English Premiership Previews: Round 6
Chelsea have started their Premier League campaign like a train with five straight wins, scoring 21 goals in the process and conceding just one, but their first real test comes on Saturday at top-four wannabes Manchester City.
Saturday 25th September
Manchester City v Chelsea 
Chelsea have started their Premier League campaign like a train with five straight wins, scoring 21 goals in the process and conceding just one, but their first real test comes on Saturday at top-four wannabes Manchester City. Carlo Ancelotti's men ruthlessly took advantage of an 'easy' early fixture list by brushing aside West Brom, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool without hardly breaking sweat to soar to the top of the table and open up a four-point gap over Manchester United and Arsenal. Their second string were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Newcastle on Wednesday night but in the big competitions they mean business. Last season's Double winners are looking the most complete side in the Premier League with all their star names producing the goods individually and, more importantly, as a formidable unit. Defensively they're as solid as ever and going forward Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba have been banging goals in for fun, with useful support coming from Salomon Kalou. Quite frankly we believe Chelsea are too strong for any domestic challengers when in this rich vein of form and we're keen to take Ladbrokes' 6/5 about them chalking up another three points on Saturday. City do sit fourth in the table but they certainly haven't set the world alight with their results or performances. The 3-0 triumph over Liverpool was the highlight but they've also been held at home by Blackburn and lost at Sunderland - not the sort of results you can afford when striving to qualify for the Champions League. Last weekend's 2-0 win at Wigan lifted their spirits but on Wednesday night they suffered another low with defeat to West Brom in the Carling Cup. They're not to be backed against the rampant Blues.
Verdict: Manchester City 0 Chelsea 2
Arsenal v West Brom
Arsenal have played three home games this season and won them all by an aggregate of 16-1, so you have to fear for West Brom. The Baggies were beaten 6-0 at Chelsea on their last trip to London on the opening day and although they've since looked more obdurate at Liverpool (losing 1-0) and picked up two home wins, this is a real step up in class. The Gunners, who will be without Cesc Fabregas, can be backed at 13/8 to win by three clear goals. However, we feel the better bet is to back Andrey Arshavin to net at any time. He's already got four goals from his even games this season, including one from the subs' bench against Spurs in the week when he looked lively again. Dimitar Berbatov may be garnering all the headlines at present, but Arshavin is also in fine form and we're more than happy to take the 1.95 on offer about him scoring in this one.
Verdict: Arsenal 3 West Brom 1
Birmingham v Wigan
This weekend marks a whole year since Birmingham last lost at home and you'd expect them to see off Wigan in this one. However, we've warned already this season about the Latics' Jekyll and Hyde tendencies - they've won at Spurs and lost at home to Blackpool remember. We therefore don't think it's worth getting involved with the hosts in the outright market where they are odds on across the board. For those desperate for a bet, Alex Hleb showed some good touches on his debut against West Brom last week and followed that up with a goal against MK Dons in the Carling Cup. We saw at Arsenal that he's certainly a midfielder who likes to get forward and so the 3.75 available about him scoring here looks tempting.
Verdict: Birmingham 2 Wigan 1
Blackpool v Blackburn
New boys Blackpool have undoubtedly raised more than a few eyebrows with their superb start to the campaign and their next major objective is to claim a first home victory. So far Ian Holloway's Seasiders have played just once in front of their own fans at Bloomfield Road and they were just three minutes away from a famous 2-1 triumph over Fulham only for Dickson Etuhu's late strike to ruin the party. Despite that minor disappointment, Blackpool have already picked up two wins in their first season in the top flight since 1971 having thrashed Wigan 4-0 at the DW Stadium and beaten Newcastle 2-0 at St James' Park so you can't imagine them being too fearful of facing Blackburn. However, last weekend's 4-0 drubbing at Chelsea emphasised just how hard life in the Premier League really can be and a result like that could easily burst their bubble and confidence, even if they might have anticipated it. Blackburn are a sturdy outfit under Sam Allardyce and need three points to get their season up and running having not won since the 1-0 victory over Everton on the opening day. The 1-1 draw at Manchester City was a decent result and losing 2-1 to Arsenal is no disgrace, but defeat at Birmingham and a home point against Fulham won't have gone down well with Rovers supporters. Big Sam will demand improvement from his side, who can look back on their recent record in Lancashire derby atmospheres for inspiration. Last season they did the double over both Burnley and Bolton while they took four points from their matches with Wigan. At a price of 2.32 at Betsson we'll be backing Blackburn for more derby delight.
