After a winner on Saturday, David John has two selections for Sunday's action in the Premier League, with Spurs fancied to make an early statement.
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Liverpool v Arsenal (1600, Sky Sports Premier League)
There is every likelihood one or both of the goalkeepers will be picking the ball out of the net in this fixture – probably on more than one occasion.
There has been just one 0-0 draw this century and the profligacy shown by both at the back already suggests there will probably be worse odds-on chances than the one quoted for the usual line of over 2.5 goals.
Liverpool are currently basking in the glory of a return to Europe’s top table in the Champions League but they still managed to concede three times over two legs in final qualifying against Hoffenheim while another three were shipped on the opening weekend of the Premier League at Watford.
Fortunately for them, as quickly as they are going in at the wrong end the goals are flowing rapidly at the other as they display a dizzying ability to go from defence into attack.
Sadio Mane is happily filling the void currently left by Philippe Coutinho while the latter decides his future on Merseyside but surely any long-term success this season will be reliant on shutting up shop.
They did manage to keep a transitional Crystal Palace side out although wasteful old boy Christian Benteke missed a glorious chance and a much-improved Simon Mignolet had to make a good save from Jason Puncheon.
Surely Arsenal will provide a far sterner test even after their latest in a long line of hiccups which saw their winning streak in the top flight this season halted at, er, one.
Old enemy Stoke did a number on them again despite creating enough chances to win three games. Arsene Wenger, however, probably has a point when it came to Alexandre Lacazette’s disallowed goal and a clear penalty when Hector Bellerin was upended in the first half.
It could not be a better time for Alexis Sanchez to declare himself ready for action after an abdominal injury with Wenger revealing he has looked good in training and worked very hard.
Accusations are constantly levelled at the Gunners about a lack of leaders on the field and perhaps the Chilean is the only one on a consistent basis who can lift and inspire those around him – his absence from the starting line-up when the teams met in March was the catalyst for a 3-1 home victory at Anfield.
I can’t make up my mind here so am happy to sit this one out from a betting perspective and ready to be entertained by all the offensive fireworks with a share of the spoils seeming a realistic outcome.
Prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 10/1
Tottenham v Burnley (1600)
It’s back at Wembley once again with the vultures already circling as Spurs get an immediate chance at redemption having fluffed their opening Premier League lines.
The slightly worrying prognosis from the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea is that they now perform exceptionally at home all season and still not win enough games to make a serious title challenge as the curse of their temporary new residence drags on.
Fortunately, their nemesis that is Chelsea don’t come calling every week and failure to pick up three points against a likeable but workmanlike Burnley would be very annoying considering the international break is up next with a fortnight to stew on any unsatisfactory outcome.
The hosts are 1/4 for three points as Mauricio Pochettino naturally remains upbeat and although I make no excuse for stating the blindingly obvious, a fast start here could see the floodgates open as a sense of relief washes over the stadium like a healing balm.
To that end, I quite like the look of the hosts holding an advantage after 15 minutes as they start to turn the dominant possession they displayed against Chelsea into something tangible on the scoreboard even though the Lancastrians do have an ability to annoy and frustrate.
Buoyed by a local derby victory in the league cup over Blackburn, Sean Dyche has already enjoyed one very successful raid to London having got the better of Chelsea on the opening day.
New summer signings like Jon Walters and Jack Cork seem to have fitted in quite nicely so far while a swoop this week for Leeds marksman Chris Wood will hopefully provide a solution up front following Andre Gray’s departure for Watford.
That adds up to a more dynamic unit for Dyche to send into battle but it may well take a little time before we see the best of them as they try and turn Turf Moor into a tough place to visit once again.
As for Spurs, Harry Kane has one more chance to bring an end to his silly August goal drought while I would expect Dele Alli to be much more himself after a subdued effort against Chelsea – expect two of England’s finest to lead the way in an important victory.
Prediction: Tottenham 3-0 Burnley - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 6/1
Chelsea v Everton (1330 BST)
It’s mission accomplished for Everton having made it into the Europa League group stage. It’s also the end of a brutal run of fixtures that has seen them play three times in six days.
A trip to Stamford Bridge completes the schedule following an excellent 1-1 draw at Manchester City with a successful foray to Hajduk Split sandwiched in between.
It is reasonable to assume that fatigue in the legs must be starting to build up for Ronald Koeman’s side and the layers feel this game might be a bridge too far – they are 15/2 chances to leave London with all three points.
