The highlight games for the second set of EPL matches are WOLVES versus CHELSEA and LIVERPOOL versus BRENTFORD. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, previews these and all game week 2 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-2
Saturday 24th
BRIGHTON v MANCHESTER UNITED
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
Brighton gained one of the best results of the opening weekend, with the Seagulls inflicting a defeat on the Toffees at Goodison Park by a 3-0 away day score.
There was always going to be interest in the first game under the guidance of Fabian Hurzeler but the most ardent of Seagull faithful probably didn’t expect the scintillating victory against Everton.
Kaoru Mitoma, Danny Welbeck and Simon Adingra with the Brighton goals to give Fabian’s Fabs a brilliant start to the campaign.
The win put Brighton at the Top of the Premier League on goal difference, granted, it’s only after one fixture but everyone likes a league table, however many games have taken place.
Manchester United are first up again in Game Week-2 heading down to the Amex to face Brighton after last Friday’s opener against Fulham.
The new boy Joshua Zirkzee started on the bench but following a very lacklustre 60 minutes of play (from both teams) Erik Ten Hag sent on Joshua in the hope of the Dutchman getting a goal.
As it turned out, that’s just what happened with JZ scoring the solitary winner in the 87th minute to give United the victory by a 1-0 scoreline.
There were choruses of ‘we are Top of the League, say we are Top of the League’ coming from the Red Devils that did include the Manchester Stick and Ball Thrower who had obviously partaken in a few glasses of the old rouge.
Factually, the win did elevate Erik’s Ten Bobs to the summit of the Premier League, however, that didn’t last long following the rest of the results over the weekend.
A few years ago, the Top Flight Table wasn’t assembled until after around 4 or 5 games, however, that was a bit boring with everyone wanting to see the League Table, however, many games have taken place, even before the season started when it shows Arsenal at the summit, purely by Alphabetical Order.
The Friday Night Football from Old Trafford didn’t offer up much with both teams failing to launch the New Premier League campaign.
United showed that they do need a Striker as a focal point as using Bruno Fernandes in that role for the first hour, just didn’t work.
The 2024/25 Premier League Title might end up in Manchester but unfortunately for the United faithful, it won’t be going to the Red Side.
The new signing Noussair Mazraoui started at Right-Back after joining along with Matthijs De Ligt, who in turn, came on as a 2nd-half substitute, replacing Noussair with 10 minutes remaining.
All in all, the Red Devil faithful should be pleased that their idols won’t get embroiled in a relegation battle but shouldn’t book any Manchester Open Top Buses for the end of next May.
This fixture at the Amex last season was the final game of the season.
It was Manchester United that came away with the points following a victory over Brighton by a 2-0 scoreline.
Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Hojlund with the United goals both scored in the 2nd-half.
Betfred offer Brighton at 7/5, the draw at 5/2 and 8/5 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 21/10 that Danny Welbeck Scores Anytime and 15/8 that Brighton Score in Both Halves.
Home Win 2-1- Get 17/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
CRYSTAL PALACE v WEST HAM
15.00 in England
Crystal Palace suffered an opening-day defeat away at Brentford on Sunday.
The loss against the Bees by a 2-1 scoreline, could be considered a bit of a shock after the way the Eagles finished last term.
The Palace goal wasn’t scored by one of their own, it came via a mistake from a Brentford player who kicked the ball into the back of the net, so maybe that’s something to learn from.
Oliver Glasner just needs to put that to bed and move on to this home fixture against the Hammers.
Marc Guehi is still an Eagle and played on Saturday alongside Joachim Andersen but the question is, for how long?
Palace have reportedly agreed personal terms with the Wolfsburg Defender Maxence Lacroix.
The Eagles are assessing their options in the Transfer Window with both Centre-Backs who played against Brentford being the subject of bids from Newcastle and Fulham, respectively.
It does appear that a fee of around £70
Million will prize Marc away with the bid of £65 Million from Newcastle being rejected by the Palace hierarchy.
West Ham themselves, suffered an opening day loss, succumbing to a home defeat against Aston Villa on Saturday.
The Hammers conceded a headed goal from a corner in the 4th minute, to give Villa an early lead before Lucas Paqueta equalised from the penalty spot after Matty Cash was deemed to have fouled Tomas Soucek in the area to take both teams in level at the break.
