Sports Blog 25/09/2015: Match Preview – