After an exciting first week of fixtures out of the way it’s time for the teams to build on their performances, regardless of a loss or a win, as they head into their 2nd games (or 3rd in the case of Villa and Chelsea). Whilst it’s premature and naïve to judge a team after their first games of the season, there were some hints as to which sides have improved and which may still need a bit of work. Personally I was most impressed and somewhat frightened by Manchester City’s display against Newcastle United. Newcastle’s performance could be somewhat attributed to the transfer speculation surrounding arguably their most important player in Yohan Cabaye who sat out the match, but one can’t deny that City looked very focused on getting off to a flyer. If they maintain this sort of form they could be very hard to beat, but I mustn’t fall into the trap of judging too early. So let’s have a look at this week’s games.
Best Bets of the week
Manchester City Half/full time at $2.18
Both teams to score at $1.66 in Man Utd vs Chelsea
Betting odds from Betfair as at 23/8/13
Fulham ($3.95) Vs Arsenal ($2.14), Draw ($3.55)
Fulham take on Arsenal at Craven Cottage in the first game of the weekend. Both sides had contrasting starts to their season with Fulham getting an away win to Sunderland whilst Arsenal had a catastrophic & luckless day against a fired up Aston Villa. Both head into this match with a few issues with Fulham likely to be without no.1 keeper Steklenberg after he came off injured against Sunderland whilst Arsenal will be without Koscielny after he was sent off for a second yellow card. The positive for the gunner’s though is that they have come away with a 3-0 win away to Fenerbahce midweek in their UCL qualifying leg which will give them a much needed boost. It will also go some way to alleviating some of the pressure on the team and Wenger with heavy criticism coming in for their lack of transfer activity.
Key for Fulham is that they have added Scott Parker to their side from Tottenham during the week who you’d think would slot straight into central midfield. He’ll be a key addition to their midfield this season and is a great signing despite his tender age of 32.
The last time these two met at Craven Cottage it ended in a 1-0 away win to Arsenal to make it 2 wins a piece and a draw in their past 5 meetings there. Over their past 6 EPL fixtures, both sides have scored in 5 of those games with 4 of the 6 being over 2.5 goals. I still have question marks of Arsenal’s defence, in particular their goalkeeper, though it’s difficult to save penalties of which Villa had two. Fulham have made some positive transfer additions (Bent, Parker, & Taraabt) which will help over the course of the season, but with Arsenal’s bounce back win during the week I think they’ll be just slightly too strong and edge over them here.
Predicted result: Arsenal 2-1
Best bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.86
Best Bet Confidence: 70%
Everton ($1.60) Vs West Brom ($7), Draw ($4.2)
Roberto Martinez takes charge of his first home game against West Brom and will be looking to impress. There’ll be a little bit of pressure to ensure he gets the win here with a loss leaving the fans a little nervous for the remainder of the season. West Brom will be looking to make up for their opening day loss to an impressive Southampton side whilst they also need to deal with the loss of Anelka for compassionate reasons indefinitely. Despite the loss of Anelka, they did make a good loan signing in Scott Sinclair from Manchester City during the week which will no doubt help their attacking play down the wings.
Everton haven’t lost at home to West Brom in their past 3 matches in all competitions whilst also not conceding a goal. Last season only Chelsea and Manchester City conceded less goals at home than Everton (17) and with West Brom’s lack of proven firepower with Anelka now missing, it’s going to be a difficult task to get an away win here. Ross Barkley was super impressive for Everton last week scoring a goal and it’s good to see Martinez entrusting him with a starting role alongside Fellaini.
Predicted result: Everton 2-0
Best bet: Everton to win at $1.60
Best Bet Confidence: 85%
Hull City ($2.48) Vs Norwich ($3.25), Draw ($3.45)
Newly promoted Hull City should take some pride out of their performance against Chelsea as they prepare to take on Norwich in their first home game of the season. It was also important to migrate the likes of Huddlestone into their midfield as they push to make him a key part of their side. Meanwhile Norwich had a well fought out draw against Everton though they would have been slightly disappointed to not have gotten away with a win at home to start the season.
Hull have had a good run of results against Norwich in their time in the Championship having not lost to them since April 2007. The difference now being that Norwich have some quality players throughout their squad as well as a few years in the Premier League consolidating their status. There is no doubt Hull will be pumped for their first game at home with their home crowd an important part of their chances here. Whilst I feel Hull will play very well here at home, it’s likely that Norwich will have enough in them to get a draw here. Norwich should welcome Snodgrass and Bassong back from injury whilst Leroy Fer should make his first appearance for the club after suspension which should see them to a point.
