Premier League Preview: Kane, Zaha and more misery for West Ham?
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Tips and preview for gameweek five
The Premier League returns with a flourish this weekend, as Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool and Manchester United travel to Watford.
The Coral News Team have picked out the key talking points from those two titanic tussles – and three of the other five-star fixtures across the next two days – below.
Will Kane be up for lunchtime ding-dong?
The standout game of the weekend takes place at Wembley Stadium, as Spurs host Liverpool in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off. Mauricio Pochettino’s men won this match 4-1 last year amid a dismal Reds defensive performance.
Harry Kane downed the visitors with two goals that afternoon. Yet there are questions over his fitness this time around. Will the England ace lift himself for this huge clash? Or can the Reds’ newly attuned defence keep a fourth clean sheet in five matches? Liverpool are 15/4 to Win to Nil against a home side missing Dele Alli and Hugo Lloris.
Can United win where Spurs failed?
Not even the most optimistic Watford fan would have predicted their side being among the three teams left standing with a 100% record after three matches. But Javi Gracia’s men have been hugely impressive thus far. And they won’t fear a visit from Manchester United on Saturday.
The Hornets have won their last four matches at Vicarage Road and have also taken points off of Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool at home in the last 13 months. They’re 3/1 to inflict United’s third defeat in four top-flight matches.
Zaha faces fitness race for Palace
Crystal Palace have failed to pick up a single point in the 11 Premier League matches that Wilfried Zaha has missed since the start of last season. So Roy Hodgson will be counting on his main man to be fit as the Eagles travel to Huddersfield Town this weekend.
The Ivory Coast international is 20/1 to Score Anytime in a Palace win. If he misses out, the Terriers are 21/10 to record just their second home success since December 2017.
Arsenal’s defensive frailties shown again?
Newcastle United ended a run of 10 straight defeats against Arsenal with a 2-1 win at St James’ Park last season. The Gunners have improved since that defeat under Arsene Wenger. But there’s still a soft underbelly about the North Londoners.
Cardiff City put two past them a fortnight ago, while West Ham United squandered a glut of chances at the Emirates Stadium last month. Newcastle tend to prioritise defending against the league’s better sides. If they sacrifice that and attack the visitors on Saturday, they could be rewarded.
Another defeat for unhappy Hammers?
Pressure is growing on West Ham United boss Manuel Pellegrini. The Hammers have lost all four of their Premier League games so far this season and face a nightmare run of fixtures in the coming weeks.
They’re not given much of a squeak at 5/2 to win away against Everton. Then it’s Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City all before the start of November. It could get even worse before it gets better for the East Londoners.
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All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
