English Premier League - Round 2

[admin]

Round 2 of the English Premier League kicks off this weekend with the Tyne-Wear derby between Sunderland and Newcastle. Arsenal host Liverpool after both sides were held to draws last week. Recovering from heavy defeats in round 1, Swansea and QPR will be keen to prove their Premier League credentials, while Everton and Tottenham's campaigns commence after their first round clash was postponed.

Below are the latest fixture odds (subject to change).

[Goodsy]

Man City away to Bolton @$1.77 looks alright value... Man City will be full of confidence after their big midweek win.

I wonder if a Liverpool away win to Arsenal might be a go.. Arsenal will be tough at home, but Liverpool do have the better squad and if they play like they did in the 1st half then I give them a red hot go. It will also be Arsenals 3rd game in a week, maybe tired legs ?... @$2.80 to Liverpool it might be worth a dabble.

[Punters United]

Good evening all.

Below are my initial unresearched thoughts:

• Sunderland v Newcastle should be a tight affair because both teams will be desperate not to lose to a local rival. Under 2.5 goals perhaps?
  
• Liverpool at 2.80 is worth a dabble in my book. That being said, I'm more inclined to take them in a draw-no-bet wager. You get higher odds than a half-ball bet if your selection wins, and your wager is refunded if the game is drawn. Liverpool is currently sitting at 2.00 in the draw no bet market with sportsbet.
  
• Everton will view anything other than a victory against QPR as a failure. Cahill to score?
  
• You'd have to be bold to bet against Chelsea at home. Shame the odds are so low.
  
• With the strength of their set pieces Stoke City will fancy their chances against Norwich.
  
• I reckon Wigan will fancy Swansea's scalp, although Swansea were able to keep Man City at bay for almost an hour last week, and I have a few friends who reckon they are the strongest of the promoted sides. Look out for Victor Moses to score for Wigan, as he scored a bag of them pre season.
  
• Bolton are also coming off a 4-0 win, so hopefully both sides will play confident, open, attacking football in that fixture.
  
• I'm half tempted to get up early on Tuesday to watch Man U v Tottenham. Tottenham haven't played yet so they'll be champing at the bit to get started. They have a lot of quality so Man Utd will have to work hard for a win. 2-1 Man U?

[Andy Marshall]

I agree with a lot of what you guys say earlier. I'm a massive, massive Newcastle fan and it hurts me to say it, but we're really going to struggle against the unwashed, er, I mean Sunderland. We didn't even have a shot in our home game against Arsenal last weekend. I don't think we have the creativity in an attacking sense to unlock a defence, so will be relying on scraps and opposition mistakes. Watched Sunderland last weekend and they were hugely impressive to come back from 1-0 at Liverpool. They even kept pressing for a late winner. I don't have the heart to bet against my team in the tyne-wear derby, but it might be beneficial for some of you to have a close look at that one.

[Punters United]

Thank you for the insight Andy -- will certainly take that on board.

[qtip]

Taking into account what everyone has said, I'm thinking something along the lines of:

Sunderland @ 2.12
Arsenal to draw @ 3.15
Everton @ 1.48
Wigan (+0.5) @ 1.70

Tottenham just came off a 5-0 away win against Hearts in the Europa League qualifiers, so I'm a bit nervous about backing Man Utd at those odds.

It will be interesting to see how well Man City travel this year. Until I know that I won't touch them in away fixtures.

[pominoz]

It's hard to see Arsenal winning this week. Here's an interesting fact: According to Opta, Arsenal won 64% of their league matches with Cesc Fabregas in the starting XI last season, but only 31% without him...

I'm tipping a draw.

[Goodsy]

So far Ive got:
$5 on Liverpool @$2.80
$5 on Everton @$1.50
$10 on Sunderland (draw-no-bet) @$1.50

Thanks for idea of draw-no-bet wager Punters United, I didnt know that... that could be very handy to know.

Will have a look at putting something on Sunderland so thanks for the insight Andy Marshall..

Looking forward to the games tonight, and they are on before midnight so wont be up as late as last week..

Im thinking of having another crack at Sportingbets 4 leg multi min $6 odds.. will update on what Im thinking and see what you guys think..

* added remaining 2 single bets for tonights matches

[Goodsy]

Ok, so for the 4 leg multi im looking at the following -

Arsenal - Liverpool
Everton - QPR
Chelsea - West Brom
Bolton - Man City

These 4 at a whopping $9.52, will place the required $10 on it then if succesful will 20% bonus on the winnings.

The other game I thought of putting in was the Sunderland v Newcastle game and having a Sunderland win.

What do you guys think about the above ?

* oops... sorry Andy thanks for the pick up, i did mean to highlight Man City... not Bolton, was getting carried away with the home teams... Have fixed... now to finish reading ur post...

[Andy Marshall]

Hey Goodsy! Everton and Chelsea are good legs to base your multi around. Not sure about Bolton though against City though. If you look at their goals last week, the first was a ripper strike, the second and own goal, the third from a huge deflection and the fourth was when the game was up. Not sure if they'll get through City this week. I like Liverpool, but for all the talk about Arsenal being a bit down, I'd like to see some action from Liverpool before I'd bet on that one.
Aston Villa would be my third leg. And then the fourth leg I'm not sure. My head probably says Sunderland.

Everton, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Sunderland (would that get you over $6?)

But these are just my opinions. If you're feeling confident, trust your own instincts!

For what it's worth I'm going to have a $5 multi on
Adelaide (AFL) to win by 40 or more
Everton to win
Chelsea to win
Derby to win (lots of talk about them in the Championship forum)
Combined odds about $7.40 (depending on your betting agency)

[Goodsy]

Ok so.. if I went:

Sunderland - Newastle Utd
Aston Villa - Blackburn
Chelsea - West Brom
Everton - QPR

This would et me over the line @$7.02, so that could work.

Hmmmm... I was unsure about the A.Villa game, was thinking that could end in a draw. Not sure... How do you rate Villa and Blackburn ?

[Goodsy]

If I cahnge to the following:

Sunderland - Newastle Utd
Chelsea - West Brom
Everton - QPR
Bolton - Man City

This would fetch $7.14 so stil get me over the line.... hmmmmmm

OR

Aston Villa - Blackburn
Chelsea - West Brom
Everton - QPR
Bolton - Man City

This would fall short @$5.91

[Goodsy]

Just looked up Aston Villa - not a bad squad, SHay Given is fit and will play tonight, Darren Bent, Emile Heskey, N'Zogbia etc... yeah I like the look of a Villa win v Blackburn.

[Andy Marshall]

Rather than rating Villa highly, I'm not a fan of Blackburn. They lost at home to Wolves on the opening day of the season.

Also, I agree with qtip's earlier comments about Man City away from home. I'll probably wait and see until a form pattern emerges. But these are just my opinions...if in doubt trust your own instincts mate!

Looking forward to a great night of action. Despite my advice to steer clear of Newcastle, I'll be still cheering for them like mad. But at least if they lose I'll have the consolation of helping some of you guys out.

[Goodsy]

So I finalised the multi as:

Sunderland - Newastle Utd
Aston Villa - Blackburn
Chelsea - West Brom
Everton - QPR

All home teams, $7.02 I bombed out after the 1st game last week, hope I atleast get past the 1st one :-)

Thanks for all your thoughts and opinions guys...

Let the games begins !