It was a welcome return to the Premier League last week, and our editor Tom Aldridge has a week to remember!
- 9/10 results correct
- 3 correct scores predicted
- 6/10 Best Bet tips winning
He’s on hand to give us his predictions for this weekends action.
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Odds correct at time of posting – 11.40am Friday 18th August
Nottingham Forest vs Sheffield Utd (7.45pm Friday)
If Forest are going to stay in the Premier League after this season, they need to maintain their impressive record at home. Away from home they are woeful, but at the City Ground they’re a completely different side. To back this up, Forest had the 10th best record at home in the PL last season, whilst away from home they took just 8 points from 19 games!
Sheffield Utd have made a solid signing in Gustavo Hamer coming in, who was arguably Coventry’s best player last season, but he’s still unproven in the Premier League. They lost Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye this summer and they were two huge players for them, so in my opinion they still need much more.
Both sides lost last week but I’m backing Forest to win this. Their home record is solid and they’ve got some quality players up top, including Morgan Gibbs-White who I think is massively underrated. They should have enough to beat Sheffield Utd, who look set for a difficult season ahead.
Prediction – Nottingham Forest 2-0 Sheffield Utd
Best Bet – Nottingham Forest To Score 2+ Goals + 20+ Sheffield Utd Booking Points (13/8)
Fulham vs Brentford (3pm Saturday)
Fulham were involved in the one game I called wrong last week, so I think I’ll play it safer this week and simply back both teams to score in this! I had them down to lose away at Everton last week, and having watched the game back and looked at the stats I was a tad unlucky! But credit where it’s due, Fulham were clinical and it was a good start to the season for them.
Brentford did exactly what I thought they would do, scored a couple of goals but left themselves open at the back too. Even without Ivan Toney, they still look dangerous going forward and I’m happy to continue to back them to score every week, with both Mbeumo and Wissa looking sharp already this season.
Both head-to-heads finished 3-2 to the home side last season, and it was the same score again when they met in a pre-season friendly last month. With that in mind, and although both teams to score is only 8/13, it looks a safe option to add in to acca’s!
Prediction – Fulham 1-1 Brentford
Best Bet – Both Teams To Score (8/13)
Liverpool vs Bournemouth (3pm Saturday)
I think it’s going to be difficult to predict Liverpool for the moment, especially if last week’s game was anything to go by. They were fantastic for the first 35 minutes against Chelsea, but after that they looked like they could concede every time Chelsea attacked! That being said, at home I fancy them to win this.
Bournemouth had a fairly solid start to the season with a draw at home to West Ham, but a visit to Anfield is an entirely different proposition and it’s worth remembering Liverpool hammered them 9-0 in the repeat fixture last season!
I don’t quite think it will be 9-0 this time, but I do believe Liverpool will win this fairly comfortably. Liverpool looked dodgy at the back and with Bournemouth’s attack-minded manager, I think the Liverpool win + BTTS bet looks a good option here.
Prediction – Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth
Best Bet – Liverpool To Win + BTTS (6/4)
Wolves vs Brighton (3pm Saturday)
Wolves are unlucky to be coming into this with no points on the table after having a stonewall penalty appeal ignored against Man Utd on Monday night. How that wasn’t given is beyond me! They now face a tough test at home to Brighton, who somehow seem to get better whenever they sell their key players.
Brighton started the season with a convincing 4-1 win over newcomers Luton, and although they’ve lost Caicedo in the middle they’ve already got a replacement in with Mahmoud Dahoud coming in, and they’ve managed to hold on to the likes of Mitoma and Ferguson, so look set for another strong season under Roberto De Zerbi.
Brighton have won the last three head-to-heads and I’m backing them to make it 4/4 here. I think Wolves will find the back of the net though, so the Brighton win + BTTS looks to be the play.
Prediction – Wolves 1-2 Brighton
Best Bet – Brighton To Win + BTTS (5/2)
Tottenham vs Man Utd (5.30pm Saturday)
Tottenham looked a completely different side to the team that we saw last season, attacking and dominating the game against Brentford. Ange Postecoglou has got his attacking philosophy drilled into them already and they look an exciting team to follow this season, even without Harry Kane. Man Utd were the opposite, looking poor value for their 1-0 win against Wolves, and will need to up their game here.
Although they’ve strengthened over the summer, they looked poor and allowed Wolves to attack them over and over again in the final stages, where they were lucky not to concede. If Wolves had a more potent attack (or VAR did their job properly) I think it would’ve been a different result and Erik ten Hag’s side will need to up their game on Saturday. That being said, they do tend to do well against Spurs, winning four of the last five H2H’s.
