The highlight games for the first week’s matches are FULHAM versus LIVERPOOL and EVERTON versus CHELSEA. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these as well as all game week 1 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication
Game Week-1
It’s Slim Shady time after just over 2-months of mowing the lawn and watching Tennis.
The Premier League is back in a one-off season where the first 16-Game Weeks take the competition up to the 12th of November 2022, then it’s a 6-week break for the World Cup in Qatar, which takes place between November the 21st up to the Final on December the 18th 2022, where there’s a rumour Santa Claus will be the referee.
Those good at Math will now be thinking that November the 21st to December 18th is only 4-weeks.
That’s correct but there’s a week’s preparation before the competition starts in Qatar and then a week’s rest afterwards with the Premier League reconvening for the Boxing Day 2022 fixtures.
When November is approaching this column will preview the World Cup and give an insight into Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions.
As for now, guess what’s back?
The Premier League.
Congratulations to the Three Lionesses who are the Woman’s Euro’22 Champions after victory against Germany by a 2-1 score.
Friday 05th
CRYSTAL PALACE v ARSENAL
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
The Patrick Vieira Derby kicks off the 30th-Anniversary of the English Premier League.
Imagine that, 30 years since the revolution of football which saw the old First Division, which had just been won by Leeds United, transform into the ritz and glamour that the league has now become.
Crystal Palace played twice on the 19th of July, with a starting eleven of,
Jack Butland, Joel Ward, Joachim Andersen, Nathaniel Clyne, Tyrick Mitchell, Jesuran Rak-Sakyi, Killian Phillips, Luka Milivojevic, Malcolm Ebiowei, Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Jordan Ayew, playing against Manchester United at the ‘G’ in Australia.
The ‘G’ is the legendary iconic stadium that is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG, or simply, the ‘G’.
Just short of 11,000 miles away and 6 hours after the game finished in Melbourne, another Crystal Palace eleven took on Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium in Kent,
That starting eleven were,
Owen Goodman, Joe Sheridan, Marc Guehi, Cheick Doucoure, Luke Plange, Eberechi Eze, Jeffrey Schlupp, David Boateng, Jairo Riedewald, Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha.
There’s an argument as to why certain of these guys weren’t in Australia, however, that can be settled straight away, as there were Covid stipulations put in place by the Melbourne folk so it prevented some people from travelling.
Wilfried was straight on the phone to Novak.
Patrick Vieira had a choice to make, a nice little trip to Australia or a Jolly Boys down to Margate, personally, it would have been Kent all the way but Patrick chose Australia and oversaw his starting eleven suffer a defeat against Manchester United by a 3-1 score.
Joel Ward with the goal.
There were some positives to take, Jesuran Rak-Sakyi looks a decent prospect and did cause United’s new boy, Tyrell Malacia a few problems.
Don’t be surprised to see Jesuran in a match-day squad in the Premier League, pretty soon.
Although United did win, the understrength set of Eagles did manage a few good moments and should be looking forward to the start and this fixture against Arsenal.
Meanwhile back at the Priestfield or the ‘P’ as absolutely nobody refers it to, Wilfried Zaha opened the scoring.
Christian Benteke added a 2nd to give Palace a half-time lead.
Gillingham pulled 2-goals back to make the scores level before Wilfried converted a penalty, late on, to give the Eagles the victory by a 3-2 score.
Not many teams have suffered a defeat against Manchester United and a victory against Gillingham in the space of 8-hours.
Arsenal have quietly gone about their pre-season fixtures with comfortable victories against Chelsea, Orlando City, Nurnberg, Everton, Ipswich and Seville scoring a combined total of 26 goals and conceding 7.
There was a defeat against Brentford by a 2-1 scoreline thrown into that batch of pre-season friendlies.
Probably the stand-out result was the victory against Chelsea, by a 4-0 score, with Thomas’s Blue Engines having a full-strength side out.
Gabriel Jesus has already scored 7-goals in pre-season and should continue that into the new campaign.
The Gooners should be excited.
These two met at Selhurst Park at the beginning of April, where a victory for Palace by a 3-0 scoreline put a huge dent in Arsenal’s Champions League place.
Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Jordan Ayew gave the home team a healthy half-time lead, with Wilfried Zaha converting a penalty midway through the 2nd-half, to give the Eagle Ultras a great night out.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 16/5, the draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 4/5 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Gabriel Jesus Scores First and 21/10 that Arsenal Win To Nil.
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Saturday 06th
FULHAM v LIVERPOOL
12.30 in England
BT Sports
It hasn’t taken long for Fabio Carvalho to return to Craven Cottage after the 19-year-old Midfielder left Fulham to join Liverpool this summer.
