This Time Next Year - Weekend Preview | 18th & 19th January 2025

This Time Next Year.. Weekend Preview | 18th & 19th January 2025

By Stuart Court January 17, 2025 #ThisTimeNextYear

Welcome back to the This Time Next year blog. Before I get into the weekend's games, let's have a quick look back at how we did with our predictions from last weekend.

From the 8 games tipped, there was a 50% hit ratio with 8pts placed returning 11.7pts. A 3.7pt profit to add to the total that's now starting to tick along nicely. We'd love to have a clean sweep this week though so let's get straight into the games and see what value there is to be had.

Now, there's 9 Premier League games this weekend and I've chosen 6 to focus on. Normally I'd be covering the lot but I'm currently in the process of selling my house and as anyone that's ever had to deal with viewing after viewing knows, your time to yourself is limited! Anyway, enough about that. Onto the games.

Newcastle United v Bournemouth

Newcastle can't stop winning at the moment. Wedneasday's 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park was their ninth win in a row in all competitions. Anthony Gordon isn't getting a lot of the praise because Alexander Isak is scoring with such regularity it's starting to draw comparisons with some of the greats they've had the pleasure of seeing there over the years. However, make no mistake, Gordon is flying and yet again, there's value to be had on him this weekend. If you fancy him to pop up with the first goal of the game it's a cool 6/1.

All the talk about Newcastle's form might lead you to believe this is a banker home win, but the Cherries are currently enjoying their best form of the season as well. Unbeaten since the end of November, a run stretching 10 games. They're scoring goals too. Tuesday nights 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge was unfortunate not to be more after Kluivert and Semenyo had turned the game on it's head and it took a Reece James free kick in the 95th minute to stop the points going back to the Vitality.

Both teams are really playing well. The home advantage for me will be the difference here though and when the Toon Army get going there's few fan bases in the world that can rival them. The late goal Bournemouth conceeded on Tuesday might just have put a dampner on things and as a result I'm going with Newcastle to make it 10 wins on the spin.

Brentford v Liverpool

Brentford's form is up and down to say the least. Two wins, two draws and six defeats in their last 10 doesn't make for good reading but the wins have been really impressive. A 5-0 trouncing of Southampton at St Mary's along with a 4-2 home win over Newcastle. The last team to beat the Toon I Might add and that was way back on the 7th December. Tuesday's 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City will have boosted the confidence after 2 late goals rescued a point.

Arne Slot's Liverpool have been held to 2 successive draws in the Premier League. A 2-2 at home to Manchester United and Tuesday night's 1-1 draw away to fellow high flyers Nottingham Forest. The game performance at the City Ground during the week was actually very good and they arguably deserved the 3 points but it's another point gained nonetheless. Diogo Jota was on the scoresheet equalising on the night and he's .

The Gtech has been a tough place to go this season as Man City found out during the week. However, it's difficult to see a defence that's leaking goals, holding out a Liverpool side that can seemingly score at will against similarly unorganised backlines.

West Ham United v Crystal Palace

The new manager bounce struck again on Tuesday as Graham Potter's men recorded a much needed win over a gallant Fulham. The 3-2 scoreline does a lot to explain the type of game it was. Lots of end to end action and some poor defending and goalkeeping. But the Hammers will just be pleased to have come out on the right side of the result after 3 losses on the bounce. The victory moved them up the table from 16th to 13th and whilst that's not a massive move, it was important to make a move upwards rather than continue the dangerous slide towards the relegation zone.

Crystal Palace are in very good form, unbeaten in 5 and in fact, they've only lost to Arsenal since the 9th November. 10 unbeaten games sandwiching those games with the Gunners. Wednesday's victory at the King Power against Leicester was a comfortable and professional performance in which the away side were never in trouble.

This really could go either way. After Tuesday's win, confidence will be flowing through the London Stadium and if the home crowd get behind West Ham early on it could well lead to more of the same. However, Palace are no easy push overs these days. They can score and have a good solid defence. As a result I'm going for a low scoring draw. Yes, on the fence..

Arsenal v Aston Villa

Arsenal took the spoils from Wednesday nights north London derby with a 2-1 win over Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium, coming from behind in the process. The win put to bed 3 relatively poor performances and just in the nick of time. The three points puts them four points behind Liverpool and if results go well this weekend it could be even closer.

Three wins on the spin now for Unai Emery's men after Wednesday night's victory away to Everton. The win at Goodison is more impressive than it seems on paper being that it was David Moyes first game back in charge of the Toffees. The goal from Ollie Watkins was a welcome return to the scoresheet and his first goal from open play since scoring at home to Crystal Palace on 23rd November.

Tough game to call again but the win during the week will surely kick Arsenal on again. If they're serious about a title challenge they absolutely have to put a run of wins together and with games against Manchester City and Newcastle coming up, three points here are a must..

Everton v Tottenham

A second successive home game for Everton and David Moyes and after Wednesday's loss to Aston Villa, it's important that the Toffees get some more points on the board. They currently sit just 1 point outside the relegation places. They haven't won in the league since the 4th December and their last win before that was on the 19th October. This is a really important period for Moyes you feel. Tottenham on Sunday followed by Brighton and Leicester. A minimum of 4 potentially 6 points are required. If they don't it starts to look bleak given the run of fixtures they go into after.

Tottenham come into the game on the back of back to back poor performances. A 2-1 loss in the north London derby against Arsenal was preceeded by an awful showing against Tamworth in the FA Cup. A far cry from the Carabao Cup semi final win over Liverpool on the 8th January. The only real bright light from the last couple of games have been the performances of Lucas Bergvall. It's taken him a long time to get going but if Spurs are going to improve their league standing, they'll need him to keep it up.

It's certainly not beyond all reasonable doubt that Everton could win here. Whenever a team is desperate for three points, playing Tottenham seems to be just the tonic. However, this is just as important for Ange and whilst currently languishing in 14th place it's about time they put some more points on the board and on Sunday afternoon I expect them to add to the home sides woes.

Ipswich Town v Manchester City

Ipswich lost 2-0 at home to Brighton on Thursday night ending their 3 game unbeaten run. A run which looked like helping to get them away from the drop zone. Obviously one of those games was in the FA Cup but wins breed confidence no matter who they're against and after beating Chelsea and drawing with Fulham, things were starting to look a little rosier in the Portman Road garden.

City come into the game deserate for 3 points as they find themselves 12 points off the summit and having played a game more than Liverpool. The 2 points they dropped at the Gtech on Tuesday night will not have helped matters but a win here will certainly help get them back on track. Despite the result against Brentford, it was good to see Phil Foden bagging a brace. Just his third and fourth goals of the season.

It'll be interesting to see how Ipswich go about this. Their peformance against Chelsea in their 2-0 home victory at the end of December was surprising to most as they took the game to the Blues and it paid off. An early goal could cause some real issues for City but it's going to take a real effort and as such, I expect Pep's men to come away with the points.

All in All..

I've reveiwed just 6 games from a really exciting weekend to look forward to. There's lots of value around and as a side bet away from the previews above, a double on Newcastle and Man City to both win without conceeding is over 7/1.

As always, whether you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you'll be going for.