12 Jun 2019
Tomorrow night marks the long-awaited return of the Premier League to our screens as the transfer window grinds to a halt and the suspense builds for what we anticipate being another incredible season in the making.
Although Manchester City will be the undoubted favourites, this weekend we’ll finally get a first-look at some of the season’s key title contenders, as a whole array of enticing fixtures lay in-store.
Unai Emery will get the opportunity to win the fans over from the off as his side face defending Champions Manchester City, while new-look Liverpool and West Ham sides will be hoping there are no signs of dis-harmony.
Fulham will be keen to celebrate their return to the Premier League by stamping their mark on London rivals Crystal Palace, while Jose Mourinho will hope his team aren’t the victims of a World Cup hangover. Here we break down the key fixtures in more detail…
Manchester United vs Leicester City
It’s fair to say that Manchester United have had far from the ideal transfer window and we feel this has the potential to be their undoing as they come up against sides with the ability to upset this season.
With the likes of Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku unlikely to feature in tomorrow’s starting line-up off the back of successful, yet tiring World Cup campaigns, Alexis Sanchez could be the man that holds the key for United to break through a stubborn defence.
That being said, with the loss of Riyad Mahrez to City, we expect the task for an injury ridden United defence to be much less daunting.
With the likes of Fred and Pereira coming in, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Mourinho’s men grind out a 1-0 win here at football betting odds of 5/1.
Fulham vs Crystal Palace
Last season was just the third time in the history of the Premier League that all three newly promoted teams stayed up and Fulham will be keen to make sure that if that feat is achieved again this season they’re a part of it.
They were when that happened for the first time ever in the 2001/2002 season and the likes of last year’s Championship Player of the Season, Ryan Sessegnon and Aleksandr Mitrovic will hope to devastate upon their return.
With Andre Schurrle’s return to West London too, we see them making a statement in this opening game and taking the win at Premier League betting odds of 6/4.
If Crystal Palace are to get their campaign off to a flyer though, Zaha will undoubtedly be the man to watch – incredibly, they didn’t gain a single point without him on the pitch last season.
Liverpool vs West Ham
These two sides have arguably been busier than any other teams in the transfer window and it will be a tantalising prospect to see how that translates on the pitch. Still on a high off the back of a 5-0 demolition of Napoli last weekend where new signing Alisson Becker earned his first clean sheet, we expect the midfield battle to be important here.
That being said, it’s the quality that new Liverpool signings Fabinho and Naby Keita hold that we expect to be the difference, fuelling the rampant Liverpool front-line.
Although it will be interesting to see how West Ham’s completely new look team step-up to the challenge, unless established man Marko Arnautovic can continue his rich vein of form we see a potential field day for Liverpool here. Get Liverpool to win at odds off 1/4.
Arsenal vs Manchester City
Although Unai Emery’s record of no wins, four draws and six losses against Guardiola looks unimpressive on paper, his home record as Valencia manager hosting Barcelona suggests these figures are somewhat deceptive. In reality, with Pep at the helm Barcelona one just once in five away games to Valencia.
Emery will hope to continue to strengthen that statistic in emphatic fashion this weekend, and form would suggest Arsenal have the potential to do so.
Having inflicted a stinging 5-1 defeat on the might of PSG at the end of July in the International Champions Cup, Mezut Ozil appeared a rejuvenated figure in possession of the captain’s armband. Add in the pairing of Lacazette and Aubameyang who may be finally starting to function in unison and we think the Gunners could achieve a shock win here at odds of 11/4 to do so.
Whatever happens, it looks set to be an enthralling start to the Premier League season!
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