England Round 37

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Tottenham vs Brentford Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Tottenham:
Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Porro, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Davies; Kulusevski, Son; Kane

Brentford:
Raya; Zanka, Mee, Pinnock; Hickey, Onyeka, Jensen, Janelt, Henry; Mbeumo, Wissa

Tottenham welcome Brentford to North London for a Premier League clash on Saturday lunchtime. The Spurs will try to collect three points from this match to keep their European hopes alive. They are sharing the seventh place with Aston Villa as both teams have 57 points. The fans are not satisfied, most of them are disappointed. They were hoping to see Champions League football again, but the sixth place is maximum they could climb. The things went wrong even before Antonio Conte left, but culminated under Sturaro with a shameful defeat to Newcastle. Some improvement could be noticed under Ryan Mason - the unlucky defeat to Liverpool after stunning comeback at Anfield and the home win against Crystal Palace impacted the players confidence. However, the Spurs suffered a 2:1 defeat to Aston Villa in the last round and Mason said Tottenham lacked "togetherness." The hosts will be without injured trio Hugo Lloris, Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Eric Dier and Japhet Tanganga are both doubtful.

Brentford are on the 9th place with 53 points and they will definitely finish the season in the first part of the table. Coach Thomas Frank did a fantastic job and the fans are pleased. The Bees are four places and seven points better off than last season with two games still to play. A potential victory here would see them move to within one point of seventh-placed Tottenham heading into their final fixture of the campaign, albeit a home game against champions Manchester City. But the away form is poor, Brentford have just two victories in their last 10 league matches on the road. What could be positive, that's the fact those two victories were recorded in London. But the away form is not the only problem for Frank. The club have been rocked by Ivan Toney's suspension. Toney has been banned from football for 8 months, for 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules. The 27-year-old can return to training with Brentford four months before it ends on 17 September. The Bees are also without Lewis-Potter, Jansson, Norgaard and Strakosha.

Tottenham vs Brentford Prediction:

Tottenham are solid at home as they have won six of the last eight league matches at new White Hart Lane. At the same time Brentford are poor travelers - the Bees have suffered defeat in three of their last four games on the road. This is the reason for my pick, but there is more - Toney's suspension. He is the club leading scorer with 20 goals and 4 assists.

Tottenham vs Brentford Pick: Tottenham to win @ 1.86 with Pinnacle

 

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Liverpool vs Aston Villa Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Liverpool:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz

Aston Villa:
Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; Ramsey, Kamara, Luiz, McGinn; Buendia, Watkins

Liverpool welcome Aston Villa to Anfield on Saturday afternoon. This will be the Reds last home match of the season. They are in excellent form, seven victories on the last seven matches in the Premier League. Nevertheless, it seems they found the form too late. Jurgen Klopp's men managed to beat Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Tottenham, Fulham, Brentford and Leicester City. Even more, Alisson kept the net untouched on the last three matches. Curtis Jones should also be mentioned after scoring a brace at King Power. The winning series leave Liverpool one point adrift of Manchester United in fifth place, although the Red Devils still have a game in hand. Klopp has the majority of his key players available, but Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Calvin Ramsay remain sidelined with injuries, while Roberto Firmino and Naby Keita are rated as doubtful. Klopp is also banned for his inappropriate behavior in the finish of the match with Tottenham. This week was confirmed that Firmino, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Milner would leave the club in June, so tributes will be paid to the quartet for their final home game.

Aston Villa were impressive under the new manager Unai Emeri, who replaced Steven Gerrard. They were unbeaten on 10 matches in the Premier League, winning eight of them. However, the series ended when they faced Manchester United and Wolverhampton. In the last round the Villans returned to the victories when beat Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park. An early Jacob Ramsey effort and a Douglas Luiz free kick gave Aston Villa a two-goal advantage. A controversially-awarded penalty for Harry Kane cut the deficit in the stoppage time, but it was too little too late for the Spurs. Both Villa and Tottenham have 57 points and the battle for Europa Conference League spot intensifies. With Matty Cash returning to the squad versus Tottenham after shaking off a calf problem, Emeri has just two injury worries ahead of this match. The ex-Reds player Philippe Coutinho will probably miss out the reunion with his former club after picking up an injury, while the backup goalkeeper Jed Steer remain sidelined with a calf injury.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa Prediction:

Liverpool are seeking the eighth successive victory to remain competitive in the battle for the Top-4. The players confidence is high and they will attack from the very first whistle. But Villa are able to upset the Reds. I think Klopp's heaviest defeat came from Aston Villa, a 7:2 loss in October 2020. Generally, the mutual games between these two teams are efficient. Five of the last six ended with goals at both sides and I expect something similar again.

Liverpool vs Aston Villa Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 1.74 with Pinnacle