The youngster will be hoping for a start against his former club, however, it’s more than likely that Jurgen Klopp will introduce Fabio from the bench.
Liverpool have had an indifferent pre-season, initially suffering a defeat against Manchester United in Thailand by a 4-0 scoreline, then comfortably inflicting defeat on Crystal Palace (2-0) and RB Leipzig (5-0) before another defeat against RB Salzburg, by a single goal, which certainly clipped Klipperty Klopp’s wings.
Jurgen then came out and said that his players were ‘tired’, wow!
Already.
The traditional Community Shield or Charity Shield for the old timers, took place over the weekend, this time at the King Power Stadium.
Liverpool took on Man City in the showpiece opener and outplayed the title holders for most of the 90-minutes, with goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and new boy Darwin Nunez, giving Jurgen’s Reds the victory over Pep’s Blues by a 3-1 scoreline.
Pretty much the same as the FA Cup Semi-Final back in April, where Liverpool got the victory over Man City by a 3-2 score.
The Anfield Rappers went on to lift the trophy, thus facing up against Pep’s High Flying Blues on Saturday between the FA Cup winners and the Premier League title holders.
At Craven Cottage in the 2020/21 campaign, Fulham gained a well-deserved point from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Bobby Decordova-Reid scored in the 1st-half to give the Cottagers the lead before Mo Salah equalised midway through the 2nd-half to give both a share of the points.
Betfred offer Fulham at 17/2, the draw at 9/2 and Odds On 2/7 for Liverpool to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Mo Salah Scores Two Plus Goals and 23/20 that Liverpool Win To Nil.
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BOURNEMOUTH v ASTON VILLA
15.00 in England
The Cherries are back in the Premier League after 2 years in the Championship, this time under the guidance of Scott Parker.
As mentioned in last week’s extensive EveryTip Premier League Preview, today’s opponents Aston Villa had 1-point more than Bournemouth at the end of the Coronavirus affected 2019/20 season, with the point coming via a goalless draw against Sheffield United when a clear Blades goal wasn’t seen by the dreaded VAR and wasn’t relayed to the on-field referee, Michael Oliver via the Goal Line Technology watch.
If that goal had been given, Aston Villa would have had the same points as Eddie Howe’s Cherries and would have been relegated with an inferior goal difference instead of Bournemouth.
Eddie subsequently left the Vitality and after failing to be promoted at the first attempt, under several managers, the hierarchy employed Scott Parker who guided Bournemouth to a 2nd-placed finish behind Fulham, the club Scott left and back into the Promised Land.
Aston Villa have had 3-pre-season fixtures out in Australia, which resulted in a victory over Leeds United by a 1-0 score, another against Brisbane Roar (1-0) and a stalemate against Manchester United, coming back from being 2 goals down to end in a draw by a 2-2 scoreline.
Steven Gerrard has decided to switch Captains for this new campaign, giving the armband to John McGinn instead of Tyrone Mings, kindly informing Tyrone that it would enable the Big Centre-Back to concentrate wholeheartedly on the football.
John McGinn, by the way, is a class player and whilst not wanting to upset the Villains, John Newsome thinks that the little Scot should be playing for a Top Four side and although Manchester United are not one of those, would certainly enhance the United Midfield.
Sir Alex Ferguson is a big fan of Mr McGinn and has tried to get his fellow countryman to Old Trafford but for the time being, Aston Villa have the pleasure of John’s services and the faithful should be relishing the prospect of watching John and Phillipe, as well as Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins and the new boys, signed this Summer.
When these two last met at the Vitality back in February 2020, it was the home team that prevailed getting a victory by a 2-1 score.
Phillip Billings and Nathan Ake with the 1st-half goals, before Mbwana Samatta (nicknamed Watt, by his Villa mates) pulled a goal back midway through the 2nd-half.
Jefferson Lerma received a Yellow Card in each half that ultimately produced a Red and an early bath, leaving Bournemouth with 10 men for 40-minutes of the 2nd half.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 12/5, the draw at 23/10 and 11/10 for Aston Villa to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offers 5/1 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and slight Odds On 4/5 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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LEEDS UNITED v WOLVES
15.00 in England
‘Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again, Leeds, Leeds are falling apart again.’
It’s just a bit of fun West Yorkshire puddings, however, even though John Newsome has gone early with the iconic song by the Joy Division, Jesse’s Whites did have an indifferent pre-season over in Australia.
After suffering a defeat against Aston Villa, Leeds managed a victory against Brisbane Roar and a draw against Crystal Palace.
Brisbane were understrength and had to draft in Mick Dundee as the goalkeeper, with the Leeds Strikers, minus a certain Raphinha struggling to score.
