Written by Cornermanden. The author’s opinions and predictions are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Unibet.

The “best” teams let their fans down at the weekend, while some of the teams at the bottom picked up some good results. It’s the Premier League in a nutcase. Let’s take a look at what we have in store this weekend.

Last Week’s Results

I picked Brentford to get a result at Villa on Sunday; this was obviously before Steven Gerrard got sacked, and the usual new manager bounce kicked in. It’s easy to say now, but I would not have picked X2 in that game if I’d known that Gerrard would be sacked after the game at Craven Cottage. A loss in that one, as we had in City-Brighton where I picked City to win to nil. A good winner on Monday where West Ham -1 (asian handicap) landed after a 2-0 win. 1 winner and 2 losers. We go again.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Lunchtime Kick-Off

Leicester City-Manchester City

A clash of the cities on Saturday at noon when Manchester City go to Leicester City. The Foxes have slowly started to regain their rhythm again after a very difficult and poor start to the season. A big win against Leeds last week was followed up by another huge win at Molineux where they beat Wolves 4-0. Can they follow it up again? It doesn’t get much harder than this, though. Manchester City are a much more direct team when Haaland plays, and are “never” priced above 2.00 in the Premier League. They aren’t now either: currently Guardiola and his boys are priced at 1.29 to beat Leicester. It sounds about fair, but they have a couple of injuries and a really tight fixture list with a lot of games. I actually wouldn’t be surprised to see Leicester get something from this one.

‘A Gerrard Out Bounce’

Newcastle United-Aston Villa

Steven Gerrard might have been a legend at Liverpool and a hugely popular manager at Rangers, but his time at Aston Villa wasn’t much more than a bit below mediocre. His team responded in some manner by hosting Brentford and winning the game 4-0, a very encouraging and convincing performance from what should be a remarkably decent team on paper. Things in life will surprise me more than if they start a decent run now, although things don’t get much more difficult in the PL than going to Newcastle these days. The Magpies have truly been under a colossal pressure after the takeover almost a year ago, but Eddie Howe has confirmed how good a manager he is, well accompanied by his assistant Jason Tindall. They are big favourites against Villa, but I wouldn’t back them knowing how good The Villains looked on the weekend. I think I might be tempted by corners in this game.

A Difficult Place To Go

Brentford-Wolves

It’s only eight years since Brentford played in League One, a division where regular oppositions include Burton Albion, Fleetwood Town and Shrewsbury Town. It’s a whole new era for The Bees now, who look to have established themselves in the top flight. They were brought back down to earth after a poor performance and result at Villa Park on Sunday, which I reckon they will try to forget as soon as possible: things like that can happen against a team who have found a new source of energy and passion. They will definitely look to bounce back themselves, against a Wolverhampton Wanderers side who haven’t impressed anyone so far, although they had a decent enough start to the season (performances wise). They also go to this game on the back of a 4-0 defeat. So what will we get in this one? I just don’t think Wolves should be as big underdogs as they are here, even though the Gtech Community Stadium is a difficult ground to visit at the moment. Value on the away side? Yep.

Impressive Saints

Crystal Palace-Southampton

I watched large chunks of Southampton’s game against Arsenal on Sunday, and thought that they looked really dangerous on numerous occasions. They were threatening and attacked with grit and energy. Key players in key positions seem to have found their form, so Saints fans should be more than pleased with what they saw from their team against The Gunners. They now travel to Selhurst Park, a ground which isn’t much easier to go to than the mentioned Gtech Community Stadium. The Eagles have a young and hungry team who look really well drilled and organised, sparkled with a couple of really good individualists who can create things on their own. That sounds like a good recipe for a football team. The market is leaning towards fewer than 2.5 goals in this game (1.84), though not by much (1.96 on the over line). For me, it’s more like a coin flip in terms of under or over here, and I’ve not seen enough of Southampton on the road to be confident of backing them at such a difficult ground. No bet from me in this one.

Graham Potter Back At The Amex

Brighton & Hove Albion-Chelsea

Graham Potter left Brighton at what seems like a couple of weeks ago, when in reality it was a month and a half. This should be a really entertaining game between two teams who try to implement much of the same types of core football principles on the pitch: keep the ball, be patient and wait for openings, and have real aggression and intent when out of possession. Brighton under Roberto De Zerbi have been a mixed bag so far, with a few really good performances (especially at Anfield and against Spurs) and a couple who haven’t lived up to the expectations. The Seagulls actually had most of the ball against City on Saturday, something Pep Guardiola’s team hasn’t experienced for a long, long time. I’m curious to see which team gets to have most of the ball in this encounter, when it’s so obvious that both of them try to do so a lot of the time. 2.90 on the home team and 2.55 on Chelsea looks to be priced pretty damn correctly. 

