Premier League Top Soccer Picks for the Weekend
Posted by John Linden on Friday,August 19, 2016 6:03, EDT in
The first weekend of the English Premier League largely went as expected, with powerhouses like Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea won their respective games. As always, there were a couple of surprises as well, with title contenders Arsenal and defending Premier League champions Leicester City suffering defeats. All is not lost, though, as there is still plenty of football to go in the season now that we are just entering the second week of the current tournament. Below are present you our top English Premier League betting picks for the weekend.
Premier League Top Soccer Picks for the Weekend
Stoke City vs. Manchester City
Following their win over Sunderland last weekend, the Citizens continued their bright start under new manager Pep Guardiola by thrashing Steaua Bucharest 5-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday. Man City should thus be brimming with confidence when they visit Stoke City. The newly-branded bet365 Stadium is never the easiest of places to visit, but with massive momentum from starting the season strongly and the likes of Aguero and Sterling playing gelling really well, a victory should be in the offing for the visitors. Prediction: Stoke 0, Manchester City 2
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Watford vs. Chelsea
Watford is transitioning under a new coach and not many expect them to be much of a force this season, but this team showed a good fighting spirit last week by securing a 1-1 draw at Southampton. If they can replicate such a performance at home this weekend, Chelsea—who struggled to find the back of the net in their last-gasp win over West Ham on Monday night—won’t be having it easy. Still, it’s hard to see Watford’s iffy defense keeping Harzard, Costa and gang quiet for 90 minutes. Prediction: Watford 0, Chelsea 1
Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace
Yannick Bolasie is no longer in Crystal Palace and it remains to be seen if Christian Benteke will finalize his a deal quick enough to make an appearance this weekend as a Palace player. With that, the Spurs’ defense will probably not have to worry much, so the offense should have enough opportunities to control the possession and get at least two goals en route to a rather easy home win. Prediction: Tottenham 3, Crystal Palace 0
Burnley vs. Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s men secured a stunning win over Arsenal last weekend, but their vulnerabilities in defense still showed, allowing three cheap goals to the Gunners. And now that Liverpool’s new signing Sadio Mane will miss this clash with a shoulder injury, things could be really challenging for the Reds against the ever-lively Burnley team. But then again, Liverpool is streaking on four wins against Burnley and the hosts don’t have much of an offense to cause too many problems in this fixture, so it all looks like Liverpool will be making it to 6 points by the end of the weekend. Prediction: Burnley 1, Liverpool 2
Leicester City vs. Arsenal
Arsenal swept Leicester City in its two meetings last season and the Gunners have never lost any EPL trip to the King Power Stadium, so I highly doubt if this will be the game for them to do so. Plus, if Hull City was able to beat Leicester last week, then the Gunners should surely be able to do the same, especially now that the likes of Laurent Koscienly, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil are likely to feature in the Arsenal lineup after sitting out of the season-opening loss to Liverpool. Prediction: Leicester 0, Arsenal 2
West Ham vs. Bournemouth
Bournemouth opened the season by losing to Man United, but nobody expected them to win that game anyway, so their confidence should be in a good place to give West Ham a run for their money. Matter of fact, West Ham’s record-signing for the summer in Andre Ayew is out for four months with a thigh injury, meaning the free-flowing offensive football expected from Slaven Bilic’s men will probably have to wait a little longer. That should allow Callum Wilson, Jordan Ibe and the Cherries a chance to at least fight for a draw at the Hammers, if not upset them altogether. Prediction: West Ham 1, Bournemouth 1
