After an opening weekend of Premier League action that saw no less than 34 goals, thrashings and surprises aplenty, what will Gameweek 2 have in store?
The big game of the weekend sees Arsenal host Chelsea in a London derby, with the hosts already rocking from a damaging 2-0 defeat away to Brentford. Playing south-west capital opponents for the second game on the bounce, the Gunners are already under pressure from the off, and another defeat for Arsenal, with the champions Manchester City to come in a week’s time, could see the knives sharpen further for Mikel Arteta.
Chelsea remain 4/5 favourites for the win at the Emirates with Romelu Lukaku set for his debut, however, given Arsenal’s home record to Chelsea of late, the draw at 14/5 with SBK or 11/4 with MansionBet and Bet365 looks a little more enticing.
Arsenal’s conquerors on opening day, the Bees meanwhile, travel across south London to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. After the Eagles shipped three goals last time out – coincidentally against Arsenal’s opponents this weekend Chelsea – Brentford arrive in Croydon with the chance of back-to-back wins against London opposition. For an away win this weekend, BetFred and UniBet are offering a price of 15/8 to make it maximum points to start Premier League life.
At Molineux, Nuno Espirito Santo takes his Tottenham Hotspur side back to former club Wolves looking to begin his Spurs tenure with a 100% record. After pulling off another Nuno masterclass against the champions City, the north Londoners bucked 9/2 odds to pick up three points last weekend.
One week on, all major bookies including SBK, MansionBet, and UniBet carry 7/5 odds for an away win. However, Bruno Lage’s men were unfortunate not to take a point at Leicester and in his and Wolves’ first home outing of the campaign, the draw at 11/5 with Bet365 and SkyBet, perhaps looks a little more fruitful.
If we turn to Saturday evening, the clash at the AMEX between Brighton and Watford meanwhile, looks an in intriguing prospect after both sides claimed three points to begin their season.
As the Seagulls came from behind at Burnley, conversely, the Hornets held on after taking a 3-0 lead against Southampton. Graeme Potter’s men are 3/4 with SBK for the win here, but as Watford face South coast foes once more to continue their start to the campaign, possessing a rather potent looking attack to boot, the away win is an interesting one to check out.
Holding firm at 19/4 with UniBet and MansionBet, Watford look a strong candidate although in truth, the draw at 13/5 with SkyBet could be the one to lay your cash on.
Rounding off the weekend in style, Monday’s evening’s encounter between West Ham and Leicester City stands out as a potentially attractive game.
The Hammers look to have lost none of their vim from last term having put four past Newcastle last time out, and with the London Stadium again filled to the rafters in east London, David Moyes will be keen to make it six points from six. The Foxes however, will have other ideas. A West Ham win is priced at 13/8 with SkyBet, or 8/5 with MansionBet, whilst for Leicester to prosper, Betfair and Betway are offering 7/4 for the away win.