It will be a tough old season that the Whites will have to endure, especially without the services of the aforementioned Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips.
Stop crying your white hearts out!
Marching On Together.
Wolves may struggle also, so this could quite easily be an early relegation battle, especially when it’s been confirmed that Raul Jimenez will be out for a couple of months after sustaining a knee injury.
Bruno Lage’s Gold and Blacks still have the services of Adama Traore for the time being, with Barcelona passing up the opportunity to sign the Spaniard on a permanent basis after his loan move in January.
That said, Tottenham are sniffing around and with the Baby Oiled maestro out of contract next year, Antonio Conte could pick up Adama at a bargain price.
At Elland Rd last term, Marcelo Bielsa was still at the Leeds helm when a last-minute penalty converted by Rodrigo, cancelled out a Hwang-Hee Chan goal to give both teams a share of the points.
Betfred offer Leeds United at 5/4, the draw at 9/4 and 21/10 for Wolves to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Patrick Bamford Scores First and slight Odds On 4/5 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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NEWCASTLE v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
15.00 in England
The Toon Army are the first to have a look at the Tricky Trees, the new boys in the Premier League, returning after 23-years.
Eddie and the Magpies suffered a defeat against Benfica in a recent pre-season, by a 3-2 scoreline, with what looked like a full-strength starting eleven.
Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Matt Targett, Sven Botman, Jamaal Lascelles, Elliott Anderson, Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almiron, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Callum Wilson.
All started the 1st-half being replaced at half-time, with the scores level at 2-2.
Miguel Almiron scored both goals.
Joelinton, who came on at half-time, was shown 2-Yellow Cards in the space of 3-minutes towards the end of the game to ultimately beat his mates into the showers.
Benfica then scored the winner at the Estadio Da Luz, which ironically is where Newcastle’s fierce rivals, Sunderland got their stadium name from.
The Stadium of Light.
As everyone knows, pre-season is just about getting fitness and not too much about the results, plus the Toon Army had a lovely beano in Portugal, partaking in the local Sagres lager.
Nottingham Forest and it’s vitally important that the club is referred to as Nottingham and not Notts, are back in the Premier League since being relegated in 1999.
The local rivals, whose Meadow Lane ground is literally over the road from the City Ground are known as Notts County and Forest are referred to as Nottingham Forest and woe betide anyone who gets that wrong.
With all the stuff going on in the World at the moment, just coming out of the Coronavirus situation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rising fuel costs and families struggling to put food on the table, is nothing compared to someone referring to Steve Cooper’s team as Notts Forest.
Nottingham Forest have been the busiest in the Transfer Window, which although new signings are always welcome, can sometimes cause disharmony in the dressing room.
The starting eleven at St James Park could be,
Dean Henderson, Scott McKenna, Steve Cook, Neco Williams, Alex Mighten, Jack Colback, Brennan Johnson, Harry Toffolo, Lewis O’Brien, Gulian Biancone and Taiwo Awoniyi.
Nottingham Forest hold a record in football that is unlikely to be repeated, that being back in 1978, under the guidance of the legendary Brian Clough, Forest won the old First Division, then won the European Cup in 1979 and retained it has Champions the following season, thus being the only club to have won the European Cup more times than their own domestic league.
It’s like the equivalent of Leicester, who won the Premier League in 2016, winning the Champions League in 2017 and then winning the Champions League again in 2018.
That’s the remarkable feat that Brian Clough and his Tricky Trees achieved in the late 1970s and early 80s.
Added to that phenomenon, Forest were Champions of Division 1 in the 1977/78 campaign after being promoted from Division 2 in 1976/77.
Mr Clough’s team didn’t even win the old Division 2 and were promoted after finishing 3rd, behind Wolves, who were Champions and Chelsea who were 2nd.
There weren’t any play-offs back then, it was simply the Top Three in the Division that were automatically promoted.
It should simply be,
Sir Brian Clough!
Newcastle last hosted Notts, sorry, Nottingham Forest in the Championship campaign of 2016/2017, where goals from Matt Ritchie in the 1st-half and a couple from Dwight Gayle after the break, gave Rafa Benitez’s Magpies the victory over Philippe Montanier’s Trees by a 3-1 score.
Nicolao Dumitru with the Forest consolation.
Most will have forgotten about Phillipe Montanier, however, this EveryTip contributor was at the City Ground the day after New Year’s Day back in 2017, where the Super Reds, Barnsley FC, under the guidance of the current Sheffield United manager, Paul Heckinbottom, gained a victory over Philippe’s Nottingham Forest by a 1-0 scoreline.
Conor Hourihane with a superb free-kick late on in proceedings to send the Barnsley Girls and Boys home very happy.
Mr Montanier was sacked following the next game.