Unfortunately for the watching Bubbles in attendance at the London Stadium, their idols conceded a 2nd to ultimately suffer the defeat by a 2-1 scoreline.
In the past, maybe a few pies would have been thrown in anger but not now that West Ham charge £11.30 for a Pie and a Pint.
(More on that later!)
With just 2 drawn games from the opening weekend, it means there are 8 teams with 3 points and 8 teams with nil, plus Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Leicester and Tottenham having 1 point apiece.
Crystal Palace hammered West Ham in this fixture at Selhurst Park last term with the game taking place in April.
Goals from Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, an Emerson Own Goal (OG) and a Jean-Philippe Mateta strike gave the Eagles a comfortable lead with only half an hour on the clock.
Michail Antonio pulled a goal back to leave West Ham trailing 4-1 at the break.
Jean-Philippe then added his 2nd and Palace’s 5th before the Eagles Goalkeeper Dean Henderson made an error to gift the Hammers a late goal, with the game eventually ending in a victory for the home team by a 5-2 scoreline.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 11/10, the draw at 12/5 and 11/5 for West Ham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Jean-Philippe Mateta Scores First and 9/4 that Jarrod Bowen Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-1- Get 15/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
FULHAM v LEICESTER
15.00 in England
Fulham could consider themselves unlucky following the trip to Old Trafford last Friday which unfortunately for Marco Silva’s Cottagers, although his boys put in a decent effort, saw Manchester United inflict an opening day defeat by a 1-0 scoreline.
The game was pretty tight throughout the 90-odd minutes with just a slick finish from the United Striker being the difference between the two teams.
Marco gave a start to the new signing Emile Smith-Rowe who found out quickly that playing next to the Arsenal players is a lot different from playing alongside his new mates.
In football, that is sometimes the case when a talent at one particular club isn’t getting a start from his Manager so wants a move, however, when the boy does move on, his new teammates are not necessarily of the calibre of his old players so the said individual doesn’t look as good as when he was surrounded by better players.
It’s then up to the player to step his game up and bring his new teammates to his level and not drop down to theirs.
Leicester somehow gained a point from a draw by a 1-1 score against Tottenham on Monday Night Football.
Somehow, because Tottenham were the dominant team for the majority of the game but couldn’t push on after taking the lead.
Leicester had 29% possession (Tottenham 71%) and 7 goal attempts (Tottenham 15) with 3 of those being ‘On Target’ (Tottenham 7).
It was assumed that the Sheffield Superstar Jamie Vardy wasn’t available for the game but knocked on Steve Cooper’s door and like the legend he is, said,
‘I’m available Gaffer if you need me!’
Steve did need JV as he was short of players and despite having limited touches of the ball, Jamie Vardy did what Jamie Vardy does and popped up with the equaliser just before the hour mark.
With no further goals, both teams shared the points.
Jamie was taken off with 10 minutes remaining and had a parting gift for the Tottenham faithful who had travelled up to the King Power and were no doubt giving the Sheffield lad stick, so JV pointed to the Premier League badge on his shirt and put 1 finger up, then made a zero sign to the Spurs fans, which basically meant,
Leicester had one Premier League Title but Tottenham had none.
Jamie Vardy 1 LilyWhites 0.
Top man Mr Vardy!
The draw meant Leicester were one of 4 teams to neither win nor lose over the opening weekend, along with Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
The last time the Foxes visited the Cottagers was in May 2023, just before Leicester were relegated from the Premier League.
The fans in attendance certainly got their money’s worth with the game finishing in an 8-goal thriller with the home team getting the points from a 5-3 scoreline.
The goals going in as follows-
10′ Willian (Fulham-1-0)
18′ Carlos Vinicius (Fulham-2-0)
44′ Tom Cairney (Fulham-3-0)
Half-time Chicken Balti Pie and Pint (£10)
51′ Tom Cairney (Fulham-4-0)
59′ Harvey Barnes (Leicester-4-1)
70′ Willian (Fulham-5-1)
81′ James Maddison (Leicester-5-2)
89′ Harvey Barnes (Leicester-5-3)
Full-time Gin and Tonic and Bag of Monster Munch (Pickled Onion flavour)
Betfred offer Fulham at slight Odds On 4/5, the draw at 13/5 and 16/5 for Leicester to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 7/5 that Rodrigo Muniz Scores Anytime and 11/5 that Jamie Vardy Scores Anytime.
