SATURDAY AFTERNOONS SPENT watching Gillette Soccer Saturday are always just that little bit more interesting when you’re waiting for results to come in so you can take some money from the bookies.
Betting shops will be bracing themselves for a flurry of activity over the next 24 hours as football fans look to pocket themselves a few euro.
Most betslips will undoubtedly end up ripped to pieces in a bin somewhere (otherwise the bookies wouldn’t be in business) but that won’t discourage us from having a punt anyway. Here are our four bets to have a look at this weekend.
1. Manchester City’s shrewd loan signing of Frank Lampard could prove to be particularly lucrative this weekend as the 36-year-old is the all-time leading goalscorer on the first day of the Premier League.
The former Chelsea midfielder has netted eight times on the opening weekend and will look to add to that if Manuel Pelligrini selects him for Sunday’s trip to Newcastle. Lampard is priced at 10/1 to score the first goal on Sunday and is 16/5 to score anytime. First goalscorer could be an uncertain one in this case however as Lampard is probably not likely to start the game as Pelligrini would prefer to stick with the Yaya Toure/Fernandinho midfield partnership that led City to the Premier League title last season.
Opening games of the season can occasionally throw up surprises and this game may turn out to be a tough one for City. If they are chasing a goal coming into the closing stages of the game Pelligrini is sure to spring Lampard off the bench.
2. Sticking with the theme of first goalscorer, Stoke City could be proven to have made one of the best signings of the summer transfer window in Bojan Krkic. It’s not often that a player swaps the heady heights of Barcelona for the opportunity to play on a cold, rainy Tuesday night in Stoke but the 23-year-old Spaniard has done just that.
The Potters will meet relegation-tipped Aston Villa in their opening game on Saturday afternoon giving Bojan the perfect opportunity to open his Premier League scoring account. The forward is priced at 13/2 to net the first goal of the match and 12/5 to score anytime.
3. The first instalment of Monday Night Football will see Chelsea take on Premier League new boys Burnley at Turf Moor. The Blues have lost just three of their opening 22 Premier League games and should have no problem adding to that record on Monday at the price of 2/5 for the win.
The Chelsea -1 handicap price of evens is also very tantalising. Burnley are odds on to go back down to the Championship this season and are coming up against the side favourites to take the title off Manchester City. Without a doubt Turf Moor will be rocking on Monday evening, this is only Burnley’s second season in the top flight in 38 years, but Chelsea should have the experience and quality to win out by a few goals.
4. Where would we be without Premier League accumulators? They very, very, very rarely come in but that’s aside from the point, really. It’s that added interest created by a simple accumulator that makes them so popular. So on this Premier League curtain-raising weekend here’s our best effort. The odds come in at just over 8.5/1.
Manchester United to beat Swansea City (1/3) - Louis van Gaal’s first competitive game in charge of the Red Devils sees them take on Swansea City in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. Cautious optimism is in the air around United at the moment after a good pre-season campaign. With Wayne Rooney firing on all cylinders, the home side shouldn’t struggle against Garry Monk’s charges.
Chelsea to beat Burnley at a handicap of -1 (evens) - Mourinho’s side have strengthened more than any other side this summer bringing in world-class talent such as Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa. With Costa already showing what he’s made of by scoring two in seven minutes against Real Sociedad on Tuesday, the Blues should be full of goals when they make the trip north to Burnley.
Stoke City to beat Aston Villa (19/20) - As was already mentioned, Mark Hughes has brought in a quality signing in Bojan Krkic to aid his Stoke revolution. The Welsh manager had The Potters playing a more attractive style of football last season and will look to continue that during this campaign.
Manchester City to beat Newcastle United (4/6) - The reigning champions haven’t been too busy in the transfer window but have still done some excellent business this week in agreeing new deals with Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero. Newcastle welcome City to St James’ Park, hoping to improve on their abysmal second half of last season, which included a run of six straight defeats.
All odds are taken from Paddy Power.