SATURDAY PREMIER LEAGUE: The Striker previews the bumper seven match action in the Premier League which returns after the International Break – all previews include a recommended BETDAQ bet.
WOLVES V LIVERPOOL
12.30pm The Premier League returns with a bang on BETDAQ Betting Exchange with seven fixtures to enjoy on Saturday! That International Break came around very quickly at the start of the season, and it will be nice to settle into a month of domestic football now. We start the day with Wolves hosting Liverpool. Wolves fans will be hoping to catch Liverpool cold here after the International Break because that seems to be their best chance of getting a result. They have started the season very poorly, and although they managed to beat Everton that form is hardly strong. At the moment you’d have to say Wolves are definitely in the mix for relegation this season. Liverpool, on the other hand, have been ticking the games off nicely since their opening draw with Chelsea. They’ve had three wins, but it hasn’t been without drama – when is it ever without drama with Liverpool! They did exceptionally well to come back from 1-0 down and a man down against Newcastle away from home. Truth be told Newcastle should have closed out that game, but you have to hand it to Liverpool; they keep attacking!
Bournemouth caught them cold taking an early lead at Anfield, but that was quickly turned around. To be honest I find it hard to see past a comfortable Liverpool win here; Wolves just haven’t been good enough for a while now. The 1.45 looks a nice price on Liverpool, and it’s definitely an option for any weekend Acca in my opinion. The market is very interesting on goals here – I know Liverpool play a very open game, but I was surprised to see Both Teams To Score trading odds on. Wolves have been poor going forward for a while now, and scored the least amount of goals in the Premier League last season. Over 2.5 goals also looks a little short at 1.51, but Liverpool could easily cover that on their own. I know Liverpool aren’t solid at the back, indeed they have a lot of issues there so I won’t go mad with the stakes, but Both Teams Not To Score looks cracking value here at 2.26. I couldn’t put anyone off the Liverpool win here, but Wolves are so limited going forward I fancy Liverpool to keep a clean sheet on the way to winning.
The Striker Says:
Two points win Both Teams Not To Score at 2.26 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/WolLfc
ASTON VILLA V CRYSTAL PALACE
3pm We have a very busy afternoon as we return to action with five games kicking off at 3pm. I have to say I was surprised to see Manchester United v Brighton not moved for TV, and I’m sure everyone will be focusing on that fixture! Nevertheless, we start the action with Aston Villa hosting Crystal Palace. Both sides will be reasonably happy with their starts to the season – Crystal Palace actually have a point more at the moment! Aston Villa have two wins and two losses; but those losses did come against Newcastle and Liverpool. A little worrying to see them concede so many goals, but they have been playing more attacking football under Emery. Crystal Palace will be very happy with seven points from their four games, but you have to say that they have had a relatively easy fixture list apart from the loss to Arsenal. They did well to draw with Brentford, but you’d expect them to beat Sheffield United and Wolves who will both be in the relegation battle this season. The stats from Crystal Palace were quite poor last season, but you have to say they play much better football under Roy Hodgson – they seemed lost without him, but they’ll have to deal with that eventually!
This should be an interesting game though, and I’m sure we’ll have some big opinions either side of the book on the Aston Villa price. They are trading bang on evens (2.0) at the time of writing with Crystal Palace 4.2 and the draw is 3.8. We usually have very tight games between these two – only 36% of the meetings have had Over 2.5 goals. If you fancy another very cagey affair, Under 2.5 goals is trading 2.01 which does make appeal at odds against (marginally), but Emery does play an open and attacking game now. The long-term history between the sides is completely even – from the 14 meetings they’ve both won six with two draws – it must be one of the most even records in the Premier League! Although the sides have a very cagey track record, they have both conceded so many goals this season I fancy a small bet on Both Teams To Score at 1.82. I think we’ll see a few mistakes here at the back from both.
