Christian Eriksen will look to quarterback another Spurs win, but he’d be forgiven for being exhausted. Photo Credit: Orlando Ramirez, USA TODAY.

It wasn’t a bank-breaker by any means, but last week’s positive returns take us ever closer to getting out of the red in time for the holidays. It’s a packed weekend ahead, and there is more winning to do, so we’ll dispense with the pleasantries and get right to it.

ARSENAL v. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Two clubs that have treated me quite well as of late. It’s difficult to pick one over the other, but I don’t duck the tough matchups here. The eye-opening statistic I happened upon in my research for this piece was this one:

Seven derby wins in a row for Spurs, who are doubtlessly still feeling pretty good about their league form after easily dispatching Chelsea last week to hop into third place in the league table. Arsenal’s recent history hosting the North London Derby isn’t so great, either: a win last season but three draws before that.

The deciding factor in this analysis is recent exertion. Arsenal sent a second-team side to Ukraine to claim an easy 3-0 victory over Vorskla in Europa League qualifying on Thursday, whereas Spurs had to play their very best on Wednesday to scratch out a 1-0 win over Inter Milan via Christian Eriksen’s 80th-minute strike in Champions League qualifying. Spurs didn’t have to travel, but the toll that match took on their legs is apt to show in this match.

It’s tempting to grab Arsenal to win at 6/4, but the smartest wager on the board looks like Arsenal to win (draw no bet) at 4/5.

MANCHESTER CITY v. BOURNEMOUTH

The irresistible force against the movable object. After beating Fulham on October 27, Bournemouth had 20 points and was challenging for the European places. A month and three straight league losses later, Bournemouth has the same point total but are sliding down the table toward their more likely middle-of-the-pack placement. What Bournemouth really need is a week off; what Bournemouth is getting is the exact opposite.

Manchester City is still unbeaten in league play, with only two draws marring an otherwise perfect record through 13 matches. City did travel to France mid-week to secure Champions League knockout round qualification, but a quick survey of their league results following their first four Champions League qualification matches this season reveals three wins and a lone draw at Anfield against Liverpool. City is 1/10 to win, so again we need to pull the odds down by adding a contingency.

https://twitter.com/City_Watch/status/1068518016701292545

City have jumped inferior sides at the Etihad this season and have posted far more clean sheets than wins tarnished by opposition goals. In Bournemouth’s only visit to a top-4 Premier League club this season, they were blanked at Stamford Bridge in a 2-0 Chelsea win. And look at that Tweet above — the last five times City have played Bournemouth in the league, they have won without conceding. It should be another win and another shutout for Ederson — take City to win to nil at 20/23.

SOUTHAMPTON v. MANCHESTER UNITED

Here’s another statistic that jumped off my Twitter feed. United supporters, maybe look away:

But if Lukaku is so impotent in front of goal, why is he only 13/8 to score at St. Mary’s tomorrow? Why does he have the lowest payout of any United player to score in this match? Marcus Rashford is 2/1, Paul Pogba is 21/10, Jesse Lingard is 3/1…they’ve all been far more prolific for United than Lukaku these last couple of months.

Then you do a little bit of research, and you see that in the last two league matches between these clubs, the only goal scorer was…Lukaku. And the goal came at St. Mary’s. So take Lukaku to score at 13/8, and once he does, you can switch this otherwise uninspiring matchup off.

Good luck this weekend.

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

Both teams to score in Spurs/Chelsea at 8/15: WIN

Under 3.5 goals in West Ham/Man City: LOSS

Arsenal over Bournemouth at 21/20: WIN

LAST WEEK: +$58

TOTAL TO DATE: -$634