Sheffield United vs Tottenham - 18:00 - Thursday 2nd July 2020 - Sky Sports

Sheffield United @ 16/5      Draw @ 23/10      Tottenham @ 19/20

Sheffield United Recent Form: DWDLL

Tottenham Recent Form: LLDDW

Sheffield United host Tottenham at Bramall Lane this Thursday, with the Blades enduring a real tough spell since project restart, with Chris Wilder's side yet to register a win. The Blades come into this match on the back of two 3-0 defeats in the Premier League at the hands of Newcastle and more recently Manchester United. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal at the weekend to rub salt in the wounds. Despite those results the Blades have still had a wonderful season and a win here could see them reignite their bid to achieve European football in their first season in the Premier League. The home side took the lead in the seventh minute as Martial met Marcus Rashford's low, powerful cross and fired past goalkeeper Simon Moore. Martial looked to turn from scorer to provider, as another slick United counter attack saw Martial square the ball into Rashford's path, with the England forward missing an open goal. The Frenchman then doubled Man Utd's lead a minute before the break (44), sweeping the ball into the bottom corner after a cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He then completed his treble on 74 minutes, completing a fine team move to become the first Man Utd player to net a top-flight hat-trick since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. It was another disappointing performance from the Blades who have been a shadow of their former selves since they restarted the season. A win against Tottenham would provide some much needed impetus into their season and would also see the Blades move above Spurs in the table.

"The first goal puts us up against it and when you give the ball to quality players, they gain confidence and they just grew and grew. The goal just before half-time killed the game and from then it's comfortable. They were far better than us, especially at the top of the pitch." "We're not in great nick and we have to find an answer because the league is unforgiving. Physically, we're second best all over the pitch. We're not stepping into people, getting close to people and when we've got the ball, we're giving it away quite cheaply." "There's no rhythm and flow at the moment - we've got to find it pretty quickly. If we don't the season's quickly going to fizzle out and I don't want that to happen."

Chris Wilder gave an honest assessment of his sides poor performance against Manchester United.

Spurs Ease Past Hammers

Jose Mourinho secured his second win as Tottenham manager over West Ham, with his side recording a 2-0 win over David Moyes' side. It was another excellent performance from Tottenham and they will be delighted to have secured the double over their London rivals and keep the pressure on the sides above them in the process. That win means Tottenham remain in 7th on 45 points, they find themselves four points behind Manchester United who are in sixth and a massive nine points behind former club Chelsea with seven games remaining. Spurs would have to win all of their remaining games to have a chance at Champions League qualification. Despite their struggles the Hammers started brightly and were thankful to Lukasz Fabianski for producing a superb save on 22 minutes to tip Lucas Moura's shot over. Spurs thought they had made the breakthrough just before half-time, but Son Heung-min's goal was ruled out for offside following a review by the VAR.  The hosts Tottenham eventually went ahead just after the hour mark (64) when a corner from Giovani Lo Celso was diverted into his own net by Tomas Soucek. Jarrod Bowen, who was a thorn in Spurs side throughout, struck the post for West Ham in the 78th minute, before Son played in Kane to score his 30th goal in Premier League London derbies. The goal will be a great boost for Tottenham and their captain, with the striker finishing instinctively to secure the win. It's a fantastic result for Tottenham and crucially means they remain unbeaten in project restart.  Spurs have a relatively easy remaining fixture list, albeit they have to face Everton, bitter rivals Arsenal and Leicester but they have winnable games against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace.

"It was deserved, not an amazing match, but it’s very difficult to play amazing in this period. We were consistent, always under control and we always had the feeling of ‘we are going to win this game." "But not easy. West Ham defend well, compact. In the first half it took us some time to get into the game. Then in the last part of the first half we started creating. We scored through Sonny’s disallowed goal, we almost scored by Lucas." "Then we started the second half with that same intensity and the goal had to arrive. It’s an important victory for us, three points, and a must-win if we wanted to dream of something great. We had to win this game."

Jose Mourinho was in confident mood after his side did the double over West Ham this season.

