Last Friday, the runner-ups in the 2018-19 Premier League and victors of the Champions League, Liverpool, would open their new campaign in a beautiful display of football after they would hammer newly-promoted Norwich City by a 4-1 score.
Matchday 1 would also bring us a 0-0 draw between Crystal Palace and Everton. Sheffield United would make a return to the English Premier League, and in historic fashion with it being their first showing in the EPL since the 2006-07 season. In their return, they would give their fans something to cheer about in a 1-1 draw with AFC Bournemouth. Southampton and Burnley would have a match themselves, and it wouldn’t go well for the Saints as the Clarets would get a thrashing 3-0 victory.
A team that is even lucky to be in the Premier League, Brighton & Hove Albion (who would avoid relegation by just two points last season) would face off against Watford and would get the new campaign started on the right note with a power 3-0 win — one hell of a way to respond to last season and the critics heading into 2019-20.
Back-to-back defending English Premier League champions Manchester City would get off to a magnificent start, completely blowing out West Ham United in 5-0 fashion. Harry Kane continued his case for superstardom as he would lead Tottenham Hotspur to a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa.
For Leicester City, they start out their campaign against Wolverhampton, and in a pretty evenly-matched game, it would show in the final result with a 0-0 draw between the two. Arsenal and Newcastle United would be caught in a thriller, and when the smoke had cleared, it would be the Gunnars with the 1-0 win.
We would be treated to a heavyweight match between Manchester United and Chelsea. Unfortunately for the Blues, the day would be absolutely dismal for them in 4-0 blowout fashion. Also, with American Christian Pulisic coming off of the bench to a 1-0 deficit and three goals being scored against Chelsea on his watch, the critics have been out a bit. Me personally, it was his first match in the Premier League against the Red Devils at Old Trafford — I’ll give him a break on that. As far as the club itself with the Blues, I would be a bit concerned as a Chelsea fan. Power win by Manchester United.
It was a great first week of EPL football! For me personally, I pulled a fantastic 6-2-2 record with my Matchday 1 predictions, my fantasy English Premier League team (Georgia United F.C., named after my daughter who is due to be born in December) got off to a great start to begin the campaign 1-0-0, and my Manchester United Red Devils smashed Chelsea to get my fandom off to a great start for the new season!
And just like that, the 2019-20 English Premier League campaign is underway, and we’re smack dab in the middle of the season! On to Matchday 2 we go!
ANALYSIS: Arsenal and Emirates Stadium will play host to Burnley this weekend to get us started for Matchday 2. After a thrilling 1-0 victory over Newcastle United to get their campaign off on the right note, they’ll now try to build off of that momentum. Nearly floating with disaster after almost getting upset to the Magpies, manager Unai Emery is surely to go full-force against the Clarets, so expect some possible dominant football from the Gunnars this weekend.
For this match, keep an eye on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Not only is he aimed to continue where he left off last season (he would tie the most goals scored in the EPL at 22 with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane), but Arsenal is sure to insert him into the game plan even more on Saturday. With that being the case, look for Aubameyang to be a toxic threat to Burney’s goal this weekend.
As far as the Clarets are concerned, they would steamroll over Southampton to get a 3-0 victory in Matchday 1, but here’s the catch: They would do this on their home ground in front of their supporters. With Burnley not notoriously being known for doing good on the road, you have to place your money on the Gunnars in this match, especially considering their eyeing a top-four finish in the EPL to put them in the Champions League.
On top of that, in their last 10 contests against Arsenal, the Clarets have compiled a total record of 0-0-10 to literally lose every match against the Gunnars. Don’t expect Chris Wood and Burnley to change that culture this weekend, though I do think they make it competitive against Arsenal, at least in their standards. Arsenal by two with a clean sheet.
BETTING PREDICTION: Arsenal 2, Burnley 0
ANALYSIS: Aston Villa was competitive for the most part of the match last weekend against Tottenham Hotspur, and then the Spurs would take control to give the Villans a 3-1 loss. Now heading into Matchday 2, Aston Villa will look to rebound in a home match against AFC Bournemouth.
