All twenty Premier League teams play over two days with some potentially huge games in the offing this weekend. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is under huge pressure after just four matches of the campaign as he comes up against a manager in the form of Steve Bruce who is already being speculated to land the Newcastle job should Pardew depart.
The Newcastle manager is favourite for the sack race with odds of 1/3 (BetVictor) to leave his post despite being assured by his chairman his job is safe. Meanwhile Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal side are looking for their first win since the opening weekend of the season against an Aston Villa side who sit in second place in the table.
Four teams are also still looking for their first wins of the season, but the biggest clash of the weekend – and the season so far – is Manchester City against Chelsea at the Etihad. This article offers tips and previews for four games we have selected from the weekend’s fixtures.
Saturday 20th September 2014
Aston Villa v Arsenal (15:00) – Arsenal to win and both teams to score (11/4 with Bet365)
This Aston Villa side is full of pace and suits games in which they don’t see much of the ball. Their counter attacking style was seen at its best on the opening day of last season when they came away 3-1 winners against Arsenal at the Emirates and also in their 1-0 away win at Anfield last weekend. Paul Lambert’s side will be hoping for a similar in this game and are priced at 4/1 with Coral for the win.
In this fixture last season, Arsenal gained revenge for the previously mentioned opening day defeat with a 2-1 win. With both of last term’s games seeing both teams score, we are tipping this to happen again despite Villa having only conceded one goal in the current campaign. We can also see Arsenal wining this game as they look for their first three points since the opening weekend. Arsenal to win is priced at 4/5 with Betfred and Arsenal to win and both teams to score looks great value at 11/4 with Bet365.
West Ham United v Liverpool (17:30) – Both teams to score (3/4 with Ladbrokes)
Liverpool will be looking to bounce back after a shock defeat to Aston Villa at home whilst the Hammers drew 2-2 in an entertaining game in which they came from behind twice against Hull City. A home win is 17/4 with BetVictor whilst a draw is 11/4 with Totesport. We are tipping both teams to score in this one due to Liverpool still looking shaky at the back despite bringing in three defenders in the summer. They do however have so many options in attack, something they didn’t have last season, so we can see them scoring as well as conceding – Ladbrokes are offering 3/4 for this to happen.
A big question over Liverpool this season is whether they can deal with midweek games as they return to the Champions League. This is the first time they will have had to deal with this potential issue and manager Brendan Rodgers will be keen to silence the doubters with a win (priced at 7/10 with Coral). As Rodgers is likely to make changes to his starting XI with seven games in 21 days, we would steer clear of selected players to score until the teams are announced.
Sunday 21st September 2014
Manchester City v Chelsea (16:00) – Under 2.5 goals (21/20 with BetVictor)
A clash between the two favourites to lift the Premier League title as Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea come into what many will view as their toughest game of the season. The home side here will look to return to winning ways after their losing and then drawing in their last two. They are priced at 6/4 to do so with Coral, whilst a draw is 12/5.
Chelsea will hope for a repeat of last season’s result in this one, where they managed to frustrate the opposition and break on the counter. They won both clashes with City last year and to make it three in three they are best priced at 2/1 with Ladbrokes. However we can see a home win or draw in this one, but with it being a clash between two such evenly matched sides we would opt to explore other betting markets.
As Chelsea are likely to “park the bus” in this one we can see it being a game of few goals so avoid any handicap betting. Less than 2.5 goals is our tip for this one which is priced at 21/20 with BetVictor. Our prediction for the final score is 1-1 as we expect it to be a tense and nervy affair between the two title favourites.
Everton v Crystal Palace (19:45) – Romelu Lukaku to score and Everton to win (Evens with Sky Bet)
After winning their first league game of the season against West Bromwich Albion last time out, Everton will be looking to build on this with another victory this time against Crystal Palace. This is the result we expect which is 4/9 with BetVictor. Romelu Lukaku scored his first goal for the side since joining permanently from Chelsea last time out and we are backing him to score again in this fixture. Whether you wish to select him to score first (4/1 with Coral) or for him to score first and for Everton to win is up to you, but we are tipping an Everton win and a goal for the £28 million front man.
Neil Warnock is still in search of his first win since returning to the club after Tony Pulis’s shock departure days before the opening weekend of the season. For Crystal Palace to achieve a second win in two years at Goodison Park they are priced at 15/2 with Coral. A draw is best priced at 7/2 with Bet365 but we can see nothing but a home win as Everton will be too strong for the Eagles. We also cannot see both teams scoring in this game so we recommend you not to select this in a BTTS coupon.