Paul Higham has Sunday's Premier League preview with best bets for Spurs v Man City & Burnley v Arsenal.
Recommended bets
1pt Man City to beat Spurs to nil at 21/10
1pt Burnley to draw with Arsenal at 5/2
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Tottenham v Manchester City
- 4.30pm Sky Sports Premier League
These two may have matured a bit but the needle it still there, the desire to get one over their fierce old rival burns as bright as ever – especially for Jose Mourinho in the underdog role as he’s in here.
There’s nothing Jose loves more than to stifle and frustrate a purring Pep side that wants to play their beautiful brand of football, and that’s exactly what you can expect as Spurs will look to the same game plan as against Liverpool that was only a couple of errant finishes away from paying dividends.
There’s certainly a case of familiarity breeding contempt as Guardiola has faced Mourinho 22 times, winning 11 of those, and there’s no doubt they’re polar opposites in terms of footballing philosophy, but this time Pep definitely has the upper hand in terms of form and talent at his disposal.
Losing to Man Utd will sting, especially after wasting a hatful of chances, including some open goals, to somehow lose 1-0. That’s not acceptable for someone like Guardiola and he’ll want a response on Sunday, and there’s every reason to suggest he’ll get it.
Spurs have the fourth-best home record in the league, but they’ve hit a wall against City with six winless league games against them while averaging over two goals conceded during that spell.
Mourinho’s early boost has officially worn off and there’s not a lot of get-up-and-go about Spurs recently, even struggling in their win over Norwich last time out. Without Harry Kane as well they could struggle to find the net against a City defence that’s so much better with Aymeric Laporte back in it.
If Laporte plays then there could well be a clean sheet for Guardiola to go along with a couple of goals in what could be a comfortable win in the end, even if they have to work early to break Spurs down.
Prediction: Tottenham 0-2 Man City (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)
Best bet: Man City to win to nil at 21/10
Burnley v Arsenal
- 2pm Sky Sports Premier League
The Clarets came bursting into life in the last two league games, gathering a surprising six points from games against Leicester and at Manchester United to join the Gunners on 30 points and set-up an intriguing contest at Turf Moor.
The draw is an interesting play here given that only Liverpool have drawn fewer games than Burnley – who haven’t had a home stalemate all season – while Arsenal arrive as the draw specialists having shared the points from half of their matches this campaign.
It’s exactly the type of game you’d expect the usual Arsenal to slip up in, get bullied out of it, but performances in their six-game unbeaten streak would’ve said otherwise, and they’d be well-fancied here had it not been for Burnley’s recent purple patch.
You usually know what you get with Burnley as it’s been a win or a loss since September, but maybe now’s the time for them to finally get just the one point from a game, as this Arsenal attack will be tough to contend with.
There’s also the increased tenacity and character being shown by Mike Arteta’s Arsenal of late, but Turf Moor will offer a tough examination with that and while they may not fail complete, they may not come away with full marks.
It’d be a point Arsenal would likely take before kick-off from a tough away date.
Prediction: Burnley 1-1 Arsenal (Sky Bet odds: 11/2)
Best bet: Burnley to draw with Arsenal at 5/2
