You BetDivision is clear as achievers take on strugglers

This is a "them and us" weekend in the English Premier League with most of the matches involving teams in the top nine - the group established as the achievers - against the strugglers that form the rump of the division. Only Swansea v Tottenham stands out as a clash between two of the achievers.

There are distinct layers in the top nine - Manchester United on 74 points, Champions League hopefuls Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal in the 50s and Everton, Liverpool, West Brom and Swansea in the 40s. Even down to League Cup winners Swansea in ninth place, they are the class acts of the division.

The rest of the Premier League is a mass of mediocrity, with only nine points from Fulham in 10th place down to Wigan, who are in the first relegation spot in 18th. As a consequence, most of the match favourites this weekend are short odds and backers may have to look beyond the home /away /draw to find decent bets.

Collectively the top nine have won 61 per cent of their matches against the rest this season, although naturally the strike rates reduce as you go down the table. Manchester United have won 94 per cent (17 wins out of 18), while Swansea have won 44 per cent.

Perhaps, surprisingly, Everton have the lowest strike rate at 41 per cent. That might make punters think twice about backing them in apparently easy games, although this doesn't seem to be a weekend to oppose them as they are at home to out-of-form Stoke. From 10 games in 2013, Stoke have taken only five points and four of those were against Reading and Wigan, who are both in the relegation zone.

A key reason for Everton's low strike rate against the strugglers is they have kept only one clean sheet in 17 games - the lowest number of shut-outs in that category by any team. That has led 13 of the 17 games to have over 2.5 goals, which looks the best bet in Everton v Stoke.