Mark your card for Wednesday's fixtures in the Premier League with the best bets, Super 6 predictions and top stats for each game.
Recommended bets: April 3, 2019
1pt Aron Gunnarsson to be carded at 9/2
1pt Dele Alli to score anytime at 2/1
For advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Fixtures
- Chelsea v Brighton and Hove Albion
- Manchester City v Cardiff City
- Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace
Chelsea v Brighton
- Stamford Bridge, 1945 BST kick-off
Maurizio Sarri caught the break he has been due in 2019, with an offside goal falling in his favour to help Chelsea stage a late comeback at Cardiff on Sunday.
That win kept the Blues' slim top-four hopes alive, now just a point adrift of Tottenham in fourth with seven games to go.
They host a Brighton side whose away record is the fourth-worst in the Premier League, having lost 10 of 15 and Chris Hughton's side will nervously be looking over their shoulders with just a five-point gap between them and the bottom three.
Maurizio Sarri did not play Callum Hudson-Odoi at all in Wales, but he has hinted that the England international will feature before the end of the season and with the games coming thick and fast he may utilise the 18-year-old here.
At just over 2/1 anytime for a player 'probably' making his first Premier League start and with Olivier Giroud at 5/4, the preference is to go with Eden Hazard to get on the score sheet at evens.
The Belgian has been Chelsea's star and made a positive impact after coming off the bench in Cardiff.
He has not scored in his last two Premier League games, but he averages nearly three shots per game. His four goals for Chelsea in all competitions this year have been at Stamford Bridge and he can return to the score sheet here against a suspect Seagulls defence which could have one eye on Saturday's FA Cup semi-final.
With the odds stacked heavily in the hosts' favour, it could be best keeping it simple here by backing Hazard.
Super 6 prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Brighton (Sky Bet odds: 9/2)
Best bet: Eden Hazard to score anytime at evens
Opta stats
- Chelsea have won all seven of their league games against Brighton – only Wimbledon against Bournemouth (8/8) have a better 100% win record against an opponent in English Football League history.
- Brighton have lost all four of their away games against Chelsea in all competitions, failing to score each time.
- Chelsea have won their last nine games in all competitions against Brighton, last winning 10 in a row against an opponent vs Bolton between 2008-2014.
- Chelsea have lost just one Premier League home game so far this season (vs Leicester in December), and have kept six clean sheets in their last nine at Stamford Bridge.
- Brighton won their last away Premier League game (2-1 vs Crystal Palace), but haven’t won consecutive league games on the road since November 2017.
- Brighton have lost all nine of their Premier League away games against ‘big six’ sides, scoring just two goals in those matches.
- Brighton have won just one of their 11 midweek Premier League games (D5 L5), winning 3-1 against Crystal Palace earlier this season.
- Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has been directly involved in four goals in his last two Premier League appearances against Brighton, scoring three and assisting another.
- Eden Hazard has been directly involved in 14 of Chelsea’s 29 Premier League goals at Stamford Bridge this season (8 goals, 6 assists), twice that of any other player at the club.
- Brighton’s Glenn Murray has scored a Premier League goal on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this season. He could become the first player since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2016-17 to score on as many as six different days of the week in a single Premier League campaign.
Manchester City v Cardiff
- Etihad Stadium, 1945 BST kick-off
Manchester City can return back to the top for 48 hours at least in the likely event they win on Wednesday.
They face Neil Warnock's Cardiff, who just cannot catch a break at the minute. Key starters Sol Bamba and Callum Paterson have been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign in recent weeks, then on Sunday they were beating Chelsea 1-0 with just over six minutes remaining before going on to lose 2-1, in part down to the Londoners' first goal which was offside.
The Bluebirds boss was furious on the touchline and he let his feelings known, standing in front of the officials in disbelief at the full-time whistle (below).
His side are in the bottom three and heading for the drop, five points adrift of safety, with a tough run-in that includes Liverpool and Man United as well as Wednesday's tough trip to City.
The games are piling up for the Citizens, who also have an FA Cup semi-final with Brighton on Saturday. They will have played eight games in total come the end of April, with the Champions League quarter-final double header with Tottenham also sandwiched in between their Premier League run-in.
The good thing for Pep Guardiola is the fact his squad is so strong and he can rotate nicely, so it would be no surprise to see Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus start this clash with Sergio Aguero injured.
The trouble is, City are so well fancied that they are evens and odds-on to score anytime respectively. We got a nice 9/4 price on City to be leading at Fulham after 15 minutes on Saturday and the same option here is at 19/10 if you expect them to start well again.
But Warnock's sides are usually organised and can at least start well after a good performance against Chelsea. Despite this, they are one of the league's worst teams away from home so bookies are expecting few shocks. A nice alternative price we are going for is in the cards market.
With the way this game is expected to go, City will dominate possession and frustrate the visitors. The midfield could at times be congested and that is why the 9/2 price on Aron Gunnarsson to be shown a card stands out.
The Iceland midfielder will likely occupy deep areas, coming up against the interchanging five of Sane, Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and one of the Silva's. Gunnarsson averages just over a foul per game this season and two of his four bookings this season have come against top six sides in Man United and Chelsea. The cut-off for suspensions after 10 yellow cards follows this game (32) and then goes up to 15, so Gunnarsson will have no worries in that respect.
It can be hard to get value from a City game so the away team's cards market could be the best area to look at overall.
Left-back Joe Bennett is 4/1 and he could be up against the likes of Sterling, Sane and attacking full-back Walker, while on the other side Lee Peltier is the same price and he could be in for a tricky 90 minutes. With that in mind, backing Cardiff in overs on booking points is well priced with 20+ at evens and 30+ at 3/1 but, with the congested midfield, Gunnarsson is the preferred option for us.
