English Premier League 20-22nd Aug 2011

[slick]

Saturday 20th August 2011
12:00 Sunderland 2.10 Draw 3.30 Newcastle 3.50
12:45 Arsenal 2.50 Draw 3.25 Liverpool 2.80
15:00 Everton 1.53 Draw 3.75 Q.P.R. 6.00
15:00 Swansea 2.20 Draw 3.40 Wigan 3.10
15:00 Aston Villa 1.73 Draw 3.50 Blackburn 4.50
17:30 Chelsea 1.28 Draw 5.00 West Brom 11.00
Sunday 21st August 2011
13:30 Norwich 2.37 Draw 3.30 Stoke 2.87
14:00 Wolves 2.37 Draw 3.30 Fulham 2.87
16:00 Bolton 4.75 Draw 3.60 Man. City 1.73
Monday 22nd August 2011
20:00 Man. Utd 1.57 Draw 3.75 Tottenham 5.50

Odds Skybet

I'm only Just posting these up but I'm slavering at some of these fixtures betting wise, its a bit late in the day to go into detail at the moment but thats a great price for Liverpool considering the state of Arsenal who have or are about to sell their best players and have injury worries in defence to boot, if they play like they did against Udinese then liverpool will bury them.

Goods odds for city too, on paper a top of the league clash but these two teams are poles apart, If City put in a performance like they did against Swansea then they stand every chance.

United at home nearly 1.6's too against a side they habitually beat, thinking about it those Odds are probably right considering Ferdinhand and Vidic may be out but you cannot back against them here as Smalling and Jones looked more than capable stand ins.

Theres loads to be going at just looking at those fixtures, Big North East derby, Martinez going back to Swansea, villa against the worst Premiership Blackburn side I've ever seen, Can Norwich handle Stoke? and Wolves v Fulham must be draw of the day.

 

[fc basher]

Wolves v Fulham must be draw of the day.

you say Slickster,I actually was looking at Fulhams results last season,9 draws away,has the Fulham side changed that much from last season,
?Wolves last season did well at home and kept numerous clean sheets too.

 

[swooperman]

I wouldnt disagree with much there, Slick, apart from they are also what I would call a 'nervy' set of fixtures.
Everton & Villa fit into the 'nervy' category as far as i'm concerned.
Everton are in the news with no new signings & reports that the bank have said 'enough is enough'. Whilst being a superb manager for them, Moyes occasionally has bad starts before recovering, but he doesnt normally have them on the trot. Last seasons bad start was blamed very much on the sale of Lescott undermining everything late in the day, and with a bit of disgruntlement around could that be repeated? Starting a week later than everyone else as well. I certainly couldnt be persuaded into backing QPR as no sane person could after being hammered at home by Bolton, & with me thinking QPR had the best chance of the promoted clubs at surviving i'm worried about them already, but todays buy out could have them buzzing. All in all thats too short on Everton for me, as I need to be convinced to trust them first.
Villa are in the same camp as well. Big Eck had a decent reception last week but the more fickle home fans might be somewhat more reserved. Blackburn as far as I'm concerned are very poor. Since Big Sam was sacked theyve been atrocious & their survival was totally based on Wolves caving under the pressure at home on the last day. That result has already been reversed in Wolves first EVER away prem win, so for Blackburn this is a massive game. As far as I'm concerned the longer there owners try & pretend they made the right decision, the bigger the chances are they'll go down. I think the 1.73 is around fairish but I think this will be a nervy game & if you agree then it might be too short, but the clincher for me is that Big Eck plays safety first. Think Villa would win this much easier in a couple of months time, but while the juries out & with tougher games to come, I think its just about a swerve.
I think Wolves look quite big personally, but you couldnt really argue with the draw backers. I might be tempted with a Wolves/Stoke double

 

[swooperman]

Wouldnt disagree with Liverpool either. I was pretty vocal against Dalglish, but to be fair to him hes got them buzzing. Arsenal look as though theyre tottering to me, and must be in need of consolidation. Reckon this could be a good time for someone like Liverpool to play them.

