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Harry Kane scored 21 goals in 34 league appearances last season. PA Wire/PA Images
Predictions

Harry Kane to score and more Premier League bets to consider this weekend

We give our big five tips ahead of the second weekend of action.

1. Harry Kane to score and Tottenham to win (15/8)

SPURS GAVE A largely listless performance in the 1-0 loss away to Man United last week.

However, one of the few positives for Mauricio Pochettino’s side was the performance of Harry Kane.

The England international was starved of service all too often, but looked sharp on the few occasions in which he was involved in the play.

Playing Stoke at home, Tottenham are expected to produce a more ambitious performance than last week, and Kane may well benefit as a result.

2. Man City-Chelsea to end in draw (12/5)

Jose Mourinho is not regarded as a conservative coach by accident.

Furthermore, Man City away in just the second week of the campaign arguably represents Chelsea’s most difficult fixture of the season.

Following last week’s below-par draw with Swansea, expect Mourinho to be at his most pragmatic, with 90 minutes of bus-parking potentially ensuing.

Both the sides’ Premier League encounters ended 1-1 last season, so it would hardly be a surprise if the outcome was no different this time around.

3. West Ham to beat Leicester (5/4)

Of all the new-look Premier League teams last week, few were more impressive than West Ham.

Indeed, the Hammers were so good against Arsenal that the Sky pundits’ pre-match assertions — that a change of manager going into the season before moving stadium left them at a substantially greater risk of relegation — were made to look foolish.

Less than familiar faces such as Cheikhou Kouyate, Dimitri Payet and Angelo Ogbonna all impressed, while 16-year-old debutant Reece Oxford was named man-of-the-match and had the game’s highest passing accuracy (95%).

Top of the league Leicester also enjoyed a positive start with their 4-2 defeat of Sunderland, but expect the Hammers to prevail at Upton Park.

4. Wayne Rooney to be first goalscorer in United-Villa game (4/1)

Wayne Rooney wasn’t at his best against Tottenham last week, but the striker has a habit of silencing the critics when things initially appear to be going badly.

The England international — who is expected to occupy the lone striker role again tonight — has a wealth of talent and experience behind him.

Meanwhile, they may have eked out a 1-0 victory at Bournemouth last week, but in recent times, Tim Sherwood’s side’s defence has been less than reliable, while only Sunderland and Burnley had an inferior home record last season.

In addition, Rooney generally loves playing against Villa — he has scored 13 times against them, more than any other Premier League club.

5. Southampton to keep a clean sheet (i.e. one team to score: 4/5)

Southampton conceded just 13 goals last season at home — the best defensive record of any Premier League side apart from Chelsea.

Ronald Koeman’s side’s back four may have lost the impressive duo of Nathaniel Clyne and Toby Alderweireld, but they are still marshalled by the imperious Jose Fonte.

They come up against an Everton side who failed to impress much last week against Watford, and showed few signs of improving on last year’s disappointing season.

Moreover, the Toffees have not won any of their last six games away to the Saints, failing to score on the last three occasions.

Mourinho confirms demotion of Chelsea medics but says they might be back on bench soon>

Aston Villa are signing Barcelona players now too and the rest of today’s transfer news>

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