Will West Ham Go Top 4? Can Liverpool Stay Unbeaten? Is This The End For Wolves?

Matchday 8 is upon us and for what the weekend lacks in glamour matchups, it makes up for with some intriguing storylines and lots of value in a few of the fixtures. Can Liverpool keep up their torrid pace, or will Leicester break through and really place themselves amongst the EPL’s elite? Will West Ham or will it be Crystal Palace that announces their presence and force their way into the Top 4? Will Wolves keep Manchester City under 8 goals?

https://us.888sport.com/promotions/welcome-bonus/?sr=1683354

Let’s take a closer look at these three fixtures and look for the value plays in each.

Manchester City (-835) vs Wolves (+2200), Draw (+800)
We’ll start with the most lopsided fixture of the weekend. Man City is soaring right now. 5-0 in its last five competitive matches and looking like world beaters. They’re not only scoring goals, with 19 in those last five matches, but have also virtually constructed a brick wall in front of their goal, having only given up one(!) score in that same span. That’s virtually unheard of. With that, however, comes a bit of a caveat, and it’s where a possible value play comes in. In Man City’s seven league matches this season, four of them have seen both teams score. Wolves by no means is setting the league on fire, but they come in 3-1-1 in their last five competitive matches, so they are in some form here. Four of their last seven competitive away matches have tallied at least four goals between both teams, and though Man City will score the majority of them on Sunday, we think Wolves will knock at least one in. The play here is ​Both Teams To Score Yes (+133). ​A secondary value play is ​Total Goals Over 3.5 (-103).

West Ham (+100) vs Crystal Palace (+285), Draw (+260)
Both West Ham and Crystal Palace come into this fixture in middling form. The Hammers are 2-1-2 in their last five competitive matches while Palace are 2-2-1, but here they both sit at this early stage of the campaign closer to the top of the EPL table than the bottom. West Ham’s formidable defense has been a huge factor in their currently 5th place standing in the table. They’ve given up nine goals in their seven league games, but five of those came against Man City. Take that away and they’ve only given up four goals in six league matches, including three clean sheets. Their last two home matches have seen Hammers win to-nil as well. Palace come into this game only one point behind West Ham, and with a win could also see themselves in the Top 4. Across their seven league games, they have been solid if not spectacular, sporting a 3-2-2 record. Five of those matches have had two goals or less, so Palace definitely isn’t setting the world on fire scoring goals. This match should be a low-scoring affair, but the main thing to consider here is that Palace is winless in their last eight games vs West Ham, and we don’t see that streak ending anytime soon. The play here is ​West Ham moneyline (+100).​ A secondary play we like is ​Home Team to Score in both halves Yes (+190).

Liverpool (-220) vs Leicester City (+600), Draw (+370)
Now the match that most eyes will be locked on this matchday. Liverpool come into this fixture on fire; they have literally been unbeatable in this 2019 campaign. Seven matches, seven wins, and their EPL winning streak goes back even further to 16 games. Liverpool have given up at least one goal in nine of their twelve competitive matches this year, so definitely consider that if looking at any plays that involve both teams to score. Leicester come into this match third in the table and primed to get the upset. They’ve won four of their last five EPL matches, and have scored at least two goals in all four. Leicester is coming off of a 5-nil shellacking of Newcastle, and two games prior to that, they defeated Tottenham 2-1. To say they are in form is an understatement. This match will be their chance to show not only England, but all of Europe, that they are to be reckoned with. We look for them to give Liverpool all they can handle in this heavyweight matchup. This will be a close match as it usually is when these two meet (one draw and three one-goal Liverpool wins in the last four meetings); look for a close game with at least four goals scored. There are a few plays that we like, not the least of which is ​Total Goals by Away Team over 1.5 (+300). ​We see the Foxes getting at least two here. ​Home Team to Win and Both Teams to Score (+195) ​is another good play. Our favorite prop bet is ​Jamie Vardy to score (+235); ​he has scored an amazing seven goals in his last six matches vs Liverpool.

There’s your look at some of the best value plays of matchday 8. Enjoy the games, and good luck!

 *Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press