Happy New Year!
Newcastle went on to win the Championship and be promoted to the Promised Land.
Nottingham Forest avoided relegation on goal difference, finishing with the same 51-points as Blackburn but with a minus-10 swing as opposed to Blackburn’s minus-12.
That’s the fine margins in football.
Coincidentally, John Newsome was also at St James Park on the final day of the season that saw Rafa’s Magpies promoted.
It’s blooming high up in the away end!
Betfred offer Newcastle at slight Odds On 8/13, the draw at 11/4 and 9/2 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Callum Wilson Scores Anytime and 5/2 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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***Premier League New Signings Team of the Window***
GOALKEEPER- Fraser Forster- Tottenham
RIGHT-BACK- Djed Spence- Tottenham
CENTRE-BACK- Kalidou Koulibaly- Chelsea
CENTRE-BACK- Lisandro Martinez- Manchester United
LEFT-BACK- Oleksandr Zinchenko- Arsenal
MIDFIELDER- Kalvin Phillips- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Christian Eriksen- Manchester United
MIDFIELDER- Yves Bissouma- Tottenham
FORWARD- Gabriel Jesus- Arsenal
FORWARD- Raheem Sterling- Chelsea
FORWARD- Erling Haaland- Man City
STAR MAN- Erling Haaland- Man City
TOTTENHAM v SOUTHAMPTON
15.00 in England
Antonio Conte’s Spurs kickoff their 2022/23 campaign quietly with this home fixture at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium pitched in at 15.00 on a Saturday afternoon, without the Sky Sports or BT cameras anywhere to be seen.
That might just suit Mr Conte and his boys who will have a Harry Kane, relatively fresh after a quiet Summer that didn’t involve much International football or speculation that Man City wanted the Striker.
That ship has sailed after last season’s on/off transfer talk as City have signed Erling Haaland and no longer need Mr Kane who has just turned 29 years old.
Bayern Munich have sent in a Catherine Wheel to spark rumours that Harry is wanted in Germany, however, a legendary firework was the only thing thrown and not a grenade to ruffle the Tottenham feathers.
It’s been a common theme over the years that Harry Kane doesn’t score many in August, so this might just be the year when that changes, with a full pre-season and the new signings that Mr Conte has brought in, could finally align Harry Kane and an August goal-fest star.
Including the 4-pre-season friendlies, Tottenham have suffered just 1-defeat since the loss against Brighton in April.
That’s the final 6-Premier League fixtures and the 4-friendlies that have resulted in 6-Wins, 3-Draws and a loss.
The final pre-season fixture and only defeat since April just happened to be against Roma and the old boss, Jose Mourinho.
Dracula strikes again, which will irk the Lilywhite faithful.
Antonio Conte did put out a strong starting eleven against his old mate Jose, that included Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, Harry completing the full 90-minutes.
Southampton have brought in Sekou Mara with the French Forward penning a deal at St Mary’s in the hope of successfully succeeding Armando Broja in the goal-scoring department.
Kyle Walker-Peters is still a Saint for the time being and has seen minutes in the pre-season friendlies where Southampton played out 2-goalless draws.
As is always the case with pre-season, fitness is the key but Ralph Hasenhuttl will want more goals from his boys.
James Ward-Prowse is surprisingly, also still at the South Coast club.
Surely young Jim WP is worth a try at a Top Four or Six club.
At the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium last season, it was Southampton who came away with the points following a victory in a 5-goal thriller by a 3-2 scoreline.
Jan Bednarek scored the opener, however, the Big Defender poked the ball past his own ‘keeper gifting Tottenham an early lead.
Armando Broja equalised to take both teams in level at the break.
Son Heung-Min then scored to give Spurs the lead midway through the 2nd-half before Mohamed Elyounoussi and Che Adams notched for the away team to give Wreck-It Ralph the victory over Antonio Conte.
Betfred offer Tottenham at Odds On 4/11, the draw at 19/5 and 7/1 for Southampton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Harry Kane Scores First and 13/10 that Tottenham Win To Nil.
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EVERTON v CHELSEA
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Frank Lampard’s Everton, one’s contractually obliged to refer to the Toffees as, take on Frank’s old club, Chelsea in the new season opener.
Everton have brought in Dwight McNeil, the left-sided Midfielder from Burnley, who was part of the Claret team that were relegated but was unlikely to play in the Championship with a number of suitors after his signature.
The hierarchy have forked out around £20 Million for Dwight who joins up with his old Burnley teammate James Tarkowski.
Mr McNeil scored twice on his debut for the Toffees, in a friendly against Dynamo Kyiv.
Frank threw Dwight on after an hour, with the ex-Claret scoring within 10-minutes, then adding a 2nd, 5-minutes later.