The Striker Says:
One point win Both Teams To Score at 1.82 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AvlCry
FULHAM V LUTON TOWN
3pm Next we have Fulham hosting Luton Town, and although this won’t be the focus of the 3pm games it is a very interesting one. It will be very interesting to see how Luton can get on against a side who came up from the Championship last season. I know Fulham had a great finish last season, but their xG figures were poor and they were very lucky not to concede as many goals as chances they conceded! They might have been a on a few punters list as outsiders or dark horses to get relegated this season, but you have to give them credit for grinding out results – they’ll likely finish mid-table again this season just on the lower side rather than the higher side. Luton have lost their opening three games but they have had a difficult start – their first two games were away to Brighton and Chelsea, and while they played much better against West Ham in their first away game they weren’t good enough to get a result. Home form will be hugely important to them this season, but you’d have to say at the moment they don’t look up to Premier League standard.
The Luton story is an incredible one, and it was great seeing the stadium on Sky Sports when they played West Ham as Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher walked through the stands which is basically someone’s back garden as well, however we all know money talks in the Premier League and that’s where Luton fall down. Fulham come into the game as the odds on favourites at 1.71 with Luton 5.7 and the draw is 4.1. I wouldn’t be the biggest fan of Fulham to be honest, they concede too many chances for my liking however the 1.71 is big enough to back here. Luton have conceded chances for fun away from home this season, and I know this is a step down in quality of opposition, Fulham do have reasonably good attacking figures. They can out class Luton here. This isn’t one to go mad with the stakes on, but I’d have Fulham a couple of ticks shorter.
The Striker Says:
One point win Fulham to beat Luton Town at 1.71 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/FulLut
MANCHESTER UNITED V BRIGHTON
3pm Next we have the highlight fixture of the day, probably the weekend in my opinion and it’s very surprising that it’s kicking off at 3pm. I know the sides have European commitments next week but I’d have this on one of the prime TV slots! Manchester United host Brighton as they come into this game under immense pressure. The Premier League is all about fine margins, and we saw just how fine those margins are in the Arsenal v United game prior to the International Break. United “took” a 2-1 lead with minutes to go but VAR ruled it offside by the smallest of margins, then Arsenal scored and things took a dramatic turnaround. If United had won that game we would be having a different conversation about the owners situation and such; but here we are. I said prior to the season United would be judged on their results against Spurs and Arsenal at the start of the season, now they’ve lost those games and they’ve looked pretty average against Wolves and Nottingham Forest too. Another loss here could see some drama – we already have a public debate between the manager and Sancho.
Brighton will be hoping to benefit from the problems at Old Trafford, and in fairness they couldn’t be in a better position. They are played with confidence and creating loads of chances too. They’ve won three of their four games, and although they lost 3-1 to West Ham they finished that game with a very high xG figure – classic Brighton creating lots of chances and not taking them you might say! United have struggled to create chances at the start of the season, and I just can’t have them as short as 2.22 here. The Brighton bet is pretty tempting at 3.3 just purely because they have been so good going forward – I couldn’t put anyone off that but I’m happy to have the draw on our side here too so the United lay jumps off the page at 2.22. I would have United much higher given their opening performances, and the lay is my best bet of the day. I feel we’re getting so much value that it’s worth a Max Bet.
The Striker Says:
Five points lay (liability) Manchester United to beat Brighton at 2.22 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/MunBha
TOTTENHAM V SHEFFIELD UNITED
3pm Much like Manchester United, another club seemingly full of drama all the time is Spurs and they host Sheffield United this week. Ange Postecoglou seems to have a handle on things at the moment anyway – I can’t see him any outbursts like Conte did; although you never know what Spurs can do to a manager! His main focus of outbursts seems to be the media at the moment, it was the same at Celtic too. With the win over Man United, Spurs find themselves starting the weekend sitting in second. They’ve only dropped points with a draw away to Brentford to start the season, but apart from the United game they have had an easy fixture list – they have beaten Bournemouth and Burnley; two sides you’d expect them to beat despite being away from home. It was a sign of the times at Spurs too that they weren’t massively odds on to win those games, but you couldn’t really fault them. Of course, there’s never a dull moment at Spurs – in between those relatively easy wins they got dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Fulham; they played a weakened side and paid the price.
