Tottenham vs Man City and more: betPawa BIG match insights

With the transfer window officially shut, the focus now shifts to football and on-pitch drama. However, we’ve still got some deadline day recapping to do along with previews for 6 Premier League matches between Friday and Sunday.

There are plenty of quick reunions and revenge missions on the cards in England this weekend.

Friday 3rd February

Expensively-assembled Blues must start to perform

A West London Derby under the Friday night lights could well be the scene for Enzo Fernández’s Chelsea debut. The 22-year-old Argentinian midfielder is now the most expensive player in British football history after his €121m switch from Benfica was rubber-stamped on 31st January. As a side note, his previous club River Plate will get 25% of that fee.

These London rivals met less than a month ago with Chelsea old boy Willian scoring in a 2-1 win for the Cottagers. Aleksandar Mitrović was suspended that night but will be available this time around. Chelsea loan signing João Félix, on the other hand, sits out the last match of his suspension following a red card on debut against Marco Silva’s men.

Chelsea would leapfrog Fulham with a win here and then they could perhaps start entertaining the idea of finishing in the European places. There’s still a lot of work to do, though, and they’ve won just 1 of their last 6 matches across all competitions.

Saturday 4th February

New manager bounce will test Arsenal

A match at Goodison Park is often a potential banana skin for Arsenal. That proved to be the case last term when the Gunners lost the corresponding fixture after Demarai Gray’s stoppage-time stunner on a freezing cold December night. Prior to that result, however, Everton had gone winless in 8 EPL games, and they followed that 2-1 win over Arsenal with 5 defeats and a draw in their next 6. 2021/22 was a season to forget for the Toffees but they always seem to be up for the battle against the North Londoners at home.

Back to the present and Everton’s current winless streak of 8 EPL games is a concern, but hope springs eternal after the appointment of Sean Dyche. That being said, Evertonians won’t want to be reminded of the redheaded manager’s less-than-impressive record against Arsenal down the years which reads P15 W1 D3 L11. Aside from Man City, no EPL team have a better record against him than the Gunners.

Arsenal haven’t won any of their last 4 league visits to Goodison but if they can change that poor recent record on Saturday they’ll go 8 points clear at the summit. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta could hand a debut to Italian midfielder Jorginho if Thomas Partey’s rib injury keeps him out of action.

Eagles back at a happy hunting ground

Somewhat surprisingly, Palace have won 2 of their last 3 EPL matches at Old Trafford. They’ve only lost 1 of their last 5 overall against the Red Devils in the league, so they’ll definitely approach this contest with a dollop of cautious optimism. Albert Sambi Lokonga, a deadline day loan signing from Arsenal, will be eager to impress under Gunners legend Patrick Vieira and could be in line for a debut at the heart of Palace’s midfield.

United made a midfield loan signing of their own with the temporary acquisition of Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich following news that Christian Eriksen will be out with an ankle injury until late April or even early May. That’s a massive blow for Erik ten Hag, but Austrian schemer Sabitzer will hope to offset that problem.

Michael Olise’s stunning late free kick meant that the spoils were shared when these sides met just over 2 weeks ago in a 1-1 draw.

Nick Pope is making Newcastle fans believe

When did Eddie Howe’s Newcastle team last concede an EPL goal? Funny you ask, because it’s been a while. Nick Pope has kept 6 consecutive clean sheets in the league, and the last time his goal was breached in the top-flight was all the way back in November in a 4-1 win at Southampton. For all of their snazzy signings, it’s Newcastle’s defensive additions that have made their push for a Champions League place extremely credible.

The positive vibe around St James’ Park was further enhanced by Newcastle’s EFL Cup semi-final success over Southampton, meaning that the Magpies are going to Wembley to contest a major final for the first time since 1999.

Here to spoil the party are West Ham. The Hammers picked up a crucial win over David Moyes’ old club Everton in their last league match, lifting them out of the relegation zone. Both sides have scored in 5 of the last 6 EPL contests between these 2 grand old clubs but the visitors will have to be at their best to get past a stubborn backline.

Sunday 5th February

A legendary face joins the Forest revolution

We could see a debut for Keylor Navas in goal for the hosts after his loan switch from PSG. A Champions League winner on 3 occasions, the Costa Rican is the latest high-profile arrival at The City Ground under manager Steve Cooper, along with Brazilian midfielder Danilo from Palmeiras and Jonjo Shelvey from Newcastle. Forest are unbeaten in 4 EPL games, a streak that includes 2 wins and has seen them climb up to 13th.

Leeds, in contrast, are winless in their last 6 EPL games (their last top-flight win was a 4-3 success against Bournemouth on 5th November), but curiously they have drawn 4 of their last 7 across all competitions. New loan signing from Juventus, Weston McKennie, adds to the American flavour at Elland Road with Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams already on the books, and Jesse Marsch at the helm.

This should be an entertaining contest between 2 sides that will be confident they can steer themselves clear of the relegation equation.

Expect the unexpected

City produced a stirring fightback from 2-0 down to beat Spurs 4-2 less than a fortnight ago and now the sides meet again. Spurs, to their credit, have won consecutive matches since that defeat and kept clean sheets in both. They’ll be delighted that Son Heung-min is back amongst the goals and Arnaut Danjuma also scored on his Tottenham debut against Preston in the FA Cup. City eked out a 1-0 win over Arsenal in their own recent FA Cup assignment.

Like Spurs, City have responded well to disappointment in recent weeks, winning 3 home matches on the bounce (all competitions) since a damaging EPL defeat in the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford on 14th January.

Amazingly, however, Spurs have won their last 3 EPL home matches against City and kept clean sheets in all of them. Pep Guardiola’s City team cannot afford to see that record extended to 4 as they’d lose more precious ground in the title race.