Though the World Cup provided an adequate distraction, the real good stuff starts on Friday, as Leicester’s trip to Man United – at 8pm on Sky Sports – raises the curtain on the 2018/19 Premier League season.

Jose Mourinho has cut a disgruntled figure in the last few weeks, regularly complaining about United’s lack of transfer action. Still, the club did bring in Stoke goalie Lee Grant, Porto’s Diogo Dalot and Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fred, the latter of whom should make his Premier League debut on Friday. They also have a decent Premier League Index spread of 17-20, where 1st place gets 60 points, 2nd place 40, 3rd place 20, 4th place 10 and 5th place 5.



Leicester are likely just happy they held onto Harry Maguire, with United very keen to sign the World Cup standout. Not that they were shy about splashing the cash, with Norwich’s James Madison costing £25 million, Porto’s Ricardo Pereira £22.5 million, Liverpool’s Danny Ward £12.5 million and Freiburg’s Caglar Soyuncu’s £19 million. That’s unlikely to help them on Friday, however, with Spreadex offering a Man United/Leicester Goal Supremacy spread of 0.95-1.15.

Turning to Saturday and Harry Kane will be looking to break his August curse when Tottenham travel to Newcastle at 12.30pm on Sky Sports. The Golden Boot winner has never scored in the first month of the season, and the fact that Mauricio Pochettino didn’t sign a single player ramps up the pressure to do so, with Kane at a Super Mega PGM spread of 41-48.

As for the Toon, Rafa Benitez wasn’t given too much to work with, picking up Martin Dubravka, Ki Sung-yueng, Fabian Schar ,Yoshinori Muto and Federico Fernandez for less than £25 million. Though they’ll be some tired legs out there on Saturday, Spurs should still come through, with Spreadex offering a Tottenham/Newcastle (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.3-0.5 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.5-2.7.

The first Saturday of the season then wraps up with Championship champs Wolves host Everton at 5.30pm on BT Sport 1. The Toffees did some decent, if costly, business over the summer. Richardlison arrived from Watford for £35 million, while Lucas Digne came over from Barcelona for £18 million. The final day of the window also saw them nab Bernard from Shakhtar on a free transfer, alongside Colombia’s Yerry Mina for £27 million.

The newly promoted Wolves, meanwhile, ended up signing 12 players, with highlights including Portuguese goalie Rui Patricio, Atletico Madrid’s Diogo Jota and Monaco’s Joao Moutinho. That leaves them in a pretty healthy state heading into their top flight return, with Spreadex offering a Wolves/Everton Goal Supremacy spread of 0.1-0.3.

Title-chasing hopefuls Liverpool then get Sunday underway with a visit from West Ham, at 1.30pm on Sky Sports. If anyone is going to challenge Man City its going to be the Reds, with Liverpool at Premier League Index spread of 28-31 and a Season Points spread of 79.5-81. Goalkeeper Alisson was arguably Jurgen Klopp’s most important signing, with RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita, Monaco’s Rabinho and Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri also eye-catching additions.

Keen to get West Ham back into the top 10, new manager Manuel Pellegrini has been a busy boy, with headline signings Issa Diop, Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson joined by Arsenal rejects Jack Wilshere and Lucas Perez, among a few other names. They’re still on track to get hammered, however, with Spreadex offering a Liverpool/West Ham Goal Supremacy spread of 1.85-2.05 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.3-3.5.

Finally, in the real highlight of the weekend, defending champions Man City travel to Arsenal at 4pm on Sky Sports. It is hard to look beyond City this season: they sit at a huge Premier League Index spread of 44-48, have a binary winner spread of 57.8-63.7, a Season Points spread of 86.5-88 AND are odds on at 4/7. They’ve already confidently won the Community Shield with a 2-0 victory over Chelsea, a brace from Sergio Aguero leaving the Argentine with a Super Mega PGM of 50-58.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are in the middle of a rebuild, with new boss Unai Emery strengthening the club’s core by adding Stephan Lichsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. Sunday’s game is going to be a Premier League baptism of fire for Emery, with Spreadex offering a Man City/Arsenal (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.5-0.7 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.1-3.3.