WEEK 1
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Predictions will generally be posted by Friday each week,
AND the analyses should be up by Wednesday following each weekend’s games.
The odds that I quote on each game are the first available and are quite
possibly subject to change as the game day approaches.
WEEK 1 AUG 15 - 18
WEEK’S SUMMARY
An exciting start to the new season. Nice to get the ball rolling with our first Gold Star pick. Correct predictions for eight out of ten is a better result than any other site that I’ve seen. I’m sure I’ll get eight wrong somewhere during the season. My two mis-steps were Chelsea v Crystal Palace and Brighton v Fulham. In the Chelsea game the Blues were all over the Eagles and they were unlucky to earn just one point. The Brighton game was always going to be a difficult one to predict and as it played out Brighton had all three points in their pocket until the very last seconds.
WEEK 1 GAME 1 – FRI AUG 15 15:00 |
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| HOME | AWAY | ||||||
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LIVERPOOL The Reds |
BOURNEMOUTH The Cherries |
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| Odds -1-1/2 | O/U 3-1/2 |
Odds +1-1/2 |
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| PREDICTIONS: I would like to start the season on a positive note and this looks like a good place to start. Liverpool have added some very useful players to their squad, but at this writing I’m still not sure if they have Alexander Isak’s signature. Either with or without him The Reds should be too much for the visiting South Coast team. I’m going to make this first game my Gold Star pick of the week. Liverpool -1-1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 4–2 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: What a thrilling start to the season. A very moving tribute to the late Diogo Jota and his brother before the match and poignant reminders throughout the game. Bournemouth should have been outmatched here and when they went 2-0 down it looked like it was over. Two quick goals by Antoine Semenyo put The Cherries back in the game and suddenly it didn’t look that comfortable for the home side. Two new faces for Liverpool Jereme Frimpong and Milos Kerkez looked adrift in the defense and weren’t helped by an awful performance by Ibraham Konte plus a sub-par appearance by Virgil van Djik. This needs to change muy rapido if The Reds are to repeat last years achievements. Late strikes by substitute Frederic Chiesa (88th minute) and ever reliable Mo Salah (90+4) pulled Liverpool’s bacon out of the fire. In contrast to the shocking efforts of the new look defense Newcomer Hugo Ekitike had an outstanding Premier League debut. Scoring the first goal and being involved in almost all of the first half attacks looks like he may be worth all of the approx $75 mil paid for him. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 2 – SAT AUG 16 07:30 |
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ASTON VILLA The Villans |
NEWCASTLE The Magpies |
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| Odds Pick | O/U 3 | Odds Pick | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: Same thing applies here as to the Liverpool game. Will Alexander Isak be playing or not? It is possible that by game time both these teams may be fielding many new faces. Bit early to tell how each of these is going to perform so I will go for a draw on this one. In that case this will be a No-Bet. | |||||||
| RESULTS: 0-0 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: Both of these teams have basically the same problem—lack of new blood. Villa have financial constraints that limit them from signing top class and proven talent. Newcastle, despite denials, are feeling the loss of Alexander Isak. At the moment of writing he is still a Newcastle player but a move to Liverpool is inching closer. The Magpies need someone to take his place before the transfer window ends in a couple of weeks. In the first half it was all Newcastle and one might think that if Isak had been on the field they would have gone in at half time with the lead. After the second half started Aston Villa started to make their presence felt but Ollie Watkins can’t do it all on his own. It is way to early to draw any conclusions from this game but if both of these teams don’t get help the are going to end up in the middle of the table come next May. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 3 – SAT AUG 16 10:00 |
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SUNDERLAND The Black Cats |
WEST HAM The Hammers |
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| Odds Pick | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds Pick | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: I think the Black Cats are going to come out swinging and what better team to do it against than West Ham. The fact that this game is a pick tells me that the odds-makers expect this to be a close game. Their first game back in the Premier League at home should lift Sunderland up and I would say that they will get the new season off to a good start. Sunderland Pick. | |||||||
| RESULTS: 3-0 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: Well don’t say I didn’t warn you. From Sunderlands point of view they couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season and I don’t just mean the three points. Getting drawn against West Ham on your home turf had all the advantages they needed for a resounding victory. Jarrod Bowen seems like the only West Ham player with a clue and with the air of doom hanging over the London side it is not going to be easy getting any player whose worth anything to go there. I pegged them to be in the relegation race this year and even though it’s ridiculously early if they don’t buck up that’s what this season is going to be all about. Goals by Eliezer Mayenda, Danny Ballard and Wilson Isidor made mincemeat of The Hammers and by the looks of this game there are many more where they came from. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 4 – SAT AUG 16 10:00 |
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BRIGHTON The Seagulls |
FULHAM The Cottagers |