Angry Gary

Bournemouth-Tottenham Hotspur

Gary O’Neil was an angry man during Bournemouth’s away game at West Ham United on Monday. He was furious that his team wasn’t awarded a penalty kick, and thought The Hammers’ first goal should never have been allowed. I can acknowledge that we were a bit lucky with our bet in that game, but luck and bad luck hits sporadically in football. Now they host Tottenham Hotspur, a team who also will look to bounce back after a disappointing loss at home to Newcastle United. I can’t see anything other than a comfortable away win here, even though Spurs have an extra midweek game with their Champions League participation. I’m picking Spurs to win this at 1.68. It’s a game that suits them well, in my opinion.

Value!

Fulham-Everton

I’ll just say it as I think it is: Fulham are considered too big favourites in this game. And yes, that means there’s value on Everton. 2.38 on Fulham to beat Everton means that the bookmakers’ think there’s a 42 percent chance of Fulham going home with all three points. It has to be less than that, surely? Everton now look like a coherent and well oiled machine, who just seem to improve week by week. It’s no wonder that the fans at Goodison Park are starting to fall in love with their club again. A lot of hungry and passionate players who play for the badge (a very overused clichè), is a good start for any team. Fulham have been up and down so far, and as I’ve pointed out earlier, any team with Mitrovic as their focal point should be competitive in any league. But betting is about one thing, and that is identifying value. I can see some on The Blues from Merseyside here.

Really Late Saturday Night Football

Liverpool-Leeds United

I’m unfortunately away from home and not able to watch this game on Saturday, which is a real disappointment. It’s one to look forward to, without any shadow of doubt. Liverpool have – I can’t believe I’m saying this but, similar to Fulham – been up and down and not found any kind of stability. They crushed Rangers in the CL, followed that up by picking up a massive three points against Man City, snatching another win against West Ham, but then, against all odds, losing away to Nottingham Forest on the weekend. It’s so confusing, to say the least. Where will they go from here? Another important game during midweek will be their focus until Saturday, but Leeds at home – in their current state – should be a comfortable three points for Klopp’s men. I’m backing Liverpool here, although it could be a tricky fixture against a team who like to hit their oppositions on the counter attack. 1.89 on Liverpool -1.5 (they have to win by two goals or more) sounds like a good price.

SUNDAY’S GAMES

Beating The Odds Two Times In A Row?

Arsenal-Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest have not been happy with their start to their first season in the top flight in what seems like a lifetime. But, this all changed on Saturday when they upset the odds market and beat heavy favourites Liverpool at the City Ground. I watched my team Ipswich Town play there a few years back, and it’s definitely a tough place to go once the fans get behind their team. They did so on Saturday, and eventually found a way to get all three points. Liverpool obviously created chances, but against the worse teams in the division, that’s simply unavoidable for the sides coming up against The Redmen. A great day for Nottingham Forest. It wasn’t a very great day for Arsenal on the South Coast when they only scraped a draw away at Southampton. Another game accumulated in the Arsenal players’ legs as they travelled to Holland to play PSV on Thursday. It was a rotated team so I wouldn’t expect the fatigue to plague them that much here. At 1.20 to win, Arsenal are naturally huge favourites, but not more or less so for me to pick a wager in this game. 

Two Teams Who Have Recovered Their Mojo

Manchester United-West Ham United

After a bad start to the season for both The Hammers and The Red Devils, both Erik ten Hag and David Moyes have recovered the winning formula and the teams’ mojo again. It seems that the Man United players are starting to trust ten Hag with his approach, and it will be interesting to see if they can find a solution to the situation with Cristiano Ronaldo, who refused to be brought on as a sub against Spurs last week. Both teams have games in Europe in midweek, so the load will be similar for them. If we’d roll back the clock 10-15 years, 1.72 on Man United at home against a team who you’d expect to finish between 7.-12. place would have been a no-brainer, but the times have changed. As I often say, this game looks to be priced very accurately. I’m more bullish on Man United than on West Ham here, but Moyes and his boys have made life difficult for the home team on Old Trafford before. 

Conclusion

I’ve found a few picks for this weekend in the Premier League. In my eyes, there’s good value on every single one of them. I always recommend placing the bets as singles.

• Liverpool-Leeds. Liverpool -1.5 (asian handicap) @ 1.89.
• Liverpool-Leeds. Liverpool 0-3 corner handicap @ 1.77.
• Bournemouth-Tottenham. Tottenham to win @ 1.68.
• Fulham-Everton. X2 & under 4.5 goals @ 1.77.
• Manchester United-West Ham. Man United over 14.5 shots @ 1.85.