This weekend throws up two of the biggest club fixtures in European football. On Saturday, it’s El Clasico at the Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo has been breaking all sorts of goalscoring records so far this season and arrives into Real Madrid’s game against Barcelona in fantastic form.
Barcelona have been excellent so far this season under Luis Enrique and will fancy their chances in Madrid. They have Lionel Messi and Neymar combining to great effect, and the small matter of a returning Luis Suarez up their sleeve.
In the Premier League, Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal face off for the first time this season when Chelsea visit Manchester United. The game is sure to entertain but even if it doesn’t, the managers’ technical areas will be a site to behold. These two managers are two of the biggest characters in football and former colleagues from their Barcelona coaching days. The fixture promises to be a great one.
Easy Winner – evens (BetVictor)
- West Ham v Manchester City, City to win, draw no bet (2/9) – A Sergio Aguero-powered City looked unstoppable against Spurs last weekend. Taking the draw out of the betting equation and backing City is a banker.
- Real Madrid v Barcelona, over 2.5 goals (11/20) – Barca’s defence has been good so far this season but when you put Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo, James and now potentially Suarez on one pitch, goals are inevitable.
- Blackpool v Derby County, Derby to win, draw no bet (1/4) – Blackpool have been poor this season and Derby’s talented squad are on the march so far.
Medium Risk – 5/1 (BetVictor)
- Manchester United v Chelsea, both teams to score (13/20) – United are a BTTS betting delight; a defence that’s a nightmare and an attack that’s a dream and with Chelsea a much more attacking unit this term this one could well be a goalfest.
- Liverpool v Hull City, both teams to score (4/5) – Both teams were involved in high scoring thrillers at the weekend and the same could well be expected at Anfield with Liverpool’s defence continuing to leak goals every week.
- Sunderland v Arsenal, both teams to score (20/23) – Despite coming off a drubbing at Southampton, Sunderland tend to look brighter at home and Arsenal are struggling defensively.
Long Shot – 94/1 (Coral)
- Sergio Aguero to score first (5/2) – If Aguero keeps up current form, the West Ham defence will struggle to keep him out for long and 5/2 is a great price for him to open the scoring.
- Graziano Pelle to score first (7/2) – Pelle is in great form and he is the focal point of a vibrant new Southampton attack. They put eight past Sunderland and Stoke will be very worried going into this weekend.
- Saido Berahino to score first (5/1) – The young Englishman has looked good this season and tends to find the net when West Brom are playing at home. Crystal Palace will do will to keep him out.