A week has gone by and we head into week 2 of the 2016/17 season. The opening round of matches saw some pretty interesting results, some surprising and some inspired. One of those that was inspired was certainly that of Hull who beat Leicester 2-1. They’re still in for a long season but Hull showed plenty of fight in their first match and it’ll be interesting to see how they fair this weekend away at Swansea. There’s plenty of big matches this weekend with perhaps the most critical this early in the season being Leicester taking on Arsenal. Leicester couldn’t get their game going against Hull whilst Arsenal have been hit hard by injuries but with both sides losing their opening matches, a win here is crucial for their early season momentum.
Multi Bet: West Ham win ($1.8), Chelsea win ($1.75), Manchester City win ($1.67), Manchester United Win ($1.44) = $7.57
Match Day 2 Best Bet: West Ham to beat Bournemouth at $1.8
**Odds from Sportsbet as at 18th August
Manchester United vs Southampton
Things at United are really looking up after a strong 3-1 win over Bournemouth last week with Ibrahimovic getting amongst the goals as well. The news gets better too with Smalling available to return this weekend to strengthen their backline whilst record signing Paul Pogba is eligible to make his debut. It’ll be interesting to see if they get a start or appear from the bench given an interrupted preseason. They host Southampton who had a tough encounter at home to Watford and based on that performance heading into an away game at United they will likely fall short here. They’ll have the advantage of no pressure but it’s difficult to see United losing this after a first up win and with such big names coming into the side.
Predicted score: Manchester United 2-0
Best Bet: Manchester United -1 Handicap at $2.3 (80%)
Next Best: Manchester United to win to Nil at $2.1
Stoke vs Manchester City
Stoke on their day are a side more than capable of getting a result against Manchester City and over their last 5 meetings in the league at home they have only lost once. They have another chance this weekend to continue that trend and although City had to work really hard against Sunderland for their 2-1 win it may be a little too tough. The win over Sunderland was more of a transitional win for Man City under Pep and I’d expect to see a more complete performance from them this weekend. It’s not to say Stoke won’t make it tough for them but Man City look just too strong and Shay Given may have a tough time of it in the goals against Aguero and co.
Predicted score: Manchester City 2-0
Best Bet: Manchester City to win at $1.67 (80%)
Next Best: Man City/Man City Half-Time/Full-Time at $2.6
Swansea vs Hull
A great start for Swansea with 3 points in the bag against Burnley last weekend and a home game against Hull this weekend looks favourable. Hull of course had a great win over Leicester in their opening match but that victory came from great support and a backs to the wall mentality given the turmoil that surrounds Hull at the moment. It really comes down now to whether they can back up their performance 2 weeks in a row because last weekend will have taken a bit out of them. This will be a tight match but Swansea should come out on top in this one.
Predicted score: Swansea 1-0
Best Bet: Swansea to win at $1.83 (75%)
Next Best: Under 2.5 goals at $1.6
Tottenham vs Crystal Palace
A first home game of the season for Tottenham as they host a Palace side who will be disappointed with their 1-0 loss at home to West Brom last weekend. There will be some shuffling in this Palace side as well with the recently departed Jedinak heading to Aston Villa. Another really big loss is that of Bolasie to Everton. He’s a player that can be extremely damaging with marauding runs down the wings and his loss removes another avenue to goal for Palace. For Spurs it’s a bonus but they can’t be complacent and their 1-1 draw with Everton last week should wake them up. They looked pretty flat against Everton in the first half but it was a strong performance in the second half that got them through and could have won them the game. This week they’ll have to venture on without Hugo Lloris who misses through injury but they should still win this one.
Predicted score: Tottenham 3-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.82 (85%)
Next Best: Tottenham to lead at Half-time at $1.91
Watford vs Chelsea
Another London Derby for Chelsea but more importantly it also looks like another 3 points. Their 2-1 win over West Ham was a solid start to the season and although they need to put in some more work, they have the ingredients of a title winning side still. Watford too had a pleasing result in the form of a 1-1 draw away at Southampton but for me I struggle to see them scoring regularly. Chelsea won’t be as easy to score against as they were last season and will be difficult to beat this weekend. Hazard is looking in a lot better form, Kante will be better for his debut and as long as Costa keeps his cool then Chelsea will win here.
