English Premiership Previews: Round 2 *updated*
Week number 2 for the English Premiership and so far Chelsea and Manchester United have shown that they are capable for getting the crown.
Monday 23rd August
Manchester City v Liverpool Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson could make up to seven changes from the side that defeated Trabzonspor 1-0 at Anfield with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt and Martin Skrtel all set for a recall to the line-up. However, he will be without the suspended Joe Cole, who begins his three-match-ban for the red card he received last week against Arsenal. We are barely a week into the new campaign and the shuffling of packs by the big clubs has already started. That statement applies equally to the hosts, with two more big names arriving at Eastlands for Roberto Mancini to try and shoehorn into his plans. Striker Mario Balotelli scored on his debut in Romania against FC Timisoara while James Milner is expected to get a start after his arrival from Aston Villa. It is hard to draw a firm conclusion regards the outcome between these two superpowers. The Anfield clash last season ended 2-2 while the reverse fixture was a 0-0 draw and the theory this time is that Mancini expects his key players who were involved in the World Cup may still to be a little way off peak fitness. So the likes of Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez and David Silva, who looked high-class against Spurs last week, may not be asked to go the full 90 minutes just yet. What did stand out from City's display at White Hart Lane was their defensive prowess. They probably won't expect to come under the sort of pressure that Tottenham threw at them in the first half too many times this season but Kolo Toure and in particular Vincent Kompany were magnificent. New custodian Joe Hart matched that duo when called on and he is now two from two in terms of clean sheets since being handed the starting gig ahead of Shay Given. That is why I am tempted by bet365's 2.62 on the Eastlands outfit bringing up the hat-trick as the night's best wager. Verdict: Manchester City 1 Liverpool 0
Both sides were in European action in midweek but you would have to think that there will be little in the way of a hangover considering the strength of squad these two have to call on plus the extra day to recover from those exertions.
Sunday 22nd August
Newcastle v Aston Villa (1430 CET) Verdict: Newcastle 2 Aston Villa 2 READ DOMENICO'S SERIE B PEVIEW HERE Fulham v Manchester United (1700 CET) Verdict: Fulham 1 Manchester United 3
Newcastle's return to the Premier League ultimately ended in disappointment at Old Trafford in a 3-0 defeat but they were not disgraced and even seemed to hold their own for the first 35 minutes. Andy Carroll's missed header early on was important and they will not be the last team to capitulate this season after going a goal down to the Red Devils. Villa are interesting contenders after a comprehensive winning start to the season over West Ham. James Milner is out and Stephen Ireland is in and they certainly have not got the rough end of the stick in that deal as the latter's passing and vision should be a huge asset. Temporary boss Kevin MacDonald has made a bold start and the sweeping changes he made to give youth a chance in the Europa League in midweek even worked to a certain extent as they earned a 1-1 draw at Rapid Vienna. A fewer of the bigger names will be back for this one, including Ashley Young and he looks well capable of getting on the scoresheet at 4.33 with Bet365 and Ladbrokes. He played extremely well for England against Hungary and continued that form with a fine display down the flank against the hapless Hammers. You get the feeling he could get on the end of an Ireland pass or two in dangerous areas and finish the job off. This could be an entertaining fixture.
The main preview angle heading into this match is the continued rut of poor form that Wayne Rooney finds himself in. It is now 13 matches for club and country since he last found the back of the net with reasons aplenty as to what the cause is. Not enough game time and niggling injuries have both been put forward as possibilities but Rooney does not look very happy at the moment. Sir Alex Ferguson has given him his full backing and reckons one goal and the floodgates will open again so he is not exactly a lost cause. There will always be someone to take up the slack at Old Trafford and Paul Scholes is currently shouldering plenty of responsibility having been magnificent against both Chelsea in the Community Shield and Newcastle in last Monday's Premier League opener. Fulham will provide a sterner test here and are interesting rivals as Sir Alex takes on their new gaffer Mark Hughes. They have certainly provided a few recent headaches for the Red Devils at Craven Cottage under Roy Hodgson, posting back-to-back wins of 2-0 and 3-0. Hughes is obviously still feeling his way with his new staff but he looks to be settling in well and Simon Davies has seen the players respond in the right fashion to his burgeoning regime. The last two results for Fulham here are a little misleading with two United players sent off on the first occasion and no defenders available to Ferguson on the second. I have a feeling there is a whiff of revenge in the air and United look the much the likeliest winners. A stronger trend is the number of goals thrown up when these two clash. Nine of the last 11 meetings have seen three of more so the 1.95 odds on offer from Bet365 for over the 2.5 threshold looks the way to go.
