An enormous midweek of Premier League football kicks off on Tuesday with four teams desperate to claw their way out of trouble at the wrong end of the table.
Leicester entertain West Ham and Ipswich play host to Crystal Palace with just six points covering the four clubs – from West Ham in 14th to second-bottom Ipswich.
The Foxes were truly awful in their 4-1 defeat at Brentford on Saturday in front of new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy who was watching, no doubt aghast, from the stands.
West Ham then plunged their often sloppy defending to new depths when they entertained Arsenal and were walloped 5-2 as the Gunners reignited their chances of finishing the season in second place once again.
The Ruud boys can be expected to benefit from the new-manager bounce but four defeats and a draw from their last five matches suggests even that may not be enough.
The Hammers will be seeking to restore pride and can take heart from victories against Manchester United and Newcastle plus a tedious draw with Everton to show they have what it takes to pick up enough points to steer clear of trouble, even if it is not always pretty.
Jarrod Bowen is 15/2 with Unibet to break the deadlock and 49/20 with the same firm to score at any time while Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks big at 22/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair to hit the net for a third straight match.
West Ham are 6/4 with bet365, Betfair, Betfred and Unibet to return to London with maximum points and over 3.5 goals appeals at 2/1 with the latter layers.
The match between the Tractor Boys and the Eagles is difficult to weigh up because the inconsistent visitors are playing well below their means.
Ipswich are due a winning run as they have put in some decent shifts against strong sides but the same could be said about Luton last year and it wasn’t enough to save them from the drop.
Ipswich were only beaten by a Chris Wood penalty at Nottingham Forest on Saturday while Palace drew at home with Newcastle and another share of the spoils is on the cards this time around at 5/2 with several firms including William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral.
Liam Delap is 11/4 with Paddy Power and Betfair to score at any time for the hosts and Eddie Nketiah is 27/10with Unibet to notch for the Eagles.
• Charlton, Wycombe, Huddersfield and Chesterfield form Tuesday’s Football League acca
Luke worth a little flutter
It’s strange Luke Littler is in the running for this month’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year award when reigning world darts champion and current world No.1 Luke Humphries has actually won more titles and more prize money in 2025.
Keely Hodgkinson is the odds-on favourite to win the trophy after her barnstoming 800metres gold medal success at this summer’s Paris Olympics but Littler is worth a flutter to be best of the rest at 5/4 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
