Manchester United vs. Chelsea odds, picks

Manchester United’s last-ditch attempt to make the Champions League needs six points over the next five days.

United’s disaster of a season has the Red Devils in sixth place with four games to go. Man U has 54 points and sits six points behind Arsenal in fourth despite playing one more game than the Gunners.

That deficit means United’s only real chance of getting into the Champions League next season is to win all four of its remaining games while hoping that Arsenal and Tottenham stumble multiple times. It’s an extremely unlikely scenario. Especially considering that Manchester United has to play Chelsea on Thursday.

While Chelsea has been struggling in recent weeks, Manchester United has just three wins against the five teams ahead of it in the table. United lost its games to Liverpool by a combined 9-0 and 6-1 to Manchester City and tied Chelsea earlier in the season in its first game following the firing of former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

United’s also slumping recently too. Since beating Leeds 4-2 on Feb. 20, United has just eight points across eight Premier League games and has only beaten Everton and Norwich City by a combined two goals. That’s not a recipe for making the Champions League.

Below are the odds for this weekend’s set of EPL games. All odds are from BetMGM and all games are on Saturday unless noted. United will become the first team to have just two games to go this season after playing Brentford on Monday.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea (over/under 2.5 goals) [Thursday]

• Man U (+200)

• Chelsea (+120)

• Tie (+260)

As we’ve been saying for weeks, we have no idea what to bet when it comes to United game outcomes. We’ll take the over knowing full well that a drab 0-0 game isn’t going to be a surprise.

Newcastle vs. Liverpool (2.5)

• Newcastle (+650)

• Liverpool (-250)

• Tie (+375)

Liverpool gets the chance to put pressure on Manchester City early on Saturday and should get all three points.

Aston Villa vs. Norwich City (2.5)

Story continues

• Aston Villa (-250)

• Norwich (+625)

• Tie (+375)

Villa isn’t as much of a favorite as you would initially think given that it’s fallen to 15th in the table. Take Steven Gerrard’s team.

Watford vs. Burnley (2.5)

• Watford (+165)

• Burnley (+165)

• Tie (+225)

Burnley feels like great value here given Watford’s struggles at home and Burnley’s recent run of form. A Burnley win also pushes it to 34 points and could create five points of separation between itself and the relegation zone.

Wolves vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (2.5)

• Wolves (+175)

• Brighton (+180)

• Tie (+195)

Wolves can jump into a tie for seventh with West Ham with a win and a West Ham loss. Brighton, meanwhile, is just a point outside the top half of the table. We’ll go with a tie here.

Southampton vs. Crystal Palace (2.5)

• Southampton (+135)

• Palace (+200)

• Tie (+230)

These two teams are separated by just two points in 13th and 14th. Our hedge is the tie here because you can make an equally convincing case for a win for either team.

Leeds vs. Manchester City (3.5)

• Leeds (+825)

• Man City (-300)

• Tie (+450)

Do you think Leeds can scrape a point at home? It’d go a long way to ensuring it stays in the Premier League next season. But we’re inclined to bet Liverpool and Man City to win the rest of the way.

Everton vs. Chelsea (2.5) [Sunday]

• Everton (+375)

• Chelsea (-140)

• Tie (+270)

It’s a pretty quick turnaround for Chelsea with two road games in four days. But we have no confidence in Everton’s ability to get a result.

Tottenham vs. Leicester City (2.5) [Sunday]

• Tottenham (-225)

• Leicester City (+550)

• Tie (+360)

Tottenham will be gunning for a win and hoping that West Ham can win its rivalry game later in the day. We’ll go with Spurs.

West Ham vs. Arsenal (2.5) [Sunday]

• West Ham (+350)

• Arsenal (-130)

• Tie (+270)

Arsenal has been a hard team to trust this season but has been good enough lately to be shorter than even money to win this game. We’ll take the tie and won’t be surprised with a West Ham win.

Manchester United vs. Brentford (2.5) [Monday]

• Man U (-145)

• Brentford (+375)

• Tie (+290)

We’ll go with the over here again for United because of its lackluster defense.