The highlight fixtures for the 2nd week of the EPL season are LIVERPOOL versus NOTTINGHAM FOREST and MANCHESTER UNITED versus IPSWICH. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, brings you his unique and insightful previews of these and all Game Week 2 matches. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
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Be sure to check out John’s new book, entitled “Three Days At Anfield“, a riotous and heartfelt tribute to Barnsley FC that blends football nostalgia, fan memoir, and a love letter to the beautiful game. Available on Amazon now.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Game Week-2
Friday, August 28th
CRYSTAL PALACE v MAN CITY
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
A re-run of the 2024/25 FA Cup Final where, amazingly, Palace got the victory at Wembley, with Eberechi Eze scoring the solitary winner in the 1-0 victory.
If one remembers, things could have been different when Man City were awarded a penalty in the 36th minute.
Surely, with Erling Haaland on the pitch, it’s going to be 1-1?
Not so, for some reason, Omar Mamoush took the spot-kick and saw Dean Henderson save the penalty.
Erling, just laughed!
Doh.
That was basically it for the remainder of the game, with the Eagles holding on to win the Trophy.
The win cemented a place in the Europa League phase; however, the Big Lad from Nottingham Forest got involved and had the authorities promote the Tricky Trees to the second European Competition and demote Palace to the Conference League, where Oliver’s Army won in the Final.
In a bizarre twist, the Big Lad from the City Ground (Evangelos Marinakis) then employed Crystal Palace’s Manager Oliver Glasner, which meant that Pierre Sage was appointed as the Eagles Gaffer.
Crystal Palace suffered an opening-day defeat against Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium with the home team inflicting a defeat from a 2-0 scoreline.
The Eagles faithful don’t have to worry too much as it is just the first game under the new guy Pierre Sage and the post-Oliver Glasner era.
The Palace team, with the exception of Maxence Lacroix, was pretty much the same as last season.
Adam Wharton is still at Selhurst Park but could quite easily become another player who will leave before the Window closes.
Palace have brought in the Chelsea Defender Axel Disasi on loan.
Another meeting between two New Managers of a club for the first time, which will be the norm throughout the first half of the season, as 11 teams have a guy in the dugout who wasn’t in charge of a Premier League team last season.
That’s added to Michael Carrick and Roberto De Zerbi who didn’t start last season’s campaign at their respective clubs.
Enzo Maresca oversaw Chelsea’s opening-day fixture against Palace just over 12 months ago but this will be the first time Enzo, now the Man City Manager, has come up against Pierre.
Man City left it late to get the victory against Bournemouth with Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol scoring the goals after the Cherries had taken the lead in the 1st-half.
What was disappointing was that the linesman initially disallowed Josko’s goal due to offside, however, the dreaded VAR got involved and informed the on-field referee Jarrad Gillett that the ‘Semi-Automated Offside Technology’ (SAOT) clearly showed that the City Defender was on-side and not just by inches.
There are arguments both ways as to whether VAR is needed, however, if that game was in the Championship or lower leagues, then City would have been denied a winner.
So it’s probably worth having the Video Assistant Referee, which just needs to be quicker in making decisions.
The 2-1 win was about right as, although Bournemouth played well, City were the dominant team who are just finding their way in the post-Pep Guardiola era.
The surprise before the game was that the main man Erling Haaland had cut off his blonde locks and now sports a nice short trim.
That said, the Citizens are hoping that Erling isn’t the new Samson.
Man City are in the process of signing the Lille and Morocco Midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, with a fee of around £82 Million plus add-ons being agreed.
That would then free up Nico Gonzales’ possible move to Newcastle, with the Magpies wanting to take the Midfielder up to St James Park, paying around £45 Million.
Man City now match Brighton, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Hull, Chelsea, Ipswich and Leeds as the teams who have 3 points from the opening game.
Game Week-1 produced 9 wins, 9 losses and just 1 draw.
Added to that, 7 of those 9 wins were by the home team.
Whether that’s just a coincidence will become apparent over the next few weeks.