Another player that has scored 2-goals in pre-season is the forgotten man Dele Alli.
Dele notched a couple against the mighty Blackpool and the Toffee faithful hope that the ex-England lad can kick-start his stalled career.
If Dele produces the form that got him into the England team, Dwight continues as he has done and Dominic Calvert-Lewin stays fit, Everton could have a decent campaign.
Thomas’s Blue Engines head to Goodison Park for this season’s opener after an indifferent pre-season that included a defeat by a 4-0 scoreline against Arsenal.
Granted, pre-season friendlies are more about gaining fitness but Chelsea did have close to a full-strength side out and were easily turned over by the Gunners.
Things have improved with convincing victories against Udinese and well Udinese, in back-to-back games against the Italians, with one on Friday and one on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel appeared to play his preferred starting eleven on Friday, with Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Marcos Alonso, Reece James, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, gaining a victory by a 3-1 score.
On Saturday, the starting lineup was, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ethan Ampadu, Malang Sarr, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic, Conor Gallagher, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja.
The 2-players that stand out there are Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja, who were out on loan last season but will want to force their way into Thomas’s 1st-team plans.
That said, there is still plenty of time for either Conor or Armando or both to be sold or loaned out again and today’s opponents could easily be a destination for either.
When Chelsea last headed North to Goodison Park, Richarlison scored the only goal, just after the restart to give Frank Lampard’s Everton a much-needed victory by a 1-0 score that went a long way in staving off relegation.
Betfred offer Everton at 4/1, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 4/6 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Dominic Calvert-Lewin Scores Anytime and 4/1 that Jorginho Scores Anytime.
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LEICESTER v BRENTFORD
14.00 in England
Brendan Rodgers is the only Premier League manager that hasn’t spent any money in the current Transfer Window.
Added to that, no one has left the King Power, yet, with ‘yet’ being the key word as James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Wesley Fofana could all be sold before September the 1st, when the Window slams shut.
A bid of £40 Million made by Newcastle, has already been turned down but the Magpies have the Saudi Riyal now so £40 Million was just a starting bid which no doubt will be upped until the Foxes give in and shout ‘Sold!’
One transfer speculation that may surprise many is Kasper Schmeichel has agreed to join the French Ligue Un club Nice.
Kasper has 1-year left on his Leicester contract but it’s thought that the Danish stopper can join an overseas club for Free this summer on the proviso that Brendan finds a replacement before next Sunday.
Whilst no one is privy to Kasper Schmeichel’s personal thoughts, it does seem strange that the lad would want to leave the Premier League and move to France.
Nice is a nice part of France, close to Monaco on the South Coast but are not in the Champions League and will just compete in the Europa Conference League.
Maybe after 11 years at the King Power Stadium, Kasper wants a new challenge.
Leicester or Nice?
Brentford head to Leicester off the back of quite a busy pre-season which has seen 7-fixtures over 3-weeks that Thomas Frank has put out a Bees team in some form or another.
Ivan Toney is fit and firing scoring against Brighton in a friendly with Brian Mbeumo also notching a couple.
One big loss this term for Brentford will be Christian Eriksen who changed the fortunes of the Bees for the final part of last season’s campaign.
Thomas will be without Ethan Pinnock for a lengthy spell with the ex-Barnsley Defender picking up a knee injury.
It will be a tougher season this time as the teams are now aware of Brentford as opposed to the first campaign where Thomas Frank’s Bees were a new entity.
Last season at the King Power, Leicester got the victory by a 2-1 score, with goals from Timothy Castagne and James Maddison.
Yoane Wissa with the Brentford consolation goal.
The anomaly in that fixture was Christian Eriksen didn’t play, having not been in the squad when featuring in the 2-previous games.
Betfred offer Leicester at slight Odds 19/20, the draw at 13/5 and 5/2 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Jamie Vardy Scores First and 15/8 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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MANCHESTER UNITED v BRIGHTON
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
The new look Erik Ten Hag era at Old Trafford begins following an intense pre-season that saw 1-fixture in Thailand, 3-games played in Australia, 1 in Norway and a final friendly at home.
Out of the 6 fixtures, there were 3-Wins, 2-Draws and 1-Loss, with Mr Ten Hag appearing to start his preferred eleven in 5 of the 6-games then changing.
Christian Eriksen saw 20-minutes of action in Norway, where United suffered a defeat against Atletico Madrid by a 1-0 scoreline.
Then another hour on Sunday at Old Trafford and will more than likely start from the bench against Brighton.
Admittedly the Madrid goal was scored in the 86th minute when Erik had made several changes.
As always, pre-season is more about fitness than results so Erik won’t worry too much.
