EPL Matchday 31 Odds: Title Race to Go Down to Wire
Arsenal Drop Points as City Favored to Win Title
Title Race to Go Down to Wire
Liverpool and Arsenal contested a 2-2 thriller last Sunday that saw the Gunners drop points for just the seventh time this season. The Premier League odds now price Manchester City at -140 to win the Premier League for a third consecutive season. Although, City trail Arsenal by six points as the Cityzens have a game in hand. City have been excellent over the last few weeks, getting five straight wins with a three-goal margin or more, in all competitions. This weekend both Arsenal and Man City will be looking for all three points vs. West Ham and Leicester City, respectively. We’ll take a look at Arsenal, City and more as we preview the EPL Matchday 31 odds.
Games of the Week
Aston Villa vs Newcastle
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Aston Villa moved into sixth place with a fourth straight win last weekend. With eight games left on their EPL schedule, Villa are in pursuit of their first UEFA appearance since the 2010-11 season. Since Unai Emery became Aston Villa coach in November only Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points than the Birmingham club.
Villa will host another club in the race for a European spot on Saturday when Newcastle United come to town. Newcastle are on a five-game winning streak of their own and are currently in third place.
Newcastle have lost just two matches on the road this season and enter the match as 0.5-goal favorites. Eddie Howe’s side sit at +110 ATS and moneyline odds for Saturday’s match. Although, Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron are both out on Newcastle’s frontline. Joelinton, Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy started up top in the recent impressive 2-1 win at Brentford.
Anthony Gordon is another option for Howe on the wing. Meanwhile, Aston Villa are +260 home underdogs but show -130 odds to cover the spread. Villa have conceded just two goals in their last seven matches as goalkeeper Emi Martinez has been a standout.
Ollie Watkins has also scored in four of his last five matches for Aston Villa. With Newcastle’s Nick Pope a joint-Premier League leader in shutouts, under 2.5 goals come in at -115 odds. NUFC have been conceding more as of late, conceding in four of their last five matches, though. Newcastle have also won the last two meetings between these two sides but a draw shows +240 odds.
Manchester City vs Leicester City
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Manchester City have been on a roll lately. Pep Guardiola’s side punished Bayern Munich’s mistakes on Tuesday as they picked up a 3-0 win at home. Heading into the second leg, City are in an excellent position. City are also in an excellent position to win the Premier League even though they’re in second place right now.
If Man City win out, they’d be at least level with Arsenal on points and the Cityzens currently have a better goal difference than the Gunners. With a nine-game winning streak, in all competitions, City host struggling Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Leicester recently appointed former Aston Villa and Norwich City manager Dean Smith as interim manager. The Foxes, who won the 2021 FA Cup and FA Community Shield, are in 19th place and haven’t won a match since February. Heading into Saturday’s match, Leicester are two-goal underdogs.
The EPL Matchday 31 odds price Leicester +2 at +115 odds and the Foxes’ moneyline at +1300 odds. Manchester City have won the last three meetings and sit at -135 odds to cover and -575 odds to win the match. Leicester will be hoping for a new manager bounce, though.
It’ll be quite a difficult task for Leicester to handle Man City striker Erling Haaland. Haaland has scored 45 goals in all competitions this season, which is more than any other player in the history of the Premier League. Manchester City enter the match with a 12-1-1 home EPL record and only have Phil Foden on the injury list.
These teams haven’t drawn since 2015 and a draw is seen as unlikely, at +700 odds. Youri Tielemans is nearing a return from injury for Leicester just as Harvey Barnes picked up a knock last weekend. Only three teams have conceded more goals than Leicester this season and both over and under 3.5 goals sit at -110 odds for the match.
West Ham vs Arsenal
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On just two days of rest following a 1-1 draw at Gent in the UEFA Europa Conference League, West Ham host Arsenal on Sunday. With two wins in their last three matches, the Hammers have escaped the relegation zone but are certainly not in the clear just yet. Arsenal will be highly motivated to get all three points here too, following a 2-2 draw at Liverpool last Sunday. The Gunners led that match 2-0 but Liverpool dominated play in the second half and could’ve gone on to win.
The Premier League betting odds price Arsenal as one-goal favorites for Sunday’s match. The Gunners defeated West Ham 3-1 at the Emirates earlier this season and both teams have scored in four of the last five meetings. Arsenal have scored at least twice in their last six games and over 2.5 goals display -125 odds for this match.
Gabriel Jesus got on the scoresheet again last Sunday and the Brazilian has found the net three times in his last two appearances. Meanwhile, West Ham are priced at -115 odds to cover the spread and +475 odds to win the match. However, the Hammers have never won vs. Arsenal under David Moyes.
The Hammers also have just one win vs. members of the current top six this season. They’ve certainly struggled for goals this season, as they’ve averaged under a goal per match.
The Hammers have scored once in each of their last four matches, though. With striker Gianluca Scamacca out, Jarrod Bowen, Danny Ings and Said Benrahma could be the starting front three. Meanwhile, starting Arsenal center back William Saliba is still working his way back from an injury.
Rob Holding could continue to replace him in the meantime. Notably, just one of the last 11 matches between these teams have finished in draws. Regardless, a draw sits at +315 odds here.
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United
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Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest spent more money on players this season than any other EPL club not named Chelsea. Still, Forest are staring at potential relegation as they sit in 18th place. They have the worst goal difference in the league, at -30 and haven’t won since February.
They’ve also lost three times to Sunday’s opponents, Manchester United, this season. United defeated Forest 5-0, on aggregate, in the EFL Cup Semifinals and won the EPL reverse fixture, 3-0. Manchester United are coming off of midweek disappointment, though.
United led 2-0 vs. Sevilla in the first half from two Marcel Sabitzer goals. However, two late own goals meant the match ended in a draw. Plus, a couple of United players came off injured in the match. Defenders Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez aren’t expected to play on Sunday after leaving Thursday’s match.
Erik ten Hag has other injury problems to worry about as well. Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho are all currently dealing with injury issues. Still, the EPL Matchday 31 odds price United as one-goal favorites for Sunday’s match.
Nottingham Forest, who haven’t defeated United since 1994, are +400 underdogs. However, they do sit at -150 odds to cover the spread. United have won their last two EPL matches, keeping shutouts in each, and display -150 odds to win the match.
David de Gea has now kept 13 shutouts this season, tied for the joint-most in the Premier League. Man U -1 comes in at +130 odds here as over 2.5 goals show -125 odds. Both teams have defensive injuries, as Serge Aurier, Moussa Niakhaté and Willy Boly could all miss the match for Nottingham Forest. A draw would be a great road result for Forest and it sits at +315 odds.
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