Hotshots

One side who have really impressed in the Premier League in recent weeks have been Swansea, and summer signing Michu (6/4), in particular, has taken to English football like a duck, or Swan, to water. The Spaniard has continued his fine scoring form from last season’s campaign at Rayo Vallecano, and has struck ten times already this term, mostly from midfield, so we’ll make him the first of our double this weekend.

The 26-year-old has netted four times in his last four appearances, including a brace last weekend in the Swans’ 2-0 win at Arsenal, and was successfully utilised as the lone striker in Michael Laudrup’s 4-2-3-1 formation in their last game at the Liberty Stadium against West Brom. The Dane could revert to the same attacking line-up from that 3-1 victory for Norwich’s arrival on Saturday, so it would be wise to back Michu to continue his impressive start to life in Wales.

Michu and Jermain Defoe anytime goalscorer double at 11/2

The second in-form goal-getter we’ll pick out ahead of the weekend is Tottenham’s Jermain Defoe (8/5), who has netted two braces over his last three Premier League appearances to take his league tally to nine for the campaign. Only four players with ten can boast a better total than the England international so far, who is finally enjoying, and prospering from, a run of games he never really got under previous managers at White Hart Lane.

Spurs travel to Everton on Sunday afternoon looking for their fourth consecutive domestic victory, against a Toffees outfit with a solitary win over their last nine outings, and without a clean sheet in 11 fixtures. Defoe has scored seven in his last seven in all competitions, and a Spurs side with eight goals in their last three league games will be confident of creating chances at Goodison Park.

Michu and Jermain Defoe anytime goalscorer double at 11/2

Crystal Palace continue to challenge at the top of the Championship this term, and talismanic frontman Glenn Murray (20/29) continues to find the back of the net. We had the striker in last week’s Hotshots double, and he duly delivered with a pair against former club Brighton, so we’ll include him again and hope his red-hot form carries on at least another week.

The 29-year-old has struck 17 times in the English second tier at better than a goal a game this campaign, while his last nine strikes have come from the Eagles’ last four fixtures at Selhurst Park. Saturday sees them entertain Blackpool as they look for a fifth consecutive win on home turf, and you wouldn’t put it past them if Murray can perform as well as he has been recently.

The fourth and final name this weekend comes from the Championship again, in the form of ex-England international David Nugent (5/7). The Leicester striker made a slow start to the season, but looks to be making up for lost time, having struck five times in his last three outings, either side of suffering a slipped disc in his back. In fact, he only played for just over 110 minutes over those trio of outings with his injury concerns, so a return of five goals is even more impressive.

Nugent put the seal on the Foxes’ 4-1 thrashing of East Midlands rivals Derby last weekend, stepping off the bench to net a brace in a 24 minute cameo, and he could have a field day at home to Barnsley on Saturday. The Tykes are winless in nine league games, losing six of them and conceding 17 times in that sequence, so confidence levels couldn’t be more of a contrast to those at the King Power Stadium, and particularly those of in-form Nugent.

Michu, Jermain Defoe, Glenn Murray and David Nugent anytime goalscorer accumulator at 17/1