Home Win 2-1- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
MAN CITY v IPSWICH
15.00 in England
Man City got off to a great start in the quest to retain the Premier League Title, gaining a victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge by a 2-0 away day scoreline, as predicted in this EveryTip column last week.
Erling Haaland scored the opener (of course he did!) in the 1st-half, with Mateo Kovacic adding a 2nd late on.
Although Chelsea put in a good performance, Pep’s High Flying Blues controlled the game brilliantly over the 90 minutes by simply getting hold of the ball and keeping possession, ultimately taking the sting out of the opponent’s limited attacks.
The new signing Savinho started and got 45 minutes under his belt but was taken off at half-time and replaced by Phil Foden, fresh from his exploits with England in the Euro’s.
The other 2 England Stars from Man City, John Stones and Kyle Walker were in the Match-Day Squad but didn’t see any game time with Pep just making the one substitution throughout the 90 minutes.
Jack Grealish was also an unused substitute.
Oscar Bobb has picked up an injury in training and will be out for around 4 months.
There is just over a week or so of the Transfer Window so don’t be surprised if Man City bring in a couple of Newbies with the sensational talk that Ilkay Gundogan is being lined up for a return.
Having watched most of the opening games, John Newsome does think that it’s City’s title to lose and thinks that Pep’s High Flying Blues will gain a 7th Premier League gong from the last 8 seasons.
Over the years, both Liverpool, in the late 1970s and early 80s, plus Manchester United in their pomp, achieved 7 out of 9 Top Flight Titles, so it would be an impressive achievement if City do retain the crown this campaign.
Ipswich unfortunately opened their New Season in the Premier League with a defeat against Liverpool at Portman Rd.
After a solid opening half where both teams matched each other, going in at the interval level, it was Liverpool that came out stronger, scoring 2-quick fire goals to take the game away from the Tractor Boys and ultimately gaining the away day victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
It was a good run out in the Sun and the faithful will be proud of their idols, however, a loss is a loss and everyone connected with the Portman Rd outfit will know that it’s going to be a tough old season.
The task doesn’t get any easier with this visit to the Blue Side of Manchester.
Kalvin Phillips has left the Etihad, joining Ipswich on a season-long loan deal, however, although on the bench against Liverpool, didn’t see any game time.
Obviously, as it’s a loan deal, KP won’t be able to play today which is a real shame, for Man City, sorry Ipswich.
Another is the Napoli Midfielder Jens Cajuste heading to Portman Rd, again on an initial loan deal.
Ipswich have signed the Blackburn Striker Sammi Szmodics on a permanent deal for a fee of £10 Million.
Sammi was the Championship’s leading scorer last term, bagging 27 goals in a season where Blackburn struggled and finished 19th out of 24th in the table.
There’s also the possibility of Armando Broja coming in but again on another loan deal from Chelsea.
In the preview of the Fulham v Leicester fixture, there was a light-hearted comment of-
‘Half-time Chicken Balti Pie and Pint (£10).’
Although this is just a bit of fun, the price (£10) was included as the Premier League have listed the cost of the iconic ‘Pie and Pint’ price at each of the 20 stadiums.
1-West Ham United- Pie £5, Pint £6.30 (£11.30)
2-Arsenal- Pie £4.80, Pint £6.30 (£11.10)
3-Chelsea- Pie £4.50, Pint £5.70 (£10.20)
4-Fulham- Pie £4.50, Pint £5.50 (£10)
5-Ipswich- Pie £4.95, Pint £5 (£9.95)
6-Crystal Palace- Pie £4.50, Pint £5 (£9.50)
7-Leicester City- Pie £4.20, Pint 5.20 (£9.40)
8-Man City- Pie £4.70, Pint £4.60 (£9.30)
9-Spurs- Pie £4 Pint, £5.10 (£9.10)
10-Aston Villa- Pie, £3.60 Pint £5.20 (£8.80)
11-Newcastle United- Pie £3.90, Pint £4.90 (£8.80)
12-Everton- Pie £3.90, Pint £4.55 (£8.55)
13-Southampton- Pie £4 Pint, £4.55 (£8.55)
14-Nottingham Forest- Pie £3.30, Pint £5.20 (£8.50)
15-Brighton- Pie £4.10 Pint, £4 (£8.10)
16-Brentford- Pie £4 Pint, £4 (£8)
17-Bournemouth- Pie £4 Pint, £4 (£8)
18-Liverpool- Pie £3.40 Pint, £4.40 (£7.80)
19-Wolves- Pie £3.60, Pint £4 (£7.60)
20-Man Utd- Pie £4.20, Pint £3 (£7.20)
The Red Devil faithful are certainly happy their team are at the bottom of that particular Premier League Table, however, the Bubbles won’t be too enamoured about paying over £11 quid for a Pie and a Pint.
