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Premier League Week 1 Review
August 19th, 2014
Introduction
The opening Premier League weekend is over and it certainly lived up to expectations with some shock results, great goals and fantastic individual performances. The goal of the week came from Lee Cattermole who is better known for receiving red cards than scoring, however he scored the opening goal of the Premier League season after just five minutes at the Hawthorns and what a goal it was. 26 goals were scored over the course of the weekend with six of those coming late on in games, it looks like we are in for another brilliant Premier League season.
Manchester United v Swansea City
The shock of the week came at Old Trafford where Manchester United lost their opening game of the season against Swansea City 2-1. After six consecutive wins during pre-season reality kicked in once again that the Manchester United squad is simply not good enough. Champions League football would be a success for Louis Van Gaal’s side this season in my opinion and if they are to make the top four they will have to strengthen their squad this summer, I think United fans are in for another long season. This match was not all about Manchester United though their opponents Swansea were brilliant, the signing of Sigurdsson will lead to another successful season of Premier League football.
Not to finish in the top 4: Manchester United – BetVictor @ 2.25
Leicester v Everton
One of the better games of the weekend featured the newly promoted Leicester City and Everton who have spent big money this summer. Everton took the lead on two occasions but were unable to see off a resilient Leicester City who scored an 85th minute equaliser. I was very impressed with Leicester defensively despite conceding two goals, the Foxes managed to keep Lukaku quiet all match and club captain Wes Morgan was particularly impressive. Leicester’s record breaking signing Leonardo Ulloa opened his goalscoring account and I think there are many more goals to come from the Argentine who scored 23 goals during his short time at Brighton.
Top Leicester Goalscorer: Leandro Ulloa – Betway @ 2.75
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Managerless Crystal palace put up a good fight against Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday evening but all their good work was undone in the 91st minute when Aaron Ramsey slotted home to win the game for Arsene Wenger’s side. It wasn't a good performance from Arsenal but they scraped through in the end and thats what all good teams do. If Wenger can sign a top striker before the end of the transfer window I expect them to be title challengers this year. It does appear that Malky Mackay will be the next Palace manager which is a good appointment in my opinion and should see Palace survive another year in Premier League.
Burnley v Chelsea
The performance of the week came from Chelsea who were brilliant. Cesc Fabregas won the man of the match award which was advised at odds of 7/1, the Spaniard’s vision and passing was outstanding, he assisted two of the team's three goals. We also correctly predicted the score to be 3-1 to make it a very tasty evening of winning bets for a Monday. I do expect Cesc to play a big part in Chelsea’s season. It was not all bad for Burnley who played some good stuff at times and looked threatening on the counter attack throughout the game. They will inevitably be in a relegation battle come the end of the season but they do have every chance of survival if Danny Ings and Jutkiewicz can form a good partnership.
PFA Player of the year: Cesc Fabregas – William Hill @ 12/1
Premier League Betting Analysis
August 17th, 2014
Introduction
The start of the Premier League season is finally upon us after a three month break all twenty teams are in action over the course of the weekend. Fans all over the world can’t wait to see their side in action as well as the new signings their team has made. The big clubs have all been busy in the Transfer Window with Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool all spending over £50million this summer. The signings of Cesc Fabregas for Chelsea and Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal will be two of the signings of the season in my opinion.
Manchester United v Swansea – Saturday 16th August 12:45pm
Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United get the season underway on Saturday at 12:45 against Swansea City at Old Trafford, the new United boss will be looking to continue their pre-season form which resulted in six wins including victories over Real Madrid and Liverpool which should leave the squad full of confidence. Swansea on the other hand have had a mixed pre season winning three of their seven friendlies. They have made some good signings in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bafetimbi Gomis however the losses of Ben Davies, Chico and Vorm is likely to hurt the Welsh side. They have managed to keep hold of Wilfried Bony (so far) who is key to their success this season in my opinion.
Old Trafford is sold out for this encounter which will only increase their chances of winning this match due to the fans getting behind the team and the new manager.
Arsenal v Crystal Palace – Saturday 16th August 5:30pm
Arsenal start their campaign against Crystal Palace who are by no means easy opposition especially under the management of Tony Pulis. Last season Palace gained points against the likes of Everton, Chelsea and Liverpool. They conceded less goals than any other team in the bottom half of the table and this was down to the way Pulis set his side up making them very difficult to beat, I would not rule Palace out of this encounter. Saying that I do think Arsenal will have a very good season, Arsene Wenger has made some good signings. If they can sign a top striker they can challenge for the Premier League this season but without that striker I fear they may struggle for goals which maybe the case against Palace this weekend.
