Norwich v Aston Villa
Carrow Road, 12.45, Saturday
THE EARLY GAME sees Aston Villa travel to Norwich for a ‘Paul Lambert Derby’. The Scot led the Canaries to two successive promotions and the Holy Grail of Premier League football before departing for Villa last year.
The visitors haven’t won since the opening day when they overcame Arsenal but could get back on track this afternoon against a Norwich side who were poor at Spurs last weekend.
Bet: Aston Villa @ 15/8
Liverpool v Southampton
Anfield, 3pm, Saturday
Liverpool’s 100 per cent record came to an end on Monday when former player Jonjo Shelvey scored the opener before gifting his old side two goals. They remain top, however, and will be full of confidence for the visit of Southampton.
Coutinho is sidelined for several weeks but in Daniel Sturridge, they possess the league’s most in-form striker. Contrastingly, the Saints are struggling to find goals with new arrival Daniel Osvaldo not yet settled in.
Bet: Liverpool @ 8/13
Newcastle v Hull
St James’ Park, 3pm, Saturday
Tyneside was clearly the most harmonious place to be over the summer and Newcastle were tipped to have a difficult season after Man City put four past them in the league curtain-raiser.
Since then, they’ve accumulated seven points from a possible nine and in Hatem Ben Arfa, have a player who can cause teams real damage on his day.
Bet: Newcastle @ 5/6
West Brom v Sunderland
The Hawthorns, 3pm, Saturday
This pair currently fill the bottom two places in the league and while it’s early days, both could badly do with getting points on the board.
Black Cats captain John O’Shea is back from suspension and with Shane Long sidelined, the defender could face his former team-mate Stephane Sessegnon, who is in line for a Baggies debut.
Bet: Draw @ 23/10
West Ham v Everton
Upton Park, 3pm, Saturday
The Toffees had a terrific win over Chelsea last weekend and will be buoyed be the inclusion of on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku, who was unavailable to face his parent club but could make his Everton bow here.
West Ham are short on forwards with Andy Carroll, Mladen Petric and Joe Cole all sidelined, which doesn’t bode well for Sam Allardyce when you consider his team haven’t scored in the league since the 2-0 win over Cardiff a month ago.
Bet: Everton @ 7/5
Chelsea v Fulham
Stamford Bridge, 5.30pm, Saturday
Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea hasn’t quite gone to plan after defeats in the league and Europe over the past week at the hands of Everton and Basel.
The Portuguese boss needs to turn things around fast and should do so when neighbours Fulham visit Stamford Bridge.
Bet: Chelsea @ 1/3
Arsenal v Stoke
The Emirates, 1.30pm, Sunday
Arsenal have bounced back from that loss to Aston Villa in August and trail leaders Liverpool by a single point after winning six on the trot in all competitions going into a meeting with the Potters.
Stoke frustrated Man City during their 0-0 draw last time out and have started well playing a different brand of football under Mark Hughes to the long ball tactics of his predecessor Tony Pulis.
Bet: Arsenal @ 4/11
Crystal Palace v Swansea
Selhurst Park, 1.30pm, Sunday
Swansea enjoyed one of the best results of the club’s history with a 3-0 win away to Valencia in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Add that to the draw with Liverpool on Monday and Michael Laudrup could have a few tired bodies against a Crystal Palace team desperate for points.
Bet: Draw @ 9/4
Cardiff v Tottenham
Cardiff City Stadium, 4pm, Sunday
The post-Bale era has begun extremely well for AVB and while Tottenham’s talented squad are still getting to know each other, they have impressed in their last two victories over Norwich and Tromso.
Newly-promoted Cardiff already caused an upset at home against Man City and will hope to earn a similar result on Sunday.
Bet: Spurs @ 10/11
Manchester City v Manchester United
Etihad Stadium, 4pm, Sunday
The weekend’s big game sees two managers involved in a Manchester derby for the very first time. Since going down to Liverpool, United have looked assured and had the luxury of both an in-form Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in up front against Palace and Bayer Leverkusen.
City went down t o Cardiff and were held by Stoke during Manuel Pellegreni’s short time in charge but got their Champions League campaign off to a winning start in Plzen.
It will be interesting to see how both men line their teams out on Sunday in a fixture which will be important not to lose.
Bet: Draw @ 9/4
Accumulator
A €10 stake would earn you a whopping €25,798.40 if the miracle occurred that this ten team ACCA came in.
NAP
Spurs/Chelsea/Liverpool treble. €10 wins you €41.Stab in the dark
A tenner on Lukaku, Sturridge and Van Persie anytime scorers returns €134.
