BETMGM GOLDEN GOALS MD31: MANCHESTER DERBY REDEMPTION FOR AMORIM
The Manchester Derby headlines Golden Goals Matchday 31 as Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United host Manchester City at Old Trafford.
There’s another rivalry played out on Saturday as Brighton travel to Crystal Palace, while a West versus East Midlands clash takes place as Aston Villa take on Nottingham Forest.
Elsewhere, Ipswich are at home to Wolves in a game they simply must win, league leaders Liverpool tackle a tricky trip to Fulham and Bournemouth are at West Ham looking to bounce back from FA Cup disappointment and continue their European push.
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Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton
Only Newcastle (11) have won more domestic games than Crystal Palace’s 10 across all competitions since the new year, with Oliver Glasner’s side keeping eight clean sheets in the process.
Eberechi Eze has refound his form in recent weeks with four goal contributions across his last five games – including a goal and assist in last Saturday’s win over Fulham – but he is not the only in-form attacking player on display this weekend.
Brighton’s Joao Pedro has four goal contributions in his last five league outings for the Seagulls and you can back both Eze and Joao Pedro to score or assist anytime this weekend at a mouthwatering 7/1.
Despite Palace’s impressive run of form, their performances on their home patch have left a lot to be desired with only four wins so far in the league.
The last five games between Palace and Brighton have ended 1-1 at Selhurst Park and Fabian Hurzeler’s side have the second-most draws in the league this term.
Recent history repeats itself on Saturday.
West Ham 1-2 Bournemouth
Bournemouth sit 10th after a five-match winless streak, their worst run of the season.
Nonetheless, Andoni Iraola's men remain poised for a European push and are capable of getting back to winning ways against a West Ham side plagued by inconsistency throughout the campaign.
Graham Potter has at least instilled some solidity into his Hammers, with just two goals conceded in their previous four, but the Cherries will cause that record problems as their 1.90 xG per 90 – the highest outside of the top four – underlines.
West Ham may be clear of any relegation worry but they have lost three of their last four home games and have won just a third of their league games on home turf all season.
With six away wins, Bournemouth have the fifth-best record on their travels – albeit they will have to overturn recent history between the sides if they are to make it seven given they have not managed to win this fixture since 2019.
Top scorer Justin Kluivert can help them rewrite the narrative. He has 13 Premier League goals this season and six Bournemouth away games in a row have featured both teams scoring so 13/2 for him to score in a Cherries win and both teams to score is a sensible shout.
Iraola’s side will get the job done… narrowly.
Ipswich 1-2 Wolves
Another year, another case of all three newly promoted sides going straight back down, with the gap between Ipswich in 18th and 17th-placed Wolves still nine points ahead of this bottom-half battle at Portman Road.
The Tractor Boys have struggled to show the same grit that got them back-to-back promotions under Kieran McKenna – losing 10 games on home soil already this season despite picking up three points away to Bournemouth on Wednesday.
To make matters worse, they’ve also got the poorest defensive record in the league having conceded 63 goals in 30 matches despite flashes of brilliance from the likes of Liam Delap, Sammie Szmodics and Omari Hutchinson at the other end.
Out of all other teams fighting for survival, Wolves look the hungriest to retain their Premier League status. They enter this game having won their last two top-flight fixtures, as many as in their last 19 combined.
Matheus Cunha has provided the most bite for Vitor Pereira’s side this season with 13 goals, eight of which have come away from home. The Brazilian will miss this game due to suspension, giving Jorgen Strand Larsen the chance to take centre stage.
The former Celta Vigo man has 10 league goals, scoring three in his last two appearances including the 1-0 winner over West Ham earlier this week. Larsen to score in a Wolves win and both teams to score in the game is a show-stopping 17/2.
Ipswich may have won the reverse fixture 2-1 in December but the opposite will happen this time round.
This is Wolves’ game to lose – and they won’t.
Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Two former European Cup winners go head-to-head at Villa Park, with the home side dreaming of becoming champions of Europe once more come early June.
Unai Emery’s men have also progressed to the FA Cup semi-finals, though visitors Nottingham Forest are enjoying a season to remember of their own.
Forest’s rise to the top four under Nuno Espirito Santo was... unexpected. They finished 17th last season and are now comfortably inside the Champions League places after Tuesday’s win over Manchester United.
They head to the West Midlands with an impressive away record – 27 points accumulated on the road is more than all but Liverpool and Arsenal – but Villa are notoriously difficult to beat at home with just one defeat so far.
Only the Gunners have left Villa Park with three points although, similarly, the Tricky Trees are the only team to win in the league at leaders Liverpool and won this reverse fixture at the City Ground.
Expect a similarly tight game here that could be decided by star names such as Marco Asensio or Marcus Rashford.
Asensio has been a revelation since arriving at Villa in January – scoring twice in each of their last three home games – while, with 187, Emery's men have taken the fourth-most corners in the league. It's a tasty 13/2 for Asensio to score in a home win and Villa to take over 5.5 corners.
Fulham 1-2 Liverpool
After losing just two of their last eight heading into the international break, Fulham have had a disappointing return to domestic action with an FA Cup exit on home soil to Crystal Palace followed by a midweek defeat to Arsenal.
Next on the docket: league leaders Liverpool, a team Fulham haven’t beaten in front of their own fans since 2011.
However, the Cottagers did cause the soon-to-be champions problems when they battled to a 2-2 draw at Anfield back in April.
Rodrigo Muniz found the net on that occasion and the Brazilian is back scoring consistently in recent weeks with three in his last four, while his 0.6 goals per 90 minutes is more than the likes of Ollie Watkins, Yoanne Wissa and Matheus Cunha.
One thing this fixture should guarantee is goals. Four of the last five league matches between these two have had over 2.5 of those, with Fulham games clocking above that number in three of their last four too.
Muniz to score anytime, over 2.5 goals in the game and a Liverpool victory combine to make an enticing 21/2 Bet Builder or you can switch out the Muniz goal for a Mohamed Salah one at 27/10.
Liverpool might still be hurting after Champions League and League Cup heartache but they should bounce back at Craven Cottage to put one hand on the Premier League trophy.
Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City
Manchester United are yet to win back-to-back Premier League games this season.
If they fail to register two wins in a row before the end of the campaign, it will be the first time in more than 100 years the Red Devils have failed to achieve this rather straightforward accomplishment.
They are also on track to beat their worst Premier League goal return of 49, set during the 2015/16 campaign. Given they are currently on 37 after 30 matches, they will need more than a goal per game from now until the end of the campaign to not break that unwanted record.
It’s difficult to see how they prevent that indignity – especially when central defender Harry Maguire managed to generate a higher xG total in his brief substitute appearance against Nottingham Forest (0.6) than striker Rasmus Hojlund managed in any of his previous 15 matches beforehand.
However, there are signs of improvement. Away to Forest Amorim’s men managed 24 shots – their joint-most on record without scoring away from home since these records began in 2003/04 – and dominant patterns of play signal an encouraging future. And they have, remember, already beaten Manchester City under Amorim too.
For City, their mission is simple: win the FA Cup and qualify for the Champions League.
Failure to do either would count as disastrous for a club used to success over the past decade.
A 2-0 win over Leicester on Tuesday night means the top four remains in sight but they have won on just two of their previous five visits to their arch-rivals and just four of nine away games in 2025 overall.
City will be without Erling Haaland and the home side are improving performances – a shock home win is on the agenda.
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