Are teams, especially at home, going all out for the win, instead of settling for a draw?
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 4/1, the Draw at 16/5 and slight Odds On 3/5 for Man City to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 12/5 that Erling Haaland Scores First and 9/5 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.)
Away Win 1-2- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Saturday, August 29th
LIVERPOOL v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
This iconic fixture brings back memories of John Newsome sitting with his Grandad on Raley St, back in 1978, watching the League Cup Final at Old Trafford.
It was a replay from the previous Saturday’s Final that took place at Wembley, which finished 0-0.
Back in the day, that’s what happened when a domestic Final finished in a draw.
Nowadays, the League Cup (which has had various sponsors over the years, currently Carabao) goes straight to penalties, if the game finishes in a draw after 90 minutes.
Back in March 1978, Liverpool, under the guidance of the great Bob Paisley took on Forest, under the legendary Brian Clough, at Old Trafford on the following Wednesday, where a John Robertson converted penalty, saw the Tricky Trees, get their hands on the League Cup Trophy.
Between December 1977 and November 1980, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest met each other 14 times in various competitions, including the FA Cup (1), the League Cup (4), the European Cup (2) and in Division One (7) which is now the Premier League.
Liverpool won 3, Nottingham Forest won 4, with 7 drawn games coming from the others.
The first meeting between the two teams was back in January 1895, with the last occurring in February this year (2026).
There have been 124 meetings either at Anfield or the City Ground, with Liverpool getting the upper hand in nearly half of those games, winning 61, drawing 30 and losing 33.
Probably, the most infamous meeting between the two clubs, is the April 1989 FA Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough.
The memory will live on forever.
Rest in Peace, Hillsborough 97.
You’ll Never Walk Alone
Liverpool left it late against Newcastle at St James Park on Sunday to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
After conceding a goal to trail at the break, Coady Gakpo scored an equaliser just after the break.
However, Newcastle then went up the field and scored a 2nd, within 2 minutes of the Reds’ goal.
In the dying seconds, after the 5 minutes added on to the 90 were up, a rash challenge from Lewis Hall on the new boy Victor Munoz saw the referee point to the spot.
Dominik Szoboszlai converted the penalty to give both teams an opening-day point from a 2-2 draw.
As it turned out, that was the only drawn game of Game Week-1, which was a fitting result for the memory of Kevin ‘King Kev’ Keegan, who would have been watching from above hoping that his teams gained a point apiece.
Curtis Jones (who has the distinction of having the letters ‘Scouser’ in his name, has left Liverpool and joined Inter Milan for a fee of around £30 Million.
A possible replacement for Curtis, is Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, however, the Seagulls are not playing ball at the moment and have rejected Liverpool’s opening offer of £50 Million.
As with a lot of deals, that one will probably happen if Liverpool increase their bid.
Oliver Glasner’s reign at the City Ground started with a defeat.
Nottingham Forest lost 1-0 against Leeds United at home on Saturday, with the away team scoring late on to get the points.
Ola Aina and Cunha picked up a Yellow Card which could become a recurring theme for the Forest players especially the Right-Back Ola, so it might be worth looking at the Cards Market when making a bet.
Although it’s early days, unfortunately, along with the rest of the opening day losers, the Tricky Trees sit joint bottom of the table with zero points from the opening game.
Betfred offer Liverpool at Odds On 4/9, the Draw at 18/5 and 11/2 for Nottingham Forest to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 10/3 that Alexander Isak Scores First and 6/4 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 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
BOURNEMOUTH v EVERTON
15.00 in England
It could be said that Bournemouth were unlucky not to come away from the Etihad with at least a point after a brilliant performance against Man City on Sunday.
Marcus Tavernier scored in the 1st-half to give the Cherries a lead and although City were the more dominant team, Marco Rose’s boys did put in a good shift and held out the home team until the 84th minute, when City equalised, then scored a late winner in the 91st to knock the stone out of the Cherries.
The Juventus Goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio is coming into the MKM Stadium, initially on a season-long loan with a fee of £12 Million agreed between the two clubs, if the loan move is successful.