Over the offseason, The Villa would go out and spend over a whopping €150 million to bring in new talent, however, the main reason for the influx of signings is to sustain their survival in the English Premier League. One of Dean Smith’s summer signings, Douglas Luiz, is slated to make his first start for the club in the EPL on Saturday. Coming back to their home ground this weekend, you can expect those investments to start to show as they statistically do much better when they’re in Aston, Birmingham.
For the Cherries, they would suffer a 1-1 draw against newly-promoted Sheffield United and would do so on their home ground of Vitality Stadium. With that poor showing at home and their performance being terrible on the road, it’s going to be a real struggle for manager Eddie Howe and AFC Bournemouth this weekend.
As a result, you have to place the wager on Aston Villa to recover this weekend to get their first victory of the season, but it’ll be in a battle.
BETTING PREDICTION: Aston Villa 2, AFC Bournemouth 1
ANALYSIS: Brighton & Hove Albion would go on the road this season and would absolutely impress their supporters and the rest of the Premier League, earning a dominating 3-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road Stadium to open up the season with a win.
This weekend, the Seagulls are sitting pretty to start out with a 2-0-0 mark as they host West Ham United on their home ground of American Express Community Stadium. With the momentum being fully on their side, you can expect Brighton & Hove Albion to be locked-and-loaded and be very aggressive to achieve the victory over the Irons.
Keep an eye on Neal Maupay on Saturday. After signing with the Seagulls over the summer, he’s now expected to make his first start for the club against West Ham.
Speaking of the Hammers, they’re all out of whack right now after suffering a 5-0 blowout loss to defending champions Manchester City, and will be looking to just get into proper form this weekend against Brighton — never mind a win. As a result, Seagulls should get a convincing victory on Matchday 2 in clean sheet fashion.
BETTING PREDICTION: Brighton & Hove Albion 2, West Ham United 0
ANALYSIS: Everton would partake in one of the most boring games of Matchday 1 as they would have a 0-0 away draw with Crystal Palace. Now with the Toffees going back home to Goodison Park to face Watford, they’ll be looking to lock in and claim their first victory of the season.
Everton did very well in the summer to bring in new talent and have the potential to achieve a solid season. On the other hand for Watford, they would expose themselves massively in their 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, including a load of issues at their back with protecting the goal — it’s non-existent at this point. As a result, the Toffees have to be licking their chops coming into this match.
One of Everton’s summer signings, Moise Kean, should be in the starting XI this week and he’ll be a huge threat to the opposition. However, the Toffees will need to be patient with him as he’ll need time to adjust coming from Juventus and being in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo. Once he gets things going though, he’ll make Everton a scary club to play. Another player to watch in this game is Richarlison, also from the Toffees. He would represent Selcao at Copa’America earlier in the summer.
In the last meeting between the two clubs, Watford would get the 1-0 win, so you know Everton has all the interest in the world to get revenge against the Hornets. With the Toffees coming in as the home team, and the better team at that, bringing in incoming talent and Watford having all kinds of problems, you have to take Everton to get a solid win. I’ll take the Toffees by two.
BETTING PREDICTION: Everton 2, Watford 0
ANALYSIS: Newly-promoted Norwich City have their first home match of the 2019-20 English Premier League campaign as they host Newcastle United at Carrow Road for Matchday 2. Last Friday, the Canaries would walk into Liverpool’s Anfield and would be completely outgunned in a 4-1 blowout loss to the Reds. All is forgiven, especially considering they played the winners of the 2018-19 Champions League, and on top of that, they didn’t necessarily play bad.
With that being said, you can say that Norwich City’s first real match is this weekend against Newcastle United, and you better believe that the Canaries are poised to get their first victory of the campaign on Saturday. This is especially true when you consider that it’s looking like their striker Teemu Puuki is continuing where he left off last season, and that’s scoring goals. There’s some good value placing a wager on Norwich in this match to get their first win after promotion.
