Premier League Matchday 30 Preview: Tudor drinking in last chance saloon with Lewis-Potter on the shots | OneFootball

What happened in Matchday 29?

In what many expected to be a round of fixtures that saw Manchester City potentially closing the gap even further on Arsenal at the top of the table, it was the opposite that eventually happened.

Man City had what looked on paper to be a straightforward task at home to Nottingham Forest while the Gunners had a tough-looking fixture at Brighton, but it was Pep Guardiola's men who surprisingly dropped two points when they could manage only a 2-2 while Mikel Arteta's men edged a tight affair at the Amex by one goal to nil.

It means that the gap at the top of the table is now seven points though Man City do have a game in hand and also have to host Arsenal in the middle of April, so the title race is not all over just yet.

It was a bruising Matchday 29 for three of the four teams chasing the two remaining top four positions as Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa all lost. The Reds were the biggest shock losers when they went down 2-1 at rock-bottom Wolves, while Villa were thrashed 4-1 at home to Chelsea and Man United fell to a late defeat at Newcastle.

With Chelsea being the only winners out of the quartet it means there are now just three points between United in third and Liverpool in sixth. It's all to play for in the race to finish in the top four.

At the bottom of the table that win for Wolves has got people talking about a miracle survival, but given that they are still 12 points from safety and only have eight games remaining, it's still going to be a huge ask for Rob Edwards' men to survive.

Burnley remain second bottom - nine points from safety - after losing at Everton, but it was a great Matchday 29 for West Ham who won 1-0 at Fulham to move level on points with Forest. That win for the Hammers still has them in the relegation zone, but it means they've now dragged Tottenham and Leeds firmly into the battle to avoid the drop after those clubs suffered disappointing home defeats to Crystal Palace and Sunderland respectively.

Premier League Table after Matchday 29

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Who are the favourites to win the Premier League title?

After defeats for Aston Villa and Manchester United, it really is a two-horse title race now with Arsenal the big winners in Matchday 29, and they're now 1/8 in the Premier League Winner market.

The Gunners have the destiny of the title in their own hands, win every game and they'll be champions, but they could even afford to lose at Man City and still be crowned champions as long as they won their other seven remaining games.

Manchester City need Arsenal to slip up somewhere, and although that's quite possible, they will likely need to go on a winning run themselves, which would include beating the Gunners next month. Guardiola's men are out to 9/2 to regain the title.

- Arsenal 1/8- Manchester City 9/2- BAR 200/1

Who are the favourites to be relegated to the Championship?

With just three points separating four clubs in what effectively is for one relegation place it's all change in the Premier League Relegation market.

Both Wolves and Burnley look doomed and are un-backable at 1/500 to go down but West Ham are no longer odds-on in the market. The Hammers were as short as 1/10 to be relegated at the start of the year but their recent good form has seen them go level on points for Nottm Forest and they're now 5/4 to drop down to the Championship.

But the big news is Tottenham. Remember, they were 500/1 to be relegated after making a decent start to the season, but a disastrous run of form has seen them drop to 16th in the table, just one point above both Forest and West Ham, and quite remarkably, they're now just 7/4 in the market.

- Wolves 1/500- Burnley 1/500- West Ham 5/4- Tottenham 7/4- Nottm Forest 3/1- Leeds 7/1- BAR 150/1

What are the Matchday 30 fixtures?

Saturday 14 March

- Burnley v Bournemouth (15:00)- Sunderland v Brighton (15:00)- Arsenal  v Everton (17:30, live on Sky Sports)- Chelsea v Newcastle (17:30, live on Sky Sports- West Ham v Manchester City (20:00, live on TNT Sports)

Sunday 15 March

- Crystal Palace v Leeds (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Man United v Aston Villa (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Nottm Forest v Fulham (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Liverpool v Tottenham (16:30, live on Sky Sports)

Monday 16 March

- Brentford v Wolves (20:00, live on Sky Sports)

What is the game of the weekend?

Old Trafford is the venue for the game of the weekend as Manchester United host Aston Villa in a match where both teams will be looking to put Matchday 29 defeats behind them and enhance their Top 4 Finish claims.

The two clubs are level on points in the Premier League table and sit third and fourth, three points ahead of both Chelsea and Liverpool, so you could say that a draw wouldn't be the worst result in the world as it would keep them both in the top four with eight games remaining. But there's no way Michael Carrick and Unai Emery will see it that way. Both will be going all out for the win.

United go into the game in better form in terms of results, despite losing to Newcastle last time, but their performances of late have been concerning and you have to say that they've had a bit of luck in winning some recent games under Carrick. Villa have been really poor of late, winning just one of their last seven, but they've been especially poor at Villa Park so a big game on the road might just spark them back into life.

In the Sportsbook Match Odds market Man United are odds-on favourites to take all three points at 7/10 while Aston Villa can be backed at 10/3 and the Draw at 3/1.

Below you can see the match odds in real time on the Betfair Exchange market.

English Premier League: Man Utd v Aston Villa (Match Odds)

Sunday 15 March, 2.00pm

Manager to watch in Matchday 30

There's only one manager we can put in this section, and it's Tottenham interim boss Igor Tudor who has been nothing short of a disaster since taking over at the North London club.

I said at the time, I've said it since, and I'll say it again, it was just a bizarre appointment by the club, not just because it was a journeyman manager with little to no success - in terms of silverware - who had never managed in the Premier League before, but more the fact that they sacked Thomas Frank to get him.

I'm probably in the minority when I say that I don't think Frank should have been sacked given the horrendous injury list he's had to deal with all season, for me you don't become a bad manager overnight. Having said that, I fully understand why he was sacked, but if you're going to sack him then do so by following it by appointing a manager who knows what it's like to battle for something in the Premier League at the business end of the season.

It's four defeats out of four for Tudor since his appointment, and there's a small chance he won't even be in the dugout for Sunday's trip to Anfield, but reports suggest that he will definitely take the pre-match press conference which suggests the club have no intentions of sacking him yet.

I find that very strange. It looks as though he's already lost the support of his players after Tuesday's calamitous 5-2  defeat to Atletico Madrid, and almost certainly the support of the fans has dwindled considerably too. A heavy defeat at Liverpool on Sunday and I just don't see how he survives.

Player to watch in Matchday 28

When you preview a game, and you have a betting interest in it, you tend to watch the game with more scrutiny. At least I do anyway. That was the case on Monday night when I previewed and tipped Brentford to beat West Ham in the FA Cup. The less said about that the better!

But what did stand out for me was the performance of Keane Lewis-Potter at left wing-back, I thought he was excellent. The 25-year-old has to be one of the most versatile players in the Premier League with his usual position being right wing-back. But he's played in attack a number of times for the Bees this term, and he just loves to get forward regardless from where he plays.

I thought Brentford were below par on Monday night, so we can probably upgrade the two shots Lewis-Potter registered, and given how he performed I'd be amazed if he doesn't start at home to Wolves on Monday night.

We don't have the market priced up at the time of writing, but look to back him to register at least three shots against the Premier League's rock-bottom club, which should be a very tempting price.