I've got 6 previews for all of the action from the Premier League today with a further preview for the Championship action to follow and my pre season ante post predictions for the season to come as well Man Utd and Spurs get the action underway at 1345 CET live on BT Sports in what should be a cracking contest while Chelsea and Swansea rap up the days action with the tea time kick-off on sky at 1830 CET. Here are my big previews for the first day of a new season in the best league in the world! Premier League
13:45 Manchester United vs Tottenham - Prediction - 2.1 - Best Bets - BTTS @4/5, Rooney to score anytime @20/21 It's been an interesting summer at Old Trafford with LVG busy in the transfer market, recruiting Memphis Depay, Mattio Darmian, Bastian SchweinsteIger, Morgan Schniederlin and Argentine goal-keeper Sergio Romero while Angel Di Maria has departed for PSG along with Robin Van Persie who will settle into retired life in Turkey with Fenerbahce. Depay (or Memphis as he absurdly prefers to go by, looks exciting and should provide Rooney with plenty of assists, while the new men in midfield should offer a stronger solidity and quality than has been in that position for many years, but further additions in both defence and attack are surely required if United are going to really push the 3 sides that finished above them last season. The David De Gea saga rolls on with a protracted move to Real Madrid sill ongoing and Van Gaal has declared the Spaniard not mentally attuned (to borrow an Andy Goram turn of phrase) to play in the early kick off today at home to Tottenham. Wayne Rooney will play as a central striker and I expect the Englishman to have a fine season amongst the goals and his record against Spurs suggests he could get in on the act today. 10 goals from his last 15 against the visitors suggests the 20/21 odds on an anytime goal is pretty decent. Spurs have been quiet in the transfer market with Toby Alderweireld looking like a good a signing from Atletico Madrid after his excellent loan spell with Southampton last season, while Kieron Trippier is a decent young full-back from Burnley but once again they will rely on Harry Kane for goals and surely further reinforcements are required if Spurs are really going to push for the top 4 this season. The Londoners have won 2 of their last 3 visits to Old Trafford though and will be confident of coming away with a positive result again against a United side that still won't be settled with plenty of changes to their playing squad to contend with and further recruits are also expected in the shape of Pedro from Barcelona and possibly 1 or 2 more. I'm not backing a United win at 4/6 odds, even though I feel they might just edge it but I do like the possibility of BTTS @4/5 with Spurs capable of giving United a good game. 16:00 Everton vs Watford - Prediction -2.2 = Best Bets, BTTS @4/5, BTTS and over 2.5 goals @5/4, Troy Deeney to score anytime @12/5 Everton welcome new boys Watford to Goodison Park in what I fancy could be a tight game with both teams capable of scoring and leaking goals. The home side have added Gerard Deulofeu from Barcelona and Tom Cleverley from Man Utd via his loan spell at Aston Villa and while their main concern is keeping young centre back John Stones, they have secured a new contract for key midfield man and Scottish traitor James McCarthy. Looking forward to the Euros next summer James? Morning reports suggest Xheridan Shaqiri could be the next new man coming to Goodison from Inter Milan and he could prove to be a decent capture for a side that could use a fresh burst of creative talent in the attacking third of the field. Watord have their 4th new manager in 12 months with experienced Spaniard and former Atletico Madrid boss Quiqe Flores the latest to take charge of a team that seem to do well under whatever manager happens to be sitting on the bench and it is that team spirit that will be required of this side are to have any hope of surviving in the division. Flores though is something of a cool customer and I expect him to do a decent job with the hornets. 