On the concourse at the London Stadium in the recent fixture between West Ham and Aston Villa, a couple of ‘Right Cockney Geezers’ who were planning a ‘knees up’ had the following conversation-
Dave- ‘Orr right my old China Plate, these sorts are having a right Giraffe ain’t they, charging £11.30 for the old Pie and Pint!’
Reg- ‘Yeah mi old mukka, I wonder what’s in the Pie for the old girls to charge that much?’
Dave- ‘I ain’t a Scooby mi old China but for that price, there ought to be a Lady Godiva in it!’
That translates to-
Dave- ‘Hello my good mate, the club are having a right laugh aren’t they charging £11.30 for a Pie and Pint!’
Reg- ‘Yes my good friend, I wonder what’s in the Pie for the caterers to charge that much?’
Dave- ‘I haven’t a clue my old mate but for that price, there should be a Fiver in it!’
The Man City caterers are charging slightly less, with a Pie and a Pint coming in at £9.30.
Liam and Noel are happy and may even write a song about it-
’70p change from a Tenner!’
It was in November 2000 when Man City last hosted Ipswich and that was a fixture at Maine Rd, City’s old ground.
Ipswich gained an away day victory by a narrow 2-3 scoreline.
In the Man City lineup that day was a certain Alfe-Inge Haaland who, no doubt will be in the crowd today to hopefully see his son avenge the defeat.
Man City were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2000/01 season with Ipswich finishing 5th.
For the younger viewers, that sentence seems bizarre but Man City weren’t the force of today back at the turn of the Millennium.
City did return to the Premier League for the start of the 2002/03 campaign after winning the 2001/02 Championship Title under the guidance of the legendary Kevin Keegan.
‘Feed the Goat and he will Score!’
The rest, as some might say, is history.
There is a cautionary tale to tell though and that is, Man City are currently 10/1 with Betfred to be relegated this season.
That’s correct, 10/1, considering Liverpool and Arsenal are 2000/1 to be relegated.
The reason for that is the hearing into the 115 alleged breaches of FFP (Financial Fair Play) made by Manchester City will begin in early September, with the club being warned that they will be relegated from the Premier League if the most serious charges against them are proved.
Betfred offer Man City at Odds On 1/12, the draw at 17/2 and 20/1 for Ipswich to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/1 that Erling Haaland Scores a Hat-Trick and slight Odds On 4/6 that Man City Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 5-0- Get 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
SOUTHAMPTON v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
15.00 in England
The Ben Brereton-Diaz Derby.
Southampton suffered a narrow defeat in the opening game against Newcastle at St James Park on Saturday.
In a feisty affair up on Tyneside, Russell Martin’s Saints could consider themselves unlucky following the loss by a 1-0 scoreline, against the Magpies who had a player sent off after 28 minutes.
The ex-Forest Striker Ben Brereton-Diaz got involved in an altercation with Fabian Schar, with Big Ben making the most of Fabian’s head-on-head situation, going down easier than a certain Ship back in 1912.
There’s a film about the said Ship Titanic which John Newsome was going to watch but was told the ending by his mates so didn’t bother.
The Manchester Stick and Ball Thrower, aka Ted Bovis from Hi-De-Hi just said,
‘What’s it about?’
Morning Campers, Hi-De-Hi!
After Ben’s audition for the part in the sequel, it should have been Southampton that pushed on for the win but ultimately, Newcastle’s Premier League nouse came to the fore scoring the solitary winning goal to inflict an opening day defeat on the Saints.
Unlike Ipswich, who have to face Liverpool and Man City in the opening 2 games, Southampton have a relatively easier task today, facing Nottingham Forest.
