Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.
After a compelling international football hiatus, the Premier League returns with another full complement of fixtures this weekend.
As always, bet365 have a range of potentially lucrative individual player specials and markets available for Saturday, Sunday and Monday’s televised games, and as usual FST have been poring over the statistics to find you the best selections from each.
The action kicks off on Saturday lunchtime at Craven Cottage where relegation favourites Fulham take on title-chasing Manchester City, with West Ham’s meeting with Everton at the London Stadium pencilled in for the live evening slot later on.
First up on Sunday, Cardiff City face a huge test of their survival credentials against Champions League qualification hopefuls Chelsea in Wales.
A few hours late, Liverpool tussle with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in the weekend’s showpiece fixture, before Arsenal close out the latest round of Premier League games against Newcastle at the Emirates on Monday evening.
Check out selection of player special betting tips for the weekend’s televised Premier League fixtures below:
Aleksandar Mitrovic – under 2.5 shots – 1/2 (FULHAM vs Man City)
In a campaign where little has gone right for Fulham, Serbian striker and Cottagers’ cult hero Aleksandar Mitrovic has been a shining light.
The 24-year old has found a way to score 10 times in the Premier League this season while often ploughing a lone farrow in a team that routinely find themselves under the cosh at the other end of the pitch.
On Saturday afternoon, Mitrovic is likely to be an isolated figure again when possession-hungry Man City take on him and his Fulham teammates in London.
Mitrovic has been reasonably prolific in terms of attempts on goal this season, averaging 3.3 shots per Premier League game for Fulham. It is telling however, that Mitrovic failed to register a single attempt on goal against Liverpool at Craven Cottage in Fulham’s last league game.
We think Mitrovic will be similarly starved of service against Liverpool’s title rivals City on Saturday, making him a great bet at 1/2 with bet365 to have under 2.5 shots
Read our detailed Fulham vs Man City match preview, predictions and betting tips here.
Declan Rice – over 2.5 tackles – 4/7 (WEST HAM vs Everton)
West Ham will be aiming to extend their recent 3 Premier League match winning streak at the London Stadium at Everton’s expense in the evening kick-off on Saturday.
Holding midfielder Declan Rice will expect to be in the thick of the action for the Irons against the Toffees, and the newly capped England international has been playing with the authority and aggression that his blossoming confidence allows of late.
Rice has averaged 3 tackles per Premier League appearances for West Ham this season, though his tackling average has noticeably shot up since the turn of the year.
The 20-year old anchorman made an average of 3.72 tackles per 90 minutes across the 11 Premier League fixtures he was involved in since January 1st.
With Rice’s influence on proceedings increasing week on week, we think he is great value at 4/7 with bet365 to make his presence felt against Everton on Saturday by making over 2.5 tackles.
Click here to read our West Ham vs Everton match preview with predictions and betting tips now.
N’Golo Kane – over 65.5 passes – 5/6 (Cardiff City vs CHELSEA)
Cardiff City’s clash with Chelsea in Wales on Sunday feels like a contest between one of the Premier League’s haves and one of the division’s have-nots in more ways than one.
Alongside the huge gap in quality and financial power between the clubs, there has been a chasm in the amount of possession the teams’ have averaged in the Premier League this season.
Cardiff have seen less of the ball than any other team in the league in 2018/19, averaging just 39.6% of the possession in their fixtures since their promotion. Chelsea operate at the other end of the spectrum, and their 60.9% average possession figure is second only to Manchester City’s 64% in the Premier League.
It seems safe then to assume that Chelsea should dominate the ball for large swathes of their game against Cardiff on Sunday, and midfielder N’Golo Kante should in turn, have much more time on the ball than usual.
Kante has averaged 63.6 passes per Premier League appearance for Chelsea this season, and he distributed the ball over 65.5 times on 12 separate occasions for the Blues in total.
We’re tipping Kante to enhance his passing numbers further against Cardiff on Sunday, and he’s priced brilliantly at 5/6 to pass his way beyond bet365’s 65.5 target.
Read our Cardiff City vs Chelsea match preview, predictions and betting tips here.
Sadio Mane over 1.5 shots on target – 10/11 (LIVERPOOL vs Tottenham Hotspur)
With 2 members of Liverpool’s usually explosive attacking triumvirate, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, looking a little toothless in recent weeks, Sadio Mane has been picking up their slack.
The Senegalese forward has netted 7 times in his last 5 appearances and at present, he looks one of the most threatening players in the Premier League.
Mane has averaged 2.4 shots per game in the top flight to date in 2018/19, 1.2 of which have been on target, though his accuracy has been markedly more lethal at Anfield of late.
The 26-year old had 9 attempts on goal in Liverpool’s last 2 home matches, 4 of which were on target, and as the club’s most reliable goal-getter, the onus will be on Mane to produce again for Liverpool against Spurs on Sunday.
With that considered, we think Mane looks amazing value at 10/11 bet365 to maintain his recent average and have over 1.5 shots on target against Tottenham.
DeAndre Yedlin to get booked 13/5 (Arsenal vs NEWCASTLE)
Remarkably, a full 36% or 18 of the 49 Premier League bookings Newcastle have collected so far this season were shown to just 2 of their players.
Swiss centre-half Fabian Schar has been shown yellow 10 times this season for the Magpies, while wingback Matt Ritchie has been carded on 8 occasions.
This week however, we think Newcastle right-back DeAndre Yedlin is the Magpies’ prime candidate to fall foul of the referee at the Emirates on Monday evening.
Newcastle serial offender Fabian Schar is currently serving a suspension, and though Ritchie’s 8 bookings dwarf Yedlin’s 6, the latter should be much the busier wing back against Arsenal.
An incredible 41% of the Gunners attacks in the Premier League this season have come down their left hand side in the spaces that Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Aaron Ramsey like to drift into.
With Sead Kolasinac’s rampaging runs also complicating the issue for Yedlin, we think the 25-year old might have to make one tackle too many.
With that in mind, we believe he’s well worth backing at 13/5 with bet365 to pick up his 7th Premier League booking of the season.
