Man United, City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all to win is just 4/1... Jamie Carragher says Premier League is 'a bit of a joke' but that price is no laughing matter - BETTING GUIDE

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Jamie Carragher branded the Premier League ‘a bit of joke’ due to the gulf between the big boys and the rest and if he’s right punters could be laughing all the way to the bank.

His comments on the negative tactics of teams facing the top six split opinion among our team of reporters, but if the gap is as wide as he says then surely we should be piling into the title-chasers every week.

Five of them are in action over the weekend and you can get just shy of 4/1 that Chelsea see off Stoke, Liverpool beat Leicester, Manchester United win at home to Southampton and Manchester City and Arsenal win at Crystal Palace and West Brom respectively.

Pep Guardiola is looking for a 19th straight league win when Man City face Crystal Palace

Kevin De Bruyne was once again pulling the strings when City won at Newcastle in midweek

On paper, not the worst bet in the world, but don’t forget United have drawn their last two, against Burnley and Leicester, Chelsea couldn’t score at Everton just before Christmas and it’s only a fortnight since Liverpool were held 0-0 at home by West Brom. Plus, Arsenal could do an Arsenal at any time. That 4/1 doesn't look as good.

United are three without a win in all competitions and City fans, during their 1-0 win at Newcastle on Wednesday night, were singing about Jose Mourinho ‘cracking up’.

Mourinho's moans are nothing new but who knows where the finger of blame will be pointed if they don’t pick up three points at home to Liverpool’s feeder club Southampton.

Man United manager Jose Mourinho has gone three games in all competitions without a win

Saints are having a worse Christmas than the Old Trafford manager and last won in November so, despite United's recent blips, it’s hard to see anything other than a home win in the late telly game on Saturday.

United are 2/5 for the points but 21/20 to be winning at half-time and full-time and 6/5 to win without conceding.

Southampton leaked five goals when trying to take on Tottenham on Boxing Day. Don’t expect them to make the same mistake again – United are 16/5 to win by two goals and 6/1 to win 2-0.

Jack Wilshere (left) looked good for Arsenal as they won at Crystal Palace on Thursday

Table-topping City are also on TV, on Sunday at Palace, where Arsenal ended the Roy Hodgson revival with a 3-2 win on Thursday night.

Hodgson has impressed since taking over but City can equal manager Pep Guardiola’s record run of 19 straight league wins he achieved with Bayern Munich.

Don’t expect Palace to sit as far back as Newcastle – BBC’s Blue Planet is about the only other place you’ll find anything that deep. Newcastle even managed to give City a couple of scares and Palace are more than capable. An away win with both teams scoring is 33/20 while City are a skinny 2/7. Kevin De Bruyne set up the only goal on Tyneside and another assist from the Belgian magician is 5/4 (Sky Bet).

Jack Wilshere’s pass for Alexis Sanchez’s second at Selhurst Park was as good as any we’ve seen from De Bruyne and the born-again midfielder is 7/2 to set one up at West Brom, where Arsenal are 8/11 and the draw is 16/5.

Liverpool at home to Leicester stands out from the rest of the 3pm games on Saturday – there’s been 14 goals in the last three league games between them, that’s an average of 4.7.

The Reds are spending £75m on Virgil van Dijk to tighten up their defence but he’ll only be able to watch them until January 1 and he might see a few goals in this one.

Philippe Coutinho and Liverpool could serve up a few goals in the game with Leicester

A home win with over 3.5 total goals is 7/5 and over 4.5 is 11/4. Liverpool have kept three clean sheets in their last four but that crazy spell at Arsenal came in between so both teams to score in both halves is worth a nibble at 12/1.

Elsewhere, Everton have shut the door with five clean sheets and just two goals conceded in their last seven in the league ahead of their trip to Bournemouth who are now eight games without a win. The Toffees are 23/10 to win, 4/1 to win by a goal while the draw is 12/5.

Chelsea are also tightening up, with just four goals given away in their last 11 with seven clean sheets. They’re no better than 1/5 at home to Stoke and 20/23 to win without conceding.

Huddersfield got out of reverse and steadied the ship with two wins, two draws and a defeat in their last five – a run matched by Saturday’s opponents Burnley over the same period, although Sean Dyche’s troops did almost win at Man United last time out. The draw looks the best bet here.

Watford should have enough to ruin Carlos Carvalhal’s first game as Swansea boss while an unhappy return to Tyneside could be on the cards for former Newcastle boss Chris Hughton.

His Brighton side have won just once in nine games and although Newcastle boast just one victory in 11, the Seagulls’ away form is dreadful. No team has lost more games on the road than their seven and only Palace have scored fewer goals than their five. Newcastle are 6/5.