The games are coming thick and fast as we head into week 6 of the season. There’s two clear frontrunners at the moment in the form of Manchester rivals City and United who quite amazingly have exactly the same record with 16 goals scored, 2 conceded and 13 points apiece. The stumbles in results from the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool at the weekend mean there’s a decent gap opening up at this early stage. As we know though in this league, things can change quickly and you need only look at last season where Chelsea sat 8th after 6 matches yet stormed the rest of the season to win the title. That gives some hope to the chasing pack and shows it’s still very early days.
Week 6 Best Bet: Leicester vs Liverpool – BTTS at $1.62
Week 6 Best Value Bet: Manchester United to win to Nil at $2.88
Week 6 Head to Head Multi Bet: Everton Win ($1.62), Manchester United Win ($1.72), Chelsea Win ($1.57), Brighton/Newcastle Draw ($3.1) = $13.56
**Odds from Sportsbet.com.au as of 20th September
Headline Fixtures
West Ham vs Tottenham
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): West Ham 2, Tottenham 2, Draws 1
It’s clear that right at the moment Tottenham cannot be backed at home, at least until they get some confidence and results on the board at their temporary home. On the road however, they seem to have a lot more confidence having won twice without conceding. The Hammers have had a decent run over Spurs in recent seasons though winning their last 2 at home against them. There’s little to go on in terms of their home form this season given they’ve played only once at home resulting in a 2-0 win over Huddersfield, but they’ve claimed just the 1 point in their other 4 matches which certainly raises some questions. Going off Tottenham’s last away game where they faced a tricky test at Everton but they blew them out of the water. They might not have the same crushing result but they should win this with their confidence higher away from home.
Predicted Result: Tottenham 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.68
Best Value Bet: Half-time Draw at $2.25
Southampton vs Manchester United
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Manchester United 3, Southampton 1, Draws 1
United have been flying so far this season and they’ll have a keen eye on continuing their flight away at Southampton this week. On the road is the only place United have dropped points this season when they stumbled at Stoke and Southampton should present a similarly tough test. They faced a Crystal Palace side last time out in a difficult environment with Palace keen to impress their new manager but they endured and claimed the 3 points. United of course present a much tougher test having shown their scoring dominance with 3 of their 5 matches resulting in 4-0 wins. Southampton may be a little tougher to break down than those that United have so far played, but all the same it seems unlikely they’ll drop the 3 points in this one.
Predicted Result: Manchester United 2-0
Best Bet: Manchester United to win at $1.72
Best Value Bet: Manchester United to win to Nil at $2.88
Leicester vs Liverpool
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Leicester 2, Liverpool 2, Draws 1
Liverpool head back for another crack at Leicester this weekend where they just lost 2-0 in their league cup fixture during the week. That’ll either fire them up for some revenge or the mental scars, particularly defensively will reappear. Either way, it’s likely to play in the hands of Leicester who will love the counter attacking game if Liverpool come hard at them as expected. With that in mind, we should be able to expect a few more goals than the recent 2-0 result during the week. The defensive frailties though for Liverpool mean they still cannot be trusted to keep a clean sheet which they’ve yet to do this season.
Predicted Result: Draw 2-2
Best Bet: Both teams to score – Yes at $1.62
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $2.78
Stoke vs Chelsea
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Chelsea 2, Stoke 1, Draws 2
The Potters have already claimed a few scalps this season with a win over Arsenal and a draw with Manchester United. They’ve had some close encounters with Chelsea in recent seasons too with 4 of the last 5 meetings seeing the two separated by just the solitary goal. The reigning Champions will also be left a little short at the back for this one with the suspension of David Luiz which may present some opportunities for an opportunistic Stoke attack. A big plus for Chelsea though is the return to action of Hazard with appearances in their last 3 fixtures as he builds up some match fitness. It’s a timely return but he may need a little longer before he gets back to his best form after a decent layoff with injury. All being said though, Stoke could cause some problems here and it should be another close match following the trend of recent meetings between these sides.
Predicted Result: Chelsea 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.89
Best Value Bet: Half-Time Draw at $2.1
Remaining Fixtures
Burnley vs Huddersfield
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Burnley 3, Huddersfield 2
Just the one loss so far for Burnley this season and at the very least they’ll take a point from this one. Huddersfield likewise have lost just once in what has been a confidence building start to life in the Premier League. In typical Burnley fashion though, don’t expect a lot of goals in this one.
Predicted Result: Draw 0-0
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.53
Best Value Bet: Draw at $3.2
Everton vs Bournemouth
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Everton 3, Bournemouth 1, Draws 1
Everton have had a really tough run of it with 3 straight losses finding themselves in unfamiliar territory in the relegation zone. The level of opposition in those losses is understandable and they at least have a favourable match here with Bournemouth who’ve also struggled losing 4 of their 5 matches so far. It may be a scrap at times, but Everton should bounce back.
Predicted Result: Everton 2-1
Best Bet: Everton to win at $1.62
Best Value Bet: Everton to win and BTTS at $3.4
Manchester City vs Crystal Palace
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Manchester City 5
Just when things couldn’t get worse, Palace have to face Manchester City away having already lost 5 straight matches without scoring a goal. It looks like that run is going to continue for a little while longer albeit they may be a little better in their overall competitiveness despite the ending score line.
Predicted Result: Manchester City 3-0
Best Bet: Manchester City to win to Nil at $1.83
Best Value Bet: Manchester City to win both halves at $2
Swansea vs Watford
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Watford 2, Swansea 1, Draws 2
Swansea have had a mixed season compared to Watford who’ve for the most part been impressive until their 6-0 loss at the hands of Manchester City last week. Expect them to bounce back from that this week but Swansea will be no easy task even if they are still in search of a first home win for the season.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Both teams to score – Yes at $1.8
Best Value Bet: Swansea to lead at Half-Time at $2.8
Brighton vs Newcastle
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Newcastle 2, Brighton 2
Newcastle have won 3 on the trot but can they be trusted to make it 4? The tough part is it’s on the road to Brighton who’ve tightened up defensively conceding just twice in their last 3 matches. Newcastle have equally been as impressive defensively but with this one looking competitive, a draw looks a likely outcome.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.52
Best Value Bet: Draw at $3.1
Arsenal vs West Brom
Last 5 meetings (All competitions): Arsenal 3, West Brom 2
Their draw at Chelsea was a small boost they needed to kickstart their season again but don’t be surprised of Tony Pulis sets up his Baggies side to frustrate the hell out of Arsenal, as he so often does against a lot of the big sides. Arsenal’s inconsistencies mean there’s no clear indication that they’ll get a win here and defensively there is still question marks.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $2.42
Best Value Bet: Half-time Draw at $2.5
