Premier League weekend preview: City must halt red-hot rivals to close the gap on Arsenal

The Premier League hits its halfway mark this weekend, with an enticing combination of local derbies and relegation scraps on offer.

We preview the best of the action below.

Manchester United v Manchester City – Saturday 12:30

Manchester United recorded their sixth successive victory in all competitions with a battling 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic in the League Cup on Tuesday, meaning the Red Devils have won all of their last six games at Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag’s men are just four points behind their neighbours from the east of Manchester, with the opportunity to narrow that down to one probably an unthinkable scenario in the early weeks of the season. Despite their excellent form, United will start Saturday lunchtime’s clash priced highly at 10/3.

Back-to-back wins over a misfiring Chelsea side has kicked Manchester City back into nick, after Demarai Gray’s late equaliser for Everton on New Year’s Eve generated questions about Pep Guardiola’s side’s ability to keep up with league leaders Arsenal. Despite being 4/7 favourites to win the title for a third successive year, the Cityzens will know that they will need a near-perfect set of results if they are to leapfrog Mikel Arteta’s men to yet another Premier League crown.

A local derby against an in-form United side will definitely act as one of several challenging hurdles to overcome if Guardiola’s men are to realise those ambitions, and are perhaps a little short at 3/4 to come away with three points at Old Trafford. That being said, nine of the last 14 Manchester derbies have been won by the away side, so don’t be surprised if City end up halting United’s brilliant recent home run.

An interesting sub-plot to this fixture sees two of the most in-form strikers in Europe go head-to-head. Marcus Rashford took his tally to 15 for the season with a brace against Charlton, and is generously priced 13/2 to continue his recent trend of netting the last goal of the match. Meanwhile, the irresistible Erling Haaland leads the market at 4/7 to score at any time.

Brighton v Liverpool – Saturday 15:00

A six-minute triple-blow from Brighton against Everton at Goodison Park last Tuesday was probably the moment the rest of the Premier League started to notice the job new boss Roberto De Zerbi is doing at the club. The Seagulls were expected to suffer after having manager Graham Potter and last year’s Player of the Year Marc Cucurella snatched from them by Chelsea just a few weeks into the season, but they have arguably improved under the directorship of the Italian and remain one of the most feared sides in the league.

The wheels haven’t quite fallen off for Liverpool just yet, but last week’s disappointing loss to Brentford and an equally concerning (and frankly fortuitous) draw to Wolves in the FA Cup at Anfield has firmly exploited the weaknesses that this Liverpool side possess. An injury to Virgil van Dijk will only serve to exacerbate those issues, with the Reds facing a potentially pivotal next few games in the context of their domestic season. They start at EVNS to pick up three points at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, though it must be said a Brighton victory at 5/2 looks a more appealing punt.

Working out who will start in attack for Liverpool is just as difficult as choosing a goalscorer for the Reds, but expect Cody Gakpo to feature after making his debut against Wolves last weekend. The Dutch forward is 21/10 to net anytime, with a three-way tie between Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Darwin Nunez (all 13/8) currently leading the market for the away side. Teenage forward Evan Ferguson heads the betting for the hosts (21/10).

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Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal – Sunday 16:30

Tottenham surprised almost everybody with a stirring second-half display at Selhurst Park, ending a run of seven successive Premier League games where they had conceded the opening goal. The result keeps them in touch with Manchester United in fourth place, though manager Antonio Conte will acknowledge that a top four finish remains a huge ask for his side.

Perhaps a good litmus test of those aspirations will be a visit from Premier League leaders Arsenal, who failed to win for just the third league game this season with a frustrating stalemate against Newcastle last Tuesday. That result was also the first game in all competitions in which the Gunners hadn’t scored all season (they’d netted in 18 on the bounce previously), which was maybe more of an indicator of the Magpies’ rigid defence than any deficiencies in the Gunners’ attack. They will travel to their north London rivals as 23/20 favourites, with a Spurs win priced at 9/4.

The Gunners shouldn’t be put off by Tottenham’s recent demolition of Palace – this is still very much a team there for the taking. The home crowd will hope to make it difficult for the visitors like they did towards the end of last season, but Mikel Arteta’s men should have too much on the day. As such, Arsenal to win and both teams to score at 3/1 looks generously priced.

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