Betting Tips

• BTTS - No @ 5/6
• Lys Mousset to score first @ 11/2
• Harry Kane to score first @ 10/3

Man City vs Liverpool - 20:15 - Thursday 2nd July 2020 - Sky Sports

Man City @ 11/10    Draw @ 11/4    Liverpool @ 23/10

Man City Recent Form: WLWWL

Liverpool Recent Form: WLWDW

Man City host Premier League Champions Liverpool  at the Etihad this Thursday, with Guardiola's men confirming they will be giving Liverpool a guard of honour. City come into this match on the back of a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, a result that meant City were mathematically unable to catch Liverpool and have now conceded the Premier League title to the Reds. It's a shame as the added spice of the title being on the line would have given what is already a tantalising fixture another dimension. That defeat was Guardiola's eighth of the season and it's clear that City will need to do a massive rebuild this summer if they are to close the gap on rivals Liverpool again. They failed to replace Kompany and Sane will also be leaving so it'll be a big and interesting summer for City. They are in second place in the league on 63 points, eight clear of Leicester and they will be looking to avenge the 3-1 defeat back in November. Chelsea drew first blood when they the lead after 36 minutes, with a poor mix-up between Benjamin Mendy and Ilkay Gundogan allowing Christian Pulisic to advance from inside his own half and slot past Ederson.   Kevin De Bruyne made it 1-1 on 55 minutes with a spectacular free-kick, taking him to 10 goals in a Premier League season for the first time. Raheem Sterling had a chance to give City the lead and probably should have as he hit the post moments later, before Kyle Walker cleared superbly off the line to deny Pulisic a second. The decisive moment of the match came when Fernandinho was shown a red card following a Video Assistant Referee review for a deliberate handball, with the Man City defender trying to deny Chelsea substitute Tammy Abraham on the goal line. Willian stepped up and fired in the resulting penalty to put Chelsea back in front with 12 minutes remaining (78). City were unable to respond, leaving them 23 points behind champions Liverpool with seven matches left to play. That was another poor result for Guardiola's men and you feel now that they will be putting all of their eggs in the Champions League basket. They have also qualified for the FA Cup Semi Final and will be facing Arsenal so they could also end the season with a hat-trick of Cups.

"Congratulations to Liverpool, their fans, the manager, the players. Well deserved. They are good champions." "Now. we have five or six weeks to play. The FA Cup on Sunday is important and we need to achieve qualification for UCL and after that we need to prepare for Madrid." "This season we dropped points at the beginning, some unfairly and some because we made mistakes like today. Liverpool didn’t drop points. Next season we’ve got to be more consistent and recover the points we lost this season." "Two seasons we were 25 points in front of Liverpool and the next season they recovered. Now we’ve got to recover like Liverpool."

Pep Guardiola congratulated Champions Liverpool and sent a message out to his side to be ready for the remainder of the season.

Champions At Last

Liverpool come into this match having finally achieved the dream of becoming Premier League Champions after thirty long years and they will be looking to put the icing on the cake by winning here. Jurgen Klopp's side have been phenomenal all season and they have set all kinds of records in their pursuit of securing the PL title. They have lost just two games in two seasons and won the Premier League earlier than any other side.  They will be looking for their 29th win in 32 games and to extend their lead over Man City to 26 points. They come into this match on the back of a 4-0 hammering of Crystal Palace, with Jurgen Klopp's side rediscovering their form pre COVID, with the Everton performance a poor show by their high standards. It was a poor start for Palace, who lost Wilfried Zaha to an early injury, and they went behind on 23 minutes when Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a brilliant free-kick. Mohamed Salah converted Fabinho's superb pass over the Palace defence a minute before half-time to put Liverpool 2-0 ahead (44). Fabinho then added a third at Anfield on 55 minutes with a spectacular strike from 30 yards out. Sadio Mane put Liverpool further ahead in the 69th minute, receiving Salah's brilliant first-time through-ball before slotting past Wayne Hennessey. That was the perfect result from a Liverpool perspective but a tough day at the office for Hodgson and Palace. Jurgen Klopp's side have now cemented their place in the history books having been the side to end the 30 year wait for a Premier League title. They will now have to look to retain their title next year, they will not want to wait 30 years for the next title.

'We showed a lot, if not everything, what helped us into the position we are in now. There are obviously different ways of football, different ways you can play this game but you don't have to compare it, so it's not too important." "The attitude we showed tonight, the passion we showed was exceptional and we played some outstanding football. The goals we scored were exceptional. In my job you usually have to calm things down and say, 'No, no that was not that good and we can improve'. And we can improve, I know that, but that's not important tonight." "Tonight is only important that we gave this sign and that we showed our supporters the respect they deserve, that we can play like they are here, even when they are not here. Yes, they can push us to incredible things and without them it's nothing like it is when they are here."

Jurgen Klopp was delighted with his side as they brushed a poor Crystal Palace aside at an empty Anfield.