Super 6 prediction: Man City 4-0 Cardiff (Sky Bet odds: Price Boosted to 13/2)
Best bet: Aron Gunnarsson to be carded at 9/2
Opta stats
- Man City are unbeaten in their last six home league meetings with Cardiff (W4 D2), winning their only such Premier League meeting 4-2 in January 2014.
- Cardiff haven’t kept a league clean sheet against Man City in any of their last 13 meetings (34 goals conceded), since a 0-0 home draw in February 1962.
- Manchester City have won 16 of their last 17 Premier League home games, losing only against Crystal Palace in that run (2-3 in December).
- Man City are unbeaten in their last 35 Premier League home games against promoted sides (W31 D4), since a 0-2 loss vs Reading in February 2007.
- Man City haven’t lost a midweek Premier League home game (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) since May 2010 against Tottenham, winning 22 and drawing five since.
- Cardiff have won two of their last five Premier League away games (L3), as many as they had in their first 28 in the competition (W2 D6 L20).
- Cardiff have lost all 10 of their Premier League away games against ‘big six’ opposition, conceding 27 goals in the process.
- Cardiff’s last eight away goals in the Premier League have all been scored in the second half, with half of those being scored in the 90th minute or later. They last netted before half-time away from home in September against Chelsea.
- In six previous away games against Manchester City in all competitions, Cardiff manager Neil Warnock has never won (D2 L4), with his sides failing to score in all six meetings.
- Sergio Aguero has scored 18 goals in 17 home games for Man City in all competitions this season, including 11 in eight so far in 2019.
Tottenham v Crystal Palace
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 1945 BST kick-off
Spurs may be without a win in their last five Premier League matches and their confidence at a season low in the competition, but this is the match for them to turn it around.
They will make history by playing the club's first ever Premier League match at the new stadium and must not get caught up in the occasion, rather using it as a boost.
Crystal Palace will want to rain on their parade but the hosts' overall ability and buoyancy on the night should see them through.
They will be playing in front of over 60,000 fans in their unbelievable new ground and it has been a long time coming. It should be a great occasion as they look to take back third spot from rivals Arsenal.
Such poor form has seen Mauricio Pochettino's side go from under-the-radar title contenders to 18 points off top spot and fighting to stay in the top four, so no more errors can be afforded in the latter stages of the campaign, where they have to juggle their Champions League quarter-final double header with Man City too.
Palace will be no pushovers against their London rivals though, with Roy Hodgson's Eagles on a run of just two losses in their last eight in the Premier League, helping them to 13th and eight points clear of the bottom three. A win and draw before the end of the campaign should see them comfortably safe.
There could be goals for each team in this one, so the home win and BTTS was tempting at 21/10, as was Spurs to score three at 6/4, but we are going to look at who could get on the score sheet in the first official game in this arena.
The odds-on price on Harry Kane has little appeal, although it would be no surprise to see him net on his first appearance, but the more eye-catching option is on Dele Alli, available at 2/1 in places.
With seven goals in all competitions, the England attacker is not enjoying a prolific season like the last campaign and the one before, where he netted 14 and 22 respectively, but he has played nearly half as much games due to injury. He likes to rise to the occasion and can do so here.
The 22-year-old averages just under two shots per game in the Premier League and had as many as four in one game against Man United at home in January.
He completed 90 minutes in Sunday's defeat at Liverpool for the first time since returning from his latest spell on the sidelines and is likely to start again here.
In the above interview with Sky Sports upon first seeing the ground, he is clearly excited to take to the field.
"It's amazing," he said.
"We've been waiting for this for a long time and it's finally come. Now I have seen it in all of its glory and I love it.
"We've had a few tough games and results, so maybe a change is what we needed at this point of the season."
He added: "It's a difficult point of the season, every game is massive, and you've got to get as many points as you can. Hopefully we can have a positive end to the season in this stadium."
Considering the positions he occupies and the supporting role he plays behind Kane and Heung-min Son, the 2/1 anytime price looks worth a small play on a night when Spurs should have the wind in their sails and Palace could be overwhelmed.
Super 6 prediction: Spurs 3-1 Crystal Palace (Sky Bet odds: 11/1)
Best bet: Dele Alli to score anytime at 2/1
Opta stats
- Tottenham have won their last seven Premier League meetings against Crystal Palace, six of them by a 1-0 scoreline – against no side have they won more consecutively in the competition (also 7 vs Man City and Swansea).
- Crystal Palace are winless in their last six away league games against Spurs (D2 L4), failing to score in their last five. Their last league win at Spurs was in November 1997, 1-0 courtesy of a Neil Shipperley goal.
- Tottenham have won 1-0 in each of their last five Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace, the longest run of consecutive identical results between two sides in the history of the competition.
- This match will see Tottenham Hotspur become the first club to play a home game at two different stadiums within a single Premier League season.
- Tottenham will be playing their first ever match in their new stadium – they were unbeaten in their last 19 league games at the old White Hart Lane (W17 D2), winning the last 14 in a row.
- Crystal Palace are looking to secure three consecutive away league wins for the first time since August 2015.
- After a run of seven consecutive wins in Premier League London derby matches, Spurs have won just one of their last four such matches (D1 L2).
- Crystal Palace’s only away London derby win this season was at Fulham on the opening weekend – the last top-flight campaign that saw them win two away London derbies was 1997-98 (vs Wimbledon and Spurs).
- Harry Kane has scored 59 home goals for Tottenham in the Premier League – only Jermain Defoe (60) scored more in home games for the club.
- Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha has scored in each of his last three away Premier League games (4 goals in total). No player has ever scored in four consecutive Premier League away appearances for the Eagles.
Odds correct as of 1300 BST on 02/04/2019
