Southampton to Bounce Back Strong

Best Bets:

1 Pt on Sunderland to win vs Crystal Palace (8/5 General)

1.5 Pts on Southampton to win @ Bournemouth (17/10 Bet Victor)

As the Premier League sees another midweek round, the thought of tiredness both mentally and physically must be coming into the thinking of many managers. Our picks this time round focus on two important Tuesday night games.

1 Pt on Sunderland to win vs Crystal Palace (8/5 General)

Although Sunderland are obviously in trouble at the wrong end of the table, since the turn of the calendar year their form has been more that of a mid-table team as they have picked up 11 points from a possible 21. Along with that form they can boast a spirited narrow loss against League Cup champions Manchester City, a 2-2 draw away at Liverpool and a 2-1 home win against Manchester United. In that same time, Palace have taken just 1 point in a 1-1 draw at Swansea, while seeing Bournemouth take 3 points home from Selhurst Park between defeats away at West Brom and Aston Villa. Palace have only scored 6 goals in their 8 games of 2016, while conceding 19 and if the improved organisation of the Sunderland side continues, this could be a nice return on a home win.

1.5 Pts on Southampton to win @ Bournemouth (17/10 Bet Victor)

Since a decent run of beating Norwich 3-0 at home before picking up away points via a 1-1 draw at Sunderland and 2-1 win at Palace, Bournemouth have slipped back into relegation form. There’s no shame in a 2-0 defeat at home against title chasing Arsenal, but tension was clearly rising as a 3-1 home defeat to an inconsistent Stoke followed. A 0-0 at Watford may lift spirits slightly, but Southampton would be one of the last teams anyone would pick to play against in their current form. Before a narrow (and possibly undeserved) defeat against Chelsea, Southampton had not conceded since January 2nd, seeing 5 wins and a draw in that time, including taking 7 points from 9 against teams in the top 6. Charlie Austin and Shane Long look a threat to any defence and Bournemouth may need to rely on points from their other home matches left this season, rather than this one.