Betting Tips

• Total Goals - Over 2.5 @ 11/20
• Gabriel Jesus to score first @ 5/1
• Mohamed Salah to score first @ 9/2

Norwich vs Brighton - 12:30 - Saturday 4th July 2020 - BT Sport

Norwich @ 9/4      Draw @ 23/10    Brighton @ 13/10

Norwich Recent Form: WLLLL

Brighton Recent Form: LDWDL

Norwich host Brighton in the Saturday lunchtime kick off with both sides looking to recover from hefty midweek defeats.

Daniel Farke's men produced another awful performance as they were soundly beaten 4-0 away against Arsenal. With six games remaining there's now no margin for error, they need to win all of their games it's as simple as that. A win here against Brighton would be a six pointer for them and with the Canaries still six points from safety it could be a huge win.

As they have done for a long period of time now they remain rock bottom of the Premier League, but luckily for Villa, Bournemouth and Watford have equalled Norwich's poor start to the restart.

Norwich looked to take the initiative early on with Ben Godfrey's long-range shot grazed a post for Norwich. That was enough to spring Arsenal and their captain into action, as Aubameyang put the hosts ahead on 33 minutes by dispossessing goalkeeper Tim Krul and slotting home. That took him to 50 PL goals for Arsenal in 79 matches, four fewer than Thierry Henry.

The forward turned from scorer to provider just four minutes later (37) as he teed up Granit Xhaka for the Gunner's second. In the second half, Aubameyang continued his fantastic match as he pounced on an error by Josip Drmic to make it 3-0 scoring his second of the night.

And the icing on the cake came when substitute Cedric Soares, who had only been on the pitch for four minutes, scored a debut goal with nine minutes left (81).

This was another desperate result for Norwich who probably weren't expecting to win but they come away from the Emirates with nothing and an absolute hiding. That was their 21st defeat of the season from 32 matches and now every game is must win.

Their next three games are crucial as they play Brighton (15th), Watford (17th) and West Ham (16th) and if they were to win all those matches they would put themselves on 30 points and give themselves a real chance of staying up.

"We know that on this level we have to be at our top level in order to be competitive, especially after playing 120 minutes against Man United in the cup and have just one centre-back available."

"Sadly, we made too many mistakes, especially in front of the goals. Arsenal were the better side in terms of scoring goals. We have to accept the loss because we didn’t reach 100 percent the level of performance and made crucial mistakes before the goals."

"Tim is always self-critical, but he’s played a fantastic season so far and is so important for us. I’m totally happy with him and that we have him. Even he has the right to make mistakes."

"It didn’t help us because the first goal is always crucial. After that, we felt too sorry for ourselves and that’s why Arsenal were able to score the second goal.

Daniel Farke admitted mistakes at both ends of the pitch cost his side dearly in the defeat against Arsenal.

Bruno Slays Seagulls

Brighton come into this match on the back of a resounding 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls come into this match on the back of a comprehensive defeat and their first of project restart at the hands of Manchester United and in particular Bruno Fernandes. That result means they remain in 15th place on 33 points, that leaves them six points clear of Villa in 18th.

United made a fast start as Bruno Fernandes hit the post early with a well-struck shot, before Mason Greenwood's smart low finish made it 1-0 on 16 minutes.

The dream team from United's perspective combined when Paul Pogba set up Fernandes, whose deflected shot found the corner to make it 2-0 on 29 minutes, during a first half dominated by the visitors.

The Seagulls made a few changes after the break, with both Maupay and Trossard coming on at half time, and they pushed on looking for a crucial goal to cut the deficit. Unfortunately for them they were undone by a sweeping counter-attack in which Fernandes volleyed home Greenwood's floated cross (50).

Brighton to their credit didn't give up, with Aaron Connolly and Neal Maupay then forced fine saves from David De Gea, but the hosts could find no reply.

It was a poor result and performance from the Seagulls but it isn't detrimental primarily because the likes of Watford, Bournemouth, Villa and Norwich cannot buy a win. The only result that will worry Graham Potter is West Ham's win against Chelsea.

"We played against a really good side this evening and they were the better team on the night."

"But we stuck at it and our response in the second half, after their third goal, was really good. Perhaps we deserved a goal for that, but the better side took the three points."

"I am really proud of how my team kept going in the game though and there are definitely positives to take into the weekend game [at Norwich] and beyond."

"We made some changes at the break to freshen things up and give us a new idea."

Graham Potter praised his sides application and determination despite the comfortable defeat against United.