Verdict: Blackpool 0 Blackburn 2
Fulham v Everton
At 8/5, Fulham look good value for this one. Everton's miserable start to the season continued in midweek when they bowed out of the Carling Cup to a side sitting 19th in League One, Brentford. Most worrying for David Moyes, who is taking more and more flak from fans over 4-5-1 tactics, is that the loss came despite him fielding most of his first-choice players at some stage at Griffin Park. Frankly they need to concentrate on the league - they have just two points from five games so far - and on current form are going to be in the relegation mix. The Toffees have had problems at both ends but by far the biggest issue seems to be their lack of goalscorers, which perhaps explains why two strikers are not being employed. If the midfielders don't score, who does? Louis Saha remains sidelined (again), Yakubu has not been the same player since his snapped Achilles, while Jermaine Beckford looks every inch the League One player he was until the summer. Fulham may have some problems of their own - injuries to Bobby Zamora and Moussa Dembele among them - but they have been strong at home for some time and have yet to lose in the league this season. Throw in the fact that Everton have lost all bar one game (a final-day dead rubber) at Fulham since 1966 and the 2.60 has to be taken.
Verdict: Fulham 1 Everton 0
Liverpool v Sunderland
Liverpool's chances of winning any kind of silverware suffered a huge blow on Wednesday night when they were dramatically knockout out of the Carling Cup by League Two outfit Northampton - and they'll be eager to put that embarrassment behind them on Saturday. Obviously the Reds didn't have too many well-known names in that side but that's not to take anything away fromthe gutsy Cobblers, who won 4-2 on penalties after an absorbing third-round contest finished 2-2 after extra time. Roy Hodgson will bring back his key stars such as Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for the clash against Sunderland, who are also on a downer following their cup exit at the hands of West Ham on Tuesday night, but that's no guarantee for success given the way they've started the Premier League campaign. They've picked up just one win and two draws so far, while the manner in which they lost 3-2 at arch rivals Manchester United last weekend having fought back from 2-0 down will have surely crushed their confidence. Sunderland have been tough to predict this season due to some inconsistent results. They've beaten Man City and drawn with Arsenal but they lost to West Brom and were held at home by Birmingham and away at Wigan. Despite the defeat the The Hawthorns, Steve Bruce's men have been hard to beat and we reckon there's some value in backing the draw at 4.45 with Bwin.
Verdict: Liverpool 1 Sunderland 1
West Ham v Tottenham
Tottenham have made nothing more than a steady start to the season although victory over struggling West Ham will make it two Premier League wins on the bounce and a much-needed boost from Wednesday night's 4-1 Carling Cup exit at the hands of Arsenal. It was hardly a full-strength side which lost in extra time to the young Gunners but even so a defeat to your arch rivals is never easy to take and Harry Redknapp will hope three points in Saturday's derby clash at Upton Park will go some way to restoring lost pride. The likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Gareth Bale, William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone and Peter Crouch, who all featured in last weekend's 3-1 triumph over Wolves, are likely to come back into the starting line-up and we reckon they should be backed at a general 11/10 to claim victory. Sure the Hammers do head into the fixture on a relative high following Tuesday night's surprise 2-1 Carling Cup win at Sunderland but having taken just one point from their opening five Premier League games of the season, they're not a side we're keen to back.
Verdict: West Ham 1 Tottenham 2
PICKS:
Chelsea to beat Man City at 2.15 (Betsson).
Andrey Arshavin to score at any time v West Brom at 1.95 (Bet365).
Liverpool and Sunderland to draw at 4.45 (Bwin).
Fulham to beat Everton at 2.60 (Bet365).
