The Premier League returns following a week of mourning for the late Queen.
Unfortunately, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea fans will be forced to wait another week to see their side on the pitch, with a trio games postponed due to lack of police availability and public transport strikes.
Nevertheless, there is still plenty of quality fixtures to look forward to, with Wolves hosting City, Leicester attempting to get off the mark against Tottenham, and Brentford taking on league leaders Arsenal!
We’ve previewed the 7 Premier League fixtures set to take place over the weekend and provided our best betting plays below!
Villa are out to snap a four-game winless streak when they play host to Southampton.
The home side will be heading into this fixture with some high hopes after holding reigning champs, Man City to a 1-1 draw last time out.
Meanwhile, the Saints were unlucky to fall to a 0-1 defeat to the Wolves in Game Week 6, after knocking over Chelsea the week prior.
The last four games played at Villa Park between this pair have seen over 3.5 goals scored, with Southampton claiming the W on three occasions (1L).
I’m leaning toward the Saints taking the 3-points away from home again, but I will err on the side of caution and instead, back another high-scoring affair to take place.
Two newly promoted outfits in Nottingham Forest and Fulham are set to clash at City Ground.
The extended break between fixtures should serve Forest well, who are still attempting to acclimate their 21 new signings to the league.
Meanwhile, Fulham hit the ground running in the top-flight, securing four results (2W,2D) across their opening 6 games, including a draw against Liverpool and a win versus Brighton.
If Forest intends to win this fixture, they’ll need to turn around their poor defensive form, which has seen them concede 14 goals across their opening 6 games.
I can’t see the home side holding Mitrovic at bay here, as such I’ll be backing the visitors at what looks to be genuine value at $2.50.
The first worthwhile match of the round comes courtesy of Wolves vs Man City on Saturday evening (AEST).
Wolverhampton enters this fixture off the back of their first win of the season, sneaking past Southampton 1-0, though a return of three goals across six games is a huge concern when they face a side in Man City, whose striker has scored threefold that amount!
Erling Haaland has taken to the PL like a pig to mud, the Norwegian striker has 10 goals for the season and seven across his last three starts!
I’m jumping on Haaland to hit the back of the net once again here, combined with City to overcome a -1 goal handicap!
Following the sacking of Scott Parker, Bournemouth has gone two games without defeat, most recently coming from two goals down at halftime to upset Forest 3-2!
Though despite sitting 13th on the table, the Cherries have generated the least amount of shots in the league at 34, 22 less than the next worse side, furthermore, only 12 of those shots have been on target.
Alternatively, the Toons have allowed the 2nd most shots on target (32), though they have only conceded a respectable 6 goals, 3 of which came in the fixture against Man City.
The postponement of GW6 has served the Toon well, who are expecting their best 2 players in Bruno and Saint-Maximum to return from injury here, with both additions set to turn this fixture heavily to the home team’s favour.
I’m backing the Toon to comfortably collect all three points, combined with several of their players to test the Cherries’ keeper.
Brendan Rodgers’ job is well and truly on the line as Leicester prepares to travel to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Foxes sit dead last on the PL table with just 1 point from a possible 18, losing their last 5 straight fixtures.
Meanwhile, the Spurs currently occupy the 3rd spot on the table, with only goal difference separating them from City in 2nd, while Arsenal sits one point clear on top of the league.
Tottenham remains undefeated across the opening 6 games, though they’re made difficult work of it, covering a -1 handicap on just two occasions.
Harry Kane has started the 2022/23 campaign where he left off the last, scoring goals.
The English striker has netted 5 times already this season, while his record against the Foxes is second to none, scoring 19 goals against the club he once plied his trade for!
I’m backing Kane’s dominance over the Foxes to continue here, helping his side collect all three competition points and potentially leaving Rodgers without a gig!
The Gunners strut into this contest on top of the league standings despite suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Red Devils last time out.
They will be coming up against a Brentford side who have lost just one of their previous 17 home London Derbies (13W,3D), a run which includes a 2-0 win against the Gunners in this fixture last season.
The Bees have scored the second most goals in the league thus far (15), with only Man City bettering their tally.
Arsenal enjoyed a favourable run of fixtures across the opening five weeks of the competition, and although the Bees aren’t a traditional top six side, they have the ability and tactical nous to hang with just about any team in the league.
Ivan Toney is going to create some real issues for the Gunners’ backline in this one, and while taking the Bees at $4.20 is tempting, I’m going to play it safe with the double chance.
Everton hosts West Ham in the final match of the weekend, with both sides attempting to push clear of the relegation zone.
Alongside Leicester, Everton remains the only side yet to pick up a win this season, though the Merseyside outfit has collected four points via draws.
The Hammers also sit on 4 points with a win and a draw to their name, though one can argue that they have been playing much better football than their opponents this week.
West Ham has picked up all their points over their last three games, holding Tottenham to a 1-1 draw, and defeating Aston Villa, before being robbed of a point by the referee against Chelsea.
It’s hard to make an argument for the Toffees here, they seem content to just sit everyone behind the ball and play anti-football tactics, boring their opponents and the fans to death before springing to life on the counter.
I don’t believe Lampard’s game style is sustainable here, and with the Hammers starting to find their feet this season, I’m backing the away side to take home the chocolates!