The Premier League returns on Saturday after the international break and it does so with eight matches and with many stories to play out.
The action begins at White Hart Lane as Tottenham take on Liverpool in the lunchtime kick off with Jurgen Klopp looking to get his Liverpool reign off to a positive start.
The 3pm kick offs see Chelsea looking to get back to winning ways at home to Aston Villa. There is a London derby between Crystal Palace and West Ham at Selhurst Park, Everton host Man Utd in arguably the game of the day, Man City take on Bournemouth while Southampton face Leicester and West Brom are the opponents for Big Sam in his first match in charge of Sunderland.
The late game comes from Vicarage Road as Watford play the side who train across the road from them in the form of Arsenal in the 5.30pm kick off.
I’m tempted to get involved in the lunchtime game but my record there isn’t the best and Liverpool might be rejuvenated under Klopp but I’d certainly be looking to take them on because they have a number of injuries and Spurs are just clicking into gear nicely but the break puts me off a little bit.
This isn’t a week for taking short prices with many players being away on international duty but I’d be in no rush to back Chelsea anyway. Villa are woeful though so I’m certainly not rushing to take them either. Man City often go rampant against the lesser sides at the Etihad and we saw that two weeks ago but Sergio Aguero’s injury and Vincent Kompany being a doubt puts me off them too.
I’m going nowhere near the West Brom vs Sunderland game. That could be every bit as boring as it looks on paper and other than perhaps taking no goalscorer I wouldn’t even know where to begin with that one. I’d tentatively have a go with Everton but my record in Man Utd games isn’t much to write home about so I’ll leave that one alone too.
I nearly took Arsenal at Watford but Watford have been pretty tight this season and Arsenal’s attention this week will surely be on the huge Bayern Munich game so after consideration they are a pretty easy swerve too.
I do like the other two matches though. The Crystal Palace vs West Ham game looks like being an open game to me. West Ham have had a go on the road but Palace have so much pace and flair in their side they should cause the Hammers’ defence problems in much the same way that Bournemouth and Leicester were able to.
That said going the other way West Ham have some flair and creativity themselves with the likes of Diafra Sakho a leading marksman in the division and Dimitri Payet one of the stand out players of the season so far. He has a point to prove to his national manager so he could produce some magic here. Given the threat both carry I’ll go with over 2.5 goals there.
I’m also going to take over 2.5 goals in the Southampton vs Leicester game too. Southampton took a while to come to the fore this season but the likes of Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle have lit up recently. Leicester have been one of the most offensive sides in the division this season and that is showing no signs of changing so I really like the thought of at least three goals in that game too.
Back Crystal Palace vs West Ham – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with William Hill
Back Southampton vs Leicester – Over 2.5 goals for a 5/10 stake at 1.78 with BetVictor
Blog football YTD: -24.1pts
