1. Man United to beat Southampton on penalties – 10/1
ONE OF MAN United’s biggest problems this season has been their failure to break teams down.
Owing largely to this failure, Jose Mourinho’s men have drawn nine league games — more than any other Premier League side with the exception of Middlesbrough.
On Sunday, they will come up against a Southampton team who have impressed defensively at times during the campaign — a stubborn backline was one of the main reasons why they managed to upset Liverpool in the semi-final of the League Cup.
Cup finals generally tend to be cagey affairs, and with Jose Mourinho and Claude Puel both predominantly defensive coaches, don’t be surprised to see Sunday’s EFL Cup final decided by penalties for the fourth time in the last nine years.
2. Mane to be first goalscorer in Leicester-Liverpool – 9/2
Liverpool simply look a different team when Sadio Mane is available.
The Reds’ form dipped dramatically when the Senegal international was away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, and their improvement since his return is no coincidence.
Mane looked full of confidence, hitting a brace in Liverpool’s most recent game — an impressive 2-0 defeat of Tottenham.
Moreover, against manager-less Leicester on Monday night, expect the lightning-quick Mane to capitalise on a slow, ageing Leicester defence that has been exposed routinely of late.
3. Gylfi Sigurdsson to score anytime against Chelsea – 5/1
There’s been a renewed sense of life about Swansea since Paul Clement took over as boss.
Having looked doomed at one point, the former Bayern Munich assistant coach has helped bring the Swans four points above the relegation zone.
Their attack play, in particular, has improved of late.
While nobody is expecting them to overcome league leaders Chelsea, it would no surprise to see them cause the Blues some problems.
In the six league games since Clement took over, they have won four and lost two — a 4-0 defeat by Arsenal and a 2-1 loss to Man City being their only setbacks.
One encouraging aspect of their recent displays has been the return of their free-flowing attacking football, with midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson impressing amid this timely rejuvenation.
The Icelandic midfielder has scored nine goals in all competitions this season and three in his last four, finding the net in matches against top sides in Liverpool and Man City.
Therefore, don’t be surprised to see the ex-Tottenham player on target again this weekend.
4. Everton to beat Sunderland with a -2.0 handicap – 3/1
Sunderland have one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League, and their most recent match — a 4-0 home defeat against Southampton — suggests the problem remains chronic.
David Moyes will be hoping to get one over on his former employers as he returns to Goodison Park for just the second time since he left Everton to become manager of Manchester United.
In reality however, anything other than a Toffees win seems unlikely, with the Black Cats having picked up just one victory from their last eight games.
By contrast, seventh-place Everton are unbeaten in eight league fixtures, and have impressed at home this season in particular, losing only one and winning seven of their 12 matches at Goodison.
Romelu Lukaku is a single goal away from emulating Duncan Ferguson’s record of 60 Premier League goals for Everton, and the prolific Belgian international may well secure this landmark against Sunderland’s porous backline.
5. Hull to beat Burnley and both to score – 4/1
Backing a team currently in the relegation zone may seem like a big risk, but the context is important in this instance.
Neither Hull nor Burnley are particularly strong defensively or attractive to watch, so expect this encounter to resemble a chaotic Championship match more than anything else, with both sides likely feeling a win is possible and therefore attacking their opponents at will.
Hull may be 10 points below Burnley in the league table, but they have shown signs of improvement since Marco Silva took over, taking points off Man United and Liverpool following the Portuguese boss’ appointment.
Moreover, the Clarets won’t be going into the match filled with confidence. They are coming off the back of a shock FA Cup loss to non-league outfit Lincoln, while they have picked up just one point from 11 matches on the road this season.
Originally published Friday at 17.44
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Some score line from both teams .. Makes trying to watch football even harder
Hard luck Wexford …we gifted them 2 goals,too many soft frees and could have had 3 goals with some luck and need to convert our frees
But we are definitely goin in the right direction
Credit to all ladsfor supreme effort…up wexford
@David Kinsella: dream on David
@David Kinsella: dream on
@David Kinsella: Woulda coulda shoulda
Home advantage seems to be huge during the league. It will be interesting to see will this transfer into the new championship format. If so neutral venues maybe needed.
Wexford paid Tipp too much respect and didn’t commit enough to attack once Tipp figured out where the spare man was Paudie Maher and Heffernan started to Lord it at half back.If Wexford are too push on they need to commit more to attack at one stage I only saw two Wex players inside the Tipp 65. This “Waterford tatic” can only get you so far. I think Wex have better forwards than Waterford so they could be better here. As for Tipp typically excellent for periods but fell asleep for the last 15. Some of the ball winning in the half forward is still a big of a concern plus the goalie (even though he made two great saves)doesn’t instill confidence.The first touch of Tipp and the natural hurling is the best in the country but work rate hooks and blocks is where All Ireland’s are won.
@Colly08: Good summation in fairness
@Colly08: jesus lad give the goalies a break their both new and it takes time to build confidence at this level . Also being chopped and changed the whole time doesnt allow you to build this confidence. I thought they both played very well so far
@Colly08: While Tipp’s defence was opened up by Wexford several times in that 2nd half, it reflected poorly that Wexford didn’t have the patience to chip away with points rather than desperately going for goals when they had plenty of time. But they’re going in the right direction for sure.
Equally, Michael Ryan will be quietly pleased overall with that game in that he’s testing out new players and moving established players into new positions, building a stronger squad depth and new positional strength, which will be desperately needed for the new format Championship.
@Michael McGrath: Very Poor down in Cork last year against Clare in the 1/4 final as well. I hope he improves given an extended run in the team.
Great game of hurling, Lee Chin and Bonner Maher were brilliant throughout, thought Lar Corbett was very poor for Tip when he came on. Jason Forde was deadly from placed balls.
@Flembomb: Lar Corbett? What year are you living in??
@Flembomb: Nicky English was poor enough when he came on aswell think the age is catching up to him
@800yearsofoppresion: taught the same myself. Philly Maher was ok when he came on for Barry full back!
@Flembomb: Flem caught talking yet more sh*te
@Tomás Tiernan: Babs played well though.
@Johnny B: Nicky Rackard had an absolute mare tho
@Flembomb: haha
Nobody going to mention how despite Chin playing so well overall, he let us down badly from frees….again? By my count, he missed six. Even converting half of those would have meant the aides were level in injury time.
@Jumperoo: very true. Taught ye were trying for a goal too much when a point would of been easier and keep the score board ticking over!
Dreams come true when you work hard and believe…up wexford
@David Kinsella: it’s only the league kid relax.
“We put the pressure on Tipp”
Dream on David
Thanks Journal,owe you one