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| Odds -1/2 | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds +1/2 | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: This could be a hard one to predict (aren’t they all?). These two teams may need a few weeks to settle down into their rhythm and although Brighton are favored this could go either way. A draw wouldn’t surprise me so I’ll go with Fulham but not with a great deal of confidence. Fulham +1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 1-1 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: With a game plane reminiscent of last year efforts Brighton managed to piss away a lead and two points. Neither of these two have signed any new players of note and Matt O’Riley’s 55th minute penalty seemed to have the game wrapped up. I don’t know how much extra time was added but six minutes after the 90 mark Fulham managed to snatch a point. From Brighton’s standpoint that has got to sting as they had all three points in their pocket until Rodrigo Muniz popped up with the equalizer. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 5 – SAT AUG 16 10:00 |
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TOTTENHAM The Spurs |
BURNLEY The Clarets |
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| Odds -1-1/2 | O/U 3 | Odds +1-1/2 | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: Burnley have a horrible start to the season with games against all the top teams in the first six weeks (except for Sunderland and perhaps Tottenham) With a new manager The Spurs may come out of the gate with something to prove after last seasons debacle) but that remains to be seen. Burnley have/had a brick wall for a defense but have lost their goalkeeper to Manchester City. I think the bet here is under the 3 goals. Under 3 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 3-0 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: I figured Burnley’s next game against Sunderland was their best chance of grabbing some points. Not so sure now. The way their schedule looks it could be late October (v Wolves) before they have hope of any kind of success. Facing some of the best, and improving, teams in the Premier League at the start of this campaign will leave them too far back in the table to save themselves. Against Tottenham on Saturday if was apparent how the badly they missed their excellent goalkeeper James Trafford who returned to Manchester City after being loaned out to Burnley last year. Defensively they were formidable in the Championship League, conceding only 16 goals all season. Spurs on the other hand were not really renowned for their goal scoring prowess last year and yet they managed to bang three past The Clarets. Richarlisons brace and one by Brendan Johnson plus an impressive display by Mohammed Kudus got the North London team off to an excellent start, next week will be a sterner test when the face Manchester City. Burnley had their chances, especially in the first half but in the second period Tottenham took control and never looked back. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 6 -SAT AUG 16 12:30 PM |
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WOLVERHAMPTON The Wolves
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MANCHESTER CITY The Citizens |
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| Odds +1 | O/U 3 | Odds -1 | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: A tough start for Wolves. The blow might be softened a little by playing their first game at home but I don’t think that will save them. City need a strong start to keep pace with Liverpool and they can’t afford to drop points this early in the season. Manchester City -1 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 0-4 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: Wolves may beat some teams this year but they wont be anyone coached by Pep Guardiola. For large parts of this game it was a master class in top tier football presented by the man himself (Pep). Needing to replace Kevin de Bruyne newcomers Tijjani Reijnders and subsitute Rayan Cherki seemed to fit into the team seamlessly. Reijnder especially looked like he had been playing for Manchester for years. He assisted Earling Haaland with his two goals while bagging one himself and when Cherki came on late in the game he scored one also. James Trafford was in goal for Ederson who was sick but he really had little to do. All in all a great start for the new boys and also for City. They look like the team to beat already. Wolverhampton had the ball in the net first but was called offside with little protest from the home team as it was pretty obvious. They need to make four or five new signing pretty quick or it’s going to be a long, hard and disappointing season. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 7 – SUN AUG 17 09:00 |
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CHELSEA The Blues |
CRYSTAL PALACE The Eagles |
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| Odds -1 | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds +1 | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: Chelsea should be too strong for The Eagles. Not sure yet if Palace still have Marc Guehi or Eberechi Eze on their roster. If not it could be a long hard season for the South London team. Chelsea will look to start off their season on a winning note therefore. Chelsea -1 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 0-0 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: Only a die hard Palace fan would have expected any kind of result after visiting Stamford Bridge against high -flying Chelsea. With 71% of the possession The Blues should have ended this game with more than one point. Within 10 minutes it was Crystal Palace that were in the lead from an Eberechi Eze free kick. Just before play was resumed the referee was called over to the VAR and consequently the goal was disallowed due to some kind of infringement by Marc Guehi. The Eagles held on against repeated pressure by Chelsea who despite having the ball almost all of the time could only place three shots on target in the first half. As I mentioned in my pre-season predictions maybe Chelsea are feeling the effects of almost non-stop games throughout the summer but they need to get their house in order if they are to be a threat this year. Palace on the other hand are about to lose their probably best player, Eze. While the money will be welcomed they need some new faces before the transfer window closes in a couple of weeks. Competing in Europe, albeit not in the competition they would prefer, may be an added strain on their resources. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 8 – SUN AUG 17 09:00 |
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NOTTINGHAM FOREST The Tricky Trees |
BRENTFORD The Bees |
