Return of the Premier League
Best Bet:
3 Pts on Over 2.5 Goals – Southampton v Leicester (5/6 Sky Bet)
The Premier League resumes after the International break this weekend and it will be interesting to see what effect the break has had on players & teams as a whole. There is a blend of likely one-sided matches versus what should be nail-bitingly tight games.
There are some ‘big’ matches to take plenty of interest for the neutrals. There is also a lot to play for, in particular for two new managers looking to get off to the perfect start. Tottenham will host Liverpool and new manager Jurgen Klopp in Saturday’s early kick-off. The big question is whether Klopp will have had enough time to mould his team to play his way, or will the international break have hindered this. Meanwhile, Sam Allardyce will want to kick start Sunderland’s season away at what is currently a less than intimidating West Brom side.
Elsewhere there are two games looking pretty lopsided, with Chelsea hosting Aston Villa and Manchester City welcoming Bournemouth. Chelsea still have a point to prove this season to avoid being written off before Christmas. They will want to win convincingly in this game to get the boost they badly need. League Leaders Manchester City went into the break believing Sergio Aguero had found his seemingly unstoppable top form. Perhaps he had, but a hamstring injury while playing for Argentina finds him once again cursing his bad luck when it comes to injury problems. Although they both have favourable games at home against Villa & Bournemouth respectively, the underdogs will not go down easily.
Looking elsewhere, in a London derby, heavily fancied Arsenal will hope that their red-hot Chilean Alexis Sanchez returns with the form that he showed prior to the break. They will look to break down a Watford defence that has only conceded 1 goal in 4 matches at home. Then we come to a couple of matches that are expected to run close. Firstly, a once again exciting looking Everton team try to make it three straight wins at home against a threatening Manchester United side where we expect goals.
Our Tip:
3 Pts on Over 2.5 Goals – Southampton v Leicester (5/6 Sky Bet)
The other match that is expected to be tight this weekend is our headline pick. We expect the steadily improving Saints to continue their attempts to push up the table, backed by the in-form Graziano Pelle. The Saints host the fluent & positive Leicester City that Ranieri has firing this season. Leicester will surely be spearheaded by what should be a happy Jamie Vardy after returning from England duty, looking to continue his push for a place in that final European Championship squad.
We all know there is only really one way for strikers to show their worth, and that is to score goals! We wouldn’t be surprised to see both Pelle and Vardy netting for their respective sides this weekend. Southampton’s home record currently sits at 4 played, with 2 wins & 2 losses (8 scored & 7 conceded). Leicester’s away record reads 4 played, 2 wins & 2 draws (7 scored & 5 conceded). Therefore it seems logical that we should expect to see plenty of goals in this match. The over 2.5 goals market seems generous and we are siding with this as our tip this weekend.