This will be Postecoglou’s first league game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and the crowd are sure to give him a big welcome. I think the crowd can play a big part in giving Spurs the boost they need to get one over United here, and will take them to grab the three points at what I think is a cracking price!
Prediction – Tottenham 2-1 Man Utd
Best Bet – Tottenham To Win (15/8)
Man City vs Newcastle (3pm Saturday)
This should be a cracker of a game! Man City at home would usually be a banker, but they’ve only had three days to recover from their Super Cup victory over Sevilla, and Newcastle will be hopeful of potentially leaving the Etihad with at least a point. However, I think City’s class will prevail yet again.
They may be without Kevin De Bruyne, but they still have so much quality in their side, and they do have the cheat code Haaland still! Their head to head record against Newcastle makes for good reading too, winning seven of the last eight matches.
Newcastle demolished Aston Villa at home last week but they aren’t as effective away from St James’ Park and a trip to the Etihad is never much fun for away sides. I think Man City will come out on top, and it’s not often you’ll get over evens on Haaland scoring and City winning, so I’m keen to take advantage of it when they do offer it!
Prediction – Man City 2-1 Newcastle
Best Bet – Haaland To Score + Man City To Win (5/4)
Aston Villa vs Everton (2pm Sunday)
Aston Villa had a disastrous start to the season, suffering a humbling 5-1 defeat to Newcastle, and they’ll be keen to put that behind them. They’ve got a good opportunity to do so when Everton visit Villa Park on Sunday, and I’m confident they’ll prove too strong.
Villa will want to put in a much better performance in front of their home crowd, and with the likes of Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby to call on up front, they should be able to get through a typically tight Sean Dyche defence. Everton lost at home to Fulham last week and Villa are a much more dangerous side to come up against, so I’m expecting them to sit back and focus on a clean sheet and try and get a result that way.
Aston Villa have won three of the last four H2H’s to nil, and with Everton struggling with a lack of firepower I’m happy to side with Villa winning to nil again on Sunday.
Prediction – Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
Best Bet – Aston Villa To Win To Nil (15/8)
West Ham vs Chelsea (4.30pm Sunday)
It’s surely a matter of time before this Chelsea side click and become a serious force, and they were unlucky not to have three points on the board after being the better side against Liverpool last week. I think this week they can put it all together and win this London derby, against a West Ham side who I feel are still a couple of signings short coming into this season.
West Ham could only manage a draw away at Bournemouth last week, which isn’t a fantastic result to kick off their season. They’ve signed Edson Alvarez to replace Declan Rice and he’ll take a bit of time to get used to their playing style and the demands of the Premier League. James Ward-Prowse is a top signing for them too and he’ll make them dangerous from every set piece they have now. They just lack an out and out goalscorer, and that has to be the next area they target in the transfer window.
I fancy Chelsea to edge this, mainly due to the fact West Ham will struggle to score. A Chelsea win and under 4.5 goals looks a good play here, which is available at 5/4 with SkyBet.
Prediction – West Ham 0-1 Chelsea
Best Bet – Chelsea To Win + Under 4.5 Goals (5/4)
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal (8pm Monday)
Another London Derby to look forward to, and this one can go the way of the visiting side again. Mikel Arteta’s side look the biggest threat to Man City again this season, and they look good value to get the win against Palace.
The Gunners ran out 2-1 winners against Nottingham Forest last weekend, and it was more comfortable than the result suggests. They lost Jurrien Timber to a serious looking knee injury, but they have adequate cover at the back and with the likes of Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard they should possess too much quality to brush the Eagles aside.
Palace also started with a win but against a poor Sheffield Utd side that should’ve been a given, and Arsenal will be a completely different proposition. Roy Hodgson’s side let Sheffield Utd have a few good chances, and they won’t get away with that against Arsenal. Backing Arsenal to win here is a bit short in the betting, so stick in Saka to score to boost the odds up to 3/1. He scored twice against them last season and scored a cracker last week, so his confidence should be sky high.
Prediction – Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal
Best Bet – Arsenal To Win + Saka To Score (3/1)
WEEK TWO PREDICTIONS
- Nottingham Forest 2-0 Sheffield Utd
- Fulham 1-1 Brentford
- Liverpool 3-1 Bournemouth
- Wolves 1-2 Brighton
- Tottenham 2-1 Man Utd
- Man City 2-1 Newcastle
- Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
- West Ham 0-1 Chelsea
- Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal
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