2 weeks Ago
For more stories like this click here to follow The Athletic’s sports betting section and have them added to your feed. It’s time to build another Premier League accumulator. We’ve checked the fixtures, scanned the markets and found a 6.
6/1 acca that feels well worth backing. Selection 1: Liverpool to win and over 2.5 goals at 1/2 One more point.
One more point will secure a 20th Premier League title for Liverpool, and the setting for it could barely be better: At home, in glorious spring weather, with club captain Virgil van Dijk set to play his first game at Anfield since signing a new two-year deal with the club. It’s going to be a carnival. Spurs will effectively play the role of innocent, distracted bystanders.
Their chances of spoiling the party are reflected keenly in the odds – Liverpool double chance is 1/25! – as they’ll probably be more focused on their looming UEFA Europa League semi-final than raining on the Reds’ parade. Advertisement If they look anywhere near as hapless and unprepared as they did against Nottingham Forest on Monday, there’s a chance Liverpool will run them over. Backing the Reds to seal the title in style here feels like a smart play.
Selection 2: Flynn Downes to commit a foul in each half at 5/4 Liverpool aren’t the only team this weekend who need just one more point. Southampton host Fulham knowing a draw (or better) would lift them clear of 11 points, and with it, Derby County’s unwanted record for all-time fewest points in a season, which they currently share. Given they’re coming off the back of a genuinely good performance, in which they deservedly netted a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw away to West Ham, there might just be a sliver of interest for bettors in a Southampton or draw double chance bet here, priced at 11/10.
That feels pretty bold, though. Betting on Southampton to do just about anything positive this season has felt unbelievably risky, so instead, let’s look at something a bit more guaranteed: Flynn Downes fouling people. He averages 2.
3 fouls per 90 in the league this season, and now he’s back in the team after serving a two-game suspension (because he received 10 yellows for fouling so many people), he’s ready to foul some more. Fulham offer a very physical test, with Sander Berge in particular happy to embrace the dirty side of a midfield duel, and there’s every chance Downes ends up tangled in it. Selection 3: Newcastle United to win and under 3.
5 goals at 5/4 The knock-on effect of Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup victory was a fixture crunch in April. They played five games in just shy of 20 days and had to brave three of them without their manager, Eddie Howe, who was recovering from pneumonia. Now, with their first full week of prep under their belts for a while, plus Howe fit to return to duty, they get the chance to banish the demons of the 4-1 shellacking they received from Aston Villa last weekend.
The poor, unsuspecting victims in their sights are Ipswich Town, who will highly likely be mathematically relegated at the full-time whistle, as they’re 15 points off safety with five games to go. Advertisement They stand little chance of upsetting the odds here – they’re priced at 13/1 to win – but could do a good job of keeping the Magpies honest in terms of goals, given they’re still technically alive and have shown a fighting resilience all season. That, plus the fact Newcastle do need to rebuild their confidence and form after last week, could lend itself to a deceptively low-scoring affair.
Acca odds: 6.6/1 Betting/Odds links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic . Restrictions may apply.
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