For the Magpies, they would stay with Arsenal for the most part in their Matchday 1 contest, but would ultimately lose control of the game to get dropped 1-0 by the Gunners. Even though they would hang tight, however, they wouldn’t impress anyone and win anybody over, with most pundits having them struggle for the 2019-20 season.
A bright spot for Newcastle United is their summer signing Joelinton, whose game is to score goals. He’ll look to begin that campaign this weekend against Norwich City, but as far as the club overall, you can’t ride with them for the win — not on the road. With that being said, I think the Magpies hold their own and make it tough for the Canaries as they did with Arsenal, but when the smoke clears, Norwich City grabs the victory by one.
BETTING PREDICTION: Norwich City 2, Newcastle United 1
ANALYSIS: Coming as an absolute shock to no one, Liverpool would destroy Norwich City, 4-1, in their Matchday 1 contest to open the season. And also no surprise, Mohamed Salah would be behind the victory getting his campaign underway with a goal. It was a beautiful display of football from the Reds to get the 2019-20 English Premier League kicked off.
With a strong determination to dethrone Manchester City from the EPL crown, expect the Reds to stick to their aggressive attacking gameplan when they take on Southampton on Saturday. And not just that, but they’ll be getting even more aggressive moving Sadio Mane back into the starting lineup. As a result, it should be another domination-fest for the Reds this weekend.
That’s especially true when you consider the state of the Saints defense, they were absolutely horrendous in a 3-0 loss to Burnley. With that being the case against a Liverpool team that was seemingly scoring goals just for gun at one point against Norwich City, the ingredients are there for this game to be a disaster for Southampton.
In their last meeting at the Saints’ St. Mary’s Stadium, the Reds would deliver themselves a power 3-1 win over Southampton. This time around, you can expect the same level of domination, and with Liverpool now having the Champions League under their belt, their confidence is sky-high and I expect them to give us a clean sheet this week. Reds win in sweeping fashion.
BETTING PREDICTION: Liverpool 3, Southampton 0
ANALYSIS: And here we have our match of the week, a heavyweight battle between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. My only issue with the entertainment value for this match is that it’s happening at the Citizens’ Etihad Stadium, which could go really bad for the Spurs. Man City is pretty powerful as it is, obviously.
They would prove that power even more in Matchday 1 with a 5-0 thrashing of West Ham United. and Raheem Sterling would be an absolute superstar achieving a hat-trick. You can expect Sterling to come into this match in tip-top form and he’ll be a toxic threat to the net of Tottenham Hotspur, also the 24-year-old will be even more of a focal point for City’s offense this weekend against the North London power.
Like I’ve already mentioned, it’s going to be mission impossible for the Spurs to defeat Manchester City at Etihad Stadium, they’re nearly unbeatable when on their home ground. On top of that, Sky Blues’ key striker Kun Aguero is returning to the starting XI on Saturday to make City even more dominant. With all of this being the case, Tottenham Hotspur is facing a situation where they could potentially get dominated.
As far as the Spurs are concerned, they would take out newly-promoted Aston Villa with a distant 3-1 score, though the match was a bit closer than the score suggests. In fact, Tottenham exposed themselves on quite a few fronts, and it could be potential blowout city if they make the same mistakes against the Citizens. It is so incredibly important that Harry Kane has a good match in this one because if not, things could get bad quick for the Spurs. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, but they still get dropped by two. Manchester City wins.
BETTING PREDICTION: Manchester City 3, Tottenham Hotspur 1
ANALYSIS: Newly-promoted Sheffield United is slated to have their first home match of the 2019-20 English Premier League this weekend, and they’ll play host to Crystal Palace. The Blades would impress in their first showing back in the EPL, holding AFC Bournemouth to a 1-1 draw to kick off the campaign, and their goal would come in perfect fashion with it coming from their veteran Bill Sharp in the last few minutes of the match.