Forest are one of the teams that the newly promoted clubs will be targeting to hopefully gain enough points to stay up.
Southampton have brought in the Aston Villa Striker Cameron Archer paying around £15 Million for the lad.
Nottingham Forest were one of 4 teams that neither won nor lost in the opener, gaining a point from a draw by a 1-1 score, against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Obviously, the Cherries are one of the other 3 teams.
Chris Wood scored the opener for Forest after 23 minutes to give the home team a lead for almost an hour before Bournemouth equalised late on and with no further goals, both teams shared the points.
As mentioned, Nuno’s Tricky Trees are the benchmark for the newly promoted teams, who look at Forest being able to pick up enough points to stay in the league, however, it does put a target on their shirts for the lower end to have a go at.
Ben Brereton-Diaz started his career at the City Ground and was given his debut for Nottingham Forest by Gary Brazil as a 17-year-old in January 2017.
Gary was in temporary charge of Forest after Philippe Montanier was sacked.
Ben then moved on to Blackburn and has played for Villarreal, then a loan spell at Sheffield United last season.
It was January 2023 when Nottingham Forest last ventured to St Mary’s to face Southampton.
Both were under the guidance of different Managers, with Nathan Jones in charge of the Saints and Steve Cooper at the Forest helm.
A single Taiwo Awoniyi goal on the half-hour mark was the difference between the two teams, giving the Tricky Trees a great away-day victory by a 1-0 score.
Betfred offer Southampton at 6/4, the draw at 11/5 and 7/4 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 23/10 that Ben Brereton-Diaz Scores Anytime and 21/10 that Chris Wood Scores Anytime.
Draw 1-1- Get 11/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Ederson- Man City
RIGHT-BACK- Ricoh Lewis- Man City
CENTRE-BACK- Nathan Collins- Brentford
CENTRE-BACK- William Saliba- Arsenal
LEFT-BACK- Andy Robertson- Liverpool
MIDFIELDER- Mateo Kovacic- Man City
MIDFIELDER- Amadou Onana- Aston Villa
MIDFIELDER- Joelinton- Newcastle
FORWARD- Jamie Vardy- Leicester
FORWARD- Joshua Zirkzee- Manchester United
FORWARD- Erling Haaland- Man City
STAR MAN- Jamie Vardy- Leicester
TOTTENHAM v EVERTON
15.00 in England
The Tottenham faithful left the King Power Stadium on Monday all scratching their heads and looking around in a daze thinking,
‘How have we not won that one?’
Somehow, despite Tottenham having the majority of possession, the most attempts on goal and the most shots on target, Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs came away with just a point from a draw by a 1-1 score.
Pedro Porro headed home the opening goal from a sublime cross by James Maddison who had a brilliant game, however, couldn’t turn his performance into more goals, which ultimately allowed Leicester to equalise and snatch a point when Tottenham should have had all 3.
Dominic Solanke did get 90 minutes of action but sort of went under the radar and was pretty quiet.
From the outside looking in, Son Heung-Min wasn’t affecting proceedings playing out on the left and Dominic wasn’t being supplied.
It was mainly left to James Maddison to try and create openings but that said James can only do so much, it’s up to his teammates to get involved too.
Ange will no doubt tweak things over the coming weeks to get the best from his squad.
With 8 winners and 8 losers, Tottenham were one of four that drew, moving on to this home fixture against Everton, who didn’t have a particularly good start to the campaign and were one of the 8 losers.
Tottenham have added the Burnley Winger Wilson Odobert to their squad, bringing the ex-Claret in for around £30 Million.
Everton got off to a horrendous start to the new campaign, suffering a home defeat against Brighton by a 3-0 scoreline.
There were 4 teams that suffered home defeats over the opening weekend, however, it just feels that the Toffees loss was the most significant.
Ipswich lost at home against Liverpool, which wasn’t reality a surprise.
West Ham suffered a home defeat but again it was a narrow affair and could have gone either way.
Chelsea lost at home against Man City.
It just appears that Everton’s loss was more of a shock than the other 3.
Ashley Young was shown a straight Red Card just after the hour mark which left the Toffees a man-lite for the remainder of the game.
That said, Brighton had scored twice before Ashley’s indiscretion and added a 3rd against 10 men.
