The Premier League returns from the international break with game week nine and we are treated to a number of fantastic matches this Saturday. New managers Jurgen Klopp and Sam Allardyce will be out for their first wins away at Tottenham and West Brom respectively while Everton v Man United, Southampton v Leicester and Crystal Palace v West Ham in-form sides clash in games that promise plenty of action and excitement.
We preview all eight of the day’s football games with online Betfair.com and provide our top tips of from this Saturday’s EPL action.
Tottenham v Liverpool: 2.40 – 3.40 – 2.80
The opening match in game week nine of the EPL as the Premier League returns from the international break sees an injury hit Tottenham Hotspur side welcome the under new management Liverpool, who have their own injury issues, to White Hart Lane looking to secure their first win against the Merseysiders since 2012 after a run of five successive defeats. However, with Liverpool now being led by former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp will they be able to make it six in a row against the North Londoners thanks to the infamous ‘new boss boost’?
The Reds will aided by the fact that Son Heung-min, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb are all out injured for the hosts, while influential defender Eric Dier is suspended after collecting five yellow cards in the first eight games of the season. The away side are missing Joe Gomez and Danny Ings, possibly for the rest of the season, with major injuries while Christian Benteke and Roberto Firminio have both lost the race to be fit for this clash too, so both sides will need to dig deep into their squads for this clash.
Tottenham will be confident on home soil for the game having defeated Man City 4-1 in their last home game and with Liverpool having lost one and drawn three of their last four away from Anfield in all competitions we can certainly see why the home side are the slight favourites. However, Klopp will boost his new team and we’re expecting a close game between two committed sides that come into the match separated by a single point. We feel that the game could go either way between the teams, but with all of the last six meetings seeing at least three goals and both clubs desperate for all three points we’re backing this trend to continue this Saturday lunchtime.
Our money is on +2.5 goals at White Hart Lane at odds of 1.80 with Betfair.com.
Everton v Man United: 3.10 – 3.30 – 2.30
Both Everton and Manchester United come into this match having had fine starts to the season with them sitting seventh and third respectively prior to the start of this weekend’s games. They have taken 13 and 16 points in their eight games so far but after conceding three goals in the first 19 minutes of their last EPL match against Arsenal before the international break it is the visitors to Goodison Park that will be out to bounce back this Saturday afternoon.
As well as ending their EPL campaign on a low note before the break for the international break as the Euro 2016 qualifiers were concluded Louis van Gaal’s men will not savour a trip to Merseyside as their first match back too as they have lost all of their last three trips to this ground and they have failed to score in each of these matches. Everton may have won only one of their four matches on home soil this season as they defeated Chelsea 3-1 but with United having lost to Swansea and Arsenal in the EPL and PSV in the Champions League during three of their last four away games the home side will fancy their chances this weekend.
United will not go down without a fight though and, just like the weekend’s opener, we see goals in this match.
We are backing +2.5 goals in this Everton v Man United game at 2.00 in the Betfair Sportsbook!
Man City v Bournemouth: 1.33 – 5.00 – 9.50
Even with five goal hero against Newcastle last time around Sergio Aguero being out of this game following an injury sustained on international duty for Argentina, the home team and league leaders at The Etihad Stadium are the massive favourites to defeat the EPL newcomers this Saturday afternoon. City are also missing influential midfielder and defender David Silva and Alexander Kolarov, but with Bournemouth depleted with numerous injuries of their own, including seeing Callum Wilson out for six months and captain Tommy Elphick out after ankle surgery, they too are far from running at full capacity, but can they upset the odds and claim their first ever victory against City?
The sides have faced each other on just six previous occasions, with the last match coming in League One in 1999, and with City having won ten of their last 11 home Premier League games we believe that the odds on this match are correct. However, there is little value on City to win the match against a stubborn Bournemouth team but we have found value on the goalscorer markets. City are likely to start Wilfried Bony up front in place of the injured Aguero but the Ivorian has not shown what he can do yet at The Etihad and we feel that summer signing Kevin de Bruyne, who has scored in each of City’s last three games, and scored twice in the international break for Belgium will be the man to find the net this Saturday afternoon.
Our top Man City v Bournemouth tip is back Kevin de Bruyne to score anytime @ 2.75 with Betfair.
Southampton v Leicester: 1.75 – 3.90 – 5.00
The surprise side of last season takes on one of the biggest surprises of this season at St. Mary’s Stadium in this Southampton v Leicester match and we expect goals on the South coast this Saturday afternoon too. Southampton’s eight games so far have seen 23 goals – 13 for and ten against – while Leicester have scored 17 times in their eight games and conceded 15 goals. This sees the two sides having averaged almost 3.5 goals a match when combined this season, but will our foresight of goals come true?
Both sides won 2-0 on home soil against each other last season, but with Southampton having conceded five in their last three games and Leicester being without a clean sheet this season we believe there will certainly be goals as both teams are very capable of finding the net. Graziano Pellé has three in three for the Saints and Leicester have goals all over the pitch, with Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy having five and a league best seven goals so far.