Everton have started the New Season brilliantly getting an opening-day victory over Crystal Palace from a 2-0 scoreline.
Goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry, either side of the break gave the Toffees the win over the Eagles and put Everton joint top of the Premier League with a 100% record of 1 win from 1.
Granted, Everton, like Brighton, Arsenal, Brentford, Hull, Chelsea, Man City, Ipswich and Leeds have only played 1 game but everyone loves seeing their team at the top end of the league table, regardless of how many games have been played.
The faithful can all sing,
‘We’re going to win the league!’
Betfred offer Bournemouth at 21/20, the Draw at 13/5 and 5/2 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Evanilson Scores First and slight Odds On 5/6 that there are Under 2.5 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.)
Draw 1-1- Get 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
COVENTRY v HULL
15.00 in England
Coventry have aquired 19 year-old Striker Sidiki Cherif from Fenerbahce for a fee of around £21 Million.
Fenerbahce have only just paid £15 Million to the French club Angers for Sidiki who was on loan at the Turkish club last season, instantly making a £6 Million profit.
Added to that signing is Taiwo Awoniyi, coming in from Nottingham Forest with Cov paying Forest £9 Million.
Sidiki wasn’t in the opening-day squad for the game against Arsenal, however, Taiwo was a substitute and came on for the last 20 minutes.
Gustavo Hamer saw some game time too and despite not playing for that long in the fixture, just 10 minutes at the end, it’s more than likely that Gustavo will start today against Hull, as the 10-minute cameo, showed the ex-Blade was an upgrade.
The predicted loss from a 3-0 scoreline, did occur, with Coventry being outplayed by the Premier League Champions.
The Sky Blues didn’t put in a tackle until almost 70 minutes were up on the clock and became the first team since Opta started records to not have a touch in the opposition box, or complete a tackle in the 1st-half of a Premier League game.
Added to those stats, Coventry had just one effort on target throughout the game, that being a tame header from Jack Rudoni in the 86th-minute.
In last season’s Championship promotion campaign, both games between these two finished in a draw by a 0-0 score, which could suggest a low-scoring fixture today.
Hull simply outperformed Manchester United in what is easily the shock result of the opening game weekend.
First-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy gave the Tigers the Peace Prize of all 3-points, from a 2-0 scoreline, meaning Hull join Brighton, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Chelsea, Man City, Ipswich, Leeds at the summit of the Premier League with 3 points from 1 game.
If Sergej Jakirovic’s men play anywhere close to that standard, then the rest of the Premier League should stand up and take note.
Sergej is the first Bosnian to manage in the Premier League.
Hull have had a bid of £7 Million for the Stoke Winger Sorba Thomas, turned down.
A couple of Million more, should see that deal done.
Betfred offer Coventry at slight Odds On 9/10, the Draw at 11/4 and 11/4 for Hull to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/10 that Both Teams DON’T Score and 11/4 that there are Under 1.5 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.)
Draw 0-0- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
TOTTENHAM v NEWCASTLE
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
Tottenham have signed Savinho from Man City, paying the Citizens £75 Million (which could potentially rise to £85 Million with add-ons) for the Brazilian Winger.
There could be another raid on the Etihad, with Tottenham also interested in signing Omar Marmoush, with talks on going.
It was significant that although Omar was in the Man City squad for the game against Bournemouth, the Egyptian didn’t see any game time.
From Saturday’s opener against Brentford, Tottenham definitely need a few more players and someone to put the ball in the net.
Richarlison will always give 100% but isn’t the player to score copious amounts of goals and it was a surprise to see the Brazilian start ahead of Dominic Solanke.
That said, Dominic isn’t a prolific goal scorer either so Tottenham still need a decent Striker with Omar fitting that description.
The disastrous 3-0 loss against the Bees at the GTech Stadium had the home fans chanting the usual tune, aimed at Roberto De Zerbi-
‘You’re getting sacked in the morning!’
Bit harsh!
