GOLDEN GOALS MD10: NO RESPITE FOR RUUD’S RED DEVILS
It was a weekend of late drama on Matchday 9 of the Premier League season with five games decided beyond the 90-minute mark.
Everton, Wolves and Bournemouth all managed to salvage a point from their fixtures while Brentford and West Ham secured all three points in their games thanks to last-minute winners.
Will we see more late drama this week? Golden Goals Matchday 10 provides a loaded slate with plenty of potential drama; Liverpool and Brighton meet in a top-six battle, Tottenham welcome fourth-placed Aston Villa and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Manchester United host Chelsea at Old Trafford.
Remember, this week’s Golden Goals continues an exciting change to our prize offering – while predicting all six scores correctly will still win you a share of the £1 million jackpot, two correct scores and more will net players prizes ranging from Free Bets to a share of cash.
Last week, 22 players won £500 with four correct scores while thousands more banked Free Bets. Click here for full Golden Goals information, including prize breakdown and terms..
Let’s take a closer look at Golden Goals Matchday 10…
Liverpool vs Brighton
Liverpool lost their spot atop the Premier League table with a draw against Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend.
Arne Slot’s side had to fight from behind twice – a rare occurrence under the Dutchman given the Reds have been behind for less than 76 minutes this season so far. Only last Sunday’s opponents, Arsenal, have spent less time trailing.
Mohamed Salah netted the all-important equaliser in London to take his tally to six for the season. His goalscoring return, alongside his five assists, means the Egyptian has been involved in 65% of Liverpool’s goals so far this term which is the highest ratio of any player in the league.
Salah also has an impressive record against Brighton. In his last 14 Premier League appearances against the Seagulls, the winger has been involved in 15 goals (scoring nine and assisting six).
Brighton looked well on their way to three points and a place in the Premier League’s top four when Evan Ferguson scored his first goal of the campaign and doubled his side’s lead.
However, a four-on-one attack for Fabian Hurzeler’s side quickly turned into a Wolves counter-attack and Matheus Cunha put the finishing touches on a scintillating move to steal a point at the Amex.
One of the bright spots for the south coasters was that Danny Welbeck continued his form in last weekend’s dramatic encounter with his sixth goal of the season. The former Manchester United forward has now scored in three straight games and will be looking to make it four for the first time in his career during Golden Goals Matchday 10.
These two met on Wednesday night at the Amex with Liverpool coming out on top in a five-goal thriller. We see the home side edging it here and continuing to put pressure on Manchester City and Arsenal in the title race – while both Welbeck and Salah to score anytime comes in at an intriguing 15/2.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Brighton
Bournemouth vs Manchester City
No obstacle has been bigger for Bournemouth than reigning champions Manchester City. The Cherries have come out on the losing side 18 times out in the 20 league occasions the two have met – the only exceptions also ended in a stalemate.
To put it bluntly, the Cherries have never beaten City and history is likely to repeat itself come Sunday despite the fact Andoni Iraola’s men bested title contenders Arsenal 2-0 on Golden Goals Matchday 8 before holding fourth placed Aston Villa to a point away from home.
Another point to consider is that City are still finding a way through opponents despite a troublesome injury situation. They are unbeaten in all 28 games of 2024 so far, which is only a handful of games shy of Nottingham Forest’s top-flight record 35-game-long start to a calendar year back in 1978.
Only City and Tottenham have taken more shots than Bournemouth this season with Iraola’s men attempting 14.2 per 90 minutes, their highest in a single campaign.
Antoine Semenyo’s name is regularly mentioned whenever they do get into those attacking areas. The Ghana international has created eight chances and registered 12 shots following a ball carry – the most of any player this term – and he’s currently 9/5 to have over 2.5 shots in this game.
That said, this still feels like Pep Guardiola’s game to lose. The champions’ record over Bournemouth is the best 100% record any team has over another in Premier League history. It might not be a dominating performance on City’s part but the notion of their 28-game streak ending given the run they are on is next to impossible.
Prediction: Bournemouth 0-2 Manchester City
Nottingham Forest vs West Ham
It’s been an incredible start to the season for Nottingham Forest.
They sit in seventh on 16 points, just two points outside the top four. Last term they didn’t reach more than 16 points until over halfway through the season. Indeed, they are already halfway to last season’s overall points total (32 after a four-point deduction.)
A lot of that has to do with the form of the New Zealand international Chris Wood, who has scored seven goals so far in this campaign. He only needs three more strikes in the Premier League to become Nottingham Forest’s all-time leading scorer in the competition, overtaking Stan Collymore in the processs.
There is a clinical edge to Wood at the moment. No player who has taken five or more shots can match his conversion rate of 36.8% – for reference, Erling Haaland is at 28.6%.
It's a very attacking side in our latest 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙈𝙂𝙈 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠 🎯
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) October 28, 2024
Agree with our picks?
❤️ 𝗬𝗲𝘀
💬 𝗡𝗼#EPL #FPL pic.twitter.com/8VzoFHYUJG
You can get odds 39/20 for Wood to find the net against West Ham with BetMGM while, if you fancy him to pull level with Collymore’s record with a hat-trick that’s a massive 60/1.
The Hammers, meanwhile, come into the game after overcoming Manchester United 2-1 last weekend. In truth, they were lucky not to go in at half-time at least 3-0 down. However, a triple change at half-time altered the course not only of the game, but the trajectory of Erik ten Hag’s United career, which abruptly ended the following day.