“It is a nice challenge,” said the increasingly impressive Dutch manager, who is already short of numbers with Davy Klaassen, Sandro Ramirez and the suspended Morgan Schneiderlin all set to miss out.
It means that Koeman is going to have to ask his team to dig very deep indeed.
They were on the backfoot for much of the second half despite playing 10 men until late on at the Etihad Stadium while travel to and from Croatia plus an energy-sapping 90 minutes in temperatures in the high 70s has to take a toll.
This is life though for the new Everton and expectations remain high they can produce another performance against the champions.
The latter produced their own piece of magic last weekend to beat Tottenham at Wembley having been written off in most quarters.
Rumours of an unsettled camp, missing star players and a general malaise following an opening loss at home to Burnley were all put to one side in a clinical upset where the two shots on target they mustered both hit the back of the net.
The theory is that will be the springboard for Chelsea to press on but I am still not entirely convinced as Antonio Conte sorts out his new line-up to a satisfactory standard while still waiting for Eden Hazard to return from off-season ankle surgery.
Everton may well have to do their homework in a bit of rush for this one but I fancy Koeman can extract one more performance from his players ahead of the international break.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to do a fair bit of screaming at his backline at Split – with varying amounts of success – and if the penny has dropped, they could well stand firm long enough to eke out another creditable stalemate.
Under 2.5 goals in the game represents a fair shout but I am inclined to pass that over on this occasion given it is an odds-on quote.
Prediction: Chelsea 1-1 Everton - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 13/2
West Brom v Stoke (1330, Sky Sports Premier League)
I don’t mean to be rude to the teams involved as this has never been the most appealing fixture down the years but both have made a hugely promising start to the new campaign with the Baggies unbeaten and Stoke celebrating another victory over Arsenal.
There is not a huge amount of love lost between home boss Tony Pulis (taking on one of his former teams) and Mark Hughes either and at times things have boiled over but the respective squads are arguably the best they have had at their disposal for some time.
Home advantage means West Brom are favourites after 1-0 victories over Bournemouth and Burnley were followed by them flexing their muscles a bit more in midweek in a 3-1 league cup triumph at Accrington.
They didn’t manage more than two consecutive successes throughout last season and Pulis already looks to have more depth to call on with James Morrison, Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli available to plug in for the game in Lancashire.
It gives Pulis a host of options all of sudden to combat a Stoke side who are also heading in the right direction and could have unearthed a little diamond after new arrival Jese turned out to be the match-winner against Arsenal.
There was clearly an element of “surprise package” in his performance but I am sure Pulis will have a plan in mind already to shut down any threat from the marauding Spaniard.
On a side note, I don’t think he would be particularly enamoured either if Saido Berahino opened his account for the Potters at The Hawthorns.
So perhaps we are missing the point a little here. There is cause for each set of fans to be more upbeat in terms of entertainment value but let’s not forget both Pulis and Hughes ostensibly develop sides which are tough to beat.
The addition of Kurt Zouma (Stoke) and Ahmed Hegazi (WBA) at the heart of their respective defences are going to make them even tougher to crack while Stoke custodian Jack Butland has not missed a beat since his return from a lengthy injury lay-off.
I get a strong feeling that the unders is the route to take to profits and Stoke to keep a clean sheet is the most tempting angle.
Prediction: West Brom 0-0 Stoke - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 11/2
Posted at 1015 BST on 26/08/17.
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Manchester United v Leicester (1730, BT Sport 1)
Craig Shakespeare continues to really catch the eye with his leadership at Leicester City and while some other Premier League outfits scratched around for a midweek result in the Carabao Cup, his team were ruthless as they took Sheffield United apart in a 4-1 victory.
The Blades were under strength but so were the Foxes and you could be nothing but impressed with how Demarai Gray, Islam Slimani and even Ahmed Musa went about the task with relish - which shows the depth available to Shakespeare when required.
The former champions are a double-figure price to collect three points from the trip to Old Trafford if you shop around as we all gaze starry-eyed in the direction of the red half of Manchester following their classy start to the season.
A brace of 4-0 victories over West Ham and Swansea does not represent grounds to hand over the title but Jose Mourinho’s “second-season syndrome” is off to an ideal start and another convincing performance here would more than likely see them closely challenging Manchester City for title favouritism.