If Tottenham perform as they did against Brentford, it’s quite possible that Sandro Tonali (who was invisible against the Bees) jumps onto the Newcastle Bus and heads back up the road to St James Park.
Despite reservations from the Toon Army and the so-called pundits, Newcastle performed brilliantly against Liverpool at St James Park on Sunday.
Most assumed that Matthias Jaissle wasn’t going to bring much to the Newcastle team who were missing several players from Eddie Howe’s era.
Those being Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon who have all been sold, added to the likes of Dan Burn, Joelinton and Tino Livramento who are injured at the moment.
The team put out by Matthias was the youngest in 21 years with an average age of 24.
Sean Steur (18), Lewis Miley (20), Lewis Hall (21) and William Osula (23) all started in Mr Jaissle’s first Premier League lineup.
Added to those, the old boy Yoane Wissa (29) had a great game, showing the form of his Brentford days a couple of years ago and why Newcastle bought the lad.
Matthias Jaissle is only 38 himself.
On the initial showing, the Toon Army should be excited about the season ahead and shouldn’t worry too much about losing Eddie Howe.
Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock scored the Magpies’ goals in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool, which needed a last-minute penalty to give the away team a point after Lewis Hall upended Victor Munoz in the 95th minute.
Betfred offer Tottenham at 23/20, the Draw at 11/4 and 21/10 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Dominic Solanke Scores First and 2/1 that Yoane Wissa 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!
***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Konstantinos
Tzolakis- Hull
RIGHT-BACK- Rico Lewis- Man City
CENTRE-BACK- Semi Ajayi- Hull
CENTRE-BACK- Lewis Dunk- Brighton
LEFT-BACK- Nobel Mendy- Hull
MIDFIELDER- Jack Hinshelwood- Brighton
MIDFIELDER- Romeo Lavia- Chelsea
MIDFIELDER- Mamadou Sangare- Brentford
FORWARD- Cole Palmer- Chelsea
FORWARD- Yoane Wissa- Newcastle
FORWARD- Christos Tzolis- Arsenal
STAR MAN- Jack Hinshelwood- Brighton
***Last Week’s Winning Tips-
Arsenal To Win- 1/7
Everton To Win- 11/10
Man City To Win- 4/9
Chelsea To Win- 21/20
Correct Scores-
Arsenal v Coventry 3-0- 11/2
Correct Tips-
Brighton v Aston Villa-
Over 3.5 Goals- 6/4
Sunday, August 30th
CHELSEA v BRIGHTON
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
The final game of the opening weekend produced a cracker, with Chelsea getting the victory over Fulham from a 3-2 scoreline.
Joao Pedro scored after 31 seconds to give the Blues a lead.
Fulham did score an equaliser, mainly due to the Chelsea Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez not being at his best, Robert was culpable for the 2nd Fulham goal too.
That’s probably what Xabi Alonso needs to address because Chelsea are brilliant going forward, however, they do look vulnerable at the back and the GK will cost the Blues the title.
Cole Palmer was superb throughout, which then raises the question, why did Thomas Tuchel leave the ex-Man City man at home?
Cole would have been the ideal person to bring on against Argentina, hold the ball and at least draw a foul from the Argentinians.
Just to reiterate, England won’t win anything under a German Coach.
Whether one wants to take that as racism, abuse or whatever, it’s just true.
Why should a German want England to win anything?
Morgan Rogers scored the Blues’ 2nd, with Mr Palmer adding a 3rd.
Fulham did score a 2nd themselves, which, on a personal note, was annoying, because this EveryTip column predicted a 3-1 win for Chelsea.
Chelsea join Brighton, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Hull, Man City, Ipswich and Leeds at the summit of the Premier League with 3 points from 1 game.
Brighton blew away Aston Villa at the Amex on Sunday.
Goals from Victor Lindelof (Own Goal), Maxim De Cuyper and Jack Hinshelwood (2) gave the Seagulls the opening-day victory from a 4-0 scoreline.
That means Fabian Hurzeler’s team sit at the Top of the Premier League Table with the same 3 points as Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Hull, Chelsea, Man City, Ipswich and Leeds, all with 1 win from 1 but Brighton at the summit having scored the most goals.