The one added thing to mention was the enigmatic Fred received 2-Yellow Cards and the subsequent Red to beat his mates into the ice bath.
That’s all John Newsome will say regards Fred for the time being.
The day after the trip to Norway, the Red Devil’s faithful got a chance to see their idols at Old Trafford against Rayo Vallecano.
The starting eleven against Rayo was,
Tom Heaton, Ethan Laird, Rafael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Alex Telles, James Garner, Donny Van De Beek, Tahith Chong, Christian Eriksen, Alejandro Garnacho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It’s probably fair to assume that the eleven that is sent out against the Seagulls won’t include many of the above.
Even CR-7 is unlikely to start.
Cristiano looked a bit fed up and was substituted at half-time which could quite possibly be the last time in a United shirt as the body language screamed,
‘I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here!’
As this is a prediction site, this is John Newsome’s predicted Manchester United starting eleven for this fixture against Brighton.
David De Gea, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Rafael Varane, Tyrell Malacia, Fred, Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
John won’t be far out!
Manchester United’s results will depend on the starting lineup put out by Erik the Red and against mid-table teams such as Brighton, Mr Ten Hag may get away with a victory if choosing Fred and Scott, however, won’t when they play the Big Boys such as Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham or Chelsea.
If Cristiano Ronaldo does stay then the Portuguese legend can only be used sparingly against the lower teams or from the bench.
The intensity that Erik demands United to play at, isn’t suited to Cristiano.
One thing that has changed is the Home and Away dugouts at Old Trafford.
For 30 years, Sir Alex Ferguson and his boys and girls have walked down the side of the pitch from the corner where the dressing rooms are, past the first dugout which has always been for the away team, over the halfway line and up into the second set of dugouts.
That’s all changed at the request of Erik Ten Hag who has decided that his boys and girls are having the dugout closest to the Stretford End and are not walking the extra 20-yards.
If this makes a difference and United win all their home games then no one will care, however, with the United fans being the way they are, once Erik’s Devils start losing, this will be something else to use as an excuse.
Fred and Scott will be happy!
Graham Potters Wizards head North to Old Trafford following a quiet Summer, however, it did include a fantastic victory against Espanyol by a 5-1 scoreline.
Leandro Trossard scored a hat-trick with the 2-Centre-Backs, Adam Webster and Lewis Dunk adding the others.
It’s unsure as to how strong the Espanyol team were but a win is a win and Graham will be happy with that.
One thing to add, Marc Cucurella hasn’t featured in the last 2-pre-season matches, with speculation that the Spaniard is on his way to the Etihad.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes scored the 2nd-half goals when Brighton came to Old Trafford last season that saw Ralph’s Roadsters get the victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Lewis Dunk was shown a straight Red Card just after the break to leave the Seagulls a man light for 35-minutes.
Betfred offer Manchester United at Odds On 8/15, the draw at 3/1 and 5/1 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Marcus Rashford Scores First and 12/5 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
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WEST HAM v MAN CITY
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
A great fixture to complete Game Week-1 with the London Stadium hosting the current Premier League Champions.
West Ham have quietly gone about pre-season with no major concerns and the added bonus that Declan Rice is still a Bubble.
David Moyes has brought in Gianluca Scamacca who will more than likely start from the bench against City, with the starting eleven being the players who have done brilliantly for the Hammers over the past couple of seasons.
Pre-season hasn’t produced many victories with West Ham drawing 4 of the 7-fixtures taking place in July.
Man City’s preparations for the new campaign have followed previous seasons where there always appear to be issues.
Pep Guardiola took his team over to America, however, several players, notedly John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden didn’t travel due to Covid restrictions not allowing the three into the country.
There were only 2-games played over in the States and one was curtailed early due to bad weather so Man City will feel a little undercooked.
That certainly looked the case against Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday, when Pep’s Low Flying Blues were outplayed by Jurgen’s Reds with Liverpool getting the victory by a 3-1 score.
New boy Julian Alvarez with the consolation goal.
Erling Haaland started and played the whole 90-minutes at the King Power Stadium where the Shield was played due to the Women’s Euro’22 Final being played at Wembley on Sunday.
Whilst it’s early days and no doubt about the fact that Erling is a class player, there was something that didn’t look right whilst watching the game.
Man City and Pep have a certain way of playing that on first look didn’t seem to suit the Norwegian Leeds Lad.
Obviously, it’s early days and Erling Haaland will need time to adjust to his new surroundings but for the first game, it appears that Mr Haaland will have to change his style of play to suit City, not the other way around.
Man City are notoriously slow starters and it usually takes a game or 3 to get up to speed so this will be a real test against a strong West Ham team.