Predicted score: Chelsea 2-0
Best Bet: Chelsea to win at $1.75 (85%)
Next Best: Chelsea -1 handicap at $3
West Brom vs Everton
The Baggies were a bit of a surprise result last weekend in beating Crystal Palace away whilst Everton in some ways were unlucky not to get a win against Tottenham when they had chances to go 2-0 ahead in the first half. It makes for an interesting match here with Everton looking to rise quickly under Koeman but it will be tough against a West Brom side under Pulis. I can see this being a tougher match for Everton in terms of breaking down West Brom’s defence where against Spurs they had some clear cut chances where Tottenham fell asleep defensively.
Predicted score: Draw 0-0
Best Bet: Both teams to score – No at $1.91 (75%)
Next Best: Under 2.5 goals at $1.64 (75%)
Burnley vs Liverpool
The same issues seem to be there for Liverpool defensively but offensively they look strong after knocking in 4 goals against an albeit undermanned Arsenal side. They head to Burnley this week who had a tough loss to Swansea last time out and there may be more pain ahead. Coutinho was a star against Arsenal with 2 goals and he’ll again cause problems for Burnley this week. The attractive thing about Liverpool right now is they have such a wealth of attacking options through Coutinho, Mane, Firmino, Lallana and Wijnaldum. Without Sturridge on the pitch they are missing that out and out striker up front but when you have such attacking talent filling in it’s hard to see them not scoring.
Predicted score: Liverpool 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.87 (80%)
Next Best: Liverpool to win at $1.57
Leicester vs Arsenal
The reigning Champions struggled against Hull last week and it seems mostly because they just couldn’t get their counter attacking game going coupled with the fact Hull were inspired as an underdog. They may have a bit more of a chance to get that game going this weekend against Arsenal who despite defensive issues should have a fair chunk of possession. That should give Leicester a pretty good advantage because their pace on the counter is lethal and with a makeshift backline, Arsenal could be in for a long day. The Gunners of course are very strong offensively and much like their match against Liverpool last week it’s difficult to not see them scoring. The other side of things is that neither side will want to lose so it will be interesting to see if Arsenal have a more cautious approach to this game defensively which may provide fewer chances for Leicester to counter attack. It’ll be an intriguing battle and one where it looks like a draw is fitting.
Predicted score: Draw 2-2
Best Bet: Both teams to score – Yes at $1.62 (85%)
Next Best: Over 2.5 goals at $1.77
Sunderland vs Middlesbrough
The Black Cats host newly promoted Middlesbrough in what looks like another close game this weekend. Sunderland were competitive against Manchester City and will look to take that momentum into their first home game of the season. For Middlesbrough they’ll be buoyed by their first point of the season as well as minutes under the belt for Negredo and Valdes on debut. The other danger man besides Negredo though is Ramirez and he is looking like he’s up for a big season. There’s a bit of an excitement feel about Middlesbrough in this early stage of the season and they’ll give Sunderland a run for their money this weekend. Sunderland still have some mental scars from years of avoiding relegation and with Middlesbrough on a high from promotion and a point last week they look like they can get another this week.
Predicted score: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.59 (80%)
Next Best: Half-Time draw at $1.91
West Ham vs Bournemouth
A 2-1 loss at Chelsea isn’t the end of the world for West Ham but they now get to look forward to their first league game at home in their new stadium this week against Bournemouth. That may help them settle into the season but Bournemouth can be a tricky side. The main thing for me in this one is that Payet gets a start. Against Chelsea he started on the bench which was smart given his long offseason thanks to the Euro’s. I’d expect him to start in this one though and his influence will be huge to the outcome of this match. Bournemouth will need to be wary of his influence but they’ll know they have a chance of disrupting an important day for West Ham in their new stadium for their first Premier League game there. The problem is I don’t think Bournemouth have enough strength to keep the likes of Payet, Ayew and Carroll quiet amongst others.
Predicted score: West Ham 2-0
Best Bet: West Ham to win at $1.8 (85%)
Next Best: West Ham to lead at Half-time at $2.4
