The twin highlights of matchweek 2 in the Premier League look to be Manchester City’s Saturday lunchtime clash with perennial bogey side Tottenham and the ‘Andreas Isak Derby’ between Newcastle and Liverpool at St James’ Park on Monday evening.
In between those two fascinating fixtures our three best bets of the EPL coupon all rely upon a combination of steely defences and attacks that lack cutting edge.
Matchweek 2: Gunners shutout win beckons with Whites underperforming xG
Arsenal managed to escape Old Trafford with a win to nil despite Manchester United registering a matchweek-one-high 22 attempts on goal and the Gunners are well worth backing at 21/20 to repeat the feat against a Leeds side that registered 21 of their own in a 1-0 win over Everton.
The Whites had to rely on an 84th-minute Lukas Nmecha penalty edge past David Moyes’ men at Elland Road despite generating the highest xG figure of the first round of Premier League fixtures, as per Understat (2.38).
Such a discrepancy suggests Daniel Farke’s second tier champions may lack cutting edge at this level. Unlike Everton, Arsenal have the quality to pierce the Yorkshire side’s defences and last season’s stingiest top flight defence to protect the lead we expect them to establish.
Arsenal to win to nil vs Leeds
@ 51/50
Matchweek 2: Newly promoted clubs attractively priced for 2024/25 continuation
Burnley and Sunderland produced a total of one goal across their two meetings in the Championship last season, with the Wearsiders beating the Clarets 1-0 at the Stadium of Light before the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in the return fixture at Turf Moor.
Betzone go a generous 43/25 about under 1.5 total match goals being scored for the clubs’ fourth consecutive meeting when they renew hostilities at Premier League level.
That looks a price worth taking on the evidence of their first steps into top-flight last weekend. The Clarets failed to net despite 14 shots away at Tottenham, while the Black Cats were perhaps fortunate to score with three of their five shots on target at home to West Ham.
Burnley vs Sunderland - Under 1.5 goals
@ 43/25
Matchweek 2: Draw a nice price in clash of last season’s stalemate specialists
Everton (15) and Brighton (13) amassed a hefty 28 Premier League draws between them last season, the highest and fourth-highest totals in the top flight.The draw looks attractively priced at 23/10 when they face off in the Toffees first EPL home game at the Dickinson Hill Stadium.
True to form Brighton kicked off the new campaign by sharing the spoils 1-1 with Fulham, while Everton frustrated Leeds for 84 minutes before giving up a penalty in a 1-0 away loss.
David Moyes’ men mustered a division-low one shot on target at Elland Road and their likely lack of goal threat should be balanced perfectly by their defensive discipline given only Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea conceded less Premier League goals last season.
Everton vs Brighton - Draw
@ 23/10
More predictions for matchweek 2, here.
