Hello and welcome to the inaugural season of myself, the ‘SundayLeagueShark’ taking over as the head soccer tipster at BeforeYouBet! This year we’ll be previewing the EPL and A-League weekly plus some extra special events in Europe when they crop up!
The English Premier League kicks off this weekend and you can see our preview and betting tips below. Each week we’ll be picking a select number of games that we think offer the best value and providing our tips based on the unit system of betting to measure confidence. Using the units system, you can follow my bets while implementing sports betting bankroll management.
EPL Week 1 Betting Tips
Arsenal vs Leicester (Saturday 4.45am AEST)
The opening game of the 2017/18 season sees title hopefuls Arsenal take on Leicester City at home on Saturday morning. The Gunners will be unveiling their prized recruit Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon in this game, hoping he can have an immediate impact in the striking department where Arsenal struggled last year.
Leicester have their own recruit to unveil, former Manchester City player Kelechi Iheanacho. They did well to keep their core of talented players intact in Riyad Mahrez, Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy and should be a dangerous team once again this year.
The fact of the matter in this one is that the Foxes haven’t beaten Arsenal in their last 21 attempts and the last 10 times they have played at Emirates, the Gunners have come out on top. Leicester are still dangerous going forward so I like them to get at least one on the board here.
TIP: Arsenal to win and both teams to score - $2.80 at Sportsbet (1 Unit)
Watford vs Liverpool (Saturday 9.30pm AEST)
The early Saturday game sees Watford host Liverpool kicking off from 9.30pm. Should be a really interesting clash between one team who has been extremely busy in the off season in Watford and one who has been relatively quiet in Liverpool. Mohamed Salah will add some pace to the Liverpool wings while Andy Robertson will play in defence for the Reds.
Watford brought in seven new players and one new manager as Marco Silva will try to improve on a fairly impressive 2016-17 season that saw them match it with the best at times. The attacking trio of Troy Deeney, Nordin Amrabat and Stefano Okaka stays intact while adding some valuable pieces in the midfield.
Watford have lost their last three meetings with Liverpool by comfortable margins and they are yet to win an opening day fixture in their four attempts. Liverpool haven’t inspired a whole lot of confidence over the off season and we think a strong home performance could be on the cards for Watford.
TIP: Watford double chance (win and draw) - $2.40 at Ladbrokes (1 Unit)
Chelsea vs Burnley (Sunday 12am AEST)
Always tough to pick winners in the first week of the season so this week we’ll be looking to play a low risk strategy as we find our feet. Starting out with the reigning EPL Champions taking on Burnley at home.
The Blues haven’t lost an opening day fixture since 1998, a remarkable stat in itself. They also boast the most opening day points of any team in Premier League history with 54. The off season signing of Alvaro Morata should give the team a big boost going forward with the likely departure of Diego Costa while their defence on paper remains the best in the league.
All stats point to a Chelsea win here. Burnley haven’t defeated the Blues in their last six attempts and have a pretty woeful 1-2-13 record in their last 16 trips to London.
TIP: Chelsea to win to nil - $1.87 at Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester City (Sunday 2.30am AEST)
Tough initiation into the English Premier League for newcomers Brighton & Hove Albion here. They’ll have to face title favourites Manchester City, albeit at home, on Sunday morning. Manchester City made some blockbuster moves in the off season, securing the signatures of wing backs Kyle Walker and Danilo as well as bolstering the midfield with some quality players.
Brighton & Hove Albion put their premier league bonus to good use, turning over their list to the tune of 9 new faces including Aussie GK Matt Ryan but ultimately look to have a sub standard list when matched up against Manchester City.
The Sky Blues should be near full strength for the clash with David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan game time decisions who are likely to get up for the clash. Can’t see this one going any way other than a big Man City win.
TIP: Manchester City -1 - $1.83 at Sportsbet (2 Units)
Manchester United vs West Ham (Monday 1am AEST)
Manchester United and West Ham will close our week one when they meet at Old Trafford early Monday morning. It’s been a huge off season for the Hammers, picking up prized recruits in Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City and Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen. They also bolstered their defence with the Manchester City pair Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart, so could improve on last seasons 11th place finish.
Manchester United have also been extremely busy in the offseason, picking up Romelu Lukaku from Everton and Nemanja Matic from Chelsea. Manchester were kings of the draw last season and while they are favored in this match, we think the improvement on West Ham’s front could cause an upset of some sort.
Three of the last five games between the two teams have ended in a draw and we are picking this one to have the same outcome.
TIP: Match drawn - $5.50 at Sportsbet (0.5 Units)
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