Five of the bottom seven are in action on Tuesday but Paul Higham is backing high-flying Wolves as the bet of the night, with managerless Leicester also fancied.
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3pts Wolves to beat Huddersfield at 5/6
1pt Leicester to win & both teams to score at 7/2
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Cardiff v Everton 1945 GMT
The Toffess last played a whopping 17 days ago, and they’ll hope their lengthy break has enabled them to hit the reset button as Marco Silva was under huge pressure after they lost a third game in a row at Watford last time out – but a trip to Cardiff will not be an easy one.
Everton have just three away wins all season and Neil Warnock will want a response after a 5-1 hammering at home on Friday night so expect this to be a full-throttle affair. Everton need to have shaken off their pre-break malaise otherwise they’ll be swallowed up by Cardiff’s energetic home approach.
The Bluebirds’ creaky defence offers some hope and while just three goals in their last five games hardly inspires confidence, I expect them to score and get something from the game – they just might have to settle for a point.
Prediction: Cardiff 1-1 Everton (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Best bet: Under 2.5 goals in the match at 4/5
Cardiff v Everton - Opta stats
- Cardiff have won just one of their last 11 meetings with Everton in all competitions (D4 L6), winning 1-0 in a League Cup match in September 1979.
- Everton have won just one of their last 12 top-flight away games against Cardiff (D4 L7), and are winless in their last six. Their last such victory there was in March 1929 (2-0).
- Cardiff have never won a midweek Premier League game (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), drawing three and losing six. They’ve scored just two goals in those nine games and have conceded at least twice in each defeat.
- Cardiff have conceded more home Premier League goals than any other side this season (28), conceding five times on three separate occasions (0-5 v Man City, 1-5 v Man Utd, 1-5 v Watford).
- Cardiff defender Sol Bamba has scored in each of his last two Premier League games, scoring twice. He has four goals this season, a joint-league high for the Bluebirds along with Bobby Reid and Callum Paterson.
Huddersfield v Wolves 1945 GMT
Whatever stats you look at make ugly reading for Huddersfield this season – just two wins, 14 goals, one win at home with seven straight defeats sees them rooted to the bottom of the table with their relegation already seemingly assured.
One of those Terriers wins actually came at Wolves in November, but they’ve won just once since and that will only ensure that Nuno Espirito Santo has a motivational tool to avoid any complacency in his high-flying outfit.
Only the top two have conceded fewer goals on the road than Wolves and nobody has come close to matching Huddersfield’s scoring woes at home this season – the visitors may only need one to win, but they’ll probably get more.
Prediction: Huddersfield 0-2 Wolves (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)
Best bet: Wolves to beat Huddersfield at 5/6
Huddersfield v Wolves Opta stats
- Huddersfield have won 11 of their last 13 league meetings with Wolves (L2), including each of the last four in a row without conceding a single goal.
- Wolves have lost seven of their last eight away league games against Huddersfield, winning only in a Championship game in February 2015 (4-1).
- Huddersfield have never won a midweek Premier League game (D2 L7), losing each of their four such games on Tuesday or Wednesday this season.
- Wolves have lost six of their 11 Premier League matches (55%) against teams starting the day bottom (W3 D2 L6); they are one of just three teams in the competition’s history to have lost more than half of such matches, along with Blackpool (75%) and Hull City (58%).
- Nuno Espirito Santo has only lost more than one league match against one opponent as Wolves manager, losing twice to Cardiff City; Huddersfield could, however, become the first team to complete a league double over Wolves in the last two seasons.
Leicester v Brighton 1945 GMT
The Foxes start their post-Puel era with a home tilt against an equally-struggling Brighton side who, like Leicester, are without a win in their last six league games as they’ve slid dangerously close to the drop zone.
This could be a prime chance to earn just a third away win of the season against a side with just four wins at home this campaign, but the sacking of a manager can have a galvanising effect, especially if there’s some discord between the gaffer and the players.
That looks to have been the case with Puel and a few members of the Leicester squad, so they could well go out and make a statement here, as there is plenty of quality there - something we've seen evidence of in patches this season.
You’re taking a chance either way here, but I’m expecting player power to show itself again with the Foxes shaking off the Puel shackles to grab three points in what should be an entertaining game.
Prediction: Leicester 2-1 Brighton (Sky Bet odds: 8/1)
Best bet: Leicester to win & both teams to score at 7/2
Leicester v Brighton Opta stats
- Leicester are unbeaten in their three Premier League meetings with Brighton, winning both games last season before drawing the reverse fixture 1-1 in December.
- Brighton have won just one of their last six away league games against Leicester (D2 L3), winning 4-1 in a Championship match in April 2014.
- Leicester are unbeaten in 14 home matches played on Tuesday in all competitions (W10 D4 L0) since losing 2-4 to Chelsea in the League Cup third round in September 2016.
- Brighton have picked up just six points from their last 33 available in the Premier League (W1 D3 L7), with the Seagulls winning none of their six games so far in 2019 (D2 L4).
- Brighton manager Chris Hughton is yet to win in three away league visits to Leicester (W0 D1 L2), losing his most recent two visits to the King Power Stadium.
Newcastle v Burnley (2000 GMT – BT Sport 1)
The proverbial six-pointer takes place at St James’ Park with two in-form sides looking to pull away from the drop zone, neither having looked like a side who should be going down of late.
Rafa Benitez has transformed Newcastle in recent weeks, especially at home where they’ve won three on the spin in the league, beating champions Man City in between crucial relegation wins over Cardiff and Huddersfield.
Burnley, though, are unbeaten in eight and have just beaten Spurs so this one is desperately difficult to try and call and, while three points would be huge, a point wouldn’t be too bad in such a tough fixture.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-1 Burnley (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Best bet: Newcastle to draw with Burnley at 12/5
Newcastle v Burnley Opta stats
- Burnley in winless in five away games against Newcastle in league competition (D3 L2) since a 1-0 victory at St James’ Park in April 1976.
- Three of the five previous Premier League meetings between Newcastle and Burnley have ended as draws, with each side winning one apiece.
- Only Manchester United (12) have won more away points in the Premier League in 2019 than Burnley (8 – P4 W2 D2 L0).
- Newcastle United had 29 shots against Huddersfield Town in their previous match – their most in a Premier League game since November 2012 (32 vs Swansea City).
- Newcastle United striker Salomon Rondon has scored three goals and assisted one in four Premier League starts against Burnley, though all of those came while he played for West Bromwich Albion.