It's a huge weekend of football with the return of La Liga and Serie A but my attention will once again be dominated by the action in England with full cards from the top 2 leagues. We do actually have some early form to go on with our selections in England compared to Germany, Spain and Italy where info is still light with the new seasons only now getting under way. Monday night football could be the highlight of the weekend with Liverpool visiting Arsenal and Bet365 are doing their £50 (25 euros) in play offer once more and I will be on that as usual. Before all that though we have 6 Premier League games on Saturday including Man Utd in the early game at home to Newcastle, followed by 3 more on Sunday with Man City taking on Everton at Goodison while Chelsea visit WBA in the Sky Super Sunday double header. I am making a change to my Saturday previews in that I won't analyse every game on offer, purely due to the sheer volume of action on a Saturday and from now on will only provide analysis and bets for the games i intend to include in my final best bets. Hopefully this should help me narrow down the winners as I prefer to study one game for 30 minutes, rather than 3 in the same time period. Anyways, enough of that. Here are my previews for the Premier League today. Premier League 13:45 Manchester United vs Newcastle United - Prediction 2 v 0 - Best Bets, United to win -1 AH @ 1.55, Memphis to score anytime @13/10 United will be confident of getting the win against a Newcastle team that rarely travel well and I fancy they can to do it with something to spare here with new signing Memphis sparkling in his most recent home performance against Brugge and likely to be the difference maker again. I expect Newcastle to be a better team this year but it won't begin here as United edge to a comfortable win with the young Dutchman a possibility to get on the scoresheet @13/10 anytime. They should win by more than 1 but I'll play it safe with the 1.55 on offer on the Asian handicap. 16:00 West Ham vs Bournemouth - Prediction - 1.1 - Best Bets - DRAW @5/2, BTTS @8/11 I really like the style and footballing philosophy of the Cherries under their young boss Eddie Howe and they can take a point here against a Hammers side that still look a bit short and need investment in their squad under their new manager Slaven Bilic. I have a feeling we will see a share of the spoils here with the visitors earning plaudits for their performance while they may find the net as well for their first goal in the big league since promotion. BTTS is not a statistically obvious choice with the 2 sides operating in different divisions last season but 7 of the Hammers last 11 at home did see BTTS and Bournemouth almost always scored on the road last year, albeit in the Championship but I do expect the visitors to get their first goal and I might take a chance on it @8/11. They were desperately unlucky against Liverpool and if they perform like that again, I fancy them to take something from the game today. 16:00 Leicester vs Tottenham = Prediction -2.2 - Best Bets - BTTS @ 8/13, BTTS and over 2.5 goals @20/21 This game looks good for goals and we could get a few as an on form Leicester entertain a Spurs side that don't look good enough to get in the top 4 this year with far too much reliance placed on youngster Harry Kane. Leicester have 2 wins from 2 although It remains to be seen if Claudio Ranieri will have a positive impact on Leicester over the long run but 6 points represents a great start for a man under huge pressure to maintain the stunning form that secured their safety last year under former gaffer Nigel Pearson. Japan man Okazaki looks like a good piece of business for the Italian boss and I expect his high energy combination with Jamie Vardie to give Spurs trouble today and while I do fancy the home side to claim at least a point, I also have a feeling for goals even if Spurs recent stats on the road don't particularly favour the selection. Last season both meetings saw BTTS with 10 goals scored in the 2 matches and while those 2 fixtures were the only recent contests between the 2 sides, hisorically the fixture has seen BTTS in 11 of the last 12 going back 16 years so there would appear to be a decent chance of it again today, especially considering Leicesters form and Spurs pedigree. Leicester did concede 2 to at home to Sunderland as well and if they can do that, then Spurs have every chance of hitting the back of Schmeichels net as well. I'm split between a home win or draw so BTTS will be the best bet here @8/13 while I also fancy over 2.5 goals as well. 16:00 Sunderland vs Swansea - Prediction - 0.4 - Best Bets - Swansea to win @23/20, Swansea to score 2 or more @ 6/5, It's hard to see anything other than an away win here as an apalling Sunderland side take on the impressive Swansea who are quite simply a far superior team on their day and if this one goes to form, there can only be one winner. Heavy defeats to Norwich and Leicester have put Dick Advocaat under huge pressure just two games into the season and with Swansea very impressive in their opening showings of the season, I really fancy them to win handsomely here but I'll play it safe and take the 23/20 on offer on the outright win. 6/5 on Swansea to score 2 or more looks generous as well considering Sunderlands home record, overall form and the ability of a Swansea team that continue to grow and grow under Garry Monk. The Black cats defence has conceded 2 or more in 4 of their last 8 at home going back to last season and I think it could be another miserable day for Advocaat who I fancy could be the first boss to leave his post this season despite the supposed "team meetings" this week that have been held in the Sunderland dressing room. An away win @23/20 is generous to say the least and I fancy the visitors to do it with some considerable style as the dangerous attack of Gomis and Ayew bears further fruit for the Welsh side. 16:00 Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa - Prediction - 1.1 - No bets Palace should be good enough to win here but i may leave them out as I have a nagging little feeling that Villa might earn a barely deserved point and Palace while appearing to be the superior side, actually had a pretty poor record at home last season. While I do expect that to change this year, I'm not gonna take a chance on the hosts today. No bets here. 16:00 Norwich vs Stoke - Prediction - 1.1 - Best Bets - BTTS @5/6, DRAW @12/5 Both sides have started the season brightly and I fancy an open and entertaining game here with Barcelona B (Stoke) likely to fancy their chances of getting the points on the road against newly promoted Norwich who have performed well in their first 2 games, easily beating Sunderland last weekend. Under their young Scots boss, Alex Neil, this Norwich side look capable of scoring and conceding and while they might be involved in a fight for survival, I don't expect them to be relegated ultimately and Carrow Road could be a hard place to win this season. Stoke new boy Xherdan Xhakiri is in a visiting squad that is now beginning to look rather tasty as Mark Hughes does his best impression of a continental passing unit with small and dangerous attackers in the final third of the pitch and we should see some really good games involving Stoke this season which is certainly not a sentence uttered in years gone by and surely now that tired old cliche of a "wet Tuesday at Stoke" needs to be revised. Both sides definitely like to play football and while I don't expect a goal fest, I do fancy BTTS @ 5/6 and a share of the spoils @12/5 leaving both managers relatively satisfied. Suggested Bets Memphis to score anytime @ 11/8 United to beat Newcastle -1 AH @1.55 Leicester v Spurs - BTTS @8/13 Leicester v Spurs - BTTS and over 2.5 goals @20/21 West Ham v Bournemouth - BTTS @8/11 Norwich v Stoke - BTTS @5/6 Swansea to beat Sunderland @ 23/20 Swansea to score 2 or more @6/5 Bo's Dour Draws Norwich v Stoke @12/5 West Ham v Bournemouth @5/2 Comments are closed.
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