The weekend's headline game sees red-hot Liverpool make the short trip to Old Trafford to face a United outfit that has yet to really hit their straps. Elsewhere, the Seagulls face Arsenal, Spurs head to Newcastle while Juventus v Roma headlines the Serie A matchweek. AZISHE KE - let's find some winning bets!
Azishe Ke – Let’s Play!
You stand the chance to win a share of R2 million cash and betting vouchers as well as a Toyota Hilux, a Toyota Quantum and a Toyota Fortuner in our Azishe Ke promotion! To enter simply bet R10+ on any soccer fixture before clicking “Enter” to opt-in once on our Promotions page.
Here we preview four games and share our suggested bets for each. Remember to add them to your own bet slip and opt-in on the promotions page for all of your qualifying bets to be entered into the draw!
Like it was never gone! The Premier League has seamlessly slotted back into our lives, with the first two matchweeks having come and gone. All of the usual suspects are sniffing around the summit of the table at this early juncture, with Manchester City, Brighton, Arsenal and Liverpool all two-from-two.
At the other end of the table, a clutch of five have all lost their openers, with Everton propping up the table with a goal difference of -7 following a pair of postings at the hands of Brighton and Spurs.
Saturday 31 August
Arsenal 7/20 | Draw 38/10 | Brighton 7/1
Fabian Hürzeler has his Brighton side positively purring. The Seagulls are two-from-two but face their toughest test of the season thus far when they travel to North London to face the Arsenal. The Gunners, under the tutelage of Mikel Arteta, have also enjoyed a strong start to the season, winning their openers against Wolves and Aston Villa.
Arsenal were made to sweat a bit against Villa last week, with the opening goal in their 2-0 win coming midway through the second half. This after Ollie Watkins shot wide when scoring would have been easier in the first half before a miracle save from David Raya in the second half denied Watkins once again. Nerves were settled by a one-two punch from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey as Villa’s challenge fizzled out.
Brighton dominated for large parts against Erik ten Hag’s expensively assembled playthings. It’ll be interesting to see if they can click through the gears at the Emirates against a far more settled side.
Suggested Bet: Both Teams To Score: Yes 8/10
Brighton certainly have the stones to do a job at the Emirates. But bet against the Gunners in front of their home support at your own peril. The attacking talent available to both sides should see the net bulge at each end at least once. 8/10 is a decent bit of value here.
Sunday 1 September
Newcastle 15/10 | Draw 26/10 | Tottenham 15/10
Tough one to call as is reflected in the betting. Newcastle haven’t shot the lights out so far, but remain undefeated. They overcame Southampton 1-0 on the opening day despite losing Fabian Schar to a 25th-minute red card, before escaping the Vitality with a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth after a 94th-minute Dango Ouattara header was chalked off by the VAR.
Spurs are doing what they do. They totally bossed their opener against Leicester but had to settle for a draw after Pedro Porro’s 29th-minute strike was cancelled out by Jamie Vardy. They then went on to demolish Everton 4-0 in North London, the Toffees’ early-season endeavours leaving them looking like relegation fodder.
Suggested Bet: Newcastle Win/Draw 9/20
St. James’ Park hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Spurs, losing 6-1 and 4-0 in their previous two Premier League outings at the ground. With this in mind coupled with how unpredictable Spurs can be, we’re leaning toward the hosts on the double chance.
Manchester United 26/10 | Draw 26/10 | Liverpool 9/10
Right, it’s the big one up next! Manchester United needed a late Joshua Zirkzee winner to edge Fulham in their opener before a 95th-minute João Pedro strike condemned the Red Devils to their first defeat of the season.
To say things aren’t clicking for United is a bit of an understatement. The manager continues to make seemingly baffling decisions around his starting line-ups, opting to play two false nines instead of an out-and-out forward.
The injury to Rasmus Højlund has put a spanner in the works somewhat, but surely Erik ten Hag should put a bit more faith in Zirkzee – who has added much-needed attacking imputes to their game both times he’s come off the bench this season – instead employing a system in which the available players don’t look 100% comfortable? Then there are the defensive lapses that have characterised the side over the last few campaigns – dreadful for both goals against Brighton.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have looked rock-solid under their Dutch mentor. Back-to-back 2-0 wins against Ipswich Town and Brentford have somewhat dampened the alarm raised by some sections of the support following the lack of summer reinforcements.
Ryan Gravenberch has capably filled the six role, freeing Alexis MacAllistair and Dominik Szoboszlai to play further up the pitch. Liverpool enjoyed some genuinely sparkling moments against Brentford – the sort of thing you’d expect under Klopp during the Mane/Firmino/Salah era – but have also appeared largely in control of matches, something that wasn’t always the case under Klopp’s brand of “heavy metal” football.
Suggested Bet: Liverpool 9/10
Liverpool definitely look to be the more settled of the two sides. They’ve won both their opening games fairly comfortably and have yet to concede. United, on the other hand, look unsettled with Ten Hag opting to implement an awkward shape that his team are battling to contend with. Liverpool look good value at 9/10.
Juventus 15/20 | Draw 2/1 | Roma 11/4
We’ll keep this short and sweet. Juventus have stormed to a pair of 3-0 wins against Como and Hellas Verona in their opening two matches. Roma have a point after a home defeat by Empoli and an opening-day draw against Cagliari.
Suggested Bet: Juventus 15/20
Juventus are big value at 15/20 and a nice bet to help fatten up those multiples. Get on!