PICKS:
Saturday 21st August Arsenal v Blackpool (16.00 CET) Verdict: Arsenal 3 Blackpool 1 (Home WIn, Over 3.5 goals) Birmingham v Blackburn (15.00 CET) Verdict: Birmingham 1 Blackburn 0 (Home Win, Under 2.5 goals) Everton v Wolves(16.00 CET) Verdict: Everton 2 Wolves 0 (Home Win) Stoke v Tottenham(16.00 CET) Verdict: Stoke 1 Tottenham 1 (Draw) West Brom v Sunderland(16.00 CET) Verdict: West Brom 1 Sunderland 0 (No bet) West Ham v Bolton (16.00 CET) Verdict: West Ham 1 Bolton 2 (Away Win) Wigan v Chelsea(18.15 CET) Verdict: Wigan 1 Chelsea 3 (Away Win) PICKS:
Blackpool provided the story of the opening weekend as they launched their debut Premier League campaign with a 4-0 victory over Wigan at the DW Stadium. Despite being big favourites to finish bottom, let alone relegation, the unfancied Tangerines thrashed the Latics thanks to goals from Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Marlon Harewood (2) and Alex Baptiste. The week had began with rumours of Ian Holloway walking out of Bloomfield Road having failed to make any summer signings but he's since snapped up seven new faces, including Harewood, to boost the Seasiders' squad for what will be an extremely tough season - but on Saturday they could well come crashing back down to earth. Even Holloway said he hoped "we don't get embarrassed" on their trip to face title contenders Arsenal, who were relieved to escape from Anfield with a share of the spoils on Sunday. Arsene Wenger's men were heading for a disappointing 1-0 defeat against the 10 men of Liverpool but Jose Reina's late howler enabled them to snatch a point. A home clash with Blackpool represents an ideal opportunity for them to showcase their attacking prowess and although they've lost Samir Nasri through injury, this promises to be a heavily one-sided affair. Nasri deputised for captain Cesc Fabregas in a central role at Anfield but Spaniard, who missed that match through illness, is in contention to return to face the Tangerines. Arsenal are 1.16 in places to pick up all three points so instead we're going to focus our attention on there being more than 3.5 goals, which is a tempting 1.90 with Bet365. Blackpool will struggle to cope with Arsenal's relentless approach at the Emirates Stadium while Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh and Robin van Persie will stretch their defence to the limit - but lets not forget the buoyant visitors' eye for a goal last week.
Brum's frontline has received a boost with the signing of Matt Derbyshire from Olympiakos this week and with clearance through, he is in with a shot of making the team against his old club. They were not particularly good last week but at least showed some battling spirit to fight back from 2-0 down at Sunderland. Blackburn got off to a winning start thanks to a clanger from Everton 'keeper Tim Howard but they looked to be hanging on at the death as the Toffees scrapped for an equaliser. David Dunn is struggling again to face his old team after he limped off at Ewood Park with a groin injury so this seems like being a match that could lack a bit in the way of creative inspiration. Birmingham have won all four of the most recent encounters at home in the league between these two and that trend could well continue - but I wouldn't be confident enough to back up that assumption with cash.
Everton suffered an opening day loss at Blackburn but the distinct feeling in the camp at Goodison Park is that the Toffees will be fully revved up to make amends for their first match of the season at home. David Moyes was disappointed with his players up front but he has a multitude of options and the pivotal Tim Cahill wants to ensure that they are firing on all cylinders. The visitors will have no little confidence after they overcame Stoke and came close to bagging all three points in this match last season after Kevin Doyle put them 1-0 before Everton claimed a point with a late equaliser. Mick McCarthy has a handful of attacking options but I reckon Everton's miserly defence will have their measure. They conceded six against Arsenal on the first day last year but were only breached 15 more times at Goodison for the remainder of the season. Everton are a best price of 1.53 for the three points and they should collect.
