1. Watford vs Manchester City
Manchester City has won four consecutive Premier League games but still hasn’t reached leading Chelsea who are one point away on the top of the standings. As the Blues are visiting uprising West Ham, Pep Guardiola hopes that with a win in Watford his team will finally get on top.
Watford has lost four of the last five games, with the 4-1 win over Manchester United in between and is currently in 17th place only three points above the relegation zone.
City has won the last 13 games against Watford in all competitions, the last three with 18-0 score.
2. Roma vs Inter
Jose Mourinho will face off his former club as Roma hosts Inter on Olimpico.
Mourinho’s Roma fell out of the Champions League spots after losing 1-0 to Bologna in the mid-week round. Roma is currently fifth in Serie A with 25 points, six less than fourth-placed Atalanta.
The reigning champion Inter won its last two games by 2-0 against Spezia and Venezia and is in third place, two points shy of leading Napoli and one of the city rival Milan.
Six of their last ten head-to-heads have ended in a tie with both teams winning twice. Inter won their last game by 3-1 in May, which was their first home win against Roma since 2015.
3. Barcelona vs Betis
Since Xavi took over the coaching job in Barcelona the team has much improved which was seen in the last round when they defeated Villareal 3-1 on the road. Still, the Catalans are far from what is expected of them, sitting in the seventh spot in La Liga with 13 points less than the leading Real Madrid.
Betis on the other hand have had a great season, currently in fifth place, with only one point less than Sevilla who is fourth.
Barcelona has won the last five games against Betis and the last seven between these two have seen at least five goals.
4. Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid
Real Sociedad started the season furiously but has failed to third place after failing to win in the last two rounds without scoring a single goal in a loss to Espanyol and a draw with Valencia.
Real Madrid on the other hand, has six wins in the last seven games in La Liga and is on top of the standing with a seven-point advantage in front of Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad.
The last two league games between these two ended in a tie. Of the previous eight games, Madrid won five times and Sociedad three.
Seven of their last ten head-to-heads have gone over 2.5 goals.
5. Aston Villa vs Leicester City
Aston Villa has recently climbed out of the relegation zone and is now in 13th place on the Premier League standings while Leicester City is eighth with 19 points.
Aston Villa has lost three of the last five games but what gives hope to the Claret & Blue Army are two consecutive wins over Brighton and Crystal Palace after Steven Gerrard took over the charge as the new manager.
In their last game on Wednesday night, Villa couldn’t hold off the mighty Manchester City losing 2-1 on Villa Park.
In the last ten Premier League games between these two teams, Leicester City has won five, Aston Villa four while only one game has ended in a tie. These ten games have seen 3.3 goals on average.
WORDS: Marko Mitevski