SALAH, VARDY & KLUIVERT STAR IN GOLDEN GOALS MD35 PICKS
With just four games to go the Premier League title is settled and relegation all but confirmed – but the battle for European places is wide open.
Bournemouth, Chelsea and Brentford are among the clubs with plenty still to play for and several Golden Goals Matchday 35 picks could help shape the final standings.
Predict all six results correctly for your chance to win up to up to £1 million! Click here for full Golden Goals information, including prize breakdown and terms.
Last week, we nailed all six results – including one correct score – and landed multiple match Bet Builders. If you backed our predictions as a single acca by clicking ‘add to betslip’ at the bottom of the article, you’d have been sitting on a 25/1 winner.
Once again we’ve studied the stats, read the form and built a Bet Builder for each fixture.
Here’s where we see the points landing on Matchday 35…
Leicester 2-2 Southampton
They used to say 40 points would see you safe in the Premier League – unless you’re 1996/97 Sunderland, 1997/98 Bolton or 2002/03 West Ham.
Already-relegated Leicester and Southampton have managed 29 between them, making this meeting at the King Power about nothing but pride. If there’s any of that left.
That said, points are needed. Saints need one to move them past the 2007/08 Derby side’s worst-ever Premier League total while Leicester could go a 10th consecutive home game without scoring.
Unless someone steps up on Jamie Vardy’s penultimate home appearance.
The 38-year-old announced this week he’ll leave the Foxes after 13 seasons. It’s 18/1 for Vardy to score in a draw with over 2.5 goals as he seeks to sign off on something of a high.
And their history with Southampton suggests there could be chances. Leicester have scored 12 times in their last three meetings with the Saints, including a 3-2 comeback win at St Mary’s earlier this season.
That win briefly lifted Leicester to 14th. Since then, they’ve taken just two victories from 26 matches.
Six of the last seven meetings have had three goals or more. With most of the pressure off and defences shot, another high-scoring draw would hardly surprise.
Everton 2-0 Ipswich
Everton are coasting to the end of the season.
The Toffees were in trouble when David Moyes returned in January but have lost just four games since then.
There’s work to do, though. While tough to beat, Everton have won just one of their last nine and just eight all season, the fewest of all teams bar the bottom three.
Their 34 goals scored is also the fewest outside of Southampton, Leicester and Matchday 35 opponents Ipswich.
For all their lack of firepower, Everton have shipped 41 goals which is the joint-lowest outside the top six.
And this one is eminently winnable. The Tractor Boys have won once this year while their 3-0 defeat at Newcastle confirmed all three promoted teams have gone straight back down for the second consecutive season.
Everton also won the reverse fixture 2-0 with top scorer Iliman Ndiaye on target – it’s 6/1 for him to score in a Toffees win to-nil this time round too.
This is the penultimate game at Goodison Park. With bottom side Southampton still to come, Everton fans will desire six points to bid farewell to their iconic stadium. They’ll get half of those here.
Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth
This week has been far from ideal for Arsenal.
Not only did Liverpool win the title with four games to go but Mikel Arteta’s men then lost the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against PSG, their last chance to win major honours this season.
The Gunners have drawn 13 games already this term, more than the 11 they accumulated over the last two domestic campaigns combined.
With Arsenal’s Premier League run-in reduced to a mere formality Bournemouth may apply a different meaning to the number 14 – one the Gunners usually associate with legends, not league draws.
The two are evenly matched in the formbook with one win and three draws from the last four Premier League ties. That is especially troubling for Bournemouth, with their chances of European football getting slimmer by the game.
Does that mean they’re switching off? Not when they have Justin Kluivert.
The Cherries forward has 13 goal involvements in his last 10 Premier League away games – with 10 goals and three assists – while Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard is in a similarly rich vein of form with four goals in his last four league games.
Expect both to show out at the Emirates with our 20/1 Saturday evening Bet Builder of Kluivert to have over 0.5 shots on target, Trossard to score anytime and under 2.5 goals in the game offering some real value.
Brentford 2-2 Manchester United
Brentford’s record against Manchester United is horrific. It stands at one win in 12, which was that famous 4-0 mauling back in 2022. On Matchday 35, however, they are facing a team that simply struggles to score.
The Red Devils have scored just twice in their last five Premier League games – an average of 0.4 goals per match – and would sit 17th in a table excluding relegated sides with just 23 points from 28 such games.
Yet the goals may not be far off. United, although scoring just twice, have managed 46 shots in their previous three league games with a combined xG of 4.28. At one point, it has to click.
And, in Bruno Fernandes, they have a player at the peak of his powers.
His 84 chances created is more than any other Premier League player. If he continues in that vein, the goalscoring touch should return.
Brentford, meanwhile, have won just one of their last nine at home, though they usually find the net.
With that in mind, our 19/2 Bet Builder of Manchester United to score two or more goals and Fernandes to get an assist appeals greatly.
Despite United’s struggle to score, there are tentative signs of progress in the build-up play. Goals may follow.
West Ham 1-3 Tottenham
Chaotic energy abounds when two of the division’s most unpredictable sides meet.
West Ham have stumbled towards the finish line and head into May without a win across March or April.
They have conceded 58 goals – the fifth-most in the division – while scoring just 39 from 34 games has compounded their misery.
The Hammers have at least found the net in three successive home matches, albeit two of those were against Championship-bound Leicester and Southampton.
Spurs have endured a rollercoaster campaign themselves – 62 goals scored ranks behind only the top four while 56 conceded leaves them just two better off than West Ham.
This match is sandwiched between Europa League semi-final legs so rotation in the Spurs ranks likely adds another layer of unpredictability.
And history points to goals. Both teams have scored in seven of their last eight meetings and nine of the last 11.
A 3/1 Bet Builder containing Tottenham to win, both teams to score and over 2.5 total goals looks smart, especially given West Ham’s struggles and Spurs’ anarchic nature in both boxes.
Keep an eye on team news for Son Heung-min too. If the Spurs captain returns, adding him to score or assist to the Bet Builder – he has 16 goal contributions in 20 games against West Ham – boosts it to 11/2.
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
There’s an unmistakable extra charge whenever Liverpool roll into Stamford Bridge.
Mohamed Salah knows this patch well from his brief, though ultimately forgettable, stint in Chelsea colours.
But it is in red, not blue, that Salah has become a Premier League legend and he returns to his former ground as an anointed title-winner once again after Liverpool’s Matchday 34 coronation.
Now, with 28 goals and 18 assists to his name this campaign, the Egyptian King stands on the verge of an unprecedented 30-goal-20-assist Premier League campaign.
Salah has already proved instrumental against Chelsea this season with a goal and assist earning the Reds a 2-1 win at Anfield in what was arguably the biggest test Arne Slot’s side faced in his early days on Merseyside.
Enzo Maresca’s men cannot be written off though. Despite an underwhelming couple of months Chelsea’s home form has been impressive and they go into this one unbeaten at Stamford Bridge since December.
Yet Liverpool’s juggernaut attack, averaging almost 2.5 goals per game on the road, presents a test few have passed and a 5/1 Bet Builder combining a Liverpool win, Salah to score or assist and both teams to score feels a value-backed play here.
Expect the champions to begin their procession to the trophy lift in fine style.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change. Please note: This week's Golden Goals deadline is Saturday 3rd May 15:00. Opt-in is required and you can find out more here.
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