Manager Julen Lopetegui still has a lot of work to do to win over some of the east London faithful, though, and it’s been a turgid beginning to the campaign.
This fixture generated plenty of goals last year – seven across both meetings – and we can see another goalfest this time round with Forest just edging it.
Prediction: Nottingham Forest 3-2 West Ham
Wolves vs Crystal Palace
A morale-boosting late comeback saw Wolves claim a vital point at Brighton last weekend and, although they remain winless, it did see Gary O’Neil’s men climb off the foot of the table.
Palace, meanwhile, got a much-needed result of their own with their first win of the season against Spurs relieving some early pressure on boss Oliver Glasner.
O’Neil’s men have undoubtedly had a difficult start to the season – facing Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City already – but their 25 goals conceded in just nine games is cause for concern no matter who the opponents were.
This is, then, a game that Wolves will feel they simply have to win to avoid a worrying gap to safety opening up – and Matheus Cunha will be key to reigniting the season for the Old Gold.
The Brazilian has scored four of Wolves’ 12 goals so far and popped up with the late leveller during last week’s draw at Brighton. The Molineux faithful will be hoping for more moments of magic against a Palace team that have won six of the last seven meetings between the teams but who are struggling this term.
Jean-Philippe Mateta notched the winner against Spurs on Matchday 9. It was just his second goal so far but fans will be hoping it kickstarts his season after 16 in the league last campaign, including in a 3-1 win at Molineux in May, with Mateta anytime scorer and both teams to score this time round a tasty 10/3.
As for the result itself, it's a genuinely tough one to call. Both sides will be buoyed by positive results from last weekend but this game pits the league’s worst defence against the league’s joint-worst attack. Stalemate incoming.
Prediction: Wolves 1-1 Crystal Palace
Tottenham vs Aston Villa
Tottenham enter this weekend’s match against Aston Villa buoyed by an impressive 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the EFL Cup, the Lilywhites’ first victory over the champions since February last year.
Captain Son Heung-min was absent from last weekend’s game due to an injury but there is hope that Tottenham’s second-highest Premier League scorer can return to league action against Villa. The South Korean forward has been involved in nine goals in his last eight games against the Villans and is 21/20 to score or assist in this one.
Aston Villa travel to north London with the joint-third-best away record in the league this season with three wins and one draw on their travels so far. Only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have accumulated a better tally on the road through nine games.
❌ Manchester City
— BetMGM UK (@BetMGMUK) October 31, 2024
❌ Chelsea
❌ Aston Villa
There were some heavyweights 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 of the #CarabaoCup last night, who do you fancy to win it from here? 🏆
Latest odds: https://t.co/e2BVz1fhC4#EFLCup pic.twitter.com/02ffsYeJ1c
Unai Emery has an impressive away record in London, in particular. The Spanish coach has guided Villa to nine wins from 13 in the capital – no manager at a single club has a better win ratio in Premier League history (minimum 10 games).
Villa’s formidable away record will be put to the test against a Spurs side that is stout at home. Tottenham have only succumbed to defeat once at home this campaign – a 1-0 defeat to rivals Arsenal.
They will not fall to defeat at home here – but they will have to share the spoils with Emery’s men.
Prediction: Tottenham 2-2 Aston Villa
Manchester United vs Chelsea
Premier League life post-Erik ten Hag for Manchester United begins with a match against in-form Chelsea at Old Trafford, a fixture that the Red Devils have lost only once in the league since 2017.
While that is promising on paper, in reality this isn’t a fixture United will relish.
Defensively, the two sides have conceded the same number of goals in 11 but the other end of the pitch shows a stark contrast. United have scored just eight goals in their nine Premier League matches so far – Cole Palmer on his own has scored seven.
Only Alejandro Garnacho has more than one league goal for the Red Devils while only bottom-placed Southampton and early strugglers Crystal Palace have scored fewer than United’s miserly total.
They took 18 shots, five of which were on target, and enjoyed 57% possession against West Ham yet that yielded just one goal from an xG of 2.33; chances are not the issue, rather converting them. Ultimately, it cost ten Hag his job.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will be heading north looking to heap more misery on Old Trafford having lost just once in the league since the opening day and, in Palmer, they boast arguably the division’s form player with six goals and an assist in his last five league matches.
The England international scored a hat-trick in Chelsea’s 4-3 win over United at Stamford Bridge last season while both teams have scored in the last six meetings between these sides – with caretaker manager Ruud van Nistelrooy overseeing a five-goal haul in the EFL Cup during midweek, the goal may open up for United this weekend.
Although Chelsea will likely triumph here to continue their fine start to the season under Enzo Maresca there could be value in an away win, both teams to score, Palmer to have over 1.5 shots on target and to score anytime at 8/1.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-3 Chelsea
Add our Golden Goals selections to your betslip here
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change. Please note: This week's Golden Goals deadline is Saturday 2nd November 15:00. Opt-in is required and you can find out more here.
Golden Goals Terms and Conditions
Opt in & predict 6 correct scores (see game lobby for weekly tournament cut-off time) to win up to £1m Jackpot. Predict 2+ correct scores and win a prize (ranging from Free Bets to £5k Prizepool). Winnings shared evenly in case of multiple winners. Each prize subject to its own terms. Void if 1 or more matches postponed/abandoned or not completed. Verification procedures apply. 18+. T&Cs and exclusions apply.