Shay Says - Episode 6
Welcome to Shay Says, the latest football betting blog from LeoVegas’ Irish ambassador, Shay Given.
This week, the Republic of Ireland and Premier League legend previews three big games from the Premier League, including Newcastle v Liverpool.
The Reds were much better against Everton last time out, but the former Premier League goalkeeper thinks trouble could be in store for Jurgen Klopp’s side against Newcastle.
Let’s see what Shay Says about that mouth-watering fixture and Aston Villa v Arsenal as well as Manchester United v Leicester!
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Aston Villa had a great start under new manager Unai Emery, but they’re now going through a little bit of a sticky patch after losing to Leicester and Manchester City.
Arsenal haven’t quite been at their best recently but Mikel Arteta will demand a reaction after the midweek defeat to City. I just think they will have too much for Villa on the day. My score prediction is going to be tough on my old club… I’ll go for a relatively comfortable 3-1 Arsenal win.
In terms of goal scorers, I think that Leon Bailey will find the back of the net for Aston Villa, and I’m going to go with Martin Odegaard for Arsenal, who is having a fantastic season.
SHAY SAYS: ASTON VILLA 1-3 ARSENAL
Newcastle v Liverpool
This is a massive, massive game. There is a big history in this fixture as well – so many classic encounters through the years – and with the home fans behind Newcastle, the atmosphere is going to be incredibly special.
They aren’t scoring a lot of goals at the minute, but they have kept plenty of clean sheets which is always a positive. I’m going to go for a narrow Newcastle victory by a goal to nil, although Liverpool looked better against Everton and are pushing hard to go on a run till the end of the season.
They’ll want to push Newcastle out of a Champions League spot and this will be a great way to start, but I just think a week before the Carabao Cup final, the Newcastle players will want to prove to Eddie Howe they should start at Wembley and they’ll be really motivated to play well.
I’ve got a controversial goal scorer in that I think Anthony Gordon will find the back of the net. Obviously he’s an ex-Everton player, and they love to score against Liverpool!
If Newcastle finish in the top four this season, they could definitely attract players over Liverpool in the summer.
I can’t speak higher of Eddie Howe and his staff and their recruitment. If they can add to that in the summer, I think a lot of players would want to join them. It’s a hugely exciting place to be right now.
On current form, only two Liverpool players would get into my combined XI – Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah!
SHAY SAYS: NEWCASTLE 1-0 LIVERPOOL
Manchester United v Leicester
Manchester United are on a brilliant run at the minute. There’s still talk of them having a shot at the title and within the four walls of Man United they probably think they have a chance, although I don’t think they’ll have enough. But you never know.
It’s a tough game because Leicester have picked up in recent weeks too and are scoring goals in the process. What a result they had against Spurs. I don’t think it’s an easy game to call, but I’m going to go Man United 2-1 Leicester.
Marcus Rashford is absolutely on fire at the minute. He seems to score every time he crosses the white line, so it’s probably no shock that I think he’s going to score at some point in this game.
I’m going to go with James Maddison for Leicester. It’s good to see him back fit again, and I hope he stays injury free until the end of the season because he’s a really good player. I’d like to give him a run in the team now just to show everybody how good he is.
SHAY SAYS: MANCHESTER UNITED 2-1 LEICESTER
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