This was a pre-Christmas fixture at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium last season, taking place on the 23rd of December.
The old Toffee Richarlison and Son Heung-Min scored in the 1st-half to give Tottenham a lead at the break.
Andre Gomes replied late on for Everton but ultimately that was just a consolation with Ange’s Spurs holding on for the victory over Sean’s Toffees by a 2-1 scoreline.
Betfred offer Tottenham at Odds On 2/5, the draw at 18/5 and 11/2 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 13/10 that Richarlison Scores Anytime and 13/8 that Tottenham Win To Nil.
Home Win 3-0- Get 10/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
ASTON VILLA v ARSENAL
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
The Unai Emery Derby!
Aston Villa sold Cameron Archer to Sheffield United for the start of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, with the Blades paying around £18 Million but Villa insisted on a ‘buy-back clause’.
That clause was activated and Cameron was sold back to Villa at the beginning of this 2024 Summer Transfer Window.
However, the Striker has now been sold to Southampton for a fee of around £15 Million.
As Jimmy Greaves would say,
‘Football, it’s a funny old game!’
Aston Villa gained an opening-day victory away at the London Stadium on Saturday.
The new signing Amadou Onana headed home a corner to give Villa an early lead before West Ham equalised from the penalty spot, after Matty Cash was deemed to have fouled a Bubble in the area, to take both teams in level at the break.
It was then left to the Wild Boy Jhon Duran to come off the bench and score the winner with 10 minutes remaining, giving Aston Villa the points from a 2-1 scoreline.
There was talk that Jhon was on his way out of Villa Park, coincidentally with West Ham being the club interested, however, from Mr Duran’s reaction to the winning goal, the Wild Boy is going nowhere.
Considering Arsenal lost the 2023/24 Premier League Title to Man City by just 2 points, it could be argued that Unai Emery had a big say in that with his Villa boys gaining a double over Mikel’s Young Guns.
A ‘Double’ is when a team wins both ‘Home and Away’, which is what Aston Villa achieved against Arsenal at the Emirates and Villa Park.
Arsenal gained their expected opening-day victory against Wolves at the Emirates on Saturday.
Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka with the Gunners goals, 1 in each half, to give Arsenal the points from a 2-0 scoreline.
Man City gained a victory by the same scoreline, however, it could be considered that Mikel’s Young Guns had an easier start than Pep’s High Flyers.
With City facing the new boys Ipswich at the Etihad and an expected win, it could mean that a gap between Arsenal and Man City has developed already if the Gunners don’t win today.
In this reverse fixture last season, a single John McGinn goal after 7 minutes was enough to give the home team the victory by a 1-0 score.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 3/1, the draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 4/5 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 6/1 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and 7/4 that Bukayo Saka Scores Anytime.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Draw 1-1- Get 13/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Sunday 25th
BOURNEMOUTH v NEWCASTLE
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
The Eddie Howe Derby!
Bournemouth came from a goal behind to gain a point from a draw by a 1-1 score, against Nottingham Forest from 1 of only 2 games over the weekend that ended in a stalemate.
Antoine Semenyo with the Cherry equaliser late on in proceedings, after conceding a Tricky Tree goal after 23 minutes.
Although not an opening-day victory, it wasn’t a defeat either so Andoni Iraola needs to put that to bed and move on to this home game against an old Vitality favourite in Eddie Howe and his Magpies.
Newcastle gained a narrow victory in a feisty affair against Southampton at St James Park on Saturday.
Fabian Schar will be wishing he could ‘Turn Back Time’ following an altercation with Ben Brereton-Diaz that saw the Magpie Defender stick his head onto Big Ben’s napper which resulted in the Forest Striker going down easier than a Miner on shift at the Pit back when they were the backbone of British Industry.
Fabian will know that he shouldn’t have stuck his head anywhere near Ben but the Forest Striker didn’t help the Defender’s case by throwing himself to the ground.
Mr Schar received a straight Red Card and will be missing for the next 3 games, with the Toon Army knowing that ‘they ain’t got you babe!’
Crystal Palace then added another £5 Million to the price tag of Marc Guehi, who Newcastle are close to getting but keep having subsequent bids turned down by the Eagles hierarchy.
£70 Million will do the deal but at the moment Newcastle haven’t reached that figure, although the deal should be done before the Window ‘Slams Shut’ on Friday the 30th.