Betting Tips

• BTTS @ 7/10
• Teemu Pukki to score first @ 10/3
• Neal Maupay to score first @ 4/1

Leicester vs Crystal Palace - 15:00 - Saturday 4th June 2020 - Sky Sports

Leicester @ 7/10     Draw @ 13/5      Crystal Palace @ 9/2

Leicester Recent Form: LWDDL

Crystal Palace Recent Form: WWWLL

Leicester face off against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon looking to bounce back from their first defeat post lockdown after they were narrowly beaten at Goodison Park.

The Foxes come into this match on the back of a 2-1 defeat away against Carlo Ancelotti's Toffees, in another disappointing result for the Foxes, who are winless since the Premier League restarted.  That result means the Foxes remain 3rd but they are now looking over their shoulders as Chelsea, Man United and Wolves are within three points of them.

Main man Richarlison gave the hosts Everton a 10th-minute lead when he met Anthony Gordon’s cross from the left. The Toffees then doubled their lead just three minutes later (13) with a penalty following Wilfred Ndidi's handball, which was spotted by VAR.

Gylfi Sigurdsson converted from the spot, scoring just his second league goal of the season. Leicester reacted by bringing on Kelechi Iheanacho as part of a half-time double-substitution. It was his introduction that led to a goal when he deflected Mason Holgate's attempted clearance past Jordan Pickford (51).

Iheanacho was then denied an equaliser by Pickford, who led a resilient Everton defence to see out the win.

It's another poor result for the Foxes who could have easily found themselves in fourth place had Chelsea not slipped at West Ham. They will be targeting a win as soon as possible and a goal from Jamie Vardy could be the key to seeing them rediscover their form in the last six matches.

They have won just one of their last eight matches and with Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United to play in their remaining fixtures this game against Palace takes on extra importance.

"We were very good in the second half, certainly for long periods of it. We’re disappointed with the start, and that’s something that’s crept back into our game, especially since we’ve come back. We haven’t started quick enough."

"After actually controlling the possession, we found ourselves a goal behind, which was soft, but it was early in the game, so you can still get something back in the game."

"I thought the penalty was very, very harsh against us, in taking so long for it to be given, so in this current environment, we’re 2-0 down, it can be very, very difficult."

"We’ve had to try and change it at half-time to rescue the game. We get an early goal in the second half, and then we were much, much better, which makes it equally as frustrating because we really set out to start with that tempo and aggression, and we didn’t do that."

Brendan Rodgers said his side didn't start quickly enough as they were beaten 2-1 at Everton.

Clarets Beat Eagles

Crystal Palace come into this match on the back of a narrow 1-0 defeat at home against Burnley, with Roy Hodgson's men now registering back to back defeats.

It was an uncharacteristic performance from Roy Hodgson's men, who looked like they were still carrying some of the scars from the Liverpool defeat. That result means Palace drop to 12th with Everton leapfrogging them having beaten their hosts in this match.

The visitors Burnley had the better of the first-half chances, with a clearance from Palace centre-back Gary Cahill nearly cannoning in off team-mate Patrick van Aanholt before Dwight McNeil twice went close.

But it was Burnley captain Ben Mee who broke the deadlock after 62 minutes, stooping low to head Ashley Westwood's free-kick as Vicente Guaita could only palm it in off a post. It was the seventh goal of the Burnley captain's career.

Palace looked to respond as Jordan Ayew headed over from close range with 11 minutes remaining but that was as good as it got for Palace as Nick Pope kept his 13th clean sheet of the Premier League campaign and moved clear in the Golden Glove race.

Two games ago Palace had just beaten Bournemouth and looked well in the race for a top ten or even European spot but after those two defeats those aims now seem a long way off. A win here could reignite those top ten hopes. 

"We didn't play anywhere near as well as we wanted. We were better in the second half, but unfortunately we conceded a goal from a set play, a goal we were disappointed to concede, and then we're fighting an uphill battle against a well-organised side.

"We need goals, but at the moment we don't have an awful lot of front players to choose from and if they get injured it becomes more difficult."

Roy Hodgson gave an honest assessment of his sides performance against Burnley.

Betting Tips

• Total Goals Under 2.5 @ 7/10
• Jamie Vardy to score first @ 5/2
• Jordan Ayew to score first @ 15/2

Man United vs Bournemouth - 15:00 - Saturday 4th July 2020 - BT Sport

Man United @ 1/7      Draw @ 7/1      Bournemouth @ 19/1

Man United Recent Form: DWDWW

Bournemouth Recent Form: DLLLL

Manchester United take on Bournemouth at Old Trafford in the second of the 3pm kick offs, with United at the peak of their powers and Bournemouth at the bottom of theirs.

