set to battle it out for a top-four finish.

As it stands, four points divide fourth-placed Manchester United and eighth-placed Wolves, setting up what looks to be an intriguing race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Here, we assess the runners and riders in the battle for fourth, their form and their fixtures until the end of the season…

READ HERE

Premier League relegation picture: Who is going down?

The battle for Premier League survival continues this midweek, but which team is best placed to avoid the drop?

Only six points separate the five sides at the bottom of the table – and basement boys Burnley have at least one game in hand on their rivals.

Here, we take a look at the state of play, odds and key fixtures as the relegation picture hots up…

READ HERE