Joelinton, who was superb throughout the game against Southampton, scored the solitary winning goal to give Newcastle the victory by a 1-0 scoreline.
That put Newcastle with the other 7 teams that are 1 from 1 in the Win Column.
One player that seems to have gone under the radar, is the Goalkeeper Nick Pope who missed a good proportion of last season and only returned in the final fixture.
Nick has been the go-to ‘Keeper for most of the pre-season and played in the opener against Southampton.
Newcastle do look a lot more solid with NP in the team, it’s just whether the back-line can manage without Fabian Schar for a few games.
If they can, Eddie’s Magpies might just go on an unbeaten run of games.
At the Vitality last season, Andoni’s Cherries gained a victory over Eddie’s Magpies by a 2-0 scoreline.
Dominic Solanke got both of the Bournemouth goals in the 2nd-half.
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 2/1, the draw at 5/2 and 6/5 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Alexander Isak Scores First and 18/5 that Newcastle Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 0-2- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
WOLVES v CHELSEA
14.00 in England
Wolves didn’t get off to the best of starts suffering an expected defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday.
Whilst it was a loss by a 2-0 away day score, Gary O’Neil doesn’t need to dwell on that fixture too much as most will lose against Arsenal at the Emirates.
Gary included the new signings of Jorgen Strand-Larsen, Rodrigo Gomes and the youngster Yerson Mosquera who although was making his debut, has been at Molineux for a number of years but has been out on loan at Cincinnati FC and Villarreal but is back to try and forge his career for Wolves.
Chelsea themselves suffered an opening day defeat and again, one could say that it was an expected outcome against Man City.
Enzo Maresca did pick a starting lineup that were all Blues before his arrival and didn’t start any of the new signings but did introduce Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Pedro Neto, Renato Veiga and Marc Guiu from the bench.
One player not in the Match-Day Squad was Raheem Sterling, who it’s fair to say, was not happy about that and got his ‘Camp’ to write a strongly worded statement about being left out.
Camp Sterling’s statement in full-
‘Raheem Sterling is contracted to Chelsea Football Club for the next three years.
He returned to England 2-weeks early to conduct individual training and has had a positive pre-season under the new coach, who he has developed a good working relationship with.
He is committed, as ever, to delivering at the highest level for Chelsea FC and the fans, who he holds in high regard and given his inclusion in official club pre-match material this week, our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity.
As a camp, we have always had positive dialogue with and assurance from, Chelsea FC in relation to Raheem’s future at the club, so we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation.
Until then, we will continue to support Raheem’s desire to start the new season positively.’
As with earlier when John Newsome had to translate some dialogue between a couple of Bubbles, John will translate the above statement-
‘Blah blah blah Blah blah blah Blah blah blah, squawk squawk squawk, Blah blah blah!’
Raheem wasn’t happy about being left out but wanted to take the Manager to task and get his ‘camp’ involved to find out why.
Well, Mr Sterling, it might be due to the abject displays put in by yourself in the 6 pre-season friendlies RS was involved, in which Chelsea lost 3, drew 2 and won just 1.
There will be more to come from this story, so watch this space!
‘Blah blah blah!’
This fixture at Molineux last season had the unique offering of being staged on Christmas Eve.
It was Gary O’Neil’s Gold and Blacks who got the early present of 3 points, with Wolves gaining a victory over Chelsea by a 2-1 scoreline.
After a goalless 1st-half, Mario Lemina scored to give the home fans something to cheer.
When 90 minutes were up on the clock, it looked like that was that until Matt Doherty added a 2nd goal for Wolves.
That wasn’t the end of the scoring with Christopher Nkunku pulling a goal back for Mauricio’s Blues in the 96th minute.
Despite a late surge from Chelsea, Wolves held on for the win.
Merry Christmas.
Betfred offer Wolves at 16/5, the draw at 11/4 and Odds On 8/11 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Cole Palmer Scores First and 6/4 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Away Win 1-3- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
LIVERPOOL v BRENTFORD
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Arne Slot has done something that Jurgen Klopp didn’t and that is, won his first Premier League game in charge.
Jurgen’s opener was a draw against Tottenham back in October 2015.
Arne’s Reds gained an opening-day victory over Ipswich at Portman Rd on Saturday.