Their wins so far have seen them push and probe for long periods but very few teams in this country have the players to deliver the devastating killer blow unleashed in a five-minute spell against Swansea last week and Jose will be overjoyed that his expensively-assembled attacking options have hit the ground running.
That said, one or two occasions in south Wales saw them get in a bit of tangle at the back down to the pace of Jordan Ayew and a similar issue awaits here if they are not careful to keep a tight leash on a visiting side who are masters of the decisive counter-attack.
Gray is pushing for a starting berth after his exploits at Bramall Lane and we can expect a return to the first XI for Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez with in-form Slimani a handy back-up if Shakespeare needs a change of approach.
The latter knows how to get his match tactics right having given Arsenal an almighty scare on the opening night and I fancy his team to put an end to United’s record of clean sheets although a paucity of central defenders currently for Leicester could add up to trouble at the other end.
Prediction: Manchester United 2-1 Leicester - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 15/2
Bournemouth v Manchester City (1230 BST, Sky Sports Premier League)
City’s 1-1 draw with Everton on Monday night was a rather turbulent affair but probably confirmed 10 of Pep Guardiola’s men on the pitch at any one time will be a match for most in the top flight.
The way they swarmed over Everton in the second half with substitute Raheem Sterling leading the charge did not resemble a team that was a man light and the pressure finally paid off when the winger volleyed home a leveller.
Surely it would seem he has done enough to get the nod from Guardiola ahead of Leroy Sane to start and his quicksilver running at the opposing defence could well be the basis of the visitors landing odds of 1/3 in what is traditionally an extremely profitable fixture for them.
Four meetings in the Premier League era sees City boast a 15-1 aggregate advantage and Sterling has absolutely filled his boots with five goals in three appearances against the Cherries – he is on offer at 2/1 to add to his tally at some stage at the Vitality Stadium.
The other end of the pitch remains an area of concern for Guardiola with his defence still capable of getting flustered while new goalkeeper Ederson took a fair amount of abuse for the way he let Wayne Rooney’s shot squirm through his legs and into the net.
This is clearly a chance to steady the ship against a side yet to find the target in the top flight this season, although their midweek cup win over Birmingham (2-1) should have instilled a little bit of confidence and belief.
I am not convinced though the firepower up front of Benik Afobe, Josh King and Jermain Defoe are quite in sync yet to keep up with the visitors and it would be a turn up if this was anything other than a convincing away victory, with City's attack strongly fancied to chalk up three or more at odds-against.
Prediction: Bournemouth 1-3 Manchester City - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 9/1
Crystal Palace v Swansea (1500)
The build-up to this one already has the feel of an edgy encounter for two teams with one point between them so far but both have had spirits lifted by a cup win against lower-league opposition in midweek.
Palace overcame an Ipswich side with an average age of 19 amongst their outfield players while Swansea swept aside League One's MK Dons – any port in a storm as the old saying goes and it does set this game up quite neatly.
There was actually quite a lot to like from both teams last weekend in terms of their performance despite defeats at Liverpool and Manchester United.
The penny looks to be dropping for Palace as they start to adjust to Frank De Boer’s style of play and it was only an unfortunate ricochet off the shin of Luka Milivojevic at Anfield which gifted Sadio Mane the chance to pounce for the winner.
“If we play with that kind of intensity and discipline the results will come,” said de Boer. “I see there is progress and I am satisfied.”
They are suddenly odds-on for victory now on the strength of them apparently moving in the right direction under the Dutchman against Paul Clement’s men, who huffed and puffed for a long time only to fold dramatically in the final 10 minutes against Manchester United last weekend.
Clement tried to go more offensive with a couple of tactical changes at 1-0 down and his side were ultimately picked off by a rampant Red Devils but they had kept a lid on their rivals for much of the game with the only goal up until the 79th minute coming via a set-piece on the stroke of half-time.
Their head coach continues to impress and I fancy he will send out a line-up in south London primed for the task ahead and now boosted by the arrival of the promising Sam Clucas from Hull on the back of Gylfi Sigurdsson’s exit.
Swansea are unbeaten in four fixtures against Palace – including last November’s ridiculous 5-4 success – and although I don’t see a repeat of that sort of drama, the visitors can get something from the fixture and are worth supporting in the Double Chance market.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 1-1 Swansea - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 5/1
Huddersfield v Southampton (1500)
I had quite a strong fancy for the Saints this week after Huddersfield kept up their unbeaten start in the top flight against Newcastle but my enthusiasm has been somewhat tempered by the price on offer.
