Manchester City face a busy week, with a League Cup semi-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday ahead of a fourth-round FA Cup tie at Villa Park on Saturday. However, even with the likes of Eliaquim Mangala, Vincent Kompany, Aleksandar Kolarov, Wilfried Bony and Samir Nasri still sidelined, City should have enough strength in depth to see off the Villans at the first time of asking.

Remi Garde’s side are marooned at the bottom of the Premier League table, 10 points adrift of safety and top-priced 1/20 to find themselves in the Championship next season. A much-changed Villa side needed a replay to edge past League Two Wycombe Wanderers in the third round, while the Sky Blues waltzed past Norwich at Carrow Road, despite making seven changes themselves.

Sergio Aguero, who’s now scored 15 goals in all competitions despite injury problems, opened the scoring against Norwich and looks a decent bet at 16/5 with Paddy Power to do so again.

Selection: Sergio Aguero to score first goal (16/5 with Paddy Power)

Wayne Rooney’s 78-minute winner against Liverpool at Anfield last Sunday may have provided some respite for Manchester United and beleaguered manager Louis van Gaal, but, once again, the Red Devils were hardly convincing.

Southampton, on the other hand, are on the crest of wave after consecutive home wins against Watford and West Bromwich Albion at St. Mary’s. Even without last season’s top scorer Graziano Pelle, who played an aggregate of just nine minutes, the Saints were outstanding in both fixtures and appear to be rediscovering the form that took them to seventh place in the Premier League last season.

The likes of Shane Long, Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane – not to mention James Ward-Prowse, who scored a brace against West Brom – have all been in sparkling form of late and the addition of Charlie Austin to the squad can only bolster confidence. The Saints’ have lost their last three away games in the Premier League, to Norwich, West Ham and Crystal Palace, but they seem likely to be a different proposition this time.

United keeper David de Gea looks in for another busy afternoon and Saints’ are worthy of support at 21/5 with Bet Victor.

Selection: Southampton to win (21/5 with Bet Victor)

Stoke City have already beaten Chelsea and both Manchester clubs at the Britannia Stadium in the Premier League this season, keeping a clean sheet on all three occasions, so may be a little overpriced at 7/2 with Bet Victor for the visit of Arsenal on Sunday. Arsenal recorded an unconvincing 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on their last Premier League outing, but it’s hard to forget the mauling they received from Southampton at St. Mary’s on Boxing Day and they’re hard to fancy, away from home, at 10/11 with Paddy Power.

The Potters may not be quite as physical under Mark Hughes as they were under Tony Pulis, but they still don’t take any prisoners in midfield and Arsene Wenger’s side will do well to improve on their poor record at the Britannia Stadium in recent seasons. At the odds on offer, Stoke City to win 1-0 (13/1with Bet Victor) looks too generous to resist.

Selection: Stoke City to beat Arsenal 1-0 (13/1 with Bet Victor)

Arsenal ended a good week with a 2-0 defeat of Aston Villa at Villa Park last Sunday and may just be playing Manchester City at the right time. French striker Olivier Giroud continues to confound his critics, with his first hat-trick for the Gunners in the 3-0 defeat of Olympiakos in midweek and an early penalty against Villa to make him the third fastest Arsenal player – behind Thierry Henry and Ian Wright – to score 50 goals in the Premier League.

By contrast, Manchester City needed an injury-time deflection to beat managerless Swansea City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday and were similarly lacking in ideas on their last Premier League outing, when beat 2-0 by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium the previous week. The Sky Blues have drawn failed to win their last four away fixtures in the Premier League and, unless they improve significantly, it’s hard to see that record improving against the in-form Gunners. Indeed, they’ve failed to score against Stoke City, Aston Villa and Manchester United, so there may be some value in backing Arsenal to win to nil.

In search of an early Christmas present, let’s try Arsenal to win 2-0 at 15/1 with BetVictor.

Selections: Arsenal to win 2-0 (15/1 with BetVictor)