This is another fixture that they should be winning, especially at home. Sheffield United have looked pretty poor thus far, and they sit just outside the relegation zone with one point from their four games. That point came against Everton too which is hardly worth raving about given how limited Everton have looked early in the season. Spurs are actually trading the shortest price of any side in the Premier League this weekend, and that doesn’t happen often! The market is confident on a home win here with Spurs trading 1.32 at the time of writing. I can’t see past a Spurs win here to be honest, but we’ll have to look around the side markets for some value. Sheffield United haven’t exactly been shipping goals for fun, and they kept Manchester City down to a one goal win too – obviously they had home advantage in that game but they could make things difficult for Spurs who should grind out a win. I’m happy to back Under 3.5 goals at a nice price of 1.7. The market is expecting goals here but I don’t agree.
The Striker Says:
Two points win Under 3.5 goals at 1.7 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/TotShu
WEST HAM V MANCHESTER CITY
3pm We finish the Saturday 3pm games with West Ham hosting Manchester City. After four games, City are the only side left with a 100% record and to be honest it’s already hard to not see them winning the title. It’s exceptionally early I know, but I just don’t think Arsenal or Liverpool are going to be good enough to stop them. You wouldn’t even say the others are in the title race outside those three, and City could easily have the league over early this season in my opinion. They do have a reasonably tricky fixture here though; West Ham have started life without Declan Rice on fire and started this weekend sitting inside the Top Four after three wins and a draw from their opening four games. They haven’t had an easy fixture list either as they’ve beaten Chelsea and Brighton – those two sides will say that they were unlucky to be beaten looking at the xG figures and perhaps that’s right. We’ll see how the Hammers get on against the best side in Europe now. It’s hard to fault City, and they finally got out of first gear with a 5-1 win over Fulham prior to the International Break.
Before the five goals against Fulham they were grinding out wins. They had to settle for a one goal win (2-1) over Sheffield United and the same (1-0) against Newcastle. It will be interesting to see how West Ham approach this game because if they play an open and attacking brand of football surely that will be their downfall. Any side that tries to go toe-to-tie with City this season will come up short in my opinion, they just get out gunned in every department. You have to give West Ham huge credit how they have started the season, especially losing their best player during the summer too, but I just can’t see past a comfortable City win here. They have been perfect this season, and their winning run can continue here. I’d have them a couple of ticks shorter than their current 1.51 and they are a confident bet to finish up the 3pm fixtures. I’d happily include City in any weekend Acca too!
The Striker Says:
Three points win Manchester City to beat West Ham at 1.51 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/WesMnc
NEWCASTLE V BRENTFORD
5.30pm We finish Saturday with Newcastle hosting Brentford, and this should be a cracking game. Both sides like to play open and attacking football so surely we’ll have some drama to finish the day. Newcastle need a win after three losses in a row prior to the International Break. There’s no doubt that they had a difficult fixture list – Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton – but they should have closed out the Liverpool game here. They were a goal and a man up, and you just can’t afford to throw that advantage away in the Premier League. Chelsea and Manchester United have started the season poorly, and to be honest look quite average, so Newcastle could actually hold onto their Top Four spot but they need to get the winning feeling back. Brentford are unbeaten in their four games, but they have had three draws from those four games. Draws against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, especially with home advantage, are very disappointing results but they have been creating some good xG figures. The performance against Crystal Palace was very average though, and if they play even close to that standard here then Newcastle will win.
It’s a massive week for Newcastle as they start their Champions League journey against AC Milan. Their fans have a wild ride this winter with that Group, but they must be kicking themselves too because they’re hardly getting out of a Group with PSG, Dortmund and AC Milan in it! They come into this game trading as the odds on favourites, currently 1.59 for the home win with Brentford 6.6 and the draw is 4.4 at the time of writing. Newcastle have won the last three meetings between the sides, including a smooth 5-1 win the last time they had home advantage. They have been a little sloppy at the back this season, but obviously they have had a very difficult fixture list too. I am tempted by the Newcastle bet, but I like Both Teams To Score at the bigger price of 1.82. I can see a very open and entertaining game here with chances for both sides. Over 2.5 goals is trading 1.73 but I feel BTTS looks a very nice value bet.
The Striker Says:
Three points win Both Teams To Score at 1.82 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/NewBnt
