Dimibar Berbatov previews the weekend Premier League action (Picture: Getty / Metro.co.uk)
The winter break means there are only five Premier League fixtures to soak up this weekend, but there’s still some big games to look forward to.
A west London derby between Chelsea and Fulham sets us up nicely on Saturday with both clubs hoping to bounce back from midweek Carabao Cup semi-final first leg defeats.
Old Trafford, meanwhile, takes centre stage on Sunday with Jim Ratcliffe set to attend his first match since he acquired a 25% stake in the club.
As ever, Betfair Ambassador Dimitar Berbatov previews the action for Metro.co.uk…
Burnley vs Luton
It’s a massive game for both teams. Burnley can win to close the gap to one point. If Luton win then it’s a comfortable gap on Burnley. I’ll go with Burnley to win.
Prediction: 2-1
Chelsea vs Fulham
Chelsea will hope Cole Palmer will have rediscovered his shooting boots (Picture: Getty)
I don’t know what to say anymore when it comes to Chelsea, honestly. So many teams are struggling to put the ball in the net at the moment, it shows you how important it is to have a striker who can score goals and how good it is if you have more than one guy to score the goals. When you don’t have the players who can score then your game suffers. You draw 0-0 or you lose games. If it continues then the only logical thing to do is to go out on the training pitch and continue to do what you’ve done before – trying to put the ball in the back of the net.
Based on Chelsea’s performance against Middlesbrough, I’ll go for a draw in this one.
Prediction: 1-1
Newcastle vs Man City
The return of Kevin De Bruyne will be a concern for Man City’s rivals (Picture: Getty)
That’s an interesting one. I want Newcastle to win, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. At the same time, City need to win because dropping points isn’t a good thing. I’ll go for a big surprise and say a draw. You never know with Newcastle or Man City. Man City will play the way they play, that’ll never change. Newcastle, at home, with their fans going crazy to support their team, the players feel that and try to go and score goals. There is a possibility to see something similar to last season’s 3-3 draw at St James’ Park, but maybe we won’t witness quite the exact the same game.
Prediction 2-2
Everton vs Aston Villa
That’s an interesting game because Everton need the points and Aston Villa are flying. I want Aston Villa to continue to put pressure on the big teams. Everton are doing okay as well. But let’s go for Aston Villa to win the game.
Prediction 1-3
Man United v Spurs
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be in attendance at Old Trafford when Man Utd take on Spurs (Picture: Getty)
I can see this being a tight game and I’m going to say it will be 1-0 to United. It sounds boring, but I hope that’s not the case. I think there’s a lot at stake for both teams. That can sometimes play with your mind and make you not produce your best game possible.
Prediction: 1-0
To hear more from Betfair’s Dimitar Berbatov, listen to him on this week’s Football…Only Bettor podcast here: https://betting.betfair.com/podcasts/football-only-bettor/
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