Betfred offer Chelsea at Evens 1/1, the Draw at 11/4 and 5/2 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Cole Palmer Scores First and 16/5 that Diego Gomez 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 2-2- Get 12/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
LEEDS UNITED v BRENTFORD
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
Leeds left it late to get all 3-points against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday.
In a fairly even affair, it was left to Anton Stach to score the solitary winning goal in the 88th minute to give the Whites a brilliant start to the campaign.
Leeds, along with Brighton, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Hull, Chelsea, Man City and Ipswich, sit joint Top of the Premier League with a 100% 1/1 record, leaving the West Yorkshire Puddings combining their famous ‘Marching On Together’ tune with ‘Top, Top, Top, Top, Top of the League!’
Leeds have brought in Nico Elvida from Borussia Monchengladbach, paying the Germans £7 Million plus add-ons.
Brentford were magnificent against Tottenham on Saturday.
With most expecting the new-look Spurs to shine this season, the opening-day game saw the Bees overrun a poor Tottenham side who just looked as if they were the same team as under the ex-Brentford Gaffer Thomas Frank.
Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode scored the goals in the 3-0 win, which could have been 4, if Igor Thiago had converted a penalty, however, Igor hit his tame shot against the post.
Brentford join Brighton, Arsenal, Everton, Hull, Chelsea Man City, Ipswich and Leeds at the summit of the Premier League with 3 points from 1 game.
Betfred offer Leeds United at 6/4, the Draw at 5/2 and 7/4 for Brentford to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 9/2 that Dominic Calvert-Lewin Scores First and 7/5 that Igor Thiago 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 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
SUNDERLAND v FULHAM
14.00 in England
Sky Sports
In a pretty even affair at Portman Rd, Sunderland were eventually on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss, with the home team Ipswich, scoring the winner in the 90th minute.
The Ecuadorian Nilson Angulo, who played in the recent World Cup, scored the Black Cats’ goal at the end of the 1st-half, however, the Tractor Boys got the late winner after scoring the opener in the 24th minute.
Sunderland had 62% possession, more shots (11 compared to 10) and more shots on target (4 compared to 3), however, it proved that stats are just that, it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net more times than the opponent, which wins football games.
Sunderland have signed the Royal Antwerp Midfielder Jules Ahoka, on a 5-year contract, paying the Belgian club around £8 Million.
Although Fulham suffered defeat against Chelsea on Monday Night Football, the Cottagers can take some positives from the game.
Josh King and Gonzalo Garcia scored the Fulham goals in the 3-2 defeat against the Blues.
It was ultimately a loss but Fulham did play well and Alvaro Arbeloa should be proud of his players considering this was the first game of the season.
That said, Fulham sit at the bottom end of the table, along with Aston Villa, Coventry, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Sunderland, who all suffered opening day defeats and have, like Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest, Nil Points!
Betfred offer Sunderland at 8/5, the Draw at 23/10 and 7/4 for Fulham to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/2 that Brian Brobbey Scores First and 9/4 that there are Under 1.5 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.)
Home Win 1-0- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
MANCHESTER UNITED v IPSWICH
16.30 in England
Sky Sports
Manchester United were taught a footballing lesson against Hull at the MKM Stadium on Saturday.
Whilst most assumed Carrick’s Casuals would get the opening-day victory, United were literally too casual and were outplayed by the home team.
The Tigers roared more and inflicted a 2-0 defeat on Manchester United who were simply too slow and couldn’t compete with the Hull team who were simply magnificent.
If one of the other promoted teams put in the same standard of performance today, United will lose again.
Marcus Rashford was brought on at half-time but didn’t make a difference.
United have brought in Carlos Baleba from Brighton, which will see the Seagulls eventually receive £70 Million for the Midfielder’s services.
From Saturday’s performance, it does appear that Michael Carrick needs a few more players.
Like those at the top of the table, who all sit with 3-points, the bottom clubs with nil, have to be mentioned.
