Another weekend is upon us and that means another full round of fixtures from across Europe and the UK and in my favourite league of all, the Premier League. Arsenal get things going in the lunch-time kick-off with a trip to an improving Newcastle followed by 7 more Premier League fixtures at 4.00pm CET including champions Chelsea at home to an entertaining Crystal Palace. Here are the previews, predictions and suggested bets for Saturday's action. Premier League
13:45 Newcastle United vs Arsenal - Prediction - 2.2 - Suggested bets - BTTS @5/6 I expect a pretty interesting game here with Arsenal yet to find top form so far this season with just 4 points from 3 games and this visit to Newcastle is unlikely to be straightforward for Arsene Wenger's side in the early kick-off on BT Sport. On the road, Arsenal are rarely that secure at the back with just 2 clean sheets in their previous 13 away games in the league and with their first choice centre back pairing of Koscielny and Mertesacker missing for this one they may struggle to come away with 3 points here. Newcastle do seem to have improved under Steve McClaren although they could hardly get much worse than last season's dismal side so while their is a renewed sense of optimism in Geordieland, they need a good home performance to get the support fully behind them in the coming weeks and they may well get it here. With a new manager in Steve McClaren, good money has been spent for a change on the likes of Mitrovic, Thauvin and Wijnaldum and Newcastle should be a better team for it and with Arsenal vulnerable at the moment, I fancy BTTS and a possible share of the spoils here. Newcastle have scored in 12 of their last 13 home league fixtures while Arsenal are leaky on the road, keeping just 5 away clean sheets from all 18 league games last season, and with Koscielny and Mertesacker missing todayI expect BTTS at attractive 5/6 odds. 16:00 Bournemouth vs Leicester - Prediction - 2.2 - Suggested Bets - BTTS @4/6 Without even looking at the stats, this is a fixture that really jumps out at me as one that should see some goals. Bournemouth will be full of confidence following their fine 4.3 win at West Ham while Leicester come into this game as one of THE form teams in the country having followed up their amazing end to last season with a further 7 points from 9 so far this time around. Bournemouth we know are an attacking outfit, and their fixtures should be ripe for BTTS this season with their philosophy very much about out-scoring their opponents. In Calum Wilson they have a young striker that is a real prospect, evidenced by his super hat-trick last time around (in my fantasy squad since day 1) and I fancy the home side to give it another big effort today. Bournemouth have scored 18 in their last 7 competitive home fixtures and I believe they can do it again today. Leicester are unbeaten in 13 fixtures going back to last season and have seen all 5 of their last fixtures producing BTTS (10 in a row if you include pre-season fixtures) and given that they have scored on the road in 9 of their most recent 11 league games we can be confident they will find they net again here. I like Bournmouth and I think they can take a point or better here in an entertaining fixture between 2 fan friendly teams. 16:00 Manchester City vs Watford - Prediction 3.0- Suggested Bets - Man City -1, Silva to score anytime @6/4, Toure to score anytime @7/4 Man City have been tremendous so far and it's hard to see how Watford can stop them here although the new boys are undefeated so far with 3 draws from 3 so they will come to Manchester with a degree of confidence. The hosts should sweep through the visitors today though and I am expecting that they will cover the handicap @ 8/15 with goals likely. City have won 7 of their last 8 home league fixtures by more than 1 goal and I will be surprised if they don't manage it again here although Watford are probably not the worst team in the division and do have a wily fox in Quique Flores as their new boss. Still, Sergio Aguero is in tremendous form, averaging a goal a game and with creator in chief David Silva at the heart of everything going forward and I can't see it being different here. I expect the Argentine hitman Aguero to score again but so do the bookies with odds as short as 4/9 on a goal anytime or a crazy short 12/5 on the forward for the first goal. Therefor you might want to try Silva @6/4 to score anytime, given his current form and the likelyhood that City will score at least 2 or 3 here. The Spaniard managed 8 goals in 16 home games last season (12 overall for the campaign) and I like his chances again here although I did have a feeling in the night that Yaya might score as well today. 