Our expert tipster has cast their eye over the first weekend of Premier League fixtures taking place on the week ending August 15th. He’s picked some of the best bets available on NetBet Sport football odds page.
Arsenal to beat Brentford – 5/6
Brentford are back in the top tier of English football for the first time in almost 50 years. They’ll have a baptism of fire too when they have to host Arsenal in their first game, and despite being 16/5 underdogs in what is essentially a three-horse race, they’ll fancy their chances after pre-season. Arsenal are 5/6 favourites, while a draw is priced at 49/20, but Mikel Arteta’s men will be absolutely desperate to start the season properly, and his job may even be in jeopardy if he loses the first game of the year to a newly promoted side who many are tipping to drop straight back down Derby County-style.
Man United to beat Leeds – 8/15
What a match this is to start the season off! Manchester United vs Leeds United is a Northern grudge match that always gets the heart racing, and we reckon this is going to be one for the ages. Who could forget last year’s incredible Liverpool vs Leeds opener, which ended with a narrow win for the then-champions, so we reckon there probably isn’t much to separate these sides, but we have to back the hosts. They’ll be looking to build on an impressive outing last season, and to do that they’ll have to be beating teams like Leeds United at home, but we know from past experience never to write off Saturday afternoon’s visitors.
Aston Villa to beat Watford – 27/20
This game is a bit of a sleeper, but we are actually really intrigued to see who comes out on top in Watford. Villa have looked good in recent years, but the loss of superstar Jack Grealish for a British record fee will have hurt them. It remains to be seen how good they can be without him, but they still have some top players like John McGinn in the team, so we reckon they should have just enough about them to be able to travel to London and get the all-important opening day win. We’d bookmark this as one of the more exciting match-ups though if you’re a neutral or casual fan, there could be goals!
Leicester to beat Wolves – 5/7
Honestly, the odds makers are being very, very unfair to Wolves by offering them as 19/5 underdogs on the opening day of the season. They’re not going to be troubling top teams, and Leicester City will fancy themselves as that this year, but an almost 4/1 price in a match like this does seem a little bit harsh, and we wouldn’t bemoan any bettor who decides to add that as a little acca booster over the weekend. Leicester City, like Manchester United who we mentioned earlier, will be looking to build on a decent season last year that saw them narrowly miss out on Champions league qualification but win the FA Cup over Man City at Wembley in its stead. Decent game, this one.
Southampton to draw with Everton – 49/10
This is a game where we do feel confident backing the underdogs, as that 49/10 price on Southampton coming out of Goodison with a point is just too good to pass up. We’re not expecting this match to light up anyone’s TV screens, but do expect a solid contest between two teams who will be looking to prove a bit of a point early after last season. Everton had a decent year if unremarkable, while Southampton really struggled, aside from a fantastic FA Cup run that saw them narrowly beaten in the semi-finals by eventual winners Leicester City.
Chelsea to beat Crystal Palace – 5/19
They’re the UEFA Super Cup champions after this week, but we really were scarred last year by a shaky performance against West Brom early on in their season that lost a lot of people a lot of money with the bookmakers. Chelsea were rightly frightened by the Baggies before earning a late draw, but the really interesting part was that they ended up losing the next game against them towards the end of the season. Look, the truth of the matter is that Chelsea are such enormous favourites for a reason, but don’t be too keen to be adding them to accas if you don’t need to!
Burnley to draw with Brighton at home – 19/10
Brighton are slight favourites in this one, but everybody knows they love to snap a draw from the jaws of victory. They have a tough task on their hands at Turf Moor, and if you can watch something else on TV instead of this one, we’d recommend it. This may very well be a 0-0 draw, certainly the most likely of all of the weekend’s games, so prepare yourself for a none-too-stellar game, and we’re backing a low-scoring draw here.
Liverpool to beat Norwich – 4/13
Usually, we’d fancy this game as a bit of a banana peel for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who will be desperate to make an early statement this weekend. But Liverpool’s history against Norwich is pretty consistent, so we fancy them to do a bit of a job here. Perhaps we might even recommend a Liverpool win to zero at 7/5 to really spice this one up because this should be a handy result for Klopp’s men. However, you can always write off a team like Norwich at your peril, and who knows, maybe they’ll make a big statement too!
West Ham to beat Newcastle – 6/5
This is a bit of a bold prediction from us, but we reckon Newcastle are going to struggle this year while West Ham will, hopefully, build on a really impressive 2020/21 season where they ran the race for Champions League spots right to the last few games. If they want to build on that, St James’ Park is the kind of intimidating but vital place they must visit and get a win from, so expect a big performance from the visitors in this one, and a match worth watching on Super Sunday.
Man City to beat Spurs – 20/33
How will Nuno do in the Hotspur hotseat? That is the multi-million pound question, and hopefully he will have some answers on Sunday. But they truly have a tough, tough task on their hands in this one, especially without the seemingly departed Harry Kane up top. We’re back Pep’s men to make a statement here on their quest to retain the Premier League trophy, and unfortunately for Spurs that means we can’t back them. Maybe a win where both score is on the cards, though?
If you enter these results as a huge 10-fold acca on our NetBet Sport football odds page, you could stand to win over £3,325 off of just a £5 bet should all of our predictions come through.
*Odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change
