Premier League: Saints can gain another away victory, Chelsea to struggle?

After another busy week of Champions League action, the Premier League is back with a full round of fixtures. Though the title looks all but wrapped up, there are plenty of other factors that need deciding with just under a quarter of the season to go.

Here is our look at some of the key bets this weekend.

Bournemouth to make it hard for Chelsea

Back-to-back defeats to Burnley and Sheffield United have seen the pressure increase on Eddie Howe again. His Bournemouth side are just two points and two places above the relegation zone and with fixtures against Chelsea on Saturday and then Liverpool next weekend, things don’t get much easier for the south coast club.

Since the start of 2020, Bournemouth have picked up just six points from their seven Premier League games – hardly the sort of form needed to get them out of the trouble they find themselves in – and if things don’t pick up, you have to fear for their status in the league. Howe’s side are 18/5 to gain a much needed victory against Chelsea.

As for their opponents, it’s been a rather up and down few weeks for the Blues. Having been soundly beaten at home by Manchester United, they were much better when taking care of Tottenham at home last weekend. However a 3-0 Champions League spanking at Stamford Bridge to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, perhaps showed this Chelsea side are still a fair way off competing with the best and the fact they are 35 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool in the league proves that. Frank Lampard’s visitors are 78/100 for a win, with the draw available at 27/10.

The key to this one appears to be how Chelsea will react to that Bayern loss. They were outclassed in all areas by the German side and although they are back in much calmer waters here, confidence must have taken a hit. The hosts are lacking in self-belief too after that Burnley drubbing, but given they are fighting for their lives, they could be worth chancing with on the handicap here. They are available at 19/20 with a one goal headstart and given Chelsea’s potential mental frailties, that could be represent a bit of value.

Southampton to pile more misery on West Ham

Though they would have been expecting little against Liverpool on Monday night, West Ham must have been slightly gutted not to have got anything at Anfield. The Hammers deservedly went 2-1 up, but thanks to a Lukasz Fabianski howler and some Reds attacking brilliance, the hosts turned it around to continue their cruise to the title.

David Moyes will have been chuffed with his players, but to have played so well and to have come away with nothing must have been a bitter pill to swallow. His side, 18th in the table and one point from safety, are 17/10 for just their fourth home win of the season, while a draw is 5/2.

Like much of their season, Southampton have been consistently inconsistent in recent weeks. Wins against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa have been sandwiched with losses to Liverpool and Burnley, so they are quite a hard team to predict. However, they are fifth in the away league table with 20 points and considering only Norwich have a worse home record than their hosts, they’ll be hopeful of gaining another victory on their travels at 31/20.

West Ham are one of only six sides Danny Ings hasn’t scored against in the league, but with 15 goals this season, he looks worth backing at 17/20 to score anytime. If you’re looking for a bit more value then back him to score two or more at the enhanced odds of 13/2.

Check out all the latest football betting odds at William Hill