Even at this early stage of the season it’s starting to become clear who is struggling. Chief among those is Manchester United, who have had a dismal week. Three defeats in a row have left Jose Mourinho scratching his head, and things aren’t going to get any easier. They host Leicester on Saturday, part of a big day of action in the Premier League.
Here we’re previewing the best of the action in England, plus we’re looking at some huge matches in Spain and Italy too. With games spread out across the weekend, we’ve put together eight betting tips covering four divisions for you to take a look at.
- Manchester United v Leicester – Marcus Rashford to score any time (6/4 with Betfair)
- Bournemouth v Everton – Everton to win (5/4 with Sky Bet)
- Arsenal v Chelsea – Arsenal to win (13/10 with Sky Bet)
- Las Palmas v Real Madrid – Real Madrid to win and over 3.5 goals (31/20 with Coral)
- Espanyol v Celta Vigo – Espanyol to win (13/10 with Bet365)
- Sheffield Wednesday v Nottingham Forest – BTTS and over 2.5 goals (5/4 with Coral)
- Napoli v Chievo – Both teams to score (23/20 with Betfair)
- Fiorentina v AC Milan – Fiorentina to win (6/5 with BetVictor)
Premier League
While Manchester City have started incredibly well, the rest of the league are struggling to keep pace. Most won’t seriously be able to push for the title, but we could have a great battle for the European spots. This weekend sees a huge pair of games, with Man United hosting Leicester and Chelsea travelling to Arsenal.
Manchester United v Leicester – Saturday 24th September
After a Europa League loss and back to back league defeats, Manchester United are falling off the pace in the fight for the title. Jose Mourinho is being shown up by his old rival Pep Guardiola, with just over a month gone. It doesn’t seem like Mourinho’s experience in England is swaying things his way as some thought it might. Instead, the Red Devils could find themselves fighting for a top four place, rather than the title.
This weekend sees Leicester heading to Old Trafford. Can the champions cause another shock? They’ve been pretty open defensively this term, despite recording two 3-0 wins on the spin. While United are struggling, one man who isn’t is Marcus Rashford. He got a goal in their defeat at Watford, and he seems to have earned a starting spot. With Leicester looking shy of pace at the back, we’re going for the young forward to score any time in this clash.
Marcus Rashford to score any time – 6/4 with Betfair
Bournemouth v Everton – Saturday 24th September
Bournemouth are just outside the relegation zone, having picked up four points so far this season. They’ve had a pretty tough opening few games, but rarely have they looked good enough to compete. They’ve played some decent passing football, but they don’t seem to have the cutting edge required to regularly pick up results. They finished 16th last term, and this season could be a real struggle for the Cherries.
Everton, on the other hand, are full of confidence ahead of this weekend. The Toffees are unbeaten in the league and they’re currently second behind Man City. Having won four Premier League games in a row, you’d expect Ronald Koeman’s men to be heavy favourites ahead of their trip to Bournemouth. However, they’re 5/4 to take all three points here. That seems like fantastic value, especially for a side with a 100% away league record, and it’s definitely a bet worth taking this weekend.
Everton to win – 5/4 with Sky Bet
Arsenal v Chelsea – Saturday 24th September
Chelsea’s defeat to Liverpool highlighted some serious problems within their side. Their lazy performance against the Reds saw them lose 2-1 at home. Antonio Conte failed to make any changes to the way they were playing. It was a performance straight out of their horrific Premier League title defence last term. Could things be about to get worse for the Blues?
The Gunners hit four past Hull last weekend, with Alexis Sanchez scoring twice. Arsene Wenger’s team look back to their best already, and they leapfrogged Chelsea into fourth on Saturday. This huge clash could define the rest of the season for these two sides. Arsenal have just recorded back to back wins and picked up a draw at PSG. They can kick on from there and have a strong campaign and that is what we’re expecting from them this weekend.
Arsenal to win – 13/10 with Sky Bet
La Liga
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have both slipped up in the early weeks of the season but can Real Madrid take advantage? The European champions have started well, but they’ve won the league just once in the last eight seasons. It’s hardly the kind of record the club want, could this be the year for them to change that? They are currently on a club record run of 16 straight La Liga wins so confidence is sure to be high.
