The opening weekend of Premier League fixtures sees six matches taking place on Saturday over three different kick off times.
From a betting point of view betting on the opening round of matches in any division isn’t the easiest thing in the world as new signings are bedding in and there isn’t a whole lot of form to go by. The key is to search for value and that is exactly what I’ll do.
The first match of the season sees Manchester United taking on Tottenham at Old Trafford. United will be looking to get off to a fast start but the news that David de Gea won’t play is a blow and certainly puts me off the home side. Tottenham are a capable side and this is a fixture that appears to be one which will contain goals but I’m not sure how much Tottenham will contribute either end of the field so I will leave that match alone.
The 3pm kickoffs see Bournemouth hosting Aston Villa, Everton taking on Watford, Leicester playing Sunderland and Norwich taking on Crystal Palace in their first game back in the big time again.
Everton should see off Watford. They’re generally good at home and Watford are adjusting to life back in the top flight but there’s no value in the home side and neither is there any value in Leicester at even money. They’re not a great side and while Sunderland aren’t either I’m not interested in backing anyone at evens here. If I had to back something in the Norwich game it would be Palace but I like better bets elsewhere.
Bournemouth’s Premier League debut has been highly anticipated and I’m sure they will go out looking to put on a real show and announcing themselves to the top flight in style. In Aston Villa they have the perfect opponent to do that against. Villa have lost Ron Vlaar from their defence and they’ve not really looked as secure without him in the past.
In fairness to Tim Sherwood although he’s lost arguably his two best players in Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke he has gone out and massively enhanced his attacking resources so I expect Villa to go to the South Coast on the front foot and looking to score. That’s exactly how I expect Bournemouth to play so I fancy the newcomers to announce their arrival in a match which contains plenty of goals.
If I see goals down at Bournemouth I’m not so convinced I see many in the live game at the Bridge in the late kick off. Diego Costa is rated as doubtful for a Chelsea side who have looked very poor in his absence in pre-season. I don’t take a lot out of pre-season but failing to win a single game can’t be good for peace of mind.
Chelsea take on a Swansea side who look a whole lot better in defence than they do in attack. In fairness both sides can be described as that if Costa doesn’t play and this could be one of those matches where they cancel each other out. I don’t expect Swansea to be too ambitious this early in the season and Chelsea might be glad to eek out any sort of win so I’m going under in the goal market in the late game.
Back Bournemouth vs Aston Villa – Over 2.25 goals for a 5/10 stake at 1.77 with BetVictor
Back Chelsea vs Swansea – Under 2.75 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
