Sports Blog 16/05/2017: Premier League Preview – Arsenal vs Sunderland/Manchester City vs West Brom, Tuesday 16th May 2017

Though the top and bottom of the table is written in stone, it is all still to play for in terms of the remaining Champions League spots.

Tuesday kicks off at 7.45pm, when Arsenal host the already relegated Sunderland on Sky Sports 2. Arsene Wenger is cutting it fine if he wants the Gunners to appear in Europe’s top flight competition next season. Arsenal are currently in 5th place, 3 points behind Man City and 4 behind Liverpool, with a game in hand over the latter. That means they need one of those 2 sides to slip up if they are to keep up Wenger’s top 4 record, something that seems unlikely given the quality of their remaining opponents.



Nevertheless, all Arsenal can do is focus on picking up 6 points in their final 2 matches. The first 3 shouldn’t be an issue; Sunderland were relegated ages ago, and haven’t been any higher than 20th place since the end of January. They may have to do it without Alexis Sanchez, however, who picked up a knock in the Gunners’ weekend win over Stoke. That leaves Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, both at Super Mega PGM spreads of 73-85, and Olivier Giroud, at 109-129, with a chance to nab the spotlight that is so often on their Chilean teammate.

Arsenal’s season will effectively be over if they fail to win on Tuesday. The chance of that is slim, however, with Spreadex offering a whopping Arsenal/Sunderland Goal Supremacy spread of 2.8-3 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.95-4.15.

A bit later Manchester City face a slightly tougher opponent, hosting West Brom at 8pm on Sky Sports 1. Guardiola hasn’t enjoyed the easiest debut in the Premier League, and needs a place in Europe’s top competition to ensure the season isn’t a complete failure. Luckily City can overtake Liverpool, and likely cement a top 4 finish, with a win over Tony Pulis’ side.



Despite falling out of favour for a hot second, Sergio Aguero remains far and away City’s top scorer, with 31 goals in all competitions and a Super Mega PGM of 86-101. Yet he faces renewed competition from the returned Gabriel Jesus, the Brazilian heading into Tuesday night at a spread of 76-88.

It must be frustrating for West Brom fans to think where they could have been if it weren’t for their spring collapse. They are on track to match their best ever Premier League finish of 8th place, despite winning just once, and losing 7 times, in their last 10 games. This trip to Manchester gives Pulis the opportunity to end the season on a high; theoretically, at least, with Spreadex offering a Man City/West Brom Goal Supremacy spread of 2.4-2.6 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.6-3.8.