7 new signings have been added with Valon Behrami and Etienne Capoue the pick of the bunch while Matya Vydra has rejoined the club and will aid the talented Troy Deeeny in attack for a team that scored over 90 goals in the Championship last season. I have a feeling another close match could be on the cards here and I fancy a share of the spoils with BTTS my main pick here @4/5 and goals could be on the cards although I am not banking on it with Watfords new manager likely to play it somewhat pragmatic although an early goal for the home side could change that. 16:00 Leicester vs Sunderland - Prediction 1.1- Best Bets - Draw @11/5 An opening day battle between 2 of the oldest managers in the league as Dick Advocaat's Sunderland travel to a Leicester side now lead by the experienced if somewhat eccentric Claudio Ranieri who has been rewarded a Premier League job as a result of his fine display in leading Greece to a home loss against The Faroe Islands. Well not really. Besides the Greek debacle, Ranieri has tremendous experience of managing some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Leicester of course, are not one of the biggest teams in Europe but perhaps without the demand for trophies, Ranieri may feel more comfortable than in his roles at say Chelsea or Inter Milan. The Italian is a wily old fox and his appointment could easily go very badly or very well so I'm not really confident in backing them to win here with Sunderland improving towards the tail end of last season under their own Little General in Dick Advocaat and they have added some decent signings from in Dutch International Jermain Lens, experienced Spurs defender, Younes Kaboul and French Internationalist Yann M'villa. For Leicester, Esteban Cambiasso will be a big loss to the team with his experience proving essential in The Foxes great escape of last season. Cambiasso has escaped to the comparatively sedate Greek league with Olympiakos. When you consider the loss of the manager Nigel Pearsonas well, it could be a tough campaign for Leicester and they will need new £7 million signing Shinji Okazaki to settle into life in the Premier League quickly as the Japan International represents there biggest addition so far. A low scoring share of the spoils could be the call here with both sides desperate not to get off to a losing start to the new season. 16:00 Bournemouth vs Aston Villa - Prediction 3.1- Best Bets - Bournemouth to win @1/1. Bournemouth to score 2 or more @10/11 What a season it was for Bournemouth as the raced into the Premier League as free scoring champions and under the guise of their young manager Eddie Howe, they will continue their philosophy of attacking football and I fancy them to get a result here against a Villa side that have lost the spine of their team in Vlaar, Delph and Benteke and you have to wonder if they have really replaced those 3 top internationals with the required quality. Rudy Gestede has been bought from Blackburn and did score 22 goals in the Championship last season but whether he can fill the void of Benteke remains to be seen while Andre Ayew has been bought for 12 Million from Lorient and represents a significant gamble for a player that can be frustratingly inconsistent and who has been criticised for his decision making and lack of in game intelligence. He is the son of Abedi Pele of course but has rarely lived up the name. I suppose that's why he changed his name. Bo's favourite idiot, TIm "nice but dim" Sherwood is taking charge of Villa in his first full season as a top flight manager and while I have previously expressed a dislike for a man who seems far too big for his managerial boots, I do wonder at what kind of pre-season he has put his players though and his lack of experience could yet come back to haunt the Villains. I fancy them to really struggle in the opening weeks of the campaign, if not for the entire season itself and they could be up against it again in the fight to remain in the division. Bournemouth have been busy in the transfer market with Sylvin Distin an experienced and sensible signing at the back while Max Gradel, Christian Atsu and Lee Tomlin should add further quality to the attacking positions in a team that already know their way to the back of the net with young striker Calum Willson a player I expect to perform very well this season. Expect at least 15 goals for a player who could be knocking on the door of the England squad come next summer. I fancy a home win here with a boisterous crowd likely to unsettle a new look Villa who could well be struggling for leadership following the loss of their key men and I fancy something of a handsome home win here. but the 1/1 on the win alone is good enough with -1 a big price at 12/5. I also expect the home side to score 2 or more @10/11 and Wilson to score anytime @7/5 is also a possibility. Villa could score given Bournemouth's vulnerabiity at the back with 6 of their last 10 home games last season seeing BTTS but I'm going for a home win and a fine day for the new boys. 16:00 Norwich vs Crystal Palace - Prediction 1.1- Best Bets - BTTS @ 5/6 This could be a decent encounter at Carrow Road as another new boy in Norwich get their season underway at home to a Crystal Palace side that have flourished under Alan