Talking to Spurs fans this week, I don't think you will ever hear supporters happier to have been beaten 3-2. Harry Redknapp's outfit certainly dodged a bullet in midweek in Switzerland after some shambolic defending against Young Boys - some better finishing from the latter could well have seen them bag five or six and just about put the tie to bed. Redknapp will surely have a few sleepless nights as he triesto figure out a better strategy at the back when his side comes up against stronger outfits in the coming months. Closer to hand, the artificial surface in Bern took a heavy toll in terms of personnel with both Luka Modric and Jermain Defoe suffering injuries which make them a doubt to face the Potters. Stoke will be hugely boosted the news that Kenwyne Jones' ankle injury is not as bad as first thought and he could even be in line to play at White Hart Lane. Tony Pulis has added to his attacking options by signing Jon Walters from Ipswich in midweek and he will be looking for a more coherent performance than at Wolves last week when they never really threatened to haul themselves back into the contest having gone 2-0 down. Spurs showed bags of attacking intent against Manchester City last week and but for an inspired Joe Hart they could have got a real flyer to the season. Stoke will try and make their physical presence felt and with a couple of key players potentially missing for the visitors, these two could just cancel each other out.
Whether they froze or were just totally outclassed by the champions, West Brom were rubbish on their return to the top flight last weekend. Former Chelsea tyro Roberto Di Matteo would have been keen to make an impact on his return to Stamford Bridge with the Baggies but you knew there was only going to be one outcome after Scott Carson blundered to let in the Blues as early as the fourth minute. On the plus side, they don't have a Chelsea to face every week and they will be hoping to extend their impressive home form which has seen them go unbeaten at The Hawthorns since January. Obviously that is form from a lower division but pretty convincing nonetheless. They host a team that took just 10 points from a possible 57 on the road last year and frustratingly blew a 2-0 lead at home to Birmingham on the opening day. Steve Bruce was happy with the performance of his summer signings though and feels it will not be long before they are pushing for the top half of the table once again. He will be without Lee Cattermole though for the journey to the midlands after his red card and there does not seem much mileage in them at a best price of 2.87. I have a sneaking suspicion the home side could just nick this but 2.50 is not particularly attractive either so this is a match best left alone.
West Ham hopes of making a positive start under Avram Grant were dashed on the opening day as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa and the manner of their performance suggests they could be in for a repeat of last season's struggles. The toothless Hammers were ripped to shreds by the likes of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing at Villa Park and if truth be told the scoreline really should have been much worse, while as far as their defending was concerned - the less said the better. Unless Grant's men make a big improvement on that display in front of their own supporters at Upton Park on Saturday, then Bolton will beat them yet again. The Trotters have won the previous six encounters between the sides, including a trio of victories last season when they also knocked them out of the Carling Cup, and Owen Coyle will no doubt gear his side up to sense West Ham's defensive frailties and go in for the kill. A combination of David Stockdale's heroics and the post frustrated Bolton on day one as they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Fulham but if they produce more of the same then goals are surely round the corner. Johan Elmander, who has only managed eight Premier League goals since moving to the Reebok for around £10million in 2008, is now seemingly growing in confidence under Coyle and he turned in an impressive performance against the Cottagers. His manager said: "I can certainly try and impart the knowledge and wisdom that I have picked up over the years, and I can try and give him confidence because I have belief in him as a manager, and I've shown that by picking him." The Swedish international striker is 3.60 to score anytime with Bets365 and we feel that's well worth snapping up.
It wasn't a great start to the new season for Wigan as they suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Blackpool. They will find it hard to get back on track as they host Premier League champions Chelsea, who come into this match on the back of a crushing 6-0 victory over West Brom, inSaturday's evening game. Carlo Ancelotti's men looked to have put a disappointing pre-season behind them with that win but they will be well aware that a trip to the DW Stadium can be difficult. Wigan won this fixture 3-1 at the end of September last season to end Ancelotti's 100 per cent record as Blues boss and they still have a few men in their squad to create some problems. Roberto Martinez has hinted Charles N'Zogbia could return and he will help add to the attacking talents of Hugo Rodallega and Mauro Boselli in the Latics attack. Boselli arrived for £6million from Estudiantes in the summer and Martinez has faith in his new recruit to shine. "Mauro is a clinical finisher. He has that knack of being in the right place at the right time," he told the Daily Mirror."I saw him play for Estudiantes and he scored over 50 goals in two years and in every competition he played to the same level. At 25 it is the perfect time for him to come to the Premier League and be himself." The Argentine could use this game to make an impact in England and he will be hungry for goals after coming close to scoring on his debut as he hit the bar in the disappointing Blackpool loss. He can be backed at 5.00 with Bet365 to score and that takes more appeal than looking at the win market. Chelsea should have enough to bag the three points but a best price of 1.25 is very short given their defeat at this ground during the previous campaign.