Southampton are at best a fraction of odds-against to bring the Terriers back down to earth in West Yorkshire, my theory being that the markets would have reacted more positively in favour of the hosts and their perfect record.
That is not the case though and leaves me in a bit of a quandary in terms of what to make of the fixture.
Southampton are certainly a grade up from Crystal Palace and Toon in terms of what they have to offer going forward while a tepid midweek Carabao Cup exit to Wolves having reached the final last year will have hurt and more than likely sting them back into action.
The price is tight enough considering they will have to find a way past an impressive Huddersfield back line that has yet to concede in the league with the uncompromising Chris Schindler and Mathias Jorgensen make tackle after tackle.
Striker Steve Mounie was notably quiet against Newcastle as Aaron Mooy stepped up to the plate with a high-quality winner while a come-from-behind success over Rotherham in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday keeps up the momentum nicely as head coach David Wagner gave some of the lesser lights some successful time on the pitch.
I envisage an evenly-balanced affair at the John Smith’s Stadium and having somewhat cooled on the chances of Southampton, a draw now seems to be the best alternative.
Prediction: Huddersfield 1-1 Southampton - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 5/1
Newcastle v West Ham (1500)
West Ham’s Saturday afternoon at Southampton encapsulated what the Hammers are these days under Slaven Bilic – erratic and ill-disciplined yet capable of a spirited display when their backs are against the wall.
A red card for Marko Arnautovic and two penalties conceded went into the minus column as the last-gasp 3-2 defeat ultimately overshadowed bags of commitment and determination to haul themselves back from the brink of a hiding when 2-0 down.
They lost Winston Reid as well in the warm-up but Michail Antonio’s effervescent return to the first team was major positive as he and Andre Ayew ran themselves into the ground to make up for the absence of naughty boy Arnautovic.
Javier Hernandez has clearly not lost much - if any - of his sharpness at this level with a wonderfully poached double strike and although they have yet to get off the mark in the Premier League, the signs are positive ahead of the long trek up to Tyneside.
That is in stark contrast on the face of it for the hosts, who have made a wobbly return to this level and criticism that they remain little more than a Championship outfit is well-founded.
Rafa Benitez is on the brink of spontaneous combustion if he has to field one more question about transfers while the Spaniard’s plan to stifle Huddersfield last week worked to some extent but a limp front line is lacking confidence with Joselu and Ayoze Perez wasting good chances to rescue a point.
Maybe we have already reached a crossroads for Newcastle after going out of the Carabao Cup as well to Nottingham Forest so can Rafa get a response or are the current Newcastle squad already out of their depth?
The way the Hammers strolled past Cheltenham for their own Cup success was a nice little boost and they probably merit a small investment to fire-up the doom and gloom merchants once more in this part of the world.
Prediction: Newcastle 0-2 West Ham - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 14/1
Watford v Brighton (1500)
It has been a very smart start for Watford this season but manager Marco Silva was more than a little irritated after his side clumsily went out of the Carabao Cup to Bristol City.
He fielded a strong enough team to do the job as well but a 3-2 defeat at Vicarage Road and a red card for Jose Holebas was not what the doctor ordered and it will be interesting to see how Silva and his side react to their first real setback.
The Hornets are expected to deliver the goods once more at 10/11 or thereabouts having looked a serious threat going forward with five goals already from two Premier League outings.
New boys Andre Gray and Richarlison had Bournemouth all at sea last week in a cosy 2-0 triumph while Nathaniel Chalobah has settled in very quickly with some assured performances in midfield following his arrival from Chelsea, which have already been rewarded with an England call-up.
That attacking verve will be need to be on point as Brighton attempt to get something going having suffered back-to-back 2-0 reverses against Manchester City and Leicester.
Those were both tough assignments with points here looking more accessible and if they do fall behind, manager Chris Hughton has some additional options to put into play with Jose Izquierdo and a fit-again Anthony Knockaert ready to start and inject some much-needed pace up front.
It has been tiny little errors that have cost Brighton so far in two fairly solid displays against very good teams and I quite like their chances of getting up and running here with something from the encounter.
Prediction: Watford 1-1 Brighton - Sky Bet's scoreline odds: 5/1
Posted at 0710 BST on 25/08/17.