Las Palmas v Real Madrid – Saturday 24th September
Las Palmas were the surprise leaders of La Liga after two weeks. Their shocking rise to the top saw comparisons with Leicester, although they will struggle to topple the Spanish superpowers. However, they could still push for a European spot, given their recent form. Their star man is former Tottenham and AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng. Obviously that’s little match for Madrid’s Galacticos.
Real have been impressive so far, barring their Champions League clash with Sporting. Four wins from four has them top of La Liga, while it seems like domestic success is their main aim. While the club is usually focused on the European Cup, they seem to realise that taking the league title is something a club of their size needs to do regularly.
They won’t have things all their own way here though. Having hit 11 goals in four games, the side from the Canary Islands can put up a fight on Saturday. We don’t think they’ll quite have enough to nick a result though, so we’re backing plenty of goals and an away win.
Real Madrid to win and over 3.5 goals – 31/20 with Coral
Espanyol v Celta Vigo – Sunday 25th September
Back in pre-season, Espanyol actually looked like a good bet for a top four finish. Fast forward four matches and they have just two points from a possible 12. Their defeats have come against European champions Real Madrid and Europa League winners Sevilla. However, they’ve not hit the level many expected. Manager Quique Sanchez Flores has put together a pretty decent side, one which should get better over the course of the season.
Celta Vigo at home seems like the perfect chance for Espanyol to get things back on track. Celta have picked up just one point, which came away at newly promoted Osasuna. They have only ever won twice away to Espanyol in their history, so we’re backing Flores’ men to get their campaign off and running with a big three points.
Espanyol to win – 13/10 with Bet365
Championship
There are plenty of huge names in the Championship, which leaves a big battle for promotion. A few surprise sides are in the play-off spots at the moment though, while many promotion favourites are languishing in mid-table. Two of the biggest clubs in the second tier meet on Saturday, in a game which should be incredibly entertaining.
Sheffield Wednesday v Nottingham Forest – Saturday 24th September
Two of the most entertaining sides in the Championship meet this weekend at Hillsborough. Sheffield Wednesday were beaten play-off finalists last season; they were expected to be among the frontrunners for promotion this time around. Things haven’t quite settled for them so far, they’ve struggled to find form and they’re sat in the bottom half of the table.
They’re a place below Nottingham Forest, who are one of the highest scoring sides in the league. They also concede quite a few, 17 in total to date, which bodes well for Wednesday here. They should make the most of the open Forest defence, while we can’t see the men from the City Ground failing to score. Both sides should get on the scoresheet, and we’re backing plenty of goals in this clash.
BTTS and over 2.5 goals – 5/4 with Coral
Serie A
Juventus are heavy favourites to win Serie A yet again but there’s plenty going on in the league beneath them. Some big sides are struggling to make the European spots, while a few sides are looking to chase down Juve. Napoli have made a fantastic start, while Chievo could prove to be this season’s surprise package.
Napoli v Chievo – Saturday 24th September
When Napoli lost their star forward Gonzalo Higuain, few saw them challenging for the Serie A title. Juventus seemed to be hoovering up all of the talent in Italy to safeguard their position as champions. However, Napoli have made the best start of any side in the league. Thanks to some smart moves over the summer, they now sit top of Serie A. They came up short last season after leading the way, will this one be any different?
Few would have expected Chievo to be one of the sides pushing for Europe. They finished ninth last term, but they’ve made a fantastic start this season. They’re fifth after four games, just three points behind Napoli. They’ll go to the leaders with nothing to fear, and we’re backing them to score away to a side who have kept just one clean sheet all season.
Both teams to score – 23/20 with Betfair
Fiorentina v AC Milan – Sunday 25th September
Some thought this would be AC Milan’s year to finally return to the top three. The seven-time European champions are building a good side, but they can’t seem to get any real consistency. They sit in mid-table after two wins and two defeats. Obviously there is still time for them to turn things around, but they were a long way from the Champions League last term. They face a big test this weekend too, as they head to Fiorentina.
Things are going much better for Fiorentina and they’ve made a great start to the campaign. They’ve won two of their three matches, only losing at champions Juventus on the opening day. La Viola have since won two home games on the bounce, shading matches against strong opponents. They recorded 1-0 victories against Roma and Chievo, two sides who are sat near the summit of Serie A. Given their form, they should have no problems seeing off AC this weekend at decent odds.
Fiorentina to win – 6/5 with BetVictor