Aston Villa, Coventry, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Fulham all sit with nil points, propping up the table after 1 game played.
This fixture evokes memories of a historic clash between the two clubs that occurred 31 years ago, back in March 1995.
The following is taken from this EveryTip column published during Covid times back in March 2020.
‘Saturday 4 March 1995
MANCHESTER UNITED 9 v IPSWICH 0
Although these two teams were at the opposite ends of the Premier League table with United at the top and Ipswich at the bottom, Ipswich did actually beat United by a 3-2 scoreline at Portman Rd earlier on in the 1994/95 season, so despite United being favourites at home, no one expected Sir Alex’s Red Devil’s to beat George Burley’s Ipswich by 9 (nine) goals to nil.
Ipswich had Lee Chapman up front.
Lee was a top striker in his day and won the 1991/92 Division One title with Leeds United in the season before the inaugural Premier League start of 1992/93.
As well as a footballer, Lee is also famous for marrying the’Men Behaving Badly’ actress Lesley Ash.
Lee had a stellar career which started in 1978 and finished shortly after this drubbing by United.
In the Ipswich starting eleven back in March 1996 was a certain Neil Thompson who played at Left-Back.
Neil had been at Portman Rd since 1989 and had appeared over 200-times for the Suffolk club.
When the season finished and despite the recurring nightmares from the United-9, which sounds like a group of Manc Scally’s on trial, Neil joined Barnsley FC and with 27-appearances for the Yorkshiremen, gained promotion to the Premier League playing in the historic game against Bradford that sealed the Reds’ promotion to the Promised Land.
Neil started 3-times in the Premier League for Barnsley before moving on but will always be welcome at Oakwell and is a legend to the faithful.
The game against Manchester United, however, is one Neil will probably want to forget.
In October 2019, Leicester beat Southampton by the scoreline of 9-0.
Before that, it was this game at Old Trafford, exactly 25-years ago that held the record for the highest Premier League victory.
Roy Keane got the goals going by scoring the opener after just 16-minutes.
‘Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy, Andy Cole, when he gets the ball he scores a goal, Andy, Andy Cole’ scored United’s 2nd in the 24th-minute and the 1st of his 5-goals in the match.
So clearly Andy scores goals.
Mr Cole the goal scored his 2nd and United’s 3rd before the break, to take the Red Devils in at the interval with a 3-nil advantage.
Andy rounded off his hat-trick in the 53rd-minute, a minute before Mark Hughes got in on the act and scored United’s 5th.
Ipswich were now reeling with not even an hour played.
Big Hughesy scored his 2nd and the Red Devils’ 6th, 5-minutes after his opener.
Cole the goal decided that he had gone too long without netting, 12-minutes to be correct and scored his 4th and United’s 1,2,3-7th, with still half an hour or so to go.
Seven Nil was great for the United faithful, yet Paul Ince decided, that wasn’t enough and made it 8, in favour of Sir Alex’s boys.
With seconds remaining Ipswich thought they had got away with just an 8-0 thrashing.
Not so, Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy scored his 5th and United’s history-making 9th to record the biggest Premier League victory which took nearly 25-years to match.
What was interesting in the game, not that the 9-0 scoreline wasn’t interesting, was that Roy Keane actually played as a Right-Back, however, not much defending was needed from Big Roy who didn’t need to wash his shirt afterwards.
Another interesting fact from back in the day of the 9-0 victory was that only 2-substitutions were allowed in 1995, from 3-chosen on the bench.
Nowadays, 3-can be used from 7-named in a match-day squad of 18.
The youths will be scratching their heads thinking ‘only 2-subs??’
In the near future, when Football reconvenes, there will be 5-substitutes, plus 1 being used in the event of a head injury.
Let’s hope that rule doesn’t get abused.
Following the 9-0 drubbing of Ipswich, United went on to finish 2nd, in the 1994/95 Premier League table, pipped by a single point on the final day by Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn.
‘Pipped’ because Blackburn actually lost their final fixture and United just needed to score a winner against West Ham to claim their 3rd-successive Premier League title.
