Game week one of the Premier League lived up to the hype, stadiums were filled to capacity, eyes were glued to screens across the globe, and all 10 games finished with a result.
The presence of fans paid immediate dividends with seven homes sides claiming victories, including a fairytale start for EPL debutants Brentford, who sparked Arsenal TV into meltdown!
The excitement is set to continue this weekend, with Wolverhampton hosting Tottenham, as Nuno looks to get one up on his former club.
Elsewhere, Man U plans to put another nine goals past Southampton, Chelsea hopes to do the same against London minnows Arsenal, and West Ham takes aim at Leicester.
Our in-house Premier League prophet has taken it upon himself to preview all 10 GW2 fixtures, providing his best betting plays along the way!
Anfield is set to be pumping as the Reds play host to the Clarets on Saturday night (AEST).
Klopp’s men are out to extend their unbeaten run in the league to 12 matches after finishing off the 2020/21 season like a house on fire.
Meanwhile, Burnely is staring down the barrel of their fifth straight defeat, with their lack of talent currently outweighing their dogged determination.
Salah looked the goods in the Red’s opening fixture, providing two assists while netting a goal of his own against a hapless Canaries outfit.
I’m backing the Pharaoh of Liverpool to leave his mark on this contest, leading his side to a comfortable win against a championship calibre Burnley.
If Game Week 1 was anything to go by, we should enjoy an abundance of goals in this fixture.
Villa leaked three goals against the newly promoted Hornets before netting twice to keep the scoreline respectable.
Meanwhile, the Toons shipped four goals at home against a rampant Hammers outfit.
Newcastle has failed to find the back of the net across their last four trips to Aston Villa, while Callum Wilson remains without a goal against Villa in the Premier League (5 games).
Villa Park will roar into life for the first time in 18 months, a factor that will heavily tilt this tie to the home team’s advantage.
Speaking of raucous crowds, they don’t get much more hostile than the Elland Road loyal, who have been waiting over a year to see their side in Premier League action!
The Whites were completely dismantled by the Red Devils in GW1, with both Bruno and Pogba running rings around Marcelo Bielsa’s midfield.
Despite claiming the victory, Everton looked less than convincing against relegation contenders Southampton, Rafa’s men might not fare so well under the relentless pressure of Bielsa ball.
Seven of 10 home teams got the job done last weekend, which for mine tips this tie in Leeds’ favour.
Pep will be relieved to be lining up against Norwich this weekend as he looks to avoid losing four straight fixtures across all competitions.
Historically, City has enjoyed their time against Norwich, winning their previous three home matches against the Canaries 14-1 on aggregate!
The Sky Blues have struggled in front of goals of late, kept scoreless by both Leicester and Tottenham in their two outings this season.
Fortunately, they won’t require a striker with the CV of Harry Kane to score against Norwich, with KDB and Grealish more than capable of walking four past the Canaries keeper.
The Citizens are at Winx odds here, so I’ve taken it upon myself to get a little creative with this tip.
Brentford became the fourth side to win their first-ever Premier League fixture, downing Arsenal 2-0 to the pleasure of football fans across the globe.
Meanwhile, Palace predictably crumbled against the current European Champions Chelsea, the Eagles’ inexperienced backline folded like an origami towel under the relentless pressure of the Blues stacked forward line.
Brentford will be buzzing with confidence heading into this fixture, the newly promoted outfit went undefeated across their last 12 Championship fixtures, while keeping their opposition scoreless in six of their last eight!
I’m backing the new kids on the block to claim back-to-back PL victories at the expense of yet another struggling London club.
Relegation favourites, Watford proved the pundits wrong in GW1, upsetting a highly fancied Aston Villa side at Vicarage Road.
While Brighton came from one goal down to claim all three points against an atrociously bad Burnely unit on the road.
With Danny Welbeck spending most of his career on the physio bench, the Seagulls are in desperate need of an out-and-out striker, there are only so many times Shane Duffy can find the back of the net via a corner.
Unsurprisingly 10 of the last 11 H2H fixtures between this pair have finished with under 2.5 goals scored.
I’m not convinced by either outfit here, as such I’ll be backing the under boosted with a shot on target from the ever-present pest Neal Maupay.
Manchester United can equal Arsenal’s record for most consecutive away games without defeat (27) in the English top-flight should they secure a result at Saint Mary’s this weekend.
If recent history is anything to go by, it’s a result with they can pencil in now!
United are undefeated against the Saints in their previous 11 encounters, with their most recent H2H victory equalling the PL record for biggest margin (9-0)!
The Red Devils will be eyeing off a similar scoreline this time around, coming in off the back of a 5-1 drumming of arch-rivals Leeds.
The sensible option here would be to back Man U to win and over 2.5 goals @$2.38, but with goals on the menu, this fixture has ‘Same Game Multi’ written all over it!
SGM: 5 Legs
Man United (-2) $5.20
Over 3.5 Goals $2.60
Greenwood 1+ Shots on Target $1.35
Fernandes 2+ Shots on Target $2.20
Fernandes Anytime Goalscorer $2.05
Combined Odds $17.84
Nuno Santo is set to return to Molineux after parting ways with the Wolves at the end of last season despite signing a four-year extension.
The Portuguese manager landed on his feet, securing the highly turned down Spurs gig.
Much to the delight of the rest of the league, Tottenham has not only turned down serval advances for Harry Kane, but they also knocked the current Champs off their perch in GW1.
Wolverhampton put up a valiant fight against the Foxes last time out, however their form in front of goal ultimately let them down, Traore did his best to hand Schmeichel a ton of goal kick practice.
Following the tyranny of Jose Mourinho, the Spurs players looked refreshed and motivated to impress their new Gaffer, I’m backing the North Londoners to head home with all three points here.
Arsenal host Chelsea at the Emirates, as both sides are set to play out their second London derby in as many weeks.
The Blues will be looking to unleash new signing/ former squad member Lukaku on a Gunners defense, which was generously described a “weak” by pundits in last week’s surprise defeat to Brentford.
As far as Arsenal has declined in recent years, Chelsea has ascended equally in the other direction, Tuchel will have earmarked this fixture following his side’s struggles against the Gunners last season (2L).
Chelsea will win this game, the only question left to answer is, by how many goals?
$1.82 head to head is an absolute steal considering how ugly this one could get.
Game Week 2 is rounded out with what should be a thrilling contest between West Ham and Leicester.
Both sides were required to dig deep to secure full competition points last weekend, the Hammers came from behind to spoil Newcastle’s party, while the Foxes repelled wave after wave of Wolverhampton advances to cling onto a 1-0 win.
West Ham completed the double over Leicester last season, outscoring Brendan Rodgers team 6-2, Jarrod Bowen finding the back of the net in both fixtures.
Vestergaard will likely be handed his first start for the Foxes, who have been depleted by injuries in the preseason.
With a packed Olympic Stadium at their back, I’m tipping the Hammers to secure their first triple over Leicester since 1994/95.