The first weekend of Premier League action saw some great games and one or two shocks as Man United lost at home to Swansea and Aston Villa pulled off a smash and grab raid at Stoke. All of the sides who finished in the top four last season, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal posted victories, and while Arsenal and Liverpool in particular looked far from convincing, their respective managers will be relieved to get off to a winning start.
Coming into the second round of matches we have a couple of very tasty games with Everton versus Arsenal and Man City versus Liverpool looking particularly exciting. So take a look as we bring you betting tips for these and other games as we try to help you beat the bookies and turn a healthy profit from the weekend’s top flight action.
Saturday 23rd August 2014
Everton v Arsenal (17:30) – Everton to be winning at half time (12/5 with BetVictor)
For some time last season it looked as though Everton might pip the Gunners for the fourth and final Champions League place, especially after they beat Arsene Wenger’s men 3-0 at Goodison in April. But the Toffees’ fluffed their lines against Crystal Palace and Southampton and Arsenal finished strongly and Roberto Martinez and his men were left disappointed.
Everton were also disappointed on the opening day of the season when they managed only a 2-2 draw away at newly promoted Leicester. But they have a solid recent record against Arsenal and they will fancy their chances here, especially given the north London club travel to Istanbul to face Besiktas in the Champions League on Tuesday. With the mental and physical exertions Arsenal’s Turkish jaunt will entail we fancy Everton will get at least a draw from this one, but we feel backing the home side to start brightly and be ahead at the break looks a decent option at very nice odds.
Sunday 24th August 2014
Hull City v Stoke City (13:30) – Under 2.5 goals (3/5 with Ladbrokes)
Hull and Stoke both enjoyed decent seasons in 2013-14, the former maintaining their Premier League status and making it to the FA Cup final and the latter earning an impressive ninth place finish. They had contrasting fortunes in the opening weekend of this term, however, as Hull won 1-0 at newly promoted QPR and Stoke lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. Former Man United teammates Steve Bruce and Mark Hughes are ambitious as ever now they are in the management game and we anticipate a tough contest when their sides meet on Sunday.
Hull’s attacking options have been depleted somewhat by the sale of Shane Long to Southampton, while Stoke have bolstered theirs with the signing of 23-year-old Bojan Krkic from Barcelona. In a game that is likely to be tight and congested we feel a single goal could decide it, but deciding which way that goal might go is the tough bit. As such we will instead opt for the relatively safe option of backing under 2.5 goals at odds that look particularly decent given there was only one goal scored over their two league meetings last term.
Sunderland v Manchester United (16:00) – Sunderland +0.5 in the Asian handicap (11/10 with BetVictor)
Things didn’t go quite to plan for Louis van Gaal in his first Premier League match in charge at Manchester United. Despite the pre-match fanfare and the general feeling that things could only get better after the apparently hapless tenure of David Moyes, United contrived to lose 2-1 to Swansea, a side they beat 4-1 away under Moyes on the opening day of last season!
Sunderland, meanwhile, earned a 2-2 draw at West Brom in their first match of the new season, but after beating United twice last season (once in the league, once in the League Cup) Gus Poyet’s men will be well up for inflicting more misery on a United side that looked weak and devoid of fighting spirit on Saturday. While it is certainly possible that LVG will mastermind a turnaround at United and that another Dutchman, Robin van Persie, could return to add a little more attacking impetus, we feel Sunderland will get at least a point here and backing them in the Asian handicap market with a +0.5 goal advantage looks too good to turn down.
Monday 25th August 2014
Manchester City v Liverpool (20:00) – City to be winning at half time and full time (2/1 with Bet365)
The sides who finished first (City) and second last season go head to head on Monday night in an early season clash that might have lasting implications for the destination of this year’s Premier League title. If Liverpool manage to pull off a victory, City will have failed to replicate their outstanding home record of the majority of last season (they won every game until February). While if City manage to get the upper hand with the three points Liverpool will be seen to have overachieved last term on the back of the best player in the division, Luis Suarez.
We think this one will go the way of Manuel Pellegrini’s men, the Chilean having strengthened in key areas of his squad while already having class in almost every position. Liverpool will find Suarez to be simply irreplaceable, and we think they could struggle to make the top four as they try to amalgamate a number of new faces. Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge could cause problems for City, but overall we feel the home side will have the strength, experience and desire to see this one out with relative ease. Backing the home side to be winning at half time and full time looks a solid option as Liverpool – who struggled against Southampton before nicking victory last week – wonder what might have been had they kept hold of their Uruguayan bad boy.