Pardew and boast a pretty good away record from last season. Norwich were excellent from January on-wards with the managerial appoint of young Scot, Alex Neil proving to be an inspired choice as he guided his new team to 18 wins from 25 games including a comprehensive play-off win over Middlesbrough at Wembley which secured their return to the big time. The Canaries have been some what prudent in the transfer market with full-back Andre Wisdom coming in from Liverpool. while central midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu is a good singing from West Brom with his colleague Graham Dorrans also joining him at Carrow Road. The left-sided midfielder, occasional full-back and set-piece supremo Robbie Brady has joined from Hull City and while they all look to be reasonable players, its nothing to get the home faithful too excited, although Ricky Van Wolfswinkel was supposed to do that 2 years ago and look what happened there. I fancy Norwich to be a decent side this season and I don't expect them to suffer an opening day defeat against what will be an admittedly strong Palace side who have bought rather impressively this summer. Yohann Cabaye is a remarkable capture of a top French Internationalist at the peak of his powers while young Patrick Bamford, on loan from Chelsea, could prove to be a big hit in his first full season in the Premier League. Further striking options in Conor Wickham, signed for £7million from Sunderland represents something more of a gamble but it's hard to see Palace struggling this season after their terrific campaign for the 2nd part of last season which saw them win 6 of their last 8 away fixtures to finish comfortably in mid table with 48 points. I expect BTTS here and a 1.1 draw could be the outcome although I wouldn't necessarily be surprised to see more goals. 18:30 Chelsea vs Swansea - Prediction 2.1- Best Bets - Eden Hazard to score anytime @11/8 Chelsea have some worries ahead of the new season with only 2 recruits coming in that arguably weaken the overall quality of the squad with inspirational figures in Petr Cech and Diego Drogba departing along with back up left back Felipe Luis with only 2 replacements emerging in Asmir Begovic and the potentially shot, Radamel Falcao. While a replacement left back will be signed, it surprises me that a further midfielder has not been added to supplement the strength of Nemanja Matic with John Obi Mikel rarely looking good enough to be that man. Perhaps Ruben Loftus-Cheek will play a bigger role this season for Jose or perhaps with 3 weeks still remaining in the transfer window, a further big name addition cannot be ruled out. It seems though, at this point, that Chelsea have only stood still at best and while their best was easily good enough last season, their rivals have already added quality and look to be in stronger positions to challenge for the title this season and with the inspiritational Diego Costa's long term hamstring injury resurfacing in the last week, Mourinho will be praying that 1 of Falcao or Remy can fill the void, starting today at home to a good Swansea outfit who have matured significantly and added substance to their stylish set up under young boss Garry Monk. Swansea have never won at the Bridge so a home win is expected but because of Costa's absence, I am going to avoid the Champions with their 4/11 odds hardly tempting me and Swansea likely to start with a nice quick and confident tempo. New signing Andre Ayew, the superior older brother of Villas Jordan should be a good acquistion for the Swans while Portuguese striker Eder gives them an additional option in attack to support the at times inconsistent Bafi Gomis. I expect the visitors to give it a real good go in this fixture and BTTS is a possibility but Chelsea have been mean in defence so I will give that particular selection a miss here. I prefer Eden Hazard to score anytime with the Belgian now reaching a truly world class level and I expect this season to be the year where the Belgian gets more than 20 goals for the first time. The Belgian wizard is 11/8 to score anytime and given Costa's expected absence, Hazard will surely present a bigger goal threat than Falcao, should the struggling Colombian get the not to replace Costa. A narrow Chelsea win but it won't be easy here. Bo's Best Bets Bournemouth to win @1/1 Bournemouth to score 2 or more @10/11 Norwich v Palace - BTTS @5/6 Everton v Watford - BTTS @4/5 Everton v Watford - BTTS and over 2.5 goals @5/4 Man Utd v Spurs - BTTS @4/6 Troy Deeney to score anytime @12/5 Calum Wilson to score anytime @7/5 Eden Hazard to score anytime @ 11/8 Comments are closed.
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