It is always a special event when two of the elite teams in the English game
clash against each other in the Premier League, even more so when it involves arguably the most heated rivalry in English football. Add into the mix the first domestic cup final of the season between two other top six sides and the fact that Sunday could see a new team atop of the Premier League and you have as much drama as you can handle for one weekend.
There are just eight Premier League games this weekend to enjoy and the reason for that is the Carabao Cup Final is taking place at Wembley on Sunday between Manchester City and Chelsea. City have already played the game they would have played this weekend (away to Everton) and won it, meaning they have played a game more than their rivals.
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That gam and goal difference is what is keeping City at the top of the table but they could lose that position at the weekend if Liverpool win. However, Liverpool face the now daunting task of a game against their bitter rivals Manchester United, who just so happen to be undefeated in the league since their 3-1 defeat at Anfield in December.
You can be absolutely 100% sure that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have his team fired up for this game as not only will United want revenge for that defeat at Anfield, they will know a victory would inflict only Liverpool’s second defeat of the season on the Reds and deny their fierce rivals top spot in the Premier League.
It means that this Sunday will not just see the first domestic trophy winner in England crowned, but we could also see a pivotal point in the race for the Premier League title, all of which makes for a fabulous weekend to enjoy a spot of betting on.
Outlined below are a preview and a selection of tips for each of the two big games taking place on Sunday, hopefully with a view towards you landing a few quid at the hands of the bookmakers by making a successful bet or two yourself.
Premier League
Manchester United v Liverpool
When these teams last met at Anfield, it was two deflected goals 
from sub Xherdan Shaqiri which took Liverpool to a 3-1 victory and was the final nail in the coffin of Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho who was sacked just a few hours following the game.
Since then Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come in and transformed United’s fortunes and after losing to PSG 2-0 in the Champions League Round of 16, their first defeat under Solskjaer, United bounced back to record a superb 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup on Monday night.
Old Trafford will be buzzing for the Sunday game and it is a ground where United have enjoyed solid success over Liverpool in recent times and of the two teams, it is United who are in the better form of the two heading into the match.
Liverpool will know that a win or draw will put them back top of the table with ten games left to play but Old Trafford has not been a happy hunting ground for the Reds of late and it is going to take a superhuman effort from Klopp’s men to get anything from the games I feel.
Liverpool’s cause could be helped by injuries to Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard, although United adopted a modified 4-4-2 system against Chelsea to great effect in midweek and it is likely they will go with a similar formation here. Liverpool will likely stick to their trusted 4-3-3, with Van Dijk returning in defence after missing the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich in the week through suspension.
This should be an exciting game and I think there will be goals at both ends but it is an extremely difficult game to call. Despite that, here’s my tips for the game:
- Full Time Result – Draw – 5/2
- Correct Score – Man Utd 1-1 Liverpool – 6/1
- First Goalscorer – Marcus Rashford (Man Utd) – 11/2
Carabao Cup Final
Chelsea v Manchester City
A couple of weeks ago, Chelsea were humiliated at the Etihad 
Stadium as Mauricio Sarri’s men were swept aside 6-0 by a rampant Manchester City. Since then, it hasn’t improved much for Chelsea as they were then eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester United on Monday night.
City in contrast have been in an exceptionally good run of form and performances, which have taken them into an FA Cup quarterfinal away to Swansea, the Round of 16 in the Champions League and to the top of the Premier League and they could wrap up their second trophy of the season this weekend to add to their Community Shield win (also against Chelsea) back in August.
Few Chelsea managers have been under quite so much pressure from pundits and fans alike in the build up to a key a game and it is not far-fetched to suggest that a defeat here could see Sarri out of a job within hours. Indeed, the Italian may well already be likely to get the sack regardless of the outcome on Saturday.
Given Chelsea’s struggled of late, in addition to losing to United and City, they have also been beaten 4-0 away to Bournemouth as well as losing to Arsenal and Tottenham in 2019 so far, it is hard to see how this Chelsea team, which already has an aura of defeatism surrounding it, can raise their game to beat City here.
Their best chance could be for Sarri to adopt an entirely fresh approach for this game, with Jorginho switching from his anchor role allowing Kante to play there and perhaps bringing in fresh width in Hudson-Odoi or Willian instead of Pedro, but it just seems like Sarri is loathe to change his way of playing despite how results are going.
Higuain’s signing hasn’t added anything to the team as yet and if anything, they seem even more ponderous in attack, Giroud links better with Hazard and Willian, yet the Frenchman is only good enough for a place on the bench.
As such, with City flying and having such a great depth in their squad. I can’t see anything other than a convincing win for City here and my tips for the game are outlined below:
- Full Time Result – Manchester City to win – 11/20
- Correct Score – Manchester City to win 3-1 – 12/1
- First Goalscorer – Sergio Aguero (Man City) – 16/5