Crystal Palace snatched a late point against Man Utd on Wednesday and can also hold Newcastle to a draw at Selhurst Park. These teams have already met twice at St James’ Park this season in the Premier League and the EFL Cup, with both games ending in stalemate.
Bundesliga action returns this week after an absence of over two months when RB Leipzig entertain Bayern Munich on Friday night. These teams clashed at this venue in the German Super Cup at the start of the season, when FC Hollywood won a classic encounter 5-3.
Leeds showed they are up for the FA Cup when rallying late on at Cardiff and the fourth-round draw has provided them with more incentive. The winners of this replay will visit Accrington or Boreham Wood, so we reckon the Whites should be eyeing a good run this season.
Tottenham have struggled for consistency this season but are traditionally reliable when hosting Arsenal in the Premier League. Spurs have won the last three north London derbies played in front of their own fans and last lost to the Gunners on home turf in the top flight in 2014.
Newcastle and Fulham are both riding the crest of a wave but preference is for the Magpies when they meet at St James’ Park. United prevailed 4-1 at Craven Cottage back in October and the Cottagers have tended to come unstuck when taking on teams above them in the table.
Chelsea are in desperate need of a lift and can hopefully get the better of similarly out-of-sorts Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have hosted four teams from the bottom half of the table so far this term and picked up maximum points on each occasion.
Benfica are blazing a trail at the top of the Liga Portugal Bwin table this term and can see off Sporting in a blockbuster Lisbon derby. The visitors are 12 points back in fourth due mainly to struggling on the road, losing four of eight away games and winning just three.
Brentford have been one of this season’s biggest success stories and all the evidence suggests they should account for Bournemouth. The Bees are ninth in the Premier League after enjoying a hot streak of late, whereas the 16th-placed Cherries have been in freefall.
Wolves and West Ham are rated better teams than their lowly Premier League positions suggest and each has started to turn things around. Wanderers have looked much more solid since Julen Lopetegui took charge, while the Hammers have had two decent results this month.
Nottingham Forest have recovered well from a tough start to life in the Premier League and get the nod to see off struggling Leicester. The Foxes have been badly affected by injuries again of late and Brendan Rodgers has yet to work out a way to cope with such problems.
Southampton have enjoyed a couple of cracking cup wins and will now look to improve their Premier League prospects when visiting Everton. However, the Toffees are also facing a relegation battle and know this is a match they can ill-afford to lose, so a tight tussle is expected.
Aston Villa suffered an FA Cup upset versus Stevenage last Sunday but their recent Premier League form is good enough to see off Leeds. Unai Emery has given the Midlands outfit fresh impetus and we’d back him to outwit Whites boss Jesse Marsch any day of the week.
Napoli are fancied to come through another stiff test of their Serie A title credentials by edging out Juventus on home turf on Friday. The visitors have fought their way up to second in the table but have lost on their last three trips to Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Newcastle hammered Leicester 3-0 away in the Premier League on Boxing Day but we’re expecting a closer contest in the EFL Cup. The Magpies are worthy favourites to come through this quarter-final clash, but the Foxes will take heart from their good record at St James’ Park.