Bournemouth have posted impressive wins over Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in the last two weeks, but the Cherries face the toughest of tests when Liverpool visit the south coast in the highlight of Saturday’s six Premier League matches.
Forest will hope to bounce back from the 5-0 thumping they received at the Vitality Stadium last week in the early kick-off against Brighton, while Ipswich will hope to boost their top-flight survival chances when they entertain bottom-of-the-table Southampton at Portman Road.
Recommended five-fold: Nottingham Forest, Liverpool, Everton, Ipswich and Newcastle all to win.
- NOTTINGHAM FOREST TO BEAT BRIGHTON
- OVER 3.5 GOALS IN BOURNEMOUTH VS LIVERPOOL
- EVERTON TO BEAT LEICESTER
- IPSWICH TO BEAT SOUTHAMPTON
- NEWCASTLE TO BEAT FULHAM & BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
- DRAW IN WOLVES VS ASTON VILLA
Forest vs Brighton
Nottingham Forest have been the surprise package in the Premier League this season, but they suffered a rare setback last week at Bournemouth and will be determined to show on Saturday they are not ready to fall back down the table from the giddy heights of third.
In order to do that, they need to beat Brighton at the City Ground and they should be confident that they can see off the Seagulls having won six of their last eight games on the banks of the Trent.
Newcastle are the only visiting team to have won during that run while even runaway league leaders Liverpool had to be content with a point, and it is that home record that just tips the balance in their favour.
Brighton have to pick themselves up from their own disappointment after they fell to a 1-0 home defeat to poor travellers Everton last week, and while they are unbeaten in their last five away games, which included a 3-1 success at Manchester United last time out, they could just find Forest and their in-form striker Chris Wood a bit too hot to handle.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST TO BEAT BRIGHTON
Bournemouth vs Liverpool
The match of the day should not disappoint as Bournemouth will be determined to demonstrate their ability against the best team in the league following two excellent victories over Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.
Andoni Iraola’s team scored a total of nine goals in those two memorable victories, and entertainment should be guaranteed when leaders Liverpool head to the Vitality Stadium.
Arne Slot’s Reds suffered a 3-2 loss against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday, but the Dutchman, who has overseen a seamless transition following Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield departure, was able to rest plenty of key players with a last-16 berth already guaranteed.
Liverpool have scored at least twice in nine of their last 12 away matches and look set to put the Cherries in their place, but the best bet could be to go for goals as Bournemouth's confidence levels could hardly be higher.
OVER 3.5 GOALS IN BOURNEMOUTH VS LIVERPOOL
Everton vs Leicester
Everton look to have been galvanised following David Moyes’s return as manager and the Toffees will be confident they can gain a third successive win when struggling Leicester head to Goodison Park.
His team flew out of the blocks in their last home game against Tottenham when they were well in control despite their visitors fighting back to 3-2 with two late goals, and then they claimed a rare away win at Brighton.
Leicester had their own memorable day against Spurs on Sunday when they ended a run of seven successive defeats by claiming a 2-1 win over Ange Postecoglou’s beleaguered side, but it is too early to tell if that was just an isolated triumph, and this week's opponents look more settled, so go for a home win.
EVERTON TO BEAT LEICESTER
Ipswich vs Southampton
It would be understandable if both Ipswich and punters drew a line through their last two matches as a 6-0 loss to Manchester City and a 4-1 reverse at Liverpool were perhaps understandable and typical of results that promoted teams tend to experience on occasions.
Gaining a home win against Southampton looks much more within their capabilities and would give Kieran McKenna’s side a huge boost.
The Tractor Boys’ only home win of the season came against Chelsea on December 30, but the sorry Saints look stranded at the bottom of the table and have taken just one point from their last ten games, so it would still be a surprise if they got anything from their Suffolk trip.
IPSWICH TO BEAT SOUTHAMPTON
Newcastle vs Fulham
Newcastle got back on track at Southampton last week after a surprise 4-1 home loss to Bournemouth ended a seven-match winning run in the league, and they can claim three more points in a potentially high-scoring game against Fulham.
The Magpies had kept three straight home clean sheets before that defeat to the Cherries, and they had scored 13 goals in their four preceding St James’ Park outings, but the Cottagers can be expected to make their presence felt on their trip to the north east.
Marco Silva’s side have found the net in their last 10 league away games and even if they cannot keep the prolific Alexander Isak and his team-mates at bay, they could get on the scoresheet.
NEWCASTLE TO BEAT FULHAM & BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
Wolves vs Aston Villa
Wolves’ initial recovery after Vitor Pereira replaced Gary O’Neil has hit the buffers with four straight defeats against teams in the top six, but they could earn a point when Aston Villa make the short trip to Molineux for Saturday’s late game.
Villa have been a lot stronger on their own patch than they have been on the road, and also have to recover from their Champions League clash against Celtic on Wednesday.
Unai Emery’s side have won just one of their last seven league games on their travels and while they fought back from two goals down to draw at Arsenal the last time they were on the road, they may have to settle for another point.
DRAW IN WOLVES VS ASTON VILLA