Blackburn to beat Blackpool at 2.32 (Betsson).
Tottenham to beat West Ham at 2.10 (Betsson, Bet365).
Sunday 26th September 
Much has been made of Manchester United's away form in the Premier League this season - and rightly so. But for late slips against first Fulham then Everton they'd be level with leaders Chelsea. The fact is they haven't and it's something they need to arrest, particularly as they showed defensive frailty once again - this time on home turf - as soon as Liverpool switched to 4-4-2 on Sunday. Rio Ferdinand's return has come at just the right time as Jonny Evans has struggled so far this season and pairing Ferdinand with Nemanja Vidic should bring more solidity centrally particularly with Kevin Davies likely to be licking his lips ahead of this one. Bolton for their part are still awaiting their first home victory of the season and while the assumption will be they'll up their game against United, the Red Devils have won the last five between the teams - and the last two at the Reebok without conceding. The 1.50 doesn't excite, though, particularly against the backdrop of events at Craven Cottage and Goodison. Instead, have a piece of Dimitar Berbatov to score anytime at evens. Scoring goals hasn't been a problem for United so far this season and Bolton have conceded in each of their last four against top-flight opposition. Berbatov's flying start to the season continued with a hat-trick against Liverpool last weekend and he's now on seven for the season (six in the Premier League). The Bulgarian has also enjoyed his recent trips to the Reebok with three in his last two there. He's odds-on in places which looks right to me - but there's evens around and that's too good to miss. To underline the point Wayne Rooney is the same price with the layers - and he's only scored once for United all season. Go with the form horse.
Verdict: Bolton 1 Manchester United 3
Wolves v Aston Villa 
This looks like being an entertaining game with both sides buoyed by midweek Carling Cup victories. Villa got the better of Blackburn to give Gerard Houllier a first win since officially taking the helm and what was interesting to see was the Frenchman's tactical acumen at half-time to change things around and turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 success. Players seem to be embracing the new regime with the likes of the much-maligned Emile Heskey being told they are part of the future at Villa Park - even if it may be from off the bench. Villa's run in the Carling Cup last year helped boost confidence in the league so Wednesday's result could have an immediate impact once more as they bid to get the better of their local rivals. Wolves saw off Notts County but needed extra-time and two goals from substitute Kevin Doyle. That arrested a two-game losing streak in the league and there is no doubt Mick McCarthy is looking forward to this fixture after two draws last season where his side arguably shaded things. Villa are a best price of 8/5 for the three points in what is Houllier's first Premier League encounter in charge. That means the hosts will be doubling their efforts to ensure he is not all smiles at the end of 90 minutes - but I reckon the feel-good factor may just prevail.
Verdict: Wolves 1 Aston Villa 2
Newcastle v Stoke
Newcastle continue to surprise in the early weeks of the season and the momentum continued in midweek thanks to a much-changed team that dumped Chelsea out of the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge. The only blight on the last seven days that saw them also outplay Everton at Goodison for three points in the Premier League was the loss of goalkeeper Steve Harper for around three months with a shoulder injury that required surgery. Boss Chris Hughton is enjoying life on Tyneside and admits "it is a very nice place to be at the moment". The Potters are gradually finding their feet and are now unbeaten in three matches and also made progress to the next round of the Carling Cup in midweek. Striker Kenwyne Jones is in a good run of scoring form but Tony Pulis and his side have been hampered by a tendency towards a slow start in matches. They have trailed at the half in all five of their Premier League games so far with seven out of eight goals conceded all coming before the break. Those stats point us towards to an interesting 16/1 wager with Toon to be leading at half-time before Stoke level things up come the final whistle. Pulis demands his sides finish strongly and they do look to be showing that added bit of resilience at the moment since hauling themselves off the deck against Aston Villa earlier in the month.
Verdict: Newcastle 1 Stoke 1
PICKS:
Dimitar Berbatov to score anytime v Bolton at 2.00 (Bet365).
Aston Villa to beat Wolves at 2.50 (Bet365, Bwin).
Newcastle/Draw in HT/FT market at 15.50 (Betsson).