Back +2.5 goals in this Southampton v Leicester match at odds of 1.80.
Crystal Palace v West Ham: 2.00 – 3.60 – 4.00
Selhurst Park sees the meeting of the teams occupying fourth and sixth places in the EPL at the start of the weekend’s action following superb starts to the season for Alan Pardew’s and Slaven Bilic’s men. The teams are separated by just a single point with Palace having taken 15 points from five wins while The Hammers have won four and drawn two of their eight matches and their form away from home has been the biggest plus point for the Londoners as three wins – against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City – and a draw with Sunderland have seen them with ten points and ahead of all other EPL sides.
They will have a tough task to take another three point haul this weekend as the South London hosts of this Crystal Palace v West Ham game bounced back from 1-0 losses to Man City and Tottenham with two clean sheets and all six points against Watford and West Brom in hard fought circumstances. Both sides will be very much up for this game and, after both teams were beaten 3-1 on home soil by the other last season, will be desperate for the win. Both sides are boosted with a large number of players coming back from injuries and we see plenty of chances. This is another match in which we are backing goals.
Our top Crystal Palace v West Ham bet is back both sides to score @ 1.80 at Betfair.com.
Chelsea v Aston Villa: 1.33 – 5.50 – 11.00
Two of the bottom five sides in the league meet at Stamford Bridge and with Jose Mourinho having been given the dreaded vote of confidence while rumours circulate that Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has just two matches to save his job, with former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers favoured to replace him. Both of these sides will feel that they need to kick on with their season in West London, but will it be the defending champions or the perennial strugglers from the Midlands that takes all three points?
Chelsea do not bring the best of form into this match as they are averaging just a point a game at eight points as they have lost four matches so far, which is one more than the whole of last season, but they do welcome back Diego Costa after his three match game ban so they will carry more of threat up front this weekend. Villa have lost all of their last four games and are without a point in three on the road but, despite this, they have been better away from home with three of their four points and six of their eight goals coming on their travels this season. As a result of this we do see goals (again!) in this match in what should be a relatively comfortable home win for Jose Mourinho’s side.
Our money is on Chelsea to win and +2.5 goals in the match at odds of 1.85 in the Betfair Sportsbook!
West Brom v Sunderland: 2.05 – 3.30 – 4.20
This West Brom v Sunderland game is another bottom of the table clash as these sides sit 17th and 19th with eight and three points respectively but, despite this, the visitors to The Hawthorns will fancy their chances in the Midlands this Saturday afternoon. The reason for this is that, following the resignation of Dick Advocaat, they have appointed former Bolton, Newcastle and West Ham manager Sam Allardyce to take charge of the side and, hopefully, rescue them from their crisis in form that sees them second bottom of the league.
On top of this West Brom have announced that Jonny Evans, James Morrison, Saido Berahino and Salomon Rondon are all doubtful for this match with them rated 50/50 at best to play. With Berahino and Rondon both the best attackers in the Midlanders, who have scored a league low of six goals, possibly out for this game we feel that the away side will, just like Liverpool, experience the boost of a new manager and return back to the North East of the country with something from their trip.
Back Sunderland/Draw Double Chance @ 1.75 with Betfair.
Watford v Arsenal: 5.80 – 4.00 – 1.57
The late kick off in game week nine of the Premier League sees the second all-London clash as newly promoted Watford welcome an Arsenal side full of confidence after breezing by Manchester United before the international break to move second in the table. The match odds suggest that it will be comfortable victory for The Gunners, but after just a single conceded at Vicarage Road by the side returning to the top flight for the first time since 2007 Arsene Wenger’s men will need to be at the top of their game to live up to their favourites billing.
Watford have drawn 0-0 with West Brom and Southampton, beaten Swansea 1-0 and lost to Crystal Palace (with the only goal coming from the penalty spot) in front of their own fans this season and with The Emirates Stadium less than 20 miles away from Vicarage Road you can be sure that the ground will be filled and ‘The 12th Man’ will drive the home team on. However, Arsenal are in fine EPL form with Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez having bagged eight goals in the last three games and if the Chilean can shake off his injury doubt for this game we are confident of an away win on Saturday evening.
We are backing Arsenal to win by at least two goals (Arsenal -1) at odds of 2.50 in the Betfair Sportsbook.
Top Tips:
In a new feature we’re taking a look at our picks from the day’s action and selecting our top tips from the EPL games featured. From this article, our favoured selections are:
- Kevin de Bruyne to score anytime v Bournemouth
- +2.5 goals in Southampton v Leicester
We are backing these as de Bruyne has been a revelation since returning to England from Wolfsburg and with Aguero out of the side against a team that concedes on average 1.5 goals per game we expect the midfielder to continue his scoring form.
The second of our two top tips comes as both sides are scoring well and both teams, especially Leicester, are having trouble keeping goals out this season. In Graziano Pellé and Jamie Vardy both sides have in form strikers and we feel that there is bags of value on goals in this match.