With that being said, despite Sheffield United being a force at Bramall Lane, Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace will be a tough one for the Blades. They’ll certainly have their work cut out for them, but United can play, so you can expect a thoroughbred battle in this one between two solid clubs.
Over the offseason, the Eagles achieved their goal of keeping their best player in Wilfried Zaha, and they would do so by just completely shutting their summer transfer window shut — more on this soon, because that situation is far from over. Regardless, they’ll have Zaha this weekend against Sheffield United and he’ll be a headache for the Blades to stop.
On Matchday 1, Crystal Palace wouldn’t lose, but wouldn’t win either, having a scoreless 0-0 draw with Everton to begin their season. I expect them to play Sheffield United a bit better, but with the match being on the road for them, I have a hard time placing my bet on the Eagles to take a victory. With that being said, I also see Sheffield United having a tough time to get a win themselves. Go ahead and give me a draw.
BETTING PREDICTION: Sheffield United 1, Crystal Palace 1
ANALYSIS: On Matchday 1, Chelsea would suffer a 4-0 blowout loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Needless to say, they’ll be looking to recover this weekend against Leicester City after suffering massive embarrassment to open the campaign, and they’ll be at Stamford Bridge with an opportunity to do so.
But it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Blues got hammered. After all, they’re expected to struggle in the 2019-20 season due to a transfer ban. As a result, manager Frank Lampard and Chelsea has been forced to expand into their youth team and have also brought in 20-year-old American phenom Christian Pulisic, who is expected to make his first English Premier League start on Sunday. With as young as the Blues are this season, expect Lampard to have a lot of different rotations. Oh, how Eden Hazard will be missed.
For the Foxes, they would earn a point on the opening weekend with a 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton and would do so with excellent defense. You can surely expect them to keep up the defensive aggression against Chelsea, with a lot of pressure put on Pulisic.
I see Leicester City giving the Blues a hard time in this match, and I expect Chelsea to struggle with the Foxes’ defense for a good portion of the game. When everything is said and done though, I do see the Blues being able to pull out the match at Stafford Bridge. I have faith in Frank Lampard and Christian Pulisic that they’ll achieve their first victory this weekend, but it won’t come easy. Chelsea by one.
BETTING PREDICTION: Chelsea 2, Leicester City 1
THE BREAKDOWN: Taking place at Molineux Stadium, we have a highly-anticipated matchup between Wolverhampton and Manchester United, with the Wolves coming in with the pretty solid form. If it wasn’t for a VAR decision, Wolverhampton would have walked away with a win over Leicester City at King Power Stadium to begin the season 1-0-0.
Now coming back home to Molineux Stadium, the Wolves will be in an atmosphere where they’re completely comfortable and extremely tough to beat at. To be honest, they’re completely capable of taking out the Red Devils, so go ahead and place Manchester United on upset alert. The main man for United to keep an eye on is Raul Jimenez, who is been on absolute fire scoring goal after goal in the Europa League. The Devils will need to contain him, or things could get out of control for Manchester United en route to the previously-mentioned upset.
Speaking of the Red Devils, some praise is definitely deserved after their 4-0 thrashing of “The Pride of London” Chelsea. It was a beautiful and dominating display of football, but here’s the problem: The match was at their home at Old Trafford. This weekend, they’ll be heading on the road to Wolverhampton’s house. Manchester United aren’t the best travelers.
The reason why that’s so important in this match is because the Red Devils have lost the last two meetings at Molineux Stadium. However, Manchester United appeared that they’re locked-and-loaded for the new campaign and prepared to fight for a spot in the Champions League. I do think they’ll have a tough battle on their hands against Wolverhampton, but I have enough faith that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Marcus Rashford and the rest of the Red Devils are going to be able to pull this win out. After the Chelsea game, it appears we may dealing with a different Manchester United.
BETTING PREDICTION: Manchester United 2, Wolverhampton 1
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
