Tottenham v Arsenal
Premier League – 12.30 pm
BT Sport
The North London derby is going to be taking centre stage on Saturday lunchtime. So let’s kick off the best bets of the day preview at Wembley. Arsenal turned on the attacking style when the two met earlier this season as they picked up a 4-2 home win over their rivals. Will the tables be turned in this one? Arsenal are 11/4 in the match outright with the leading bookmakers to topple the Lilywhites again.
Spurs have seen their title hopes crushed and stomped all over in the last week. A shock defeat out Burnley last weekend was followed up by a defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in midweek. Strangely enough, those defeats coincided with the return from injury of their talisman Harry Kane. So now having ceded ground to the top two, Spurs just have to strive and push for a top-four finish. A defeat in this North London derby and that could be in jeopardy.
Spurs start in third place, just the four points ahead of the Gunners. So the points on offer in this one are huge. A home win for Tottenham at 21/20 odds, would see them sitting pretty comfortable up in third. But Arsenal have hit some form with five wins in their last six Premier League games and they have averaged almost two goals per away game this season. The Gunners are in a tight battle with Man Utd and Chelsea for fourth. They can’t take their foot off the gas either. It could all lead to a cracking North London derby, of high stakes for both.
Real Madrid v Barcelona
La Liga – 7.45 pm
Premier Sports
This could be a pivotal moment in the title race in La Liga. Barcelona are seven points clear at the top of the pile as it stands over Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid are trailing behind in third, nine points adrift of the Catalans. So really this would appear to be the last big chance that Real Madrid have at trying to haul their way back into the title race. A chance to keep some slim hopes of getting their hands on the title alive. However, they were crushed at home in midweek by Barcelona 3-0 in a Copa del Rey fixture.
Real Madrid couldn’t cope with the Catalans, and that result has seen Barcelona trimmed into 11/8 favourites at leading bookmakers to win this away game. That says a lot about them. They are on a thirteen match undefeated streak of form in the league to be fair. They are undefeated in their last nine out on the road. Barca have won their last two visits to the Bernabeu 3-0 as well. So there’s every reason to label them as favourites. However, Real Madrid will know the importance of this one. It’s a huge chance for them to shake off their troubles and to make a statement of intent that they aren’t going away. Los Merengues are 7/4 for the home win.
West Ham v Newcastle
Premier League – 5.30 pm
Sky Sports
The final Premier League action of the day sees West Ham playing host to Newcastle. The Hammers could certainly do with the lift of a win as they have only taken two of them in their last nine played in the top flight. Both of those were at home though, and the Hammers are undefeated in their last four home fixtures (W2 D2). So that suggests that they aren’t going to get knocked over easily.
The Irons are 23/20 in the outright market with top bookmakers. But they will be facing up to a Newcastle side who seem to have gotten their act together. The Magpies have won four of their last six (D1 L1) top-flight games and have eased what were some substantial relegation concerns. However, they haven’t won in five out of the road (D2 L3). Because of that, they may be happy enough just to avoid defeat to keep their revival going. It will be interesting to see how the Magpies approach this one.
Leicester v Wasps
Premiership Rugby – 3.00 pm
BT Sport
Leicester are still searching for some kind of winning momentum. The Tigers have only managed to produce the two victories in their last seven games in the Premiership. However, the two wins in what sequence both cropped up in their last two home games. So there has been a bit of renewed hope for them (at least in action at Welford Road). After their home wins over Harlequins and Gloucester, two of the current top four, can they hand out the same fate to Wasps?
Wasps are sitting five points better off in the league standings than the Tigers this season. However, they have struggled for away results. Wasps have just the two wins out on the road since November across all competitions. They are going into the game as the 6/5 underdogs against the 8/11 favouritism on the Tigers. However, Wasps are the ones with the head to head form against Leicester having lost just one of their last seven against them. That defeat was by just the one point too. The leading bookmakers are expecting a tight handicap line to come into play in this one.
Catalans Dragons v Warrington
Super League – 5.00 pm
Sky Sports
Super League title contenders Warrington Wolves make the short trip across the channel to take on French side Catalans Dragons on Saturday. The Wire had a three-match winning streak over the Dragons going until they met back in August last year. The Dragons took a 20-14 victory over Warrington in the final of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup, becoming the first non-British winners in the history of the tournament. But it is the travelling Wolves who are favourites to get themselves the win at 1/2 odds with leading bookmakers.
They have posted three wins from three so far this season, while the Dragons have taken just the one win from their opening three games. In the last six meetings, Warrington have outscored the Dragons 31-11 in tries. But will the Dragons be able to take forward some confidence from that win over the Wire six months ago? It will be interesting early season action from the Stade Gilbert Brutus.
