It’s week two of the English Premier League with plenty of intriguing matches. Are Arsenal in crisis already? Can Burnley get another good result at Anfield? Let’s look at the top games and look at the odds available.
Saturday 21 August – Liverpool v Burnley (12.30pm KO)
Liverpool got their Premier League season off to a good start with a 3-0 win at Norwich City. Now they host Burnley, who lost 2-1 at home to Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend. Liverpool had that terrible run of losses at Anfield but ended last season with three wins and a draw.
It was Burnley who ended Liverpool’s long unbeaten home league win. They have only lost one of their last four away games at Anfield, but another good result doesn’t look likely here. A bet on Liverpool to win and be ahead at half and full time has odds of 4/6 at Paddy Power.
Aston Villa v Newcastle United (3pm KO)
Both Aston Villa and Newcastle United lost their opening Premier League games, despite scoring twice. Villa are the hosts here and five of their last six home league matches have seen both teams score. Newcastle look handy up front but still concede too many goals with only two clean sheets in their last eight away league matches . A bet on both teams to score looks good here, that’s 4/6 at Betfair.
Sunday 22 August – Southampton v Manchester United (2pm KO)
Southampton lost at Everton last week and have a tougher task this weekend. They led at Goodison Park but ended up losing 3-1. They have lost Danny Ings, Ryan Bertrand and Jannik Vestergaard during the transfer window, not good news at all. Manchester United put in a highly impressive 5-1 home win over Leeds United last weekend.
United didn’t lose an away game in the Premier League last season but drew too many. They look so powerful up front and if Pogba can keep the assists going, United are going to be real title contenders this season. Back them to get a second win of the season and it’s 13/10 at BetVictor United win in a game with over 2.5 goals scored.
Arsenal v Chelsea (4pm KO)
Losing to Chelsea and then at Manchester City next weekend is the Arteta nightmare If that does happen, then Arsenal will have lost their first three Premier League games. Arsenal lost at Brentford in their opening match and put in a pretty disappointing performance.
There were calls of ‘same old Arsenal’ and they were right. Even with £50m Ben White recruited, you have to wonder why can’t Arsenal defend properly? No wonder there’s no chants of ‘1-0 to the Arsenal.’
Chelsea put in a great display against Crystal Palace last weekend with a 3-0 home win. They looked so good up front and that was without Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker is likely to play this weekend and that can’t be good news for the fragile Arsenal defence. Chelsea can be backed at 3/4 at 888Sport to inflict more misery on Arsenal. As for Arteta, he’s 2/1 at Unibet to be the next Premier League manager to leave his club.