EPL 2023/24 Matchweek 16 – Betting tips & Predictions

The 2023/24 Premier League season is hitting its fever pitch. Matches are happening nearly every day and we have a genuine title race. What is even more surprising is how Manchester City is looking in from the outside on that race. Arsenal are top of the table with Liverpool and Aston Villa just behind them. 
 
Keep reading to see our EPL Matchweek 16 picks for this exciting weekend full of matches that could spice up the title race even more.  

Odds by Playup

Selhurst Park, 10:30 PM, Saturday, December 9 

Much to Jurgen Klopp’s delight Liverpool start the Premier League weekend off with an early fixture. The Reds won convincingly against Sheffield United last week and currently sit just two points off the top of the table.  
 
Roy Hogdson and his Crystal Palace side are starting to feel the heat from fans following their 0-2 loss to Bournemouth at home last week. Reports say Hogdson may be out if he can't turn things around. We think the Palace board will forgive him if they lose this week to Liverpool though.  
 
Klopp’s side are better than Palace and in a great run of form. Even if Liverpool comes out with a rotated side, we are expecting a victory here. The side could be a little tired though, so we would not be surprised if Palace get at least one goal in this match.  

Predicted Lineups

Crystal Palace: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Clyne; Ayew, Hughes, Lerma, Schlupp; Edouard, Mateta 

Liverpool: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold; Gomez, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Endo, Szoboszlai; Salah, Gakpo, Nunez

Amex Stadium, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 10 

Brighton put their disappointing Chelsea loss two matchweeks ago behind them and got things back on track midweek against Brentford. The Seagulls bested the Bees 2-1 at home. This was probably the fair result, but Brighton looked very shaky at times defending Brentford counter attacks.  
 
Burnley will not threaten Brighton as much on the counter as Brentford. Instead of countering, Vincent Kompany’s side will try to build up from the back and create chances in possession. This greatly boosts Brighton’s chances in this match.  
 
The Seagulls play possession football themselves. If this match boils down to who can keep the ball better. Brighton will win convincingly. With that being said, Brighton haven't kept a clean sheet all season and are in the midst of an injury crisis. This could end up being a shootout. Even if that is the case, we are backing Brighton.  

Predicted Lineups

Brighton: Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Igor; Gilmour, Dahoud; Buonanotte, Gross, Mitoma; Pedro 

Burnley: Trafford; Vitinho, O’Shea, Beyer, Taylor; Berge, Brownhill; Gudmundsson, Amdouni, Tresor; Rodriguez 

Old Trafford, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 10

Manchester United are the most up and down team in the Premier League. They lose in embarrassing fashion to Newcastle one week, then dominate Chelsea the next. Bournemouth, meanwhile, are a team on the ascendancy who haven't lost in four matches. This is quietly one of the best matchups of the weekend.  
 
Bournemouth’s pressing system could easily cause Manchester United problems. The Red Devils' lack of a goal scorer outside of Scott McTominay could also come back to bite them. The team’s tendency to collapse is another thing we can't overlook.  
 
There are too many red flags here for Manchester United for us to ignore. We are backing Bournemouth to at least get a draw here. If you want a safer bet, Bournemouth +1.5 is a good value bet at most betting sites.  

Predicted Lineups

Man Utd: Onana; Dalot, Maguire, Shaw, Reguilon; Mainoo, McTominay; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho; Højlund 

Bournemouth: Neto; Smith, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Christie, Cook; Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier; Solanke 

Bramall Lane, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 10 

Sheffield United bounced back from their devastating 5-0 loss to Burnley and actually gave a good account of themselves against Liverpool in the midweek. The Blades only lost 2-0 and had a number of solid chances with Chris Wilder back at the helm. The boyhood Blades fan has a big challenge ahead of him this season as his goal is to keep his side in the Premier League.  
 
Brentford, meanwhile, also have a big challenge ahead of them. That challenge is how they will cope without their top scorer Bryan Mbeumo. The Cameroonian went down with an ankle injury in the Bees’ 2-1 loss to Brighton in the midweek. It has now been announced that he will be out for at least a few weeks.  
 
Even without Mbeumo, Brentford should have enough to get past Sheffield United, but we have serious doubts about their chances of putting up a big goal tally against the Blades.  

Predicted Lineups

Sheff Utd: Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Hamer, Souza, Brooks; McAtee, Osula, Archer 

Brentford: Flekken; Ghodos, Pinnock, Mee, Janelt; Yarmolyuk, Norgaard, Onyeka; Lewis-Potter, Maupay, Wissa

Molineux Stadium, 1:00 AM, Sunday, December 10 

Under normal circumstances, this would be a pretty even match. However, these are not normal circumstances.  
 
Nottingham Forest’s season has begun to spiral. The Reds have lost four of their last five matches and have been shutout for two straight games. Their 5-0 loss in the midweek against Fulham feels like the nail in the coffin for Steve Cooper’s time at The City Ground.  
 
Even with Forest’s troubles, we don't think Wolves will win by a lot. Gary O’Neil’s side haven't won a match by more than one goal this season. Wolves will get a straightforward win here, but you should be cautious about the people who are expecting a giant scoreline in this match.  

