Aston Villa vs Everton
Odds: Villa – 4/5 Draw – 5/2 Everton – 15/4
My Prediction:
Villa were dreadful last weekend and deserved to lose against Bournemouth. This suddenly feels like a must win game for them but I worry about this game for them for a couple of reasons. They looked poor going forward at the weekend and struggled against set pieces. Meanwhile, the main threat Everton provided last week came from set pieces so I can see that as being a key route to them scoring. Everton will likely struggle until Calvert-Lewin is back at the minimum due to a lack of other striking options but they can get a 1-1 draw here in a scrappy game.
Villa 1-1 Everton
Arsenal vs Leicester
Odds: Arsenal – 9/20 Draw – 7/2 Leicester – 6/1
My Prediction:
Leicester may have scored twice last week but actually didn’t create many high quality opportunities and they collapsed in defence in the last half hour. I see this being a rough matchup for them given Arsenal look solid at the back and I expect them to be explosive in front of goal at the Emirates. This should be a comfortable win for Arsenal and I expect Jesus to get off the mark for this season here.
Arsenal 3-0 Leicester
Arsenal (-1) handicap at 6/5 looks a good bet
Brighton vs Newcastle
Odds: Brighton – 29/20 Draw – 11/5 Newcastle – 2/1
My Prediction
This is the hardest game of the week for me to pick, both teams looked very good last week and I’m happy about putting both sides in the top half in my preseason predictions. I expect this game to be a high quality one but also a very tight game, Newcastle weren’t tested particularly last week but they did look good while Brighton put on a clinical counter attacking performance. I believe Newcastle have a better overall side but with Brighton being at home, this can be another 1-1 draw.
Brighton 1-1 Newcastle
Man City vs Bournemouth
Odds: Man City – 3/50 Draw – 12/1 Bournemouth – 33/1
My Prediction:
The odds indicate a lopsided win for Man City and it’s hard to argue against it, Bournemouth surprised a lot of people last week including myself with how disciplined they were and they could pick up some useful points throughout the season with their set piece threat. Unfortunately, they’re likely to only see around 20% of possession here so I can’t see them creating the opportunities to utilise that set piece threat and with Haaland and the Man City team in general looking in imperious form, this will likely be a very easy Man City win.
Man City 4-0 Bournemouth
Southampton vs Leeds
Odds: Southampton – 5/4 Draw – 5/2 Leeds – 21/10
My Prediction:
Southampton were battered last week and if they are going to ship goals regularly, this could be a really rough season for them given their lack of attacking power. Meanwhile, I liked Leeds to improve this season and based on early signs, I should be proven right. They played well against Wolves last week and the new signings have definitely added some spark to this team, they created plenty of chances against a normally solid defensive side and I like them to win here given the woes at the back for Southampton last week.
Southampton 1-2 Leeds
Leeds to win at 21/10 is good value
Wolves vs Fulham
Odds: Wolves – 13/10 Draw – 23/10 Fulham – 11/5
My Prediction:
This already feels like a big game for both sides, if Wolves get off to back-to-back defeats against teams expected to be nearer the bottom of the table then they could be in trouble while Fulham will see this as a real opportunity to pick up a win given the way they played last week and the confidence they will have got from it. For me though this will be a draw. Wolves having home advantage should be enough to see them avoid defeat and I doubt Fulham will have as much opportunity to play on the counter as they did last week, this will be a cagey affair and a draw looks the best shout.
Wolves 1-1 Fulham
Draw at 23/10 is good value
Brentford vs Man United
Odds: Brentford – 11/4 Draw – 5/2 United – 1/1
My Prediction:
A lot of people were interested to see how United would start the season and based on what we saw last week, they look no different to the side they were last year. I think they will improve eventually but things will be tough for them at least until after the World Cup. Brentford had a weird game last week, they weren’t great for 60 minutes but by the end of the game they probably will feel a bit hard done by not to have won. That being said, we can use the results of Man United in the second half of last season as a form guide and given they beat Brentford 3-1 away last season and neither team has majorly changed, I’m going to pick them to win here. The price is awful and is definitely not worth betting, but they still have some quality attacking players and they can survive a likely aerial bombardment from Brentford and nick a win.
Brentford 1-2 Man United
Nottingham Forest vs West Ham
Odds: Forest – 16/5 Draw – 13/5 West Ham – 17/20
My Prediction:
This will probably feel like the first real game of the season for both sides. Forest were played off the park away from home last week but they know that if they are going to survive, they’ll have to get most of their points at home and have a solid home record. West Ham meanwhile got played off the park by Man City, but that will likely happen to all teams outside of the top 5 if City stay fully fit. I’m leaning towards West Ham in this one as Forest will be yet to fully gel still and West Ham quietly have kept most of the players they had last season so will be a more settled side and they have enough attacking talent to score a couple of goals here and pick up 3 points.
Forest 1-2 West Ham
Chelsea vs Tottenham
Odds: Chelsea – 5/4 Draw – 12/5 Spurs – 11/5
My Prediction:
I like Spurs to win this game, Chelsea have been tough to beat in recent times but also haven’t been playing well for a while and even against Everton, they weren’t spectacular by any means. Spurs meanwhile look to be in full swing going forward already and them scoring 4 goals last week without Son or Kane scoring will be very worrying for their rivals. They will have to overcome a bad record against Chelsea but their pace on the counter should be very dangerous against a defence with some aging players and I fancy them to win 3-1.
Chelsea 1-3 Tottenham
Liverpool vs Crystal Palace
Odds: Liverpool – 1/5 Draw – 11/2 Palace – 14/1
My Prediction:
I think Liverpool made a huge mistake not starting Nunez last week, they brought him in to help beat the teams that would sit back against them as he offers that physical presence and when he came on he changed the game. I expect him to start here and he will likely be instrumental in what I expect will be a comfortable win for Liverpool. Palace are clearly already missing the creativity of Gallagher and I don’t believe their forwards are good enough for them to compete against the better sides in the league, they’ll be a solid team but matchups like this one will not end well for them in my opinion. This should be a simple win for Liverpool.
Liverpool 3-0 Palace
Results last week:
5/10 correct results, 1 correct score.
1/3 bets won, +1pt profit
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