Free football betting tips and preview: Wednesday Premier League games
George Pitts and Paul Higham look ahead to Wednesday night's Premier League action, with Yaya Toure backed to take the limelight on his final Etihad outing.
Recommended bets: Wednesday's Premier League
2pts Yaya Toure to score anytime at 4/1
1pt Chelsea to beat Huddersfield and under 2.5 goals at 21/10
1pt Alexandre Lacazette to score & Arsenal to beat Leicester at 2/1
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record.
Chelsea v Huddersfield Town (1945 BST, Sky Sports Main Event)
An unlikely point at champions Manchester City inched Huddersfield closer to Premier League survival, but now they face another huge test at Stamford Bridge against Champions League chasers Chelsea.
A win over Liverpool put Antonio Conte's men right back in the top-four mix, meaning they’ll be bang up for another big performance to set up an exciting final day of the season.
At the other end, Huddersfield still cannot rest easy despite the highly creditable draw at the Etihad and David Wagner will want a similar display down in west London.
It gets no easier for the Terriers who then also face Arsenal in Arsene Wenger's last game as manager on the final day of the season – if they stay up after those three games they'll fully deserve it.
Chelsea have ground out back-to-back 1-0 wins and this game is a prime candidate for something similar, as Huddersfield will look to keep things as tight as possible.
Conte has hinted at changes from the side that edged a leggy-looking Liverpool on Sunday, with Alvaro Morata available again after a minor injury.
Olivier Giroud has been proving to be a much more dangerous option for Chelsea up front, though, and he'd be the man most likely to break what should be a stubborn Huddersfield rearguard.
Only one of Huddersfield's last 10 games has yielded more than two goals and this again looks like being a low-scoring affair.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-0 Huddersfield (Sky Bet Odds: 6/1) (Paul Higham)
Best Best: Chelsea to win and under 2.5 goals at 21/10
Alternative: Draw/Chelsea in half-time/full-time at 11/4
Leicester v Arsenal (1945 BST)
The Foxes play their final home game of the season as they host the penultimate leg of the Arsene Wenger farewell tour at the King Power Stadium.
Claude Puel is a manager under pressure and has even been given the dreaded vote of confidence from team ownership, following a dreadful run of form that has yielded just a point in five games.
The home crowd have also been treated to just one victory in the last eight, but in Arsenal they face a team that hasn’t won on the road in this country this year.
They could take a lot from their 2-1 defeat at Manchester United in their last away game, though, as a much-changed side matched the hosts right until the death.
That was followed by a 5-0 thumping of Burnley in Wenger’s Emirates send off and their desire to see the manager off on a high certainly looks to be stronger than Leicester’s to take the pressure off Puel.
They looked a side ready for their holidays during a home defeat to West Ham on Saturday, and that kind of late-season melancholy is sometime hard to shift.
Two goals for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against Burnley took his tally to seven in the last eight, while Alexandre Lacazette has five in five, and those two together could prove more than Leicester’s defence can handle.
Prediction: Leicester 1-3 Arsenal (Sky Bet Odds: 12/1) (Paul Higham)
Best Best: Alexandre Lacazette to score & Arsenal win at 2/1
Alternative: Arsenal to win 3-0, 3-1 or 3-2 at 5/1
Manchester City v Brighton (2000 BST)
After eight years and over 300 appearances for the club, Wednesday sees Yaya Toure play his final home match for Manchester City.
The build-up to the Etihad clash with Brighton has been centred on the midfielder – much like a testimonial, with Pep Guardiola saying he will dedicate the game to the Ivorian.
For these reasons, Toure is well worth a small play in the betting. He can be backed to score anytime against the Seagulls at 4/1 and 14s to net the game's last goal – both more than reasonable odds considering the efforts City will go to make it his night.
If they are awarded a penalty and Toure is on the field, you can envisage the 34-year-old taking it – he has scored 14/14 spot-kicks in a City shirt.
City are clearly massively odds-on to win the match, but there is a slight danger of feeling the effects of Sunday’s Premier League title party, and Brighton will be keen to capitalise if thats the case.
The Seagulls are more than capable of getting a result, going into this game full of confidence after beating Man United 1-0 at the Amex last week.
That result confirmed Premier League football for another season for Chris Hughton’s side and he has urged his team to stay focused and finish the campaign on the up.
Both sides have achieved their domestic goal for the season, so the intensity is unlikely to be as it might have been, therefore a low-scoring match could be worth siding with.
But Pep Guardiola is an obsessive winner and, as well as ensuring Toure gets the night he deserves, he will be looking for a response from the goalless draw with Huddersfield.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Brighton (Sky Bet Odds: 11/2) (George Pitts)
Best Best: Yaya Toure to score anytime at 4/1
Alternative: Manchester City to win and under 2.5 goals at 10/3
Tottenham v Newcastle (2000 BST)
After Tottenham��s 3-1 win at Chelsea on April 1 (pictured, below), you could be forgiven for thinking that was the top four done and dusted.
The victory put fourth-placed Spurs eight points clear of the Blues in fifth, with seven games left to play. Fast forward five matches and Spurs are nervously looking over their shoulder with just a two-point advantage over their London rivals.
Mauricio Pochettino can take solace from the fact it is in his side's hands – win their two remaining games and they will be playing Champions League football next season.
The fact they have something palpable to play for makes me favour them in the betting for this one, with Rafa Benitez admitting Newcastle looked as if they were "on holiday" in the defeat at Watford.
The Magpies have now lost three on the bounce since booking their place in the Premier League for next season and moving into the top half.
In short, it's hard to see Benitez’s side pulling off a result – and, perversely, even the Spaniard may be glad as a finish higher up the table could have a detrimental impact on his transfer funds for the summer.
The Magpies will be a striker down with Islam Slimani suspended, while Spurs have won with a clean sheet in three of their last four home outings in the Premier League, so siding with a home win-to-nil at 11/10 bumps up the match odds.
Harry Kane is still just four goals behind Mo Salah in the Premier League charts, so the England striker will be hoping to finish strongly to try and secure the Golden Boot for a third successive season.
He is odds-on in a score-and-win double, so backing the 24-year-old to score two or more at 15/8 is preferred.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 Newcastle (Sky Bet Odds: 6/1) (George Pitts)
Best Best: Harry Kane to score two or more at 15/8
Alternative: Spurs to win to nil at 11/10
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Page last updated at 1820 BST 08/05/2018