Looking at the fixtures today, I'm left with the feeling that it's not going to be the easiest of days to find winners with the season still in it's infancy and little form to base my selections on. I'm not going to read too much into last season's form with most sides making plenty of changes to both playing and management teams and only 1 round of fixtures into the campaign provides little in the way of current form so I will need to rely on my trusty gut to find the winners today. Here are my best bets for a tough looking set of fixtures. 13:45 Southampton vs Everton - Prediction 2.0 - Best Bet - Southampton to win @19/20
I really fancy the Saints to claim the points here against an Everton side that struggled at home to Watford last weekend and were poor on the road last season as well, often failing to score as they lost more than half of their away fixtures. The visitors have plenty of absentees as well and I fancy a rather comfortable home win for Saints who are usually very strong on their own patch. Plenty are tipping BTTS but the Saints are strong defensively, especially at home, so I am not convinced on goals galore here. Saints win for Bo. 16:00 Sunderland vs Norwich - Prediction 1.1- Best Bet - BTTS @5/6 Having previously ruled this game out, I'm gonna take a chance on BTTS with both teams leaking goals in their opening fixture of the season. Sunderland were so rank last season that makes them unbackable and they were awful in defence at Leicester last weekend, but did manage to score twice while Norwich as newcomers are unpredictable but attacking under their young and impressive Scottish boss Alex Neill. Sunderland were involved in eight 0.0 draws last year so this is not a stats pick, but simply based on the leaky nature of both teams defence and the fact Norwich will probably play in an offensive style against Advocaat's men. 16:00 Watford vs West Bromwich Albion - Prediction 2.2 - Best Bet - BTTS @ 8/11 Watford impressed in their 2.2 draw at Everton last week while WBA were beaten easily by Man City on Monday night football. I don't have any stats to back this one up, but I expect an improved WBA to claim a point in what could potentially be a decent match with BTTS my tip here. 16:00 West Ham vs Leicester - Prediction 1.1- Best Bet - BTTS @4/6 It's just too early in the campaign to assess these sides, both under new management in the respective guises of Croatian warlord Slaven Bilic and Italian tinkerman, Claudio Ranieri. Both sides got off to a fantastic start last weekend with West Ham stunning Arsenal at the Emirates while Leicester cruised to a 4.2 win over a weak Sunderland side but the circumstances are different for both teams here, especially West Ham who will be expected to produce attacking football now that Big Sam has been removed for failing to play "the West Ham way" Goals are possible but it's hard to make a solid case for it without stats or a full understanding yet of how the new managers want their teams to play. It could be a draw, but I think i will give this one a miss. *Nice change of mind here! 16:00 Tottenham vs Stoke - Prediction 0.0- Best Bet - Stoke not to lose @5/4 Spurs need to invest in their squad if they are to harbour top 4 ambitions this season and have done so this morning with the addition of Lyon striker Clinton N'Jie who has arrived to replace the outgoing Roberto Soldado who has been shipped home to Spain after a hugely disappointing 2 years at the club. The visitors have invested well in big names Shakiri and Affelay but will need time to gel but I fancy they can nick a point here and you can back Stoke not to lose @ 5/4 0.0? It's possible here. 16:00 Swansea vs Newcastle United - Prediction 3.1- Best Bet = Swansea to win @10/11, Ayew to score anytime @8/5 While Newcastle should be a better side this season, I still don't see them at the level of a really impressive Swansea side who look to have made some good signings, at the heart of them, the impressive Andre Ayew and I fancy the Ghanaian to be the match winner here. Steve McClaren is now in charge of Newcastle having lead Derby to 1st place in the Championship last season, only to dramatically fall away and finish 8th. His reward? Premier League football with the Geordies. Yeah, football is funny like that. Or stupid. Derby struggled on the road to keep clean sheets and I expect similar issues for Newcastle who usually struggle away from their kingdon of St James's Park. Home win for me at a decent price although BTTS is also a possibility. Premier League Best Bets Southampton to beat Everton @19/20 Swansea to beat Newcastle @10/11 Andre Ayew to score anytime @8/5 Watford v West Brom - BTTS @5/6 West Ham v Leicester - BTTS @8/11 Sunderland v Norwich - BTTS @5/6 Stoke not to lose @ 5/4 Comments are closed.
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