Predicted Lineups

Wolves: Sa; Dawson, Kilman, T. Gomes; Semedo, Lemina, J. Gomes, Bueno; Sarabia, Cunha, Hwang 

Nottm Forest: Vlachodimos; Aina, Felipa, Murillo, Toffolo; Sangare, Mangala, Dominguez; Hudson-Odoi, Elanga, Gibbs-White 

Villa Park, 3:30 AM, Sunday, December 10

Many pundits tipped Aston Villa to be a strong side this season, but we don’t think anyone predicted they would be genuine title contenders halfway through the season. Unai Emery’s side are just four points behind Arsenal. They could finish Matchweek 16 in second place and just one point off top place. 
 
Alternatively, Arsenal could get a win and further cement their status as Premier League title favourites. We don't think this will happen though. The Gunners have flown a little too close to the sun recently. They have experienced mistakes from multiple goalkeepers, poor defending at fullback, and striker woes, 
 
Their luck has to run out eventually. We think it will happen against Villa. This isn't just gut feeling either. Villa are legit good. They proved so against Man City midweek. Their undefeated home record also points to a Villa win this weekend.  
 
If you don't want to pick a winner, Over 2.5 goals is another great bet for this match.  

Predicted Lineups

Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Kamara, Luiz, McGinn; Tielemans; Watkins 

Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli 

Goodison Park, 12:00 AM, Monday, December 11

Despite a 10-point deduction, Everton are outside the relegation zone. This is a sign of two things. One, that Luton Town, Burnley, and Sheffield United are really bad. Two, that Everton are actually very good.  
 
Sean Dyche has Everton playing better than not just the teams around them, but also better than many of the teams above them. In fact, if Everton didn’t have the 10-point deduction pulling them down, they would be above Chelsea in the table.  
 
Speaking of Chelsea, they are very bad this year, by their standards at least. They are a side without a real identity and without a genuine goal scorer. This doesn’t give us much hope for them against Everton in front of a hostile Goodison Park. As crazy as it is to say, we like Everton in this match. A 1-0 Everton win or 1-1 draw feels very likely in this one.  

Predicted Lineups

Everton: Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Harrison, Garner, Gueye, McNeil; Doucoure; Calvert-Lewin 

Chelsea: Sanchez; James, Diasi, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson 

Craven Cottage, 12:00 AM, Monday, December 11

Both Fulham and West Ham come into this London derby match on a high. The Cottagers put five goals past a shell-shocked Nottingham Forest in the midweek. West Ham scored two goals to down Tottenham 2-1. This is probably the most evenly matched fixture of Matchweek 16.  
 
Fulham have the home field advantage, which can’t be ignored. On the other hand, West Ham’s away record is actually better than their home form. If we had to pick a winner, we would go with West Ham simply because they’ve been more consistent throughout the season.  
 
Because this is such a tight matchup, betting on a winner might not be the best value here. The totals markets are good value though as we think most punters are expecting a low-scoring match. Three goals between these two sides should be doable. Over 2.5 goals or Both Teams To Score are our best bets for this match. 

Predicted Lineups

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Tosin, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Iwobi, Pereira, Willian; Jimenez 

West Ham: Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Alvarez, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Soucek, Paqueta; Bowen 

Kenilworth Road, 12:00 AM, Monday, December 11 

Manchester City are six points back from the top of the Premier League table. Despite this being the case, many betting sites still have them as Premier League favourites. This won’t last much longer if Man City do not turn things around soon. It’s too early to hit the panic button, but their title challenge is on the brink of slipping away.  
 
Thankfully for City, they probably don’t have to worry about it slipping away in this matchweek. With all due respect to Luton Town, if Man City do not get a win here it would be time to start panicking about more than City’s title chances.  
 
Kenilworth Road can be a hostile environment for any side. We saw this midweek when Luton nearly nipped a point from Arsenal. With all this being said, a big City victory is the only result we see happening in this match.  

Predicted Lineups

Luton Town: Kaminski; Mengi, Lockyer, Osho; Doughty, Barkley, Nakama, Bell; Brown, Adebayo, Townsend 

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Stones, Silva; Foden, Alvarez, Grealish; Haaland 

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 2:30 AM, Monday, December 11

Matchweek 16 ends with a fixture between arguably the best of the rest teams in the Premier League. Sure, neither Newcastle or Tottenham are in the title race anymore, but they are very fun to watch.  
 
Ange Postecoglou only knows how to play one way, and that way is entertaining, all-action soccer. Newcastle don’t quite have the same swagger about them as Spurs, but their players always give it their all, which often leads to thrilling fixtures.  
 
While these sides both have the potential to dominate matches, we only see one side doing it on Monday. As good as Newcastle are, they are one of the five worst teams in the league away from home. They’ve won just once away from St James’ Park. Asking them to get their second away win of the season at Spurs is a big ask. Tottenham should win this match.  

Predicted Lineups

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Udogie; Sarr, Bissoma, Lo Celso; Kulusevski, Son, Johnson 

Newcastle: Dubravka; Tripper, Lascelles, Schar, Livramento; Miley, Guimaraes, Joelinto; Almiron, Isak, Gordon 

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