Liverpool have the easier task of facing the newly promoted Fulham on Saturday, so Pep doesn’t want to fall far behind in the race for the title so early in the campaign and will want to get at least a draw in London.
Premier League 2021/22, Game Week-37, West Ham v Man City at the London Stadium.
Pep’s High Flying Blues were trailing by 2-Jarrod Bowen goals to nil at half-time, with the thoughts of the title fading away with the bursting bubbles.
Jack Grealish pulled a goal back just after the break with Vladimir Coufal turning past his own ‘keeper to gift City a draw from the jaws of defeat meaning the title race was back online.
Betfred offer West Ham at 7/1, the draw at 4/1 and Odds On 1/3 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
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New Feature
It is exactly 25 years ago that Barnsley FC played their one and only season in the Premier League, so to commemorate that fantastic achievement, this EveryTip column is going to align the fixtures that the Super Reds contested throughout this 2022/23 campaign.
Game Week-1 (1997/98)
Saturday 09th August
BARNSLEY v WEST HAM
Oakwell
15.00 in England
The English Premier League had only been in existence for 5-seasons, with Manchester United winning the title 4-times in 1992/93, 93/94, 95/96 and 96/97.
Kenny Dalglish and his Jack Walker-backed Blackburn Rovers were the only team to take the trophy away from Old Trafford in the 1994/95 season.
Barnsley FC had somehow gained promotion to the Promised Land at the end of the 1996/97 Championship campaign, finishing 2nd to Bolton Wanderers, going to the Premier League automatically, with Crystal Palace gaining promotion via the playoffs to join Bolton and Barnsley.
The 1st-game in the Top Flight, came on August the 9th 1997 when Harry Redknapp brought his West Ham team up t’North to Oakwell to take on Danny Wilson’s Super Reds.
Team Sheet-
Barnsley- David Watson, Nicky Eaden, Adie Moses, Arjan De Zeeuw, Peter Shirtcliffe, Darren Barnard, Martin Bullock, Neil Redfearn, Eric Tinkler, Paul Wilkinson and John Hendrie.
Substitutes-
Clint Marcelle for Peter Shirtcliffe
Georgi Hristov for Paul Wilkinson
Andy Liddell for Martin Bullock
West Ham- Ludek Miklosko, Steve Potts, Tim Breacker, Rio Ferdinand, Marc Rieper-Jonsen, Eyal Berkovic, Michael Hughes, Steve Lomas, John Moncur, John Hartson and Paul Kitson.
Substitutes-
Stan Lazaridis for Tim Breacker
Frank Lampard for Eyal Berkovic
David Terrier for Paul Kitson
After Neil Redfearn had scored Barnsley’s 1st ever Premier League goal in the 9th minute to give the home team a lead at the break, John Hartson equalised early in the 2nd-half.
Harry Redknapp then made an inspired substitution in the 76th minute, sending on Frank Lampard who scored the Hammers winner within seconds of coming on to give the travelling Bubbles a day out in Yorkshire to remember and despite the defeat, a day that the Barnsley Girls and Boys would never forget.
Five days later, this EveryTip contributor’s daughter was born, what an incredible week in the life of John Newsome, who can’t believe his little girl is 25 years old.
Paul Wilkinson was instrumental in helping Barnsley gain promotion and played in the opening 3-fixtures against West Ham, Crystal Palace and Chelsea.
Unfortunately for Paul, those were the only minutes of Premier League football that the ex-Grimsby Town Striker played and moved on to Millwall after the home game against Chelsea, who were kind enough to give the Big Lad a lift down to London.
Paul Wilkinson is still a legend at Oakwell and the faithful wish the boy well for the future.
It’s amazing to think how quick the time has gone since that initial fixture when John Newsome was only 27, almost 28 and didn’t even have a mobile phone.
There were a few about but in their infancy and definitely no Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with Tik Tok being the sound that the clock made.
Yes, the world has advanced and in most things, technology has enhanced the everyday experience, however, back in 1997, things were simpler and could be argued, a lot better.
John Newsome remembers queuing up outside the Barnsley Ticket Office for 8-hours to purchase a season ticket for the inaugural visit to the Promised Land.
Now there were just over 20,000 season tickets that the faithful purchased with Oakwell being a sell-out every week.
Before that, there was no need, it was just a stroll down to Oakwell on a match day and pay on the turnstile.
For the final home fixture of the 1996/97 Championship campaign against Bradford that sealed the Reds promotion, the turnstile price was £10.
The season ticket price for 19-Premier League fixtures was £200.
Happy days and happier times.
On a match-day morning, there were no texts or calls, it was just a jaunt into town, a pre-determined boozer and a few pints with whoever turned up.
