Premier League: Six potential relegations battlers in action
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Coral football writers preview three 3pm Saturday kick-off clashes from the Premier League, all of which could be potential relegation battlers by the end of the current season.
Aston Villa host Stoke City, Bournemouth welcome Watford, while Norwich City entertain Leicester City, as these six sides tussle for crucial points.
Aston Villa v Stoke
These two teams are next to each other in the table after seven matches, and either side of the drop zone, with the Villans (7/5 favourites) occupying the third relegation place.
In the last nine meetings between the two, the home side has won just once, which isn’t promising reading for Tim Sherwood’s men, who have lost five of their last six matches this league season, but a draw is a decent shout at 11/5.
Stoke finally grabbed their first win of the campaign last time out against Bournemouth, and are tempting 2/1 chances for victory again.
For goals, Mame Biram Diouf scored against Villa last term and tops the Potters’ anytime market at 7/4, while for the hosts Rudy Gestede will be hoping to follow up his brace against Liverpool, and is slightly shorter at 6/4.
Bournemouth v Watford
In this clash between two promoted teams from last campaign, it is Watford (5/2 for victory) who hold the edge so far taking nine points to the Cherries’ (11/10) seven.
Bournemouth won this fixture last season in the Championship 2-0, with Yann Kermorgant and Matt Ritchie on target, and those duo will have to step up again with star attackers Max Gradel and Callum Wilson injured long-term. They are respective 5/4 and 15/8 shouts to net again anytime.
For the Hornets, Troy Deeney knows how to score against this team, having hit a hat-trick against them in 2013/14, and he is 2/1 to take advantage of Eddie Howe’s injury-hit side.
Norwich v Leicester
The Foxes (21/10 to win) started the season in fantastic fashion, but have slipped up slightly in the last couple of games, although are still up in eighth. Norwich (5/4), on the other hand, have picked up the pace more to go just three points behind their upcoming opponents.
They may not have met since 2012, but this fixture usually produces lots of goals. You can take tasty odds of 9/5 for there to be over 3.5 again.
Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have been in fantastic form so far, and are 6/4 and 11/4 respectively to net anytime here. Cameron Jerome, meanwhile, tops Norwich’s market at 5/4.
