Top 3 weekend betting tips: Czech legionnaires against Arsenal, Sparta host Slavia

Arsenal stumbled in their last game and lost two points in the title fight. They now face a London duel with West Ham, who are trying to save their Premier League title. The 27th round of the Fortuna Liga will bring, besides the Prague derby, also a heated battle in Ostrava.

West Ham vs. Arsenal

West Ham fans certainly have a lot more to be happy about lately, having advanced past AEK Larnaca in the Conference League and drawing 1-1 with Gent on Thursday.

In the last 7 games, the Hammers have only lost to Newcastle, conceding in 3 games. Along with Arsenal, 3 other top teams still await them, but otherwise they have a relatively favourable draw and staying in the Premier League should not be a problem for David Moyes’ charges.

It was Arsenal who drew with Liverpool in the last league round, failing to hold on to the two-goal lead that Mikel Arteta’s team created after 28 minutes. Roberto Firmino secured the Reds’ point in the 87th minute.

Because of this, Manchester City is only 6 points behind the leaders, with a game to spare, plus a clash with the Gunners, so everything is open in this direction. If you add to that the Citizens’ experience of fighting for the title, they can be described as favourites to win the Premier League.

That’s why it is so important for Arsenal to pick up points against weaker opponents, and the Gunners will go into this duel as big favourites with odds of 1.55 written on them. Meanwhile, the Gunners have dominated all of their last 3 duels with each other.

An even more interesting statistic then is that at least 3 goals have fallen in 11 of West Ham’s last 13 home games when Arsenal have visited them.

Sparta Prague vs. Slavia Prague

A very unconventional derby awaits us at Letná in Prague. Why unconventional? From the point of view that Sparta enter it ahead of Slavia in the table for the first time since 2016. At the same time, for the first time under Jindřich Trpišovský, Slavia is not the clear favourite.

Sparta have been in amazing form this spring. They stumbled at the start against Olomouc, but then they took off. Nine wins in a row, two Mol Cup qualifiers and Sparta is in a position it hasn’t been in for an extremely long time.

In April, it is still in the title race, while it was out of it much earlier. Moreover, they are in the Cup final. For the first time in a long time, Sparta is the slight favourite for the derby.

It is also reinforced by the fact that the Slavia cabinet is suffering from a virus, according to the boss Jaroslav Tvrdík, the team is suffering from influenza type B and key players are dropping out. Holeš, Ševčík, Zafeiris, Douděra, Mandous, Ogbu, Lingr, Jurásek and Olayinka are out. The question is who will be ready by Saturday.

Especially considering the state of the squad of Slavia, there is not much point in dwelling on the past matches, this time it will be about something else. Sparta can be expected to try to keep the ball and control the game. Slavia, on the other hand, could threaten from breakaway situations, which they have the best in the league.

At the same time, standard situations could be decisive. Sparta have the best in the league, but Slavia also have very solid ones. Moreover, neither team is very good at defending them. Sparta also have Ladislav Krejci, who is extremely dangerous. That’s why I think that a headed goal will be scored in this match.

Baník Ostrava vs. Viktoria Plzeň

Twenty-eight games – it’s been so long since Baník Ostrava beat Viktoria Plzeň. The Silesians’ last win dates back to 8 August 2009 in the third round of the Czech top flight. The victory at Bazale was decided in the 84th minute by Róbert Zeher.

Baník and Plzeň met three times in the 2022 calendar year, with the West Bohemians winning each time (2::1, 1::0 and 3::1).

Baník’s top scorers in 2022/23 are strikers Jiří Klíma and Ladislav Almási. Both have five hits so far, the best assistant is Nemanja Kuzmanovic with seven assists.

Pavel Bucha and Jhon Mosquera (5 assists) share this role in Plzeň, the top scorer is clearly Tomas Chorý with 11 goals. So what to expect from the upcoming duel and what to bet on? Baník has been on the rise in recent games, but it is likely that it will not be enough for Plzeň.