Considering Man City have just paid around £85 Million for Erling Haaland, the Reds hierarchy paid a record fee of £1.5 Million for the Macedonian Striker Georgi Hristov back in 1997.
Georgi didn’t disappoint, both on and off the field.
The Serg, the Liccle fat fella, the loveable OzScot, the Widster and CSI Jonny were all part of that amazing season, with copious amounts of lager consumed.
Melbourne’s finest commented recently about the Scottish Pub League preview in this column, which has already kicked off.
So to keep the Scottish fraternity of this EveryTip column up to date with their Prestigious league, throughout the season, the fortunes of Rangers and Celtic or Celtic and Rangers will be documented here.
The Green and White Hoops and current champions got off to a winning start, inflicting a defeat over Aberdeen (who?) by a 2-0 scoreline.
Over in the Blue Corner, Kylie’s beloved Rangers got the victory against Livingston (who?) Doctor one presumes, by a narrow 2-1 scoreline.
So Celtic reside at the top of the SPL on goal difference, which will pretty much be the pattern for the next 38 weeks.
Or the other way around.
Game Week-1 is complete of the best year in the history of Barnsley FC.
The Australian branch of this EveryTip column as well as Ilkleys finest, wanted to get involved in the final league positions so it would be rude not to include them.
OzScot-Kylie-Dundee
1- Liverpool
2- Man City
3- Chelsea
4- Arsenal
5- Tottenham
6- Manchester United
7- Newcastle
8- West Ham
9- Leicester
10- Crystal Palace
11- Brighton
12- Aston Villa
13- Wolves
14- Southampton
15- Everton
16- Leeds United
17- Nottingham Forest
18- Brentford
19- Fulham
20- Bournemouth
CSI-Jonny-Dundee
1- Man City
2- Liverpool
3- Tottenham
4- Chelsea
5- Manchester United
6- Arsenal
7- Newcastle
8- West Ham
9- Aston Villa
10- Leicester
11- Brighton
12- Everton
13- Leeds United
14- Crystal Palace
15- Wolves
16- Southampton
17- Nottingham Forest
18- Brentford
19- Fulham
20- Bournemouth
Widster-Ilkley-Bart Hat
1- Man City
2- Chelsea
3- Liverpool
4- Manchester United
5- Arsenal
6- Newcastle
7- Tottenham
8- Aston Villa
9- West Ham
10- Crystal Palace
11- Leeds United
12- Leicester
13- Wolves
14- Brentford
15- Brighton
16- Everton
17- Southampton
18- Fulham
19- Bournemouth
20- Nottingham Forest
JBs is in last week’s column, however, once again.
1- Man City
2- Liverpool
3- Tottenham
4- Manchester United
5- Arsenal
6- Chelsea
7- Newcastle
8- West Ham
9- Aston Villa
10- Leicester
11- Brighton
12- Crystal Palace
13- Everton
14- Wolves
15- Southampton
16- Brentford
17- Fulham
18- Leeds United
19- Bournemouth
20- Nottingham Forrest
There are also the Scottish Premier League final positions that the loveable OzScot twisted John Newsome’s arm to document.
OzScot-Kylie-Dundee
1- Rangers
2- Celtic
3- Hearts (who?)
4- Aberdeen (who?)
5- Hibernian (who?)
6- Motherwell (who?)
7- Dundee United (who?)
8- Kilmarnock (who?)
9- St Mirren (who?)
10- Livingston (who? Dr I presume)
11- St Johnstone (who?)
12- Ross County (who?)
CSI-Jonny-Dundee
1- Rangers
2- Celtic
3- Hibernian (who?)
4- Aberdeen (who?)
5- Hearts (who?)
6- Motherwell (who?)
7- Kilmarnock (who?)
8- Dundee United (who?)
9- Livingston (who? Dr I presume)
10- St Johnstone (who?)
11- St Mirren (who?)
12- Ross County (who?)
Widster-Ilkley-Bart Hat
1- Rangers
2- Celtic
3- Hearts (who?)
4- Motherwell (who?)
5- Dundee United (who?)
6- Livingston (who? Dr I presume)
7- Hibernian (who?)
8- Aberdeen (who?)
9- Kilmarnock (who?)
10- Ross County (who?)
11- St Mirren (who?)
12- St Johnstone (who?)
JBs-Pub League Final positions
1-Celtic
2-Rangers
3-Dog and Duck (who?)
4-Rose and Crown (who?)
5-Royal (who?)
6-Leo’s 1989-91 (who?)
7-Kings Head (who?)
8-Kings Tail (who?)
9-Kings Other Pub Names (who?)
10-Prince of Scotland (who?)
11-The Cross Keys (who?)
12-Bonny Prince Andrew (who?)
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