Manchester City v Chelsea FC

Having come through their first major test to secure UEFA Champions League football, thrashing Brighton 4-1 at St. James Park, Newcastle now face a desperate Leicester side looking for points. The Toon have been one of the most spoken about teams in English football this year for various reasons, but another win more or less seals their return to the top echelons of European football. Can they overcome a Leicester side fighting for their dignity?

Newcastle United News

While the injuries are adding up – Jacob Murphy, Joelinton, Matt Ritchie, Sean Longstaff, Jamaal Lascelles, Emil Krath, and Joe Willock are all out – Newcastle know they are in good enough form to see this out regardless. They have built an exciting team that can go and get the job done; the only question is whether the lack of bench depth might hinder them as the afternoon carries on.

Leicester City News

The Foxes are being hunted, and they are arriving into this game with some major misses from their squad. Kelechi Iheanacho will miss out, as will James Justin and Danny Ward. Other players who look doubtful to get on the pitch include Caglar Soyuncu and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Verdict

Newcastle win. Despite Leicester still having some threatening attacking players, they lack the quality needed defensively to win a tight game. And Newcastle have enough goals to overcome a shootout with relative ease. Expect a comfortable home win, and more or less confirmation of UCL football.

Score Prediction: 3-1

 

Everton v Manchester City

As far as games go, this is one of the biggest remaining in the season for both teams. Formerly a bogy team of Man City, the Citizens now regularly hammer the Toffees. Everton need points to try and guarantee survival, but are they likely to get anything at home to the champions elect?

Everton News

Everton come into this one off the back of a roaring 5-1 win against Brighton and Hove Albion. It should be enough to help them stay up, but the Blues are only a couple of points off being back in the bottom three. They are going to be without a few important players, too, including Seamus Coleman who is out for the season and Ben Godfrey who is unlikely to get back before the end of the year.

Manchester City News

City are coming into this one after an engrossing draw in Madrid, and will be sure to rest players ahead of the return leg at the Eithad. Only Nathan Ake is ruled out, but expect some rotation given that Guardiola made no substitutions in Madrid. Rotation should see some squad players come in, with the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne almost certain to be rested.

Verdict

A tough one for City, one of their tougher games left given Everton’s need for results, but we cannot see anything other than an away win. City are on a 10-match winning streak in the league, and show no signs of letting down as they push for a historic treble to match that of Manchester United’s 1999 team.

Score Prediction: 1-3

Liverpool Hurdle

The Liverpool Hurdle is a Grade 1 hurdle race run over 3 miles and 149 yards on the Mildmay Course at Aintree in early April. The race is open to horses aged four years and upwards and is currently scheduled for the third and final day of the Grand National Festival.

Inaugurated, as the Long Distance Hurdle, in 1974, the race was originally run over 2 miles, 7 furlongs and 118 yards at Ascot before being transferred to Aintree in 2004. At that stage, it was renamed and the distance extended to its current yardage. The Long Distance Hurdle was promoted to Grade 2 status in 1991 and the Liverpool Hurdle was promoted again, to Grade 1 status, in 2010.

The Liverpool Hurdle often features horses that contested the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. The prolific Big Buck's, trained by Paul Nicholls, completed the Stayers' Hurdle – Liverpool Hurdle double four years running, in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, while Thistlecrack, trained by Colin Tizzard, also won both races in 2016. Long after his retirement, in 2006, Martin Pipe remains the most successful trainer in the history of the Liverpool Hurdle, having saddled Pragada (1992), Sweet Glow (1994), Galant Moss (1999), Maid Equal (2001) and Deano's Beeno (2003) for a total of

The result of the Stayers' Hurdle will, no doubt, influence the ante-post betting market for the Liverpool Hurdle. Looking ahead to 3.35pm on Saturday, April 9, 2023, last year's runner-up Flooring Porter – who has won the Stayers' Hurdle for the last two seasons – is an obvious starting point, while the likes of State Man and Blazing Khan, to name but two, are promising, young horses whose best days are ahead of them.

Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle

Registered as the Spa Novices' Hurdle, but sponsored by 'The Potato People' since 2008, the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle is a Grade 1 hurdle race run over 2 miles, 7 furlongs and 213 yards on the New Course at Cheltenham in March. The race was established, as a Grade 2 contest, in 2005, when the Cheltenham Festival was extended from three to four days, and promoted to Grade 1 status three years later. Previously, the longest race for novice hurdlers at the Chelteham Festival was the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle, a.k.a. the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle, over 2 miles and 5 furlongs.

Of course, the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle is restricted to horses, aged four years and upwards, who start the season without a win over hurdles. Consequently, the leading 'bumper' performers from the previous season – who have demonstrated ability, but remain unexposed over obstacles – typically feature highly in the early ante-post lists. The 2023 renewal is scheduled for 2.50pm on Friday, March 17 and the bookmakers currently bet 10/1 the field; American Mike, trained by Gordon Elliott, who finished second in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival, heads the market.

Obviously, no horse can win the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle more than once, but the most successful winner, subsequently, was Bobs Worth, trained by Nicky Henderson. The stoutly bred son of Bob Back justified favouritism in 2011, but returned to the Cheltenham Festival to win the RSA Chase in 2012 and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2013. County Carlow trainer Willie Mullins is the most successful trainer in the history of the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle with three victories, courtesy of Penhill (2017), Monkfish (2020) and The Nice Guy (2022).

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur

Given both clubs are now managed by two of the best coaches in Europe, you would expect both teams to be flying. That is not the case, though, with Tottenham looking a tired side sitting in fourth by the skin of their teeth. Wolves look energetic and aggressive under Julen Lopetegui, but they do have some crucial issues in scoring goals still. Who comes out on top here?

Wolverhampton Wanderers News

For Wolves, sitting 15^th place is a decent position given where the club were when Bruno Lage was sacked. However, they come into this one with a big injury list. The likes of Hwang Hee-Chang, Sasa Kalajdzic, Chiquinho, and now likely Hugo Bueno are all long-term injuries.

Matheus Cunha is likely to miss out, too, removing another attacking option from the Wolves managers arsenal. Wolves are light on numbers, creating a forced consistency in selection that might not benefit them as much as some would assume.

Tottenham Hotspur News

Spurs are missing a few players too, with the midfield duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma out for the season most likely. They will also be missing full-backs in Ryan Sessegnon and Emerson Royal. The latter has been improved in recent weeks, and his energy will be a miss on the right-hand side.

Spurs will also need to make do without Hugo Lloris, who will struggle to come back this season after injury.

Verdict

Both teams are in a tough spot in terms of form, but Spurs do have the firepower of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane to see them through. Having not lost at Molineux in some time, too, Spurs will be confident of getting something from a Wolves team who are just happy not to get relegated after a toxic summer.

SCORE: 1-2