Friday night football is a new feature of this Premier League season and this time it’s Chelsea and Liverpool’s turn to begin the weekend’s action early. The Reds will travel to Stamford Bridge hoping they can give Antonio Conte his first taste of defeat as Chelsea manager and put a dent in any title aspirations his side may have this season.
Also with their eyes set on a title challenge are Manchester United who are in action against Watford. It’s an important match for the Red Devils as they will need to show they have what it takes to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to Manchester City last weekend.
While few would consider Tottenham to be title contenders just yet, a few more performances like the one they showed us against Stoke last Sunday might just change that. This time they take on a Sunderland side who were torn apart by Romelu Lukaku during Monday night’s 3-0 defeat to Everton. It was a fine all round display by Ronald Koeman’s Everton who will be able to make it four league victories in a row if they can see off the challenge of Middlesbrough at Goodison Park this Saturday.
Friday 16th September 2016
Chelsea v Liverpool (20:00) – Over 2.5 goals (5/6 with Sky Bet)
Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Burnley seems to be well and truly behind them and since then they have looked quite the imposing side. They were the better team when securing a useful point away at Tottenham and then thrashed current title holders Leicester 4-1 in a match that truly displayed the pace and skill they possess in attack. With Liverpool’s mojo well and truly back, they look like grabbing themselves some goals against a Chelsea defence that has managed just one clean sheet this season and which may also be without John Terry who is undergoing scans on an ankle injury.
Chelsea’s attacking threat can’t be ignored either however. Although a little less dynamic than the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, Diego Costa has been in good goalscoring form, netting four times this season and he has the support of a rejuvenated Eden Hazard. If he can avoid getting himself sent off in this high stakes contest then he’ll be a constant threat to a Liverpool back line who have conceded an average of two goals a game so far this season. With goals looking a strong likelihood in this match, betting on over 2.5 goals looks like a safe option.
Saturday 17th September 2016
Everton v Middlesbrough (17:30) – Everton to win (4/5 with Coral)
Everton secured just five wins at Goodison Park during the whole of last season in the Premier League and it’s fair to say that their home was not a happy place. Under Ronald Koeman however, things look like being different this year. Already they are playing with more confidence than they did towards the latter end of Roberto Martinez’s reign and with Romelu Lukaku now back amongst the goals, Everton look set to maintain their strong start to the season.
As for Middlesbrough, it’s hard to see them being able to deal with the Toffees on Saturday. They have made a decent start to life in the Premier League, with five points from four games but Everton will be the toughest side they have faced so far and they don’t quite look like having the defensive resolve to keep Everton’s wealth of attacking players at bay. The Merseyside outfit haven’t shone on home soil just yet but with confidence high following their recent thrashing of Sunderland, it’s very hard to bet against them here.
Sunday 18th September 2016
Watford v Manchester United (12:00) – Both teams to score (evens with Betfair)
Although it may only be early on in the season, Watford’s comeback against West Ham last week may go down as one of the best we will see this year. The Hornets turned down a two goal deficit to win the game 4-2, handing them their first win of the season. Although he didn’t get his name on the scoresheet, Roberto Pereyra, who signed from Juventus in the summer, was a key part of Watford’s offensive play and he looks like making a huge difference to an attack which struggled in the latter half of last season.
The Red Devils have yet to fire blank in the Premier League this season and although they needed a very late Marcus Rashford goal to spare them in their last away match against Hull, they should find things a little easier against Watford’s defence which hasn’t managed to keep a clean sheet at home since February. Mourinho is still in the process of figuring out his best starting XI and so it’s far from certain they’ll have the beating of a buoyant Watford side but it does look likely that both teams will find the back of the net here.
Tottenham v Sunderland (16:30) – Tottenham to win with a -1 handicap (19/20 with Coral)
It took Harry Kane nine games to grab his first league goal last season so he’ll have been a relieved man to have opened this year’s scoring account after just four weeks. The 23 year old tapped in against Stoke to complete the rout but it was two of his supporting cast, Heung-Min Son and Christian Eriksen that took the plaudits, the former making his first appearance of the season for his club. If winning 4-0 out last time wasn’t enough, Spurs also have the benefit of welcoming back one of their most important players, Moussa Dembele, who has finally served his six match ban.
Since October last year, when the Belgian midfielder featured, Spurs collected an average of 2.3 points but without him it was just 0.9. His return comes at a bad time for Sunderland who are still seeking their first win of the season and who were simply brushed aside against Everton on Monday night. David Moyes has a lot of work to do if he’s going to keep Sunderland up this season but don’t expect any drastic improvements overnight. The Black Cats have lost their last five matches at White Hart Lane and it’s hard to see this run coming to an end this weekend.