United produced another exceptional performance in midweek against Brighton, with Greenwood and Bruno Fernandes helping to secure a 3-0 win over the Seagulls, that result being their first win at the Amex in three seasons.

That means they retain their grip on 5th fifth place and now find themselves two points behind Chelsea and three points behind Leicester. This is a game United will be desperate to win and given their form there's only one logical conclusion.

United made a fast start as Bruno Fernandes hit the post early with a well-struck shot, before Mason Greenwood's smart low finish made it 1-0 on 16 minutes.

The dream team from United's perspective combined when Paul Pogba set up Fernandes, whose deflected shot found the corner to make it 2-0 on 29 minutes, during a first half dominated by the visitors.

The Seagulls made a few changes after the break, with both Maupay and Trossard coming on at half time, and they pushed on looking for a crucial goal to cut the deficit. Unfortunately for them they were undone by a sweeping counter-attack in which Fernandes volleyed home Greenwood's floated cross (50).

Brighton to their credit didn't give up, with Aaron Connolly and Neal Maupay then forced fine saves from David De Gea, but the hosts could find no reply.

That was another excellent performance from United and in particular from Greenwood and man of the match Bruno Fernandes who devastated a tired looking Brighton side. That extends United's unbeaten run to 15 matches and with six games left and the fixture list they are one of the favourites to secure Champions League football.

They face Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Southampton, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Leicester in their final six matches and they will feel there is no reason why they cannot achieve a max six wins and extend their unbeaten run to 21 matches between now and the end of July.

"Oh, I rate this performance highly. Fantastic from the word go. The boys were full of confidence and quality. We played some exceptional stuff. It’s always hard to play against Brighton, Graham’s teams keep the ball well, but I thought we pressed them well from the front - Anthony, Marcus, Mason, Bruno showed intensity and the intent."

"We spoke about intent before the game, on and off the ball, and when we had it, we tried to create and we did create with some fantastic goals."

"The players are fit. We did have a meeting, just before the lockdown, about making this work our way and we promised each other that we were all going to come back in really fit and ready to go because we know we have loads to play for."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his sides exceptional performance after they beat Brighton at the Amex.

Newcastle Hammer Cherries

Bournemouth come into this fixture on the back of a 4-1 drubbing at home at the hands of Newcastle, a result that really puts the Cherries under pressure.

The Cherries continued their appalling form both pre and post the COVID break, one could argue that the Newcastle defeat represents a new low as they were hammered 4-1 at home and by a side that was 13th going into the game. They now face a free scoring United side who will be looking to avenge the 1-0 defeat they recieved earlier in the season.

Newcastle's French winger Allan Saint-Maximin was the chief destroyer in this match and it was his tackle to steal possession from Jefferson Lerma in the fifth minute that set the tone for the Magpies and freed Dwight Gayle, who found the bottom corner.

Saint-Maximin then dribbled to the byline on the half-hour mark and cut the ball back for Sean Longstaff, who fired into the roof of the net to make it 2-0 (30).

The Frenchman completed his hat-trick of assists as he provided Longstaff’s replacement Miguel Almiron curled in a fine finish on 57 minutes to make it 3-0. And Newcastle scored again on 77 minutes when Valentino Lazaro struck his first Premier League goal from Jonjo Shelvey’s pass.

The Cherries did pull a goal back in stoppage time through Dan Gosling (90+4) but the damage had already been done and in some style with that goal merely a consolation for the Cherries.

Bournemouth are on a horror run in the Premier League, they have won just two of their last thirteen matches. Their next four fixtures are United away, Tottenham and Leicester at home and Man City away, the likelihood of the Cherries getting any points from those games is remote and they could be all but relegated by that point.

"It was another difficult start for us. The two games have been built up so much here at home [against Crystal Palace and Newcastle]. The importance of them... both times we have conceded an early goal and it has really knocked our stride and confidence."

"We contributed to our own downfall. There were some uncharacteristic mistakes. It may be a lack of confidence. It was close to being a lot better than it looked. There were some good bits mixed in there but they get lost and deservedly so with the result."

"The positives are hard to find with that scoreline. I cannot sugar-coat the score in a massive game for us. The scoreline says so much. The early goal again, like it did against Palace, rocked us. You saw a team that were giving their all but were playing under the burden of the situation, that is something we have to clear very quickly."

Eddie Howe was understandably low after Bournemouth suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Newcastle.

Betting Tips

• Total Goals Over 2.5 @ 8/15
• Anthony Martial to score first @ 5/2
• Harry Wilson to score first @ 14/1