Decent debut weekend for the ‘SundayLeagueShark’ as we hit on 3 out of 5 bets and finished the opening weekend 2.36 units up. The Chelsea result was the real killer as Gary Cahill was sent off with a disputable red card as Burnley went on to beat the Blues 3-2 at Stamford Bridge. Watford scored in extra time to draw level with Liverpool and hand us a great win while Arsenal and Leicester proved to be the scoring fest we predicted.
Week 2 of the EPL promises to be an exciting one with two massive top seven matchups in Tottenham hosting Chelsea and Manchester City facing off against Everton. We preview some of the best value matches of the round and offer our betting tips below.
EPL Week 2 Betting Tips
Swansea vs Manchester United (Saturday 9.30pm AEST)
Manchester United raced out of the blocks in week one, recording a massive 4-0 win over a team we fancied in our pre season betting tips, West Ham. Off season recruit Romelu Lukaku proved he hasn’t missed a beat with two opening round goals while the midfield trio of Nemanja Matic, Jaun Mata and Paul Pogba looks damaging.
The Red Devils will travel to wales this weekend to take on Swansea, who were thoroughly outplayed by Southampton in week one but were able to scrap through with a nil all draw. Southampton posted a ridiculous 29 shots to 4 in the game as they maintained 60% possession over Swansea.
These two teams have met 12 times in the Premier League and the Swans have never managed to keep a clean sheet against the Red Devils. Swansea were the most porous defence in the league last season and with the way they allowed Southampton to walk all over them on the weekend we can’t imagine they’ll be able to keep the new look Man U offence scoreless.
TIP: Manchester United -1 - $2 at Sportsbet (2 units)
Bournemouth vs Watford (Sunday 12am AEST)
Not the sexiest matchup of the weekend but one we see real value in as Watford travel to Bournemouth Saturday night. Bournemouth maintained 71% possession against West Brom on the weekend and still managed to lose 1-0 and they’ll come up against another strong counter attacking team in Watford this weekend.
Watford were able to put 3 on the board against Liverpool with limited possession on the weekend and their new attacking combo of Stefano Okaka and Abdoulaye Doucoure look damaging.
Bournemouth are undefeated through their last seven matches against Watford but have amazingly only won one of those matches, the other six resulting in draws. We think away from home Watford can get a result here just as they did against the Reds.
TIP: Watford double chance (win and draw) - $1.80 at Ladbrokes (2 units)
Leicester vs Brighton & Hove Albion (Sunday 12am AEST)
It was a tough English Premier League initiation for Brighton on the weekend as they faced the rampant Manchester City, going down 2-0 as Man City maintained a whopping 78% possession. They’ll get another tough test this weekend as they face Leicester City away from home who put up an impressive 3 goals against Arsenal on the weekend.
The Foxes attacking trio of Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki looked promising against Arsenal and winning crucial games against lesser opponents like Brighton is what helped them achieve the massive upset title in the Premier League a few years ago.
Even though they allowed 4 goals on the weekend, the Foxes defence seems to have settled a bit after the departure of star midfielder N’Golo Kante and at $1.73 to win at home against a promoted side looks like value to us. The Foxes are unbeaten in 12 games against newly promoted sides so we’ll be backing them here.
TIP: Leicester to win - $1.73 at Ladbrokes (3 units)
Tottenham vs Chelsea (Monday 1am AEST)
The game of the week sees the Hotspurs hosting Chelsea early Monday morning as the Blues will be hoping to avoid an 0-0-2 start to the season. Chelsea were robbed of a result on the weekend when a controversial call sent off Gary Cahill, not the best way to get their title defence underway and it’ll get harder this week coming up against a likely top four side in Tottenham.
Tottenham have opened as $2 favourites for the match and rightly so with the Blues missing Cahill and Cesc Fabregas, who also received a red card in the Burnley match. Blues star forwards Eden Hazard and Pedro will still be out through injury leaving the Chelsea line-up in tatters.
Victor Moses and Charly Musonda will likely make their season debuts to replace the suspended pair while Alvaro Morata should start as striker after scoring in the Blues opener. The game will be the first ever EPL match played at Wembley Stadium as Tottenham’s White Heart Lane receives renovations. Tough game to pick but with the Chelsea line-up set to walk out on Monday it’s hard to look past a Tottenham win, it should be a low scoring game though with both defences locked in. We think a Tottenham win by 1 goal is a solid bet.
TIP: Tottenham to win by 1 goal - $3.75 at Sportsbet (1 unit)
Manchester City vs Everton (Tuesday 5am AEST)
Another great matchup in week two sees Manchester City hosting Everton early Tuesday morning to close out the round. Man City looked good against Brighton on the weekend but it’ll be a massive rise in quality of opponent here as they face the Toffees. Everton pinched a win against Stoke in week one as hero Wayne Rooney scored a great header in his return game to Everton.
Manchester City lost their last encounter with Everton 4-0, although the Toffees had a rampant Romelu Lukaku that night and look much different in the striking department this year. Where they won goals through purely outscoring opponents last year its likely they’ll need to grind out more low scoring wins this season with Sandro Ramirez leading the line.
Hard game to pick and not much value here at all to be honest with Manchester City opening at as little as $1.30. Can see City finding the back of the net on at least 2 occassions so a win for them plus a bet on the over total goals seems reasonable.
TIP: Man City to win and over 2.5 total goals - $1.87 at Ladbrokes (2 units)
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