The opening weekend of the Premier League concludes at The Hawthorns on Monday night with West Brom and Man City being the final two sides to get their league campaign underway.
City will have sat and watched all of their title rivals labour earlier in the weekend and they have a chance to go out and lay a real marker down here. West Brom will be out to make life difficult for them in front of their own fans and on a high profile stage.
West Brom’s record in this fixture isn’t a good one it has to be said. The Baggies have only won one of the last 12 meetings between the sides and only have one draw in that time too. They’ve lost their seven against the former champions so the home side need something to change here.
Rickie Lambert is expected to make his debut in this match. Tony Pulis’ men could also give debuts to James McClean and James Chester but Joleon Lescott is a doubt for the home side. All eyes will be on Saido Berahino to see how he fares in light of some transfer speculation.
Man City will be without Gael Clichy and Fabian Delph as they picked up injuries in pre-season which will keep them out here but David Silva, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero are all expected to be fit. Raheem Sterling is expected to make his debut for City as well after his big money move in the summer.
Although City have a good record in this fixture and there have been a few goals in it in the past I’m expecting a tight battle here. Tight battles have largely been the order of the weekend in matches involving the title challengers and West Brom are going to be tough to break down. I wouldn’t put anyone off backing City with their record in the fixture but what we’ve seen already this weekend does put me off.
One bet I will take in the match though is for David Silva to score anytime. The 5/2 on the Spanish wizard scoring at some point looks a touch big especially when we factor in that he’s scored in three of the last four meetings between these two sides. With competition for places intensifying at the Etihad, Silva will want to hit the ground running this season and a goal here will do his chances of featuring all the time no harm at all.
Back D.Silva to score anytime for a 2/10 stake at 3.50 with Betfred
Reblogged this on MidlandsBiz Blog.