Recommended Bet: Under 2.5 Goals – BetVictor @ 2.1
Newcastle v Manchester City – Sunday 17th August 4pm
The late kick off on Sunday features the current Premier League Champions Manchester City and Newcastle United at St.James’ Park. Manuel Pellegrini’s side will be looking to improve on their Community Shield performance which resulted in a 3-0 loss against Arsenal. Admittedly they were without some big names who should all return for this weekends clash. The £32million signing of Eliaquim Mangala will help defensively as he looks to form a partnership alongside captain Vincent Kompany. Newcastle have made some positive signings of their own bringing in Remy Cabella, Siem De Jong, Emmanuel Riviere and six others who will undoubtedly strengthen their squad. I am expecting a much closer match than this time last year when Manchester City won 4-0 against the Toon.
Burnley v Chelsea – Monday 18th August 8pm
This years Premier League favourites are Chelsea after they have seemingly made some decent additions this summer in the form of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas. Last season they struggled for goals which led to them losing the title race therefore the signing of Diego Costa makes perfect sense who scored 35 goals for Atletico Madrid last season. The signing of Cesc Fabregas is going to be the best signing of the year in my opinion, he is a top quality player who has performed well for Spain, Barcelona and Arsenal. I expect Chelsea to win the Premier League this year due to their strong squad and the Jose Mourinho factor. Burnley on the other hand are the favourites to be relegated and unfortunately I think this will happen due to the poor signings they made so far. There is only one winner of this match and that is Chelsea…
Recommended Bet: Cesc Fabregas to be Man Of The Match – BetVictor @ 6/1 & Chelsea to win 3-1 at 14/1
Premier League Relegation Battle Analysis
August 15th, 2014
The promise land has been a reality for the likes of Leicester, Burnley and Queens Park Rangers and there are also many other teams who would like to stay in the promise land. At the start of the season it is very easy to say that the three promoted teams will go straight back down. However, with the vast amount of money in football this year it is very difficult to know who are likely to go down. In addition, there are a few team who have lost some of their best players this season so it will be interesting to see how these team cope with their losses.
One of last year’s biggest overachievers of are probably now favourites to go down due to losing the core of the first eleven and that is Southampton. Southampton are a team who cared and nurture their youth into their first team and they have continued to make large amounts of profit from this model. However, this season they have lost a few of their key players to Liverpool, Manchester United and Dani Osvaldo to Inter Milan and it looks like they are going to lose Morgan Schneiderlin to Tottenham. Nevertheless, when you lose players it gives others the opportunity to step up and fill the void left. Southampton still has some very strong players in Jack Cork, Jay Rodriguez and Fraser Froster but losing the likes of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan Loveren is difficult for any club to cope with. In addition, Ronald Koeman is a manager who needs to adapt quickly to the Premier League. This season looks like it is going to be a very long and difficult season for everyone associated with Southampton.
Burnley were the surprise package of the Championship last season and no one envisage a promotion campaign for Sean Dyche’s team. However, with a brilliant manager and a team who worked unbelievable hard for one another they proved to be a very difficult to beat and where capable of scoring goals. Dyche has the ability to get the best out of his players, this was evident with the prolific striker force he created of Danny Ings, and Sam Vokes, where they can do it in the Premier League is another question. Burnley lack superstars but all the players know their job and work hard from one another, this with some very astute signing who have Premier League experience, can the upset all the odds again and stay in the Premier League. However, even with the Ginger Mourinho and some very good signings it looks as though Burnley’s time in the Premier League will be a short one.
Harry Redknapp is a manager with a vast amount experience and since taking over Queens Park Rangers (QPR) he has tried to build a team that can compete in all areas of the park. However, due to the vast amount of money QPR have struggled to attract players who want to play for the club and are playing for the money instead. It will be very interesting to see if Redknapp has the capabilities of creating a club culture rather than a money culture at QPR. If a club culture is created, QPR have enough talent within their squad to stay up, but if the players do not care like last time they were in the Premier League then they will find themselves back in the Championship.
Leicester are a team who walked the Championship last season and they became very familiar with winning football matches. Leicester is a team who have been building to the Premier League for a while and they have stuck with Nigel Pearson, and this has given stability to the club. The question with Leicester is whether they can combine the team spirit and the quality within their team that will make them a difficult team to beat.
Hull might be a team that not many experts expect to be in the relegation battle as they have signed some very good players including Thomas Ince, Jake Livermore, Robert Snodgrass which are all very good signings. In addition with the likes of Curtis Davies, Hull have the foundation of a very good competitive Premier League side and this is why many experts are predicting Hull to finish mid-table. However, with the Europa league and the vast amount of traveling across Europe it could be a very difficult long season for Hull. A team like Hull are not used to the traveling and the club might struggle with this, but they will take confidence form Swansea last season who managed to cope with both the Premier League and Europa League.
Staying in the Premier League is such a battle and a tough task and they will be teams who get dragged into the relegation battle without realising. Some of these teams could include Crystal Palace, Swansea, Aston Villa. In addition, many teams in the league will aim for the safety of 40 points and these teams will be very happy to survive another season in the Premier League. My predictions for the bottom of the table are:
16. Hull
17. Queens Park Rangers
18. Southampton
19. Leicester
20. Burnley
Do you agree with us over these predictions? Leave your bottom 5 predictions below in the comments.
