We’re back after a week off for the players to go and have a run around for their country in meaningless friendlies.
Yeah, some are qualifiers for next year’s World Cups, but we don’t care about those. The All Whites have already qualified, despite receiving a beating by Australia (we won’t talk about that anymore)
The only other people who care are the managers and fans of football clubs around the world, hoping and holding their breath that their stars don’t get injured.
Anyway, Matchweek 4 is upon us so let’s get down and dirty into this weekend’s games.👇
Nottingham Forest have seemingly been having an affair with Big Ange because two days after sacking the manager who achieved things the club hadn’t in decades, and signing a new one two days later is crazy. What is the Nottingham front office thinking?!
Arsenal, on the other hand, despite the narrow loss to Liverpool, will be flying with confidence after the international break. The attacking options for the Gunners looked to be in stellar form over the break.
Who knows what Chris Wood will do this weekend after his recent double shift for the All Whites. Regardless of whether he plays or not, I don’t give the Trees too much hope at the Emirates.
Arsenal should win this comfortably.
Sunderland will be heading to Selhurst Park for the first time since 2017. Despite the large gap in time since these two sides last met, the Black Cats will have fond memories of the 4-0 win.
They find themselves in 6th on the ladder after three rounds, and Palace sit just behind in eighth.
Palace will be hoping to maintain their unbeaten start to the Premier League season. They may have out three past Villa two weeks back, but for a large chunk of that game, it looked like it could’ve been nil, nil.
The stats may not back it up in terms of the under hitting, but neither of these sides will want to lose, which means, unfortunately, I think we’re in for a dud of a contest.
Newcastle can now fully move on from this whole Isak saga and can focus on the season ahead.
They haven’t had the best start to the season, but this could be the perfect opportunity to get on track. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them leak a goal, though, too.
Jorgen Strand Larsen has been the key cog for Wolves, registering a shot on target in both his last games, and then Yoane Wissa has registered at least one shot in all five of his last games for Newcastle.
Pair them together with both teams to score, and you’ve got an SGM!
Brighton have had the upper hand in this fixture, winning five of the last six meetings with the single 3-1 loss coming away at Vitality Stadium in April 2024.
You’ll see the Seagulls are, however, the underdogs in this fixture, and that’s because Brighton drew with Fulham and fell to Everton to start the season.
But they did just beat City at home, so the question begs: how good actually are Brighton?
Bournemouth have had the better start of the two sides with two wins and a loss, with their last result being a 1-0 win over Spurs.
Semenyo and Evanilson have been the inform men, but I’m not sure I want to pick a goal scorer in what could be a low-scoring affair.
If it’s going to be low-scoring, then it could be quite gritty, and we may see the ref pull a few cards out of the pocket. In both these teams’ first three fixtures, we’ve seen plenty of yellows and two reds.
Everton have played well in their brand spanking new stadium with two wins at home, including an EFL cup fixture. But they’ve also got two wins in the Premier League season too.
That’s two more than Aston Villa have recorded this season.
The Villains have struggled and you just have to wonder when it’s going to click for Unai Emery’s side. They won both of these fixtures last year so you’d think maybe they can snag their first win this weekend.
I’m staying away from the result and rather going to a player that’s been cooking for the punters recently.
JACK GREALISH
He’s got four assists in two starts, and we’re going to stick with him this week to help his side get on the scoresheet.
The Cottagers are still searching for their first win, and I think this is when they get it.
Leeds kick-started their campaign with a win over Everton in the first game of the season, but got a rude awakening when they took on Arsenal at the Emirates. They then followed it up with a stalemate at home to Newcastle, and unfortunately for the Leeds faithful, I think they are in for another weekend with nothing to cheer for.
Fulham will want to bounce back after that 2-0 loss to Chelsea, but if you think back to that game, they scored the opener in that one before it was ruled out.
Back the Cottagers to claim their first three points this weekend.
Spurs, Spurs, Spurs.
I honestly never know how to tip these guys. I thought with Thomas Frank at the helm, they might be less volatile, but early signs suggest I was wrong.
The Hammers had a rough start to the season but got one over Nottingham Forest before the break.
This could be the last time I back Spurs, but we shall see… I’m backing them to win to nil.
In their three games, they’ve either lost without scoring or won to nil. Let’s hope it’s the latter.
You get some decent value on Chelsea to win against Brentford this weekend, considering they’re unbeaten to start their campaign.
Even more so when you consider that Brentford lost 2-1 to the newly promoted Sunderland before the international break.
The Blues should make light work of this trip to Gtech Community Stadium, so take the win if you’re feeling conservative, but I’m also thinking the half time/full time double for Chelsea to lead at the half and at the final whistle.
Liverpool gets to unveil their shiny striker this weekend, with Alexander Isak likely to suit up for the Reds.
The question is whether or not he will start over the red-hot Ekitike…
Burnely have only scored once in their last five against Liverpool so let’s back the Reds to keep the clean sheet and take three points.
Loving the correct score combo markets giving us all the results up to 4-0.
Here we go, it’s derby time.
Interestingly, this is one of the lower meetings these two have had in a derby. United in 9th and City in 13th.
United we’ve come to expect but not City.
We do have a Super Boost on this game backing the machine that is Erling Haaland to score at any time.
For me, that’s enough convincing but I’ll hit you with these stats anyway.
Haaland has three goals in three games this season. Six in total against United, including a hat-trick in his first ever derby. He’ll want to build on this record as he helps his team out of a slump.
In terms of the result, City have the upper hand in recent history, but Pep has only managed to beat Amorim once in their last five meetings.
I’m staying away from picking the result and leaning with the Super Boost.