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| Odds -1/2 | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds +1/2 | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: Brentford showed a lot of promise last year but after losing their coach to Tottenham and their star players this might be a very different season for them. Forest will not be as fortunate this year as last but I still think they can get the year off on the front foot. Nottingham -1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 3-1 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: Chris Wood still shows no signs of slowing down as he opened up this campaign with two goals, one at the 5 minute mark and the second in injury time at the close of the first half. I think nobody had told Brentford they had a match to play at least in the first 45 minutes. It took 20 minutes before the London side had the ball in Notts Forest side of the field but it came to naught. Being able to keep Morgan Gibbs-White on the team despite rumors of him leaving looks like it’s paying off already as he had an excellent game with more to come I’m sure. Again it’s way too early to be drawing conclusions from just one game but for my money The Bees are in trouble. They are a shadow of the team they were last year and it could well be their last season in The Premier League for a while. | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 9 – SUN AUG 17 11:30 |
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MANCHESTER UNITED The Red Devils |
ARSENAL The Gunners |
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| Odds +1/2 | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds -1/2 | |||||
| PREDICTIONS: This could get interesting. United will be looking to bury the memories of last season as soon as possible. This match-up is probably not what they would have wanted to start the season. A lot has changed for Manchester as most of their team last year needed to find other ways to make a living. Arsenal have finally got someone to play in the center of the attack (Viktor Gyokeres) and he can make a big contribution. On last years form Arsenal should have no trouble here but with almost a new team at Manchester who knows? Arsenal should pull through but don’t bet the farm. Arsenal -1/2. | |||||||
| RESULTS:1-0 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: Arsenal were lucky to bag all three points against a revitalized Manchester United. As predicted lots of new faces playing for The Red Devils and it looked like a different team that slogged through last season. They were at Arsenals throat from the outset and it was a great disappointment that they conceded a soft goal from an Arsenal corner. Bayindir was in goal for the injured Andre Onana but a top class goalkeeper is needed before long because neither of these are not the answer. In the second half, apart from a brief spell around the one hour mark, Manchester’s assault was relentless drawing excellent saves from Arsenals David Raya. New boys Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko ( subbed on at the 65th minute) made a strong showing with the promise of greater things to come. The Gunners didn’t look their best and newcomer Gyokeres failed to make an impression | |||||||
WEEK 1 GAME 10 – SUN AUG 17 3:00 pm |
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LEEDS |
EVERTON |
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| Odds Pick | O/U 2-1/2 | Odds Pick | |||||||||
| PREDICTIONS: Leeds at home to start the season. They may have an uphill struggle to stay in the Premier League but I expect them to get off to a good start. I don’t see much improvement in the Everton side and as usual they will have to rely on Jordan Pickford in goal to save their bacon. One would hope/ expect Everton to put on a better show in their new stadium but I think a trip to Elland Road will leave them empty handed. Leeds, Pick | |||||||||||
| RESULTS:1-0 | |||||||||||
| ANALYSIS: The entire Everton team failed to make an appearance for the first half of this game. Leeds had 12 shots to Evertons 0 and forced five corners in the first 14 minutes. The pace slowed a little in the second half and The Toffees made some effort to get back in the game. Even with all of the pressure piled on them the visitors kept the score 0-0 ( with the usual heroics from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford) until the 84th minute that is. Under another attack from Leeds midfielder Anton Stach ( a new face from Hoffenheim this summer) banged a shot at Everton’s goal. James Tarkowski was penalized for handball when the shot bounced off his arm. It looked like a harsh decision but it was upheld by VAR and Lukas Nmecha calmly slotted the penalty home. A great start for The Whites and it shows that they intend to stay up, they will not be the easy touch as a lot of so-called experts are predicting | |||||||||||
WEEK 2 GAME 1 – Friday Aug 23rd 3:00 pm EST |
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WEST HAM |
CHELSEA |
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| Odds -1/2 | O/U 2 1/2 | Odds +1/2 | |||||
| PREDICTION: Chelsea have to be disappointed with last weeks draw against Crystal Palace. They were the better team for most of the game but couldn’t break down The Eagles defense. Speaking of disappointment West Ham must feel embarrassed after last weeks shellacking by Sunderland. A feeling they should get used to as I see more of the same coming down the road. Chelsea will be looking to make amends and for my money West Ham should expect more of what they got last week. Gold Star pick. Chelsea -1/2 | |||||||
| RESULTS: 1-5 | |||||||
| ANALYSIS: No body with two eyes in their head and half a brain could say this was a surprise. For most of last season West Ham have looked completely lost in the Premier League. About halfway through last season I said they were candidates for the drop and so far this year they have continued on that path. In a word they were useless and Chelsea, without their star player Cole Palmer, ripped them apart. Not much point in going over the match the score says it all. For five minutes there was some hope as the home team scored first but it was all downhill from there. As dominating as the scoreline would suggest Chelsea looked sloppy and lackadaisical at times and against a more accomplished side would have found it much tougher going. If they are going to be taken seriously they are going to have to tighten up considerably, as for The Hammers I can’t begin to imagine what it will take to turn this team around. | |||||||