Unfortunately, West Ham held out for a 1-1 draw against United and despite the loss against Liverpool, Blackburn won the Premier League title.
United won back the title in the following 1995/96 season to make it 3-titles from 4.
Even winning the 1996/97 title making it 4 from 5, however, again couldn’t make it 3-in a row when Arsenal sealed the title in 1997/98, the year Barnsley FC ended their one and only stint in the top flight by being relegated back to the Championship.
The 9-0 victory against Ipswich is still a Premier League record with Leicester only managing to match that this season.
Andy Cole, Andy Cole, Andy, Andy Cole.’
Ipswich gained an opening-day victory over Sunderland, with Gary O’Neil’s Tractor Boys beating Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats from a 2-1 scoreline.
The New Boy Emersonn scored the opener in the 24th minute which was equalised just before half-time, leaving both teams level at the break.
Jack Clark then scored the winner in the 90th minute to send Ipswich joint top of the Premier League, matching Brighton, Arsenal, Brentford, Everton, Hull, Chelsea, Man City and Leeds, all with opening day wins.
Ipswich have received £10 Million from Stoke for the Transfer of the Tractor Boys Striker George Hirst, which is a great deal for everyone involved as George is a decent Championship-level player but not a Premier League Striker at the moment.
Betfred offer Manchester United at Odds On 2/5, the Draw at 4/1 and 13/2 for Ipswich to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 5/1 that Bruno Fernandes Scores First and 21/20 that Manchester United Score in Both Halves.
(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 3-0- Get 9/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Monday, August 31st
ASTON VILLA v ARSENAL
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
The Ezri Konsa Derby!
In a twist of fate, Ezri Konsa has joined today’s opponents Arsenal, with the Gunners paying the Villains £51 Million for the Centre-Backs services.
The loss of Villa’s star Defender was clear for all to see, from the display in the opener.
Aston Villa struggled against Brighton at the Amex on Sunday, conceding 4 goals (1 being an Own Goal by Victor Lindelof) to lose the game on the South Coast by a 4-0 score.
Villa have signed the Japan World Cup Goalkeeper Zion Suzuki for £30 Million from Parma.
The signing of Zion possibly means that Emiliano Martinez will be leaving Villa Park in the near future.
Unai Emery needs to replace Ezri and Aston Villa are currently looking at Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with a bid of £18 Million recently rejected by the Saints.
That deal will probably be done if Villa increase their offer.
Fikayo Timori from AC Milan is another potential target.
One that has been done is Villa have brought in the ex-Crystal Palace and Manchester United Right-Back Aaron Wan-Bissaka who comes in from West Ham on a season-long loan with a conditional obligation to buy.
Aston Villa have been in talks with Club Brugge over the potential signing of the Ecuadorian Defender Joel Ordonez.
Joel did play a couple of games for Ecuador in the recent World Cup.
Ollie Watkins was left out of the squad against Brighton with on going Transfer Speculation that Ollie is heading to the Saudi club Al-Hilal.
Emiliano Martinez was also missing from the Villa squad, again with rumours circulating that Emi is about to leave.
Tottenham could be a possible destination for the Argentinian Goalkeeper.
As mentioned, Ezri Konsa has left Villa Park and headed for the Emirates, however, it’s unclear whether the England Defender will play in today’s fixture, with Ezri missing the first game of the season against Coventry.
It’s more than likely that Mr Konsa will start on the bench, with Mikel Arteta sticking with the same starting 11 that comfortably beat Coventry on Friday.
Goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, meant Arsenal started the defence of their title with a 3-0 win.
The Gunners do look the strongest out of the 20 Premier League clubs and could match the 2003/04 Invincibles by going all season without losing a game.
Arsenal are 1 of 9 teams, along with Brighton, Brentford, Everton, Hull, Chelsea, Man City, Ipswich, Leeds that sit with 3 points from 1 game played.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at 11/2, the Draw at 16/5 and Odds On 4/7 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 4/1 that Kai Havertz Scores First and 11/8 that Arsenal 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.)
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