Predicted result: Draw 1-1
Best bet: Both teams to score at $1.92
Best Bet Confidence: 70%
Newcastle ($2.34) Vs West Ham ($3.45), Draw ($3.45)
Newcastle host West Ham in their first home game after their horrible experience against Manchester City earlier in the week. It’s likely they’ll still be without Cabaye as the transfer bids come in from the likes of Arsenal & PSG whilst they’ll definitely be without Steven Taylor after his wayward arm got him sent off. The Hammer’s had it a little bit easier in their opening fixture recording a straight forward 2-0 win over new boys Cardiff. Big things are expected of West Ham this season whilst I envisage big improvement from Newcastle as well this year.
There wasn’t a lot of goals scored between these two last season with a 0-0 draw and a 1-0 away win to the Hammer’s the final results of their two meetings. The pressure will be well and truly on Newcastle to register a point at least in front of their home crowd whilst West Ham will be wary of an opponent that will be fired up after their poor start against Manchester City. If the likes of Tiote and Sissoko can control the midfield, it’ll give them every chance to register their first point(s) of the season. Taylor will be a loss for them in defence which opens the door to the Hammer’s, especially if Andy Carroll returns to the side.
Predicted result: Newcastle 1-0
Best bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.9
Best Bet Confidence: 75%
Southampton ($1.73) Vs Sunderland ($5.7), Draw ($3.95)
Southampton take on Sunderland this weekend hoping to make it two in a row to start the year after a 1-0 win over West Brom. Di Canio will be looking to get something out of the numerous signings after they succumbed to a 1-0 loss at home to Fulham. Southampton completed the signing of Osvaldo from Roma during the week which is a really good bit of business as they needed another quality striker in the side to support Lambert.
Whilst Sunderland have a solid record over Southampton with two wins and two draws over their last 4 meetings. Given that this is an away game and Sunderland look like they still need a few more games to settle in, it’s difficult to go past a Southampton home win here. It may end up different throughout this season, but Sunderland and a shocking away record last season recording only the 4 wins to go with 11 losses. Unless Di Canio can motivate his players like he did when he took over I fear it’ll be a similar result to the one against Fulham.
Predicted result: Southampton 1-0
Best bet: Southampton to win at $1.73
Best Bet Confidence: 75%
Stoke ($1.88) Vs Crystal Palace ($5), Draw ($3.6)
Crystal Palace take on Stoke in their first away game of the year and will have a stern task ahead of them to crack their brute defence. Stoke did extremely well in their first game under Mark Hughes and although I like many have been critical of his management, he did well to almost have his side steal a point. They played with a bit more purpose against Liverpool and certainly troubled them around set pieces. It was also good to see Stoke keep the ball on the deck a bit more and not use the long ball as much as they had under Pulis. Whilst Crystal Palace tasted defeat to the hands of Tottenham, they can take some real positives in the way they pushed throughout whilst under enormous attacking pressure.
With neither side boasting great potency up front in attack and Stoke performing very well in defence last week with Begovic in stunning form, it’s hard to see how Crystal Palace can score a goal here. It will likely rest on a counter attack with the speed of Gayle likely to be a key asset here to break behind their defence. A large part of this game will rest on the set pieces with Stoke very dangerous here.
Predicted result: Stoke 2-0
Best bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.76
Best Bet Confidence: 80%
Aston Villa ($4) Vs Liverpool ($2.02), Draw ($3.8)
It’s been a fantastic start to the season for Villa considering their woeful campaign last year and it seems as though their young players are much better for the experience. A 3-1 win over Arsenal and a solid performance against Chelsea during the week sets them up for a pretty decent year with Benteke leading the way. For Liverpool, they were perhaps lucky to get away with a 1-0 win over Stoke thanks to a thrilling penalty save from Mignolet though the win was far from undeserving. From an attacking point of view they looked extremely dangerous. Sturridge was on song with a goal, Coutinho threatened with attacking runs whilst Aspas is starting to look at home as well. My only negative observation from the game was that they looked a little jittery in defence and especially around set-pieces. I’ll put that down to nerves for their first home game of the season but they’ll hope that doesn’t creep into their game again.
The spoils were shared last season between these two with both recording an away win each. Benteke is an obvious threat here as he has 3 goals for the season and he also scored 3 times against Liverpool last season. Stopping the unstoppable will be Liverpool’s biggest task this weekend. There’s a bit of talk around that Villa may suffer from a bit of fatigue in this one having played Chelsea earlier in the week. I don’t agree with that for two reasons. Firstly it’s too early in the season for them to be too fatigued to play 3 games close together and secondly these are professional athletes that are paid to be fit. For that reason I can’t see a clear cut winner here, but I can see both sides scoring with both sides very much an attacking threat.
Predicted result: Draw 1-1
Best bet: Both teams to score at $1.63
Best Bet Confidence: 85%
Cardiff ($8.6) Vs Manchester City ($1.47), Draw ($4.7)
Cardiff host a bit of a beast of a side in Manchester City this weekend after they steamrolled Newcastle 4-0. It’s very much a David and Goliath feeling here though Cardiff will be looking to at least put in a solid performance at home. Cardiff seemed a little overawed by the occasion of their first top flight game against West Ham, with respect to players such as Caulker and Bellamy whom both seemed calm under the pressure of the occasion. Getting the first game out of the way will be a big relief to the playing group and I’m sure they’ll all be looking forward to facing Manchester City as a big test.
Manchester City are quite good odds at $1.47 considering their performance against Newcastle whilst they also had the second best record in the league for goals conceded in away games with 19 (Only Arsenal was lower with 14). I’m expecting a strong start from Cardiff in front of their home crowd with Man City all too aware that they’ll come out firing. Once the game gets into a bit of a flow though I’d expect the likes of Dzeko to have the final say.
Predicted result: Manchester City 3-0
Best bet: Manchester City Half/full time at $2.18 are attractive odds
Best Bet Confidence: 80%
Tottenham ($1.65) Vs Swansea ($6.6), Draw ($4)
Whilst it was a narrow win for Tottenham on the scoresheet against Crystal Palace thanks to a Roberto Soldado penalty, the win will do wonders for them mentally. After their first 3 games last season they had the two points, so to be ahead now is a big boost. With the Bale saga having dragged on all summer, it seems clear that the players have for the most part moved on from his impending departure and with the new faces are starting to gel quickly. A 5-0 thumping of Dinamo Tbilisi on Thursday was a great team performance that will also have done the side plenty of good mentally. Swansea meanwhile had a bit of stumble at the hands of Manchester United in their opening fixture where I for one expected more of them. Though when your side has a striker such as RVP, it’s usually going to be difficult.
Tottenham have won 3 of their 4 games against Swansea with their first meeting back in 2011 a 1-1 draw. Tottenham had a strong home record last season with 11 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses whilst Swansea had an up and down away record recording 9 losses. With Tottenham’s main squad taking shape, they are looking very solid all over the pitch and they’ll be hard to beat this weekend. Soldado again will be an important factor here and interestingly he now has 4 goals in his last 3 games for Tottenham (Espanyol, Crystal Palace, and Tbilisi). Whilst I can’t see Swansea snatching the 3 points here, they are entirely capable of troubling the scoresheet with the likes of Bony and Michu a constant threat.
Predicted result: Tottenham 2-1
Best bet: Tottenham to win at $1.65
Best Bet Confidence: 80%
Manchester United ($2.52) Vs Chelsea ($3.15), Draw ($3.45)
The big game of the week comes in the form of two title favourites in Manchester United and Chelsea. United had a resounding 4-1 win over Swansea in what was meant to be a bit of a danger game for them whilst Chelsea had straight forward 2-0 win over Hull followed up with a 2-1 win over Villa during the week. Perhaps the most interesting part of the build up to this match is the transfer rumours surrounding Rooney about a possible switch to Chelsea. If it does end up being the case that he makes the switch, it’ll be very interesting to see him play against his potential new side (not that I personally can see the switch happening).
The last time these two played at Old Trafford it resulted in a 1-0 win to Chelsea to make it 2 on the trot having beaten them 5-4 in the league cup earlier in the season. Before that though, United had held a 6 game unbeaten streak in all comps against Chelsea. A big factor for Chelsea here will be who starts up front. With Torres starting against Hull and Ba against Villa it would seem an obvious pattern for Mourinho to give Lukaku a start. After all he did manage a hat-trick the last time he played United when playing for West Brom. Could he be a menace here again? Personally I’d love to see him get a crack at leading the line and just to see what he can do with this Chelsea side. In the end I feel United will be up for this one given it’s their first home game at home and for Moyes for the season so a loss would be unacceptable. A draw would seem a fitting result here.
Predicted result: Draw 1-1
Best bet: Both teams to score at $1.66 – 6 of the last 7 meetings between these two both have scored.
Best Bet Confidence: 90%
Please Note:
All of the above are the opinions of the author and are not recommendations or advice. The author may not be taking every bet listed above. Bet at your own risk.
All of our information is provided free. If you want to show your support, if you are wanting to join a new bookmaker, please use our banners. Thanks.