16:00 Chelsea vs Crystal Palace - Prediction 4.2- Suggested Bets - BTTS @1/1 BTTS and over 2.5 goals @ 7/5, Pedro to score anytime @7/5 Like their London rivals Arsenal, Chelsea have really struggled so far this term and it took them until their 3rd fixture to earn 3 points, and they were perhaps fortunate to hold on for a 3.2 win at WBA having had skipper John Terry dismissed early in the 2nd half. The new arrival of Pedro will certainly spark an improvement in attack and having tipped the little man to start and make an impact last weekend, I am backing him again to find the net anytime @7/5 in another game that could be entertaining. Palace are really strong on the road under Alan Pardew, scoring in 19 in their last 9 away league games stretching back to last season although they did fail to find the net on their last visit to Stamford Bridge as recently as May, losing narrowly by 1 goal to nil. Still, this Chelsea team don't look anywhere nearly as solid as that and it could be that they need to outscore Palace today to get the win with the visitors really dangerous going forward. Terry of course is suspended so Kurt Zouma will fill in at the back and with Palace having so much pace in attack, it might be a blessing in disguise for Chelsea with Zouma a much quicker defender than the aforementioned Terry. I have a feeling though that we might see something of a thriller here with Chelsea seeing over 2.5 goals in their last 5 league games and Palace seeing BTTS and over 2.5 goals in 6 of their last 9 away games. I've gone for a 4.2 win for Chelsea at a big price of 40/1 in my prediction for this one and having then looked back at last seasons results, it also turns out that Chelsea won their 2nd home fixture of the season 4.2 against Swansea. Could we see a repeat today? 1/1 is a great price for BTTS and if you want to be a little bolder, the 7/5 on the BTTS and over 2.5 goal market looks good to me. 16:00 Liverpool vs West Ham - Prediction - 2.0 - Suggested Bets - No bets I'm not too impressed with Slaven Bilic and West Ham so far this season, and while I do expect a home win, the 4/11 on offer is far too short for me. Liverpool do look to have improved but the price is just too damn short. And I certainly haven't forgotten that opening day away win for the Hammers at Arsenal so this is a fixture probably best ignored. No bets. 16:00 Aston Villa vs Sunderland = No bets No thanks. Not touching this one. 16:00 Stoke vs West Bromwich Albion - Prediction -1.0 - Suggested bets - No bet This is the kind of fixture that could go either way, and I don't expect many goals so I am giving this one a miss. If I had to, I'd suggest a narrow home win. 18:30 Tottenham vs Everton - Prediction - 1.2 - Suggested Bets - BTTS @4/6, Everton not to lose @5/6 The live tea-time TV game comes from White Hart Lane and it should be a decent encounter with Everton in confident mood following their recent 3.0 thumping win at Southampton. Spurs don't seem to have improved this season, certainly not so far, and with 2 draws and 1 defeat, they are still searching for a first win of the new campaign and I fancy Everton can come away with at least a point here to frustrate the hosts. The visitors can be backed at 16/5 to claim the 3 points but I prefer the 5/6 on offer for Roberto Martinez's side to avoid defeat, given their recent performances and Spurs lacklustre displays so far. BTTS is likely though @4/6 odds with Everton scoring in their last 5 away games and looking a much improved side to that of 6 to 12 months ago while 4 of the last 6 meetings between these 2 sides in London also saw BTTS, most recently in Spurs 2.1 success from last season. Spurs do usually score at home (8 in their last 10 with 7 of those BTTS) and I expect they will again here with Everton rarely keeping clean sheets on the road as well with just 2 in 18 away games last season. My gut is telling me that we might see a surprise away win so you might want to try the big 16/5 on that but for me it's BTTS and Everton not to lose. Suggested Bets Newcastle v Arsenal - BTTS @ 5/6 Bournemouth v Leicester - BTTS @4/6 Man City -1 @8/15 David Silva to score anytime @6/4 Chelsea v Palace - BTTS @1/1, BTTS and over 2.5 @7/5 Pedro to score anytime @7/5 Tottenham vs Everton - BTTS @4/6 Tottenham vs Everton - Everton not to lose @5/6 Bo's Bonkers Bet Chelsea 4 v 2 Palace @40/1 Comments are closed.
|
Categories |