Having watched their dream title challenge fizzle out recently, Arsenal need to get back on-form – and sharpish. Given the Gunners had a healthy lead in the title, a pair of 2-2 draws where in both games they were 2-0 up are going to be pretty damaging for confidence and self-belief. Can they come out the other side against a Southampton side who are desperately fighting against relegation?

Arsenal News

Given Arsenal games seem to see plenty of goals – the Gunners have scored at least twice in their last seven games – and they have a very strong home record against Southampton, this should be a home banker. However, a growing injury list involving defenders William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko are sure to cause some headaches for Mikel Arteta.

Saliba is out with a back injury, and it is unlikely that Zinchenko returns in time. Kieran Tierney looks set to come back in at left-back.

Southampton News

Saints come into this one with a few injuries, though they will definitely be without Ainsley Maitland-Niles due to being ineligible against his parent club. Tino Livramento is finally back in action, but it is unlikely that he will be risked at the Emirates. Other than that, Mislav Orsic looks set to miss out, while Mohammed Salisu and Che Adams are also both out.

Verdict

Expect an easy home win here. Southampton have been rotten on the road, and Arsenal could not ask for an easier league fixture ahead of their trip to Manchester City in what is likely to be a title decider.

Score Prediction: 3-0

For the home side, results are essential – for Liverpool, the season already feels like a total write-off. The Reds have endured some tough times this year, with a real lack of consistency impacting their ability to get things done. the UEFA Champions League is more or less guaranteed to be gone. Even qualifying for the UEFA Europa League will be a tough ask at this point.

With so little to play for, can Liverpool match the desire of Leeds in this one?

Leeds United News

Leeds come into this one with no major new injury concerns, but they are still missing two key players in Maximilian Wober and in Tyler Adams. Both are not likely to be back for this game or anytime soon, and this will be a major blow given the importance of both players in the way that Leeds play the game.

Liverpool News

Liverpool are also missing a few players, with Naby Keita again injured and Luis Diaz still unlikely to be fit enough to start this one. Stefan Bajcetic and Calvin Ramsey are both likely out for the season, as well. Liverpool have grown used to injury issues this year, but they have a relatively fit squad to pick from this week. The problem is choosing players who are in form, of which there are relatively few.

Verdict

Both teams are lacking in form and confidence, and thus this could be a bit of a grind of a match-up. Though both games tend to see goals in their matches, Leeds lack the firepower to put teams away and Liverpool lack the systemic quality to hold teams off. This could result in a choppy, challenging game to watch where precious little actually takes place.

Expect some chances, but not much in the way of quality – this is a game that will be settled by desperation as opposed to quality.

Score Prediction: 1-1

Twilight horse racing fixtures are extremely popular sports and social events and none more so than the National Hunt meeting staged at Punchestown on Friday, April 29, 2017. At least, not in the eyes of an unnamed Leicester man, who staked just £19, in the form of five £3 four-folds and a £4 five-fold, on five selections at the Co. Kildare track. All five selections won – in three out of five cases at odds significantly longer than starting price – and the anonymous Leicesterian collected the princely sum of £822,972.75 from Coral Bookmakers.

Having embarked on an evening out, the unwitting punter did not discover his good fortune until the early hours of Saturday morning. Nonetheless, the fact that he did not watch his selections run may have done his nervous system some good; his penultimate selection, Bacardys (10/1), only scraped home by a short head, while his final selection, Canardier (33/1), was strongly pressed in the closing stages before winning by three-quarters of a length.

Some of the winning margins may have been small, but the payout was the highest Coral had paid out on horse racing since the business was established by Joe Coral in 1926. Reflecting on what he described as the ‘realisation of a lifetime dream’, the lifelong gambler said, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with the money, as it’s only just sinking in, but I have a few ideas and it is going to change my life.’

Simon Clare, Consumer Public Relations Director for Coral Bookmakers, was also in celebratory mood. He said, ‘This is the most incredible big-win story that we have ever encountered and a just-reward for our customer for twenty years of perseverance placing these ‘small-stake big-win’ bets day-in day-out.’

Despite his epithet, ‘Vegas Dave’, David Oancea was born in the college town of Saline, Southeast Michigan on December 10, 1976 and raised in nearby Ann Arbor. At the age of 21, Oancea moved to Hawaii, where he developed a taste for sports betting. Legend has it that he subsequently moved to Las Vegas on the pretence of attending the University of Nevada but, having secured a student loan for $10,000, placed all his money on a single winning spin of roulette.

Thereafter, Oancea abandoned his studies altogether and embarked on a path that would make him the self-proclaimed ‘best sports information consultant in the world’. He first rose to fame, or infamy, in 2015, when he backed Kansas City Royals – who were available at odds of 22/1 at the start of spring training – to win the World Series. They did so, beating New York Mets 4-1 in the best-of-seven postseason play-off to record their first victory since 1985 and netting Oancea $2.5 million.

Lo and behold, Oancea did it again the following February, collecting $2.3 million when Denver Broncos defeated odds-on favourites Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. However, on that occasion, his winnings were withheld, at least in part, because he was under investigation, for identity fraud, by the federal government. Oancea was subsequently indicted on numerous counts and only escaped conviction as the result of a plea bargain. In any event, he pled guilty of a misdemeanour, surrendered half a million dollars and was bannned from sports betting in Las Vegas for three years. He remains one of the most controversial figures in the field, with a distinctly dubious reputation.