Mark your card for Sunday's Premier League games with Paul Higham providing a best bet and score prediction for each match.
Recommended bets
2pts both teams to score & over 2.5 goals in Arsenal v Everton at evens
1pt Wolves to beat Norwich & under 3.5 goals at 5/4
1pt Watford (draw no bet) v Man Utd at 18/5
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Manchester United v Watford
- 2pm kick-off
The games are coming thick and fast now and this is the perfect testing ground for the old 'Thursday night ruins you' adage as United play their third game in a week against a well-rested Watford side who have had plenty to chew over during their break.
If Nigel Pearson went away during Watford's two-week hiatus he won't have been sitting comfortably on his sun lounger after watching errors and slip-ups ruin the momentum they'd built up since he took charge at Vicarage Road.
They've taken two points from their last four games but when you consider they missed a penalty in a draw with Spurs, lost a one-goal lead in a defeat at Villa, lost a two-goal lead in defeat by Everton and scored an own goal in a draw at Brighton then they could well have had as many as ten points more to their tally.
United have been in a nice little groove and beating Manchester City and Chelsea away shows you how useful they can be in the right circumstances - it just depends which Watford turns up but my best guess would be a fired-up Hornets side full of energy and aggression and able to match the hosts.
As long as they can keep the back door closed to Man Utd's dangerous counter attack then they could well emerge with something from the trip. With United still pretty inconsistent you simply can't back them as big odds-on favourites that's for sure and a Watford on top of their game could well pinch it.
Score prediction: Man Utd 1-2 Watford (Sky Bet odds: 16/1)
Best bet: Watford 'draw not bet' v Man Utd at 18/5
Opta facts
- Manchester United have won all six of their Premier League games against Watford at Old Trafford, scoring 14 goals and conceding just two.
- Watford have never won an away league match against Man Utd in 12 attempts (D2 L10), losing each of their last eight in a row after last avoiding defeat in November 1985 in a 1-1 draw.
- In their entire league history, the only team Manchester United have faced more often at home without losing than Watford (12 games) is Hull City (13 games).
- Manchester United have failed to score in their last two Premier League home games (0-2 v Burnley, 0-0 v Wolves). They last went three without a goal at Old Trafford in May 2002.
- Watford manager Nigel Pearson is looking to become the fourth English manager to complete a Premier League double over Man Utd, after Glenn Hoddle (1993-94, Chelsea), Alan Curbishley (2006-07, West Ham) and Garry Monk (2014-15, Swansea City).
- Odion Ighalo could make his home debut for Manchester United in this match; the Nigerian scored 16 goals in 55 Premier League appearances for Watford between 2015-2017. The last player to score on their first home Premier League appearance for a club, having previously played for the opponents in the competition, was Frank Lampard for Man City against Chelsea in September 2014.
Wolves v Norwich
- 2pm kick-off
What a fantastic win for Wolves on Thursday and, if the Europa League has been blamed for a drop in league form for some, there's no doubt that Nuno's men must be flying after a 4-0 thumping of Espanyol saw them put one foot in the last 16.
Facing bottom side Norwich, with just one away win all season, now gives them a great chance to keep up their push for the top four, or top five as it may be this season, to qualify for the Champions League. The big factor here is whether Nuno makes changes or not from midweek.
For their part, the Canaries gave absolutely everything when just losing out to Liverpool last week but those eight points they sit away from safety seems like a mountain they just won't be able to climb unless results start picking up to match recent performances, which have not been too bad.
The draw would be the worry here - no team has more Premier League stalemates at home than Wolves this season and they've had back-to-back 0-0 draws in the league ahead of this - but it really is all in their own hands in this one.
If Wolves can recover from Thursday and produce anything like their best they'll control the ball, the tempo and generate the majority of the chances. They should run out comfortable winners, albeit perhaps we shouldn't expect a repeat of Thursday's scoreline.
Score prediction: Wolves 2-0 Norwich (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)
Best bet: Wolves to beat Norwich & under 3.5 goals at 5/4
Opta facts
- Wolves have drawn 12 of their 26 Premier League games this season, with only Arsenal drawing more. It’s already their joint-highest number of draws in a single Premier League campaign (level with 2003-04), last having more in a top-flight season in 1973-74 (15).
- Away from home in the Premier League this season, Norwich have won the fewest games (1), earned the fewest points (6) and scored the fewest goals (6). However, the Canaries have kept three clean sheets on the road, only keeping more in 2013-14 in a 38-game season in the competition (4).
- Only Watford (11) have failed to score in more Premier League games than Norwich this season (10), with the Canaries failing to score in their last two in the competition.
- Only Crystal Palace (5) have scored fewer first-half goals in the Premier League this season than Wolves (9). Meanwhile, Wolves have also conceded a league-high 66% of their Premier League goals in the opening 45 minutes this season (21/32).
- Wolves’ Raúl Jiménez has scored more Premier League goals than any other player this season without ever netting the first goal in a match (11). Indeed, seven of the Mexican’s 11 strikes this season have been equalising goals for Wolves.
- Norwich’s Emiliano Buendía has created 69 goalscoring opportunities for his teammates in the Premier League this season, with only Kevin de Bruyne creating more in the competition. It’s also the most by a Norwich player in a single top-flight season since we have this data available (since 2003-04).
Arsenal v Everton
- 4.30pm - Sky Sports Premier League
The Emirates has been a fortress for Arsenal against Everton as the Toffees have never won there in the league, with their last success against the Gunners coming at Highbury almost 25 years ago, but can Carlo Ancelotti break that spell?
It's hard not to be impressed with what he's been doing since his surprise move to Goodison Park - some people even say he would have been perfect for Arsenal had they not jumped on the former club legend turned manager bandwagon.
The Gunners are doing alright under Mikel Arteta, results haven't quite matched performances at times and there's definite improvement so this will be a good yardstick for both as to how they've improved under their new managers.
Good things are expected from this game given the respective form of the two sides - Everton in particular have been excellent with only Liverpool better recently, while Arsenal put Newcastle away easily enough and an away win at Olympiacos was a solid effort for them.
Newcastle could have scored though and Everton's away scoring run in the league stretches back to October, while seven of their last nine over have yielded over 2.5 goals to boot and - with no real feeling over a winner - that's the way we're heading here.
Score prediction: Arsenal 2-2 Everton (Sky Bet odds: 12/1)
Best bet: Both teams to score & over 2.5 goals in Arsenal v Everton at Evens
Opta facts
- Everton have kept clean sheets in their last two league games against Arsenal, both at Goodison Park, last keeping three in a row back in March 1913 (four in a row). The Toffees have, however, kept just one clean sheet in their last 32 away league games at Arsenal.
- Everton’s 23-game away winless run against Arsenal is their third longest run in their top-flight history against an opponent, after an ongoing 24-game run against Chelsea and 35-game run against Leeds United between 1946 and 2001.
- Everton have lost just one of their last 11 Premier League games (W6 D4). The Toffees are looking to secure three consecutive league victories for the first time since April 2019, the third game of which was against Arsenal.
- Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has won twice away at Arsenal at the Emirates, winning in November 2009 with Chelsea and March 2017 with Bayern Munich – the only managers to win three away games against the Gunners at the Emirates are Alex Ferguson (3) and Pep Guardiola (4).
- In his Premier League career, Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 30 goals in 37 games played on Sundays, compared to 17 goals in 36 games on all other days of the week.
- Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored 11 Premier League goals this season; the last English player to score more in a single campaign for the Toffees was Kevin Campbell in 1999-00 (12).
Odds correct as of 1215 GMT on 21/02/20
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