Shay Says - Episode 20
Welcome to Shay Says, the latest football betting blog from LeoVegas’ Irish ambassador, Shay Given.
This week, the Republic of Ireland and Premier League legend previews three big fixtures from the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season.
Let’s see what Shay Says!
Manchester City v Chelsea
I can’t see a Manchester City slip up here en route to lifting another title.
Obviously, Pep Guardiola will have to cool his side down from the highs of Real Madrid over the next few days and get them prepared mentally and physically, but they’re at the stage of the season where every single game is a cup final.
Sunday is no different – if they beat Chelsea, they win the Premier League. they’ve got the bit between their teeth and will be raring to go from the first whistle.
Chelsea have had a mental season – to spend £600m over two transfer windows, change their manager twice and still not have a permanent head coach just seems like a scattergun approach.
I know Todd Boehly is new to the club, but he said Graham Potter would be the long term manager, and that didn’t end up being the case, and now they have Frank Lampard in a temporary role – which isn’t an ideal position for anyone.
It’s a bit of a mess if I’m being honest – they have to tidy things up and get a permanent manager as soon as possible.
I’m going to go with 3-0 to City with Riyad Mahrez getting on the scoresheet – they’ll be far too strong and it could be a tough afternoon for Chelsea.
SHAY SAYS: MANCHESTER CITY 3-0 CHELSEA
Liverpool v Aston Villa
Jurgen Klopp has done well to regroup his players and get themselves into the position they find themselves in now.
The results in the middle of the season were not of the standards set by Liverpool over the past five or six years, to credit to him and the staff for turning things around and composing a late charge for the top four.
Looking at their fixtures and the way they’re playing, I think they’ll get maximum points from their remaining games and put pressure on Newcastle and Manchester United. That’s all they can do – just win their games and see what the other teams do.
Aston Villa have had a great season too and Unai Emery has done a great job – this is probably the toughest game Liverpool have remaining.
Villa look a well-rounded team in defence and attack and they showed last week against Tottenham that they can cause a lot of teams problems. Their turnaround from the beginning of the season has been sensational.
I however think Liverpool will have enough to win the game here. I’ll go 2-1 to the Reds, with Mohamed Salah to continue his good goalscoring form.
SHAY SAYS: LIVERPOOL 2-1 ASTON VILLA
Newcastle v Leicester City
This is a massive game at both ends of the table and it’s difficult to predict how both teams will approach it.
Leicester are fighting for their lives and really need a victory to claw their way out of the relegation zone, whereas Newcastle just need to be sensible in their last two fixtures to secure that top four place.
Leicester’s performances in recent weeks haven’t been good enough – they go a goal down and their heads seem to drop, and their confidence is very low at the minute.
It’s going to take a miracle for them to stay up – they looked like a relegated side on Monday night against Liverpool and the fans seem to have lost a lot of hope.
I fancy Newcastle to get a result here and I think home advantage will be a big factor – they’re so close to the top four now and I can see them picking up another win.
I’m going with a 2-0 home win with Callum Wilson scoring again. I think it’ll be a tight game, but Eddie Howe’s side will have enough to edge it.
SHAY SAYS: NEWCASTLE 2-0 LEICESTER CITY
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