Saturday ushers in the second round of Premier League and EFL fixtures this week and with it another opportunity for us to sniff out some value across the coupon.
Aston Villa’s aversion to clean sheets points in the direction of a nice wager when they host Southampton, while Wrexham’s greater commitment to defensive probity yields another when on the Welsh side’s visit to Burton.
Weekend Football tips
Aston Villa to beat Southampton & both teams to score @ 6/4
Wrexham to keep a clean sheet vs Burton @ 8/5
Newport vs Carlisle under 1.5 goals @ 9/4
Bet on the latest English football odds at Betzone
Revived Villa can vanquish Saints, but not without conceding
Aston Villa snapped a run of eight games without a win across all competitions on Wednesday night with a cathartic 3-1 victory at home to Brentford. Saturday visitors Southampton look like the ideal opponents for the purposes of securing another success.
Unai Emery’s men are just 1/3 to get the better of the Saints, who are rock bottom of the Premier League, have lost six of their seven away games in the division and got battered 5-1 at home by Chelsea in midweek.
Better value about the hosts can be found by teaming a Villa win with both teams to score – a bet which Betzone have priced up at 6/4. Villa have kept just two clean sheets in 14 top-flight games this season, while Southampton have netted in eight of their last 10.
Tip: Aston Villa to beat Southampton & both teams to score @ 6/4
Shut out offers better value than victory for travelling Wrexham
At first glance the 17/20 about Wrexham (second in League One) to beat Burton, who have the worst home record in the division, feels like a fair, if not downright-appealing price.
However the Welsh side have done the majority of their winning at home this term, while registering victories in just two of their eight divisional road assignments to date.
One area they can be better trusted to show their superiority over the Brewers is at the back. Phil Parkinson’s men have the best defensive record in the third tier. That element of their quality travels too, with a division-lowest seven away goals in eight games shipped so far.
Wrexham are 8/5 to shut out their fairly toothless hosts, who have scored once or less in each of their last six league games and failed to score in four of those six.
Tip: Wrexham to keep a clean sheet vs Burton @ 8/5
Dour spectacle in the offing as goal-shy strugglers collide in Wales
Low-scoring draws have been a repetitive motif among the recent outings of Newport County and Carlisle and under 1.5 goals in the fixture looks competitively priced at 9/4.
Newport have drawn their last three games 0-0, 0-0 and 2-2 and failed to score in three of their past four outings in all competitions, as well as three of their last home games on all fronts.
Carlisle, meanwhile, have drawn their last three 1-1, 0-0 and 1-1. They’ve also found goals hard to come by, scoring once or less in each of their last five league games and blanking twice.
As evidenced from their most recent results, neither side has tended to concede many in recent months either and goals are expected to be at a premium as a result.