After a goalless 1st-half, Liverpool came out stronger and scored on the hour mark then added a 2nd, 5 minutes later.
Diogo Jota and Mo Salah with the goals.
That settled the nerves of the travelling Anfield Rappers who saw their boys hold on for the victory by a 2-0 away day score.
Mo has had a trim and got rid of his flowing Black Curly Locks but the Anfield Rappers shouldn’t be worried that Mr Salah is like Samson, as the Egyptian King still put in a great performance and Delilah was nowhere to be seen.
Jurgen who?
When looking to have a punt on the football, look for ‘Specials’.
Liverpool were Odds On to get the victory, however, one Bookmaker offered a price of Evens 1/1 for Liverpool To Win and Have Most Shots On Target.
Whilst it’s not an exact science, it’s more than likely that the team that does eventually Win, has more Shots On Target (SOT).
So a tenner on Liverpool To Win at Odds On 1/3 would have returned £13.33 (including the £10 stake).
However, the ‘Special’ of Liverpool To Win and Have Most Shots On Target at Evens 1/1 returned £20 (including the £10 stake).
Brentford gained a home victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, with the Bees stinging the Eagles by a 2-1 scoreline.
Bryan Mbeumo, Ethan Pinnock and Yoane Wissa with the goals.
Most might be scratching their heads at the above sentence but the 3 Brentford players did get the goals with the unfortunate Ethan Pinnock deflecting the ball past his own Goalkeeper to gift Palace an equaliser.
Bryan had scored first.
Yoane got his mate out of trouble by notching the winner late on to earn Thomas Frank’s Bees an opening-day win.
It was expected that Ivan Toney would play some part in the game but wasn’t in the Match-Day Squad which offers up all sorts of conspiracy theories as to what will happen to IT.
Apparently, the Saudis are after the Striker and will line Mr Toney with a ‘Fist Full of Dollars’, however, is it the right move for Ivan?
Yes, the money is life-changing but it would probably end Ivan’s International Career.
That said, it doesn’t appear that any of the Top English clubs are interested in paying around £50 Million for IT’s services.
The other option for Mr Toney is to sit on his current contract which expires next Summer, which means the £50 Million Transfer Fee won’t have to be paid and will go to Ivan in a bigger wage packet.
One was going to have a bet on where Ivan Toney will end up but that’s probably not appropriate considering IT’s previous convictions.
At Anfield last season, Mo Salah scored 2 goals, 1 either side of the half-time break with Diogo Jota adding a 3rd in the 74th minute to give Liverpool the victory over Brentford by a 3-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 2/9, the draw at 5/1 and 9/1 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Mo Salah Scores First and 7/5 that Liverpool Win To Nil.
(If your pre-match First Goalscorer bet scores First and then scores a Second, Betfred DOUBLE the odds.
If they score a Third, Betfred TREBLE the odds.)
Home Win 2-0- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
The Scottish Premier League didn’t have any games over the weekend, with the League Cup taking priority.
Celtic sit at the Top of the Pub League with 6 points from 2 games and face St Mirren (who?) on Sunday.
Rangers sit in 4th place with 4 points from the 2 opening fixtures and take on Ross County (who?) on Saturday.
Braveheart/Kylie over in Melbourne was distraught last week when his beloved Teddy Bears were unfortunately knocked out of the Champions League before the Group Stage, suffering a 2nd-leg defeat against Dynamo Kiev, which was made worse by the fact that Rangers lost at home.
There is a wider story to the Champions League failure for the Blues and that is the potential money that could have been gained if progression was made.
Rangers have lost the £3.7 Million Play-Off Parachute Payment which not only impacts the budget for the Ibrox outfit but also widens the gap between themselves and Celtic with the Green and White Hoops getting extra money from their participation in the newly revamped Group Stage, which guarantees 4 Home Games at Celtic Park and 4 Away Games.
It invariably means that Celtic are becoming stronger than their Glasgow Rivals which is not good news for our friend over in Melbourne who was last seen with a bottle of IRN BRU and an old Sony Walkman with a Kylie Minogue tape, chuntering to himself,
‘I’m spinning around, move out of my way, Rangers are finishing 2nd again!’
There is the little matter of the first Old Firm Derby coming up at Celtic Park on the 1st of September.
Good luck Braveheart/Kylie!
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