There are three matches on Sunday with the focus largely on the Premier League title race with Manchester City and Manchester United in action, although basement side Wigan also have points to play for. City currently hold a two-point advantage over United going into the weekend’s fixtures and remain odds on at 8/11 with the defending champions available at 11/10 – and any points dropped now could have a huge bearing on where the trophy ends up.
Swansea City v Man City 2pm
Roberto Mancini has suffered a big blow with captain Vincent Kompany ruled out with a calf injury picked up in the 1-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League, and Pablo Zabaleta also misses the trip to the Liberty Stadium while there are doubts over defensive duo Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott.
Not an ideal situation to be heading to South Wales where the Swans have been beaten just twice this season but City do have strength in their squad to cover for such eventualities.
City’s hopes of keeping a fifth clean sheet on the bounce have been hit on the face of it, but Swansea have struggled to score for large parts of the season, having failed to score in 11 of their 27 games.
Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham could cause one or two problems but Nathan Dyer’s absence is key for the Swans, who suffered a 4-0 mauling at the Etihad Stadium on the opening day of the season.
Going forward, City have a wealth of options and there is no reason why the leaders cannot capitalise on that strength to get the three points (Swansea 5/1, Draw 11/4, City 8/13 Match Betting).
Man United v West Brom 2pm
The champions have never lost to West Brom in the Premier League and have won six of their last seven Premier League games but there looks to be value in opposing United in the match betting (Man Utd 2/7, Draw 9/2, WBA 11/1 Match Betting).
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men go into the game on the back of a 3-2 reverse at Old Trafford in the Europa League – a scoreline which flattered the home side – and West Brom have hit form of late.
The Baggies have smashed both Wolves and a Martin O’Neill rejuvenated Sunderland as well as ending the reign of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea to climb up to 10th place in the table.
Roy Hodgson’s men also have a better record on their travels than they do at the Hawthorns, and proved they can match United by coming from 2-0 down at Old Trafford last season to snatch a point.
United are second in the table and do have quality in their ranks but it has often misfired this season and Albion at 11/1 look worthy of consideration.
At the very least, they can get amongst the goals so backing over 2.5 goals at 8/15 or Albion with a goal start at 13/5 should not be overlooked.
Norwich v Wigan 4pm
Wigan are in desperate need of the points to boost their bid for survival and perhaps stave off a growing anxiety in the ranks – with chairman Dave Whelan having a pop at his players following last weekend’s defeat to Swansea.
Norwich have enjoyed their return to the top-flight and comfortably sit in mid-table with a 13-point cushion over the relegation zone.
The Canaries do not seemingly have any pressure on them going into the game, other than the weight of expectation as they are the 5/6 favourites in the match betting, with Latics available at 10/3 and the draw at 13/5.
Roberto Martinez can seemingly count on the support of his boss but that may well come into question if the club continues to struggle – and it is difficult seeing that changing on Sunday.
Wigan have mustered just four wins all season and have now gone 12 matches without a victory, while goals continue to be a problem, having scored a mere 23 to date.
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