 

[winrew]

Swansea for my first bet , they did well against City the other night despite the score-line
Fancy them to win a good few games at home , and Wigan travel like cheap wine.
Most " experts " seem to think that Swansea are the least likely of the promoted sides to go straight back down , do they know something we dont ?
Arsenal appear to be in a crisis , but i still wouldn't touch Liverpool , far to unreliable to bet on last season , not convinced this season will be any different despite all the signings.
Villa , another one for me , is it my hatred of Blackburn that swings it for me or is it because they really are shite ?
Cant see Blackburn doing anything this season , although reports suggest three new signings this week , i will be surprised if they are any good.

Feel free to enlighten me folks.............

 

[Punter]

Good luck all, i agree with much of what's been said.

I Havent got a bet in the 1X2 market here this week though, i'm going to chance the goalscorer market instead.

SportingBet 1.40
Paddy Power/William Hills 1.57
Skybet 1.73
Bet365 1.83
Victor Chandler 1.95

A big difference of opinion in odds there. V.C's price was just about big enough to take a chance about that big girls blouse scoring at Stamford Bridge this weekend. He looked sharper against Stoke last week, made it look as though there's a goal coming soon. At home to WBA i can see the blues scoring 2 maybe 3 and judged on last weeks effort i can see him getting on the score sheet very soon. As good as even money is a bet for me.

Varied stakes....

Torres Anytime Scorer @ 20/21, V.C Bet
Torres First Scorer @ 18/5, V.C Bet
Torres Hat trick @ 25/1 Blue Sq

I've also had a very small punt on Victor Moses getting on the score sheet for Wigan, he scored five for Wigan in pre season friendlies and has bee given the chance to fill the boots of N'zogbia.

Moses Anytime Scorer @ 7/2, Paddy Power
Moses First Scorer @ 11/1, V.C Bet

 

[keemanan]

I quite fancy Wigan at them odds, anything around 2.5 I wouldn't bother but over 2/1 I'm twitching. Swansea were over patronised after city battered them on Monday, I saw a graph of their passing and none of it was done in city's half. I could see them come apart as Yaya tore into them and in the end none of them wanted the ball. Wigan have some big athletes, Martinez likes them and I can see Swansea bullied again quite easily

 

[ONEDUNME]

We have a head to head situation folks, in the shape of Swansea (Winrew) v Wigan (Keema) Can I throw my hat in for the draw:laugh

I have to say that I see both sides of this debate in that I agree with keem that too many people have made too much about Swansea's performance against City. They were fucking battered - end of, and all this pissballing about tapping the ball to each other shouldn't disguise that fact. It's often the case that losing sides have a amount of possession. It's obvious that the side who are winning have no need to waste their energy closing them down and trying to take the ball off them, especially when -as in this case - they are so superior that they can just wait for them to lose possession and then take the ball up the other end and score.

As far as I'm concerned you can just put a line straight through Swansea's performance on Monday. They need to be judged against sides in the bottom twelve or so, as that is their battle ground and any points taken from the top 7 is icing on the cake for them.

Their season starts tomorrow. We will know more about them after that but I have to say i see no reason why they can't get the better of Wigan. 6/5 is way, way too short for me to be sticking my dosh on them though. No bet for me.

 

[ONEDUNME]

I'm hoping to get the day off to a flyer with a Sunderland win. I thought Bruce brought in some very shrewd signings and their performance last week just reinforced the view that they will do well this season (top 8?). I've had a cheeky handicap bet on them on betfair at 10/1 for the season and I'm going to add to that by backing them to beat Newcastle, who I can see struggling this season (Bottom 6?)

6/5 Coral and William Hill. 20pts for me.

 

[ONEDUNME]

Looking forward to the Arsenal Liverpool game. Couldn't even begin to call it so I'm going to play it in-running. if Liverpool get the first goal it will be interesting. As well as the much publicised gaps in their playing staff that need plugging, to me, most of their downfall stems from not having a leader (or leaders) on the field.

Could you really see an Arsenal side giving a four nill lead away with Tony Adams in the side? He's have banged their fucking heads together and got them moving. They look like a bunch of nancy boy kids playing kickabout. All smiles when the tricks and flicks are coming off but sulking like fannies when it goes wrong.

Whoever scores the first goal wins.

 

[ONEDUNME]

Blackburn one of the teams to go down for me but Villa's price at 3/4 is not tempting enough. Likewise Chelsea at home to West brom is way too short at 3/10.

 

[ONEDUNME]

Stoke will do well this year, having built on a couple of solid years in the top flight. The only thing that stops me from lumping on the away win on Sunday is their Thursday game in Europe yesterday. Mmmm. No telling what impact that will have so I'll go for a lay of Norwich to win 20pts or lose 34.9

 

[Punter]

I agree with the Sunderland shout ODM, I think i might join you. That was a good performance last week and i get the feeling the timing's right to pay back some of that 5-0 drubbing at St James' Park. I think the early kick off might favour the home team too and at odds against it makes it a bet... i have just joined you.

6/5 @ Hills

 

[slick]

Stoke are solid as a rock at home but as is the case with most Prem sides nothing is easy on the road and they also had that Thurs night Euro game to boot, you still have to give them the edge over Norwich but I'd be a lot more comfortable with the X2.

Can't disagree with Sunderland, I backed the draw in this same fixture last yr and if my mind serves me right Sunderland went on to stuff Newcastle, Newcastle this time around on paper look weaker but I'm still not convinced by sunderland, their poor run in towards the end of last season is still in the back of my mind.
Decent 2nd half display against Liverpool allthough i do think Liverpool let them off the hook by not being fit enough to finish them off, My mind says Sunderland but there's just something niggling me thats putting me off backing them with cash.

I'll go with ODM too on the Swansea v Wigan match being a draw, and a score draw at that, two very similar teams and Swansea are still playing the type of football they were when Martinez left them, I think this will be a cracking match tell the truth as both sides will fancy their chances and give it a go with ball to feet and passing it around, This is the 3 o'clock match I've bookmarked for tomorrows viewing.
My plans are to catch the first half of the North East derby, flick over to watch Arse v liverpool followed by Swansea v Wigan and fcuk the evening Chelsea match off as it doesn't appeal, I'll catch the highlights of that on MOTD.

 

[Punter]

Spurs are going to get something at Old Trafford one day, aren't they? I still laugh about that Mendes goal that was never given.

Vidic out for a month? Catch Utd early?

Small level stakes...

Spurs to draw @ 3/1 Hills
Spurs to win @ 5/1 V.C bet.

 

[Punter]

I couldn't resist a goalscorer bet just for interest while watching (Kicking my telly in) the Arsenal Liverpool game...

Downing Anytime Scorer @ 5/1
Downing First Goal scorer @ 14/1
Enrique Anytime Scorer @ 14/1
Enrique First Goal scorer @ 40/1

* Paddy Power will refund all losing bets on 1st/last scorer, correct score and scorecast markets if the game ends in a score draw.

 

[slick]

Tell you the truth Punt Vidic ain't half the player he used to be and is becoming more of a liability than anything else as he's lost two yards of pace never mind one, after watching Jones for most of the summer he's more than capable of filling in, his biggest downfall is over confidence but with a few nutmegs amd skining's he'll soon learn, thats unless Smalling get's the nod and he probably has more experience and even more capable, he's not doing so bad at right back but as United have more than enough cover there, the likelyhood is Smalling will probably fill in for Vidic but i sacked it long ago trying to second guess Ferguson as he's full of suprises and it's one of the reasons he's the best in the business.

Don't forget too that Spurs played on Thurs night against Hearts in that warm up match.

 

[Punter]

It's just a small bet Slick, i dont think the game on Thursday will have any negative on Spurs as this is a Monday, not Sunday game. I do think both teams will score, you can question the opponents to a degree but in Spurs last 3 games they've scored ten.
And i'm encouraged from reading this from the Hearts game....

But the performance showed that rather than suffering from a lack of meaningful action after their Premier League match against Everton was cancelled because of riots in north London, they had a real appetite to get their season up and running.

Spurs have their top names available where as Utd will have a different defence than last week...

Manchester United will be without injured trio Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Rafael.

I'm sure Utd will be excellent going forward but it's a tough opening home game for them.

 

[Rob44]

although qpr were shocking last week i'm sticking with my theory that the promoted sides will overperform in their first games at home so swansea and norwich for me

 

[quandram]

Stoke for me. I like what they did over the summer and whilst Thursdays euro trip is a shade inconvinient I think it's mainly worked to boost the odds. As ODM has posted laying Norwich is possibly the safest way to get a return but I think any kind of draw cover wouldn't leave you out of pocket and Stoke DNB @ 2.08 wouldn't be a bad bet.

Fancy overs in Everton vs QPR as well. QPR looked a shambles but with Taarabt there's always the chance of a goal. Over 2.5 @ 1.85 will do for me