Has the 2022/23 Premier League title already been decided just two weeks into the competition?
Man City finds themselves four points clear of arch-rivals Liverpool, with Arsenal the only other side to maintain a 100% win record.
The Reds have a golden opportunity to return to winning ways when they face former rivals and the current laughing stock of the competition in Man U.
Elsewhere, Man City travels to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle in the richest derby on the planet, while Chelsea takes to the road against Leeds and Tottenham plays host to the Wolves.
Our in-house Premier League Prophet has previewed all 10 Game Week 3 fixtures and provided his best betting plays below!
Wolves travel to the capital in search of their first Premier League win in 10 fixtures dating back to last season.
Bruno Lage’s team has already dropped points to inferior sides in Leeds and Fulham over the opening two rounds and will need to show huge improvements if they intend to compete with top four contenders, Tottenham.
The Spurs will be without their manager for this contest, with Conte being shown a red card following a fiery clash with Thomas Tuchel.
If Tottenham fancies themselves as genuine title contenders, they should see off Wolves with relative ease here.
With Conte’s fire starting to rub off onto his playing squad, I can see the home side going for the jugular and putting the Wolves down early.
Leicester and Southampton head into this clash with one point from the opening two rounds, with both outfits conceding six goals in what can only be described as defensive ineptitude.
Both sides have found the back of the net in the last three H2H between the pair, while over 2.5 goals has hit in the Saints’ last seven league fixtures, including a 4-1 defeat to the Foxes.
I can’t justify backing either team in the H2H market here, instead, I’m putting my money on both goalkeepers to be beaten on multiple occasions!
Fulham and Brentford will both be attempting to remain undefeated when they meet at Craven Cottage this weekend.
The Lily Whites made a grand entrance to the PL, holding the Reds to a point in their first home fixture, before playing out a goalless draw away to the Wolves last time out.
Meanwhile, Brentford came from behind to snatch a point away to Leicester before completely embarrassing Manchester United 4-0 last weekend, sending the footballing world into an absolute frenzy.
The Bees have picked up where they left off last season, winning eight of their last 13 PL fixtures (2D,3L), with only City, Liverpool, and Spurs boasting more competition points over the same period!
Fulham have failed to secure a win across their last 24 London Derbies in the PL (5D,19L), and I’m backing the Bees to extend the Cotttagers winless streak here.
The Eagles’ spirits are flying high after snatching a point away to the Reds last time out, and will now be targeting their first win of the season when they play host to the Villans.
Aston Villa secured their first win of the season against a severely undermanned Everton side last time out, with Danny Ings opening his account for the season, before Emiliano Buendia put the game away in the 87th minute.
The home side has won six of the last eight meetings between the pair, and with Zaha, in a rich vein of scoring form, I am going to back the host to get up once again here.
The Toffees will be looking to break their donut when they welcome Nottingham Forest to Goodison Park.
Despite losing their two opening fixtures by a misly one-goal margin, the Toffees have looked pathetically off the pace.
Lampard’s offensive plan clearly revolved around DCL, who unsurprisingly was struck down by injury before the first kick of the campaign.
Alternatively, Forest claimed their first top-flight win in 23 years with an impressive outing against the Hammers.
Notts Forest has been the busiest club during the offseason, upgrading just about every position on the pitch, and now boasts three PL-level strikers on their books, that’s three more than the toffees.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Everton entrenched in the relegation battle this season, begging with a loss to the new boys at home.
In Jesus we trust!
Gooners have been converted into an army of believers following a steller night out from new signing Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian striker netted two world-class goals on the way to a Gunners 4-2 victory over the Foxes last week.
The North London side will now take a step down in class when they face the newly promoted Cherries, a team they should dispatch with relative ease, with the chosen one set to cash in once more!
The Hammers find themselves goalless after two matches with only Manchester United sitting below them on the Premier League table!
The Irons can be forgiven for coming up short against City in the opening round but drawing a blank against newly promoted Forest may be cause for concern.
They’ll face Brighton, who have gotten off to a far superior start to the season, dumping United 4-1 in GW1 before playing out a hard-fought draw against the Toon.
Astonishingly, West Ham has never bettered Brighton in the PL, with the Seagulls claiming four of the pairs’ 10 fixtures (6D), including a 3-1 result last time out.
I’m backing Brighton’s reign in this fixture to continue with another upset on the road here.
Leeds and Chelsea will both be attempting to go three games without defeat when they meet at Elland Rd.
The Whites are winless across their last seven fixtures against the Blues (2D,5L), most recently suffering a 3-0 defeat to Tuchel’s side back in March.
Meanwhile, since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, only Man City (23) has won more games on the road than Chelsea (19)!
The Blues’ success has been built on a foundation of sturdy defense, a defense that has only allowed five first-half goals in the league this calendar year!
Leeds has shown plenty of fight up until this point, but I can’t see them troubling the Blues here.
I have Chelsea to lead at the end of each half.
The Big Money Derby!
The two richest clubs in England go toe-to-toe in what should be an intriguing fixture.
Although the Toon now has all the money in the world, the historic club is yet to really flex its buying power, with what looks to be a commitment towards a slow sustainable build.
On the other hand, City continues to build on their already overstrength squad, bringing in the likes of Haaland, Phillips, Alverez, and most recently Sergio Gomez.
The Sky Blues has pulled down the Toons’ pants time and time again in the past, scoring 4+ goals against their whipping boys in three of their last four meetings!
Now don’t get me wrong, the Toon has come a long way over the last 12 months, but they are still worlds away from the quality of City, and quite frankly are yet to earn the right to even lance the boots of Pep Guardiola.
City should win this one comfortably.
Game Week 3 comes to a close with possibly the saddest North West Derby in history, or funniest, pending on where your allegiances lie.
Manchester United are starring down the barrel of three straight defeats and their worst start to a season since 1986!
Meanwhile, the Reds’ title chase is hanging by a thread after dropping four points in the opening two rounds to sides they’d normally blow past.
Klopp will be without several key players, with Nunez serving a 3-game suspension, while Thiago, Firmino, Matip, Konate, and Jota are all battling injuries.
Whilst ten Hag doesn’t have a single world-class player amongst his ranks or at least one who isn’t five years beyond his prime.
Mo Salah would have this fixture highlighted on his calendar, the Egyptian king has scored eight goals across his last four games vs United in all comps, scoring a hat-trick in this exact fixture last season.
I’m backing Man U to kickstart their bitter rival’s season here, with Salah to do most of the damage on the scoreboard.
Bonus tip for United fans: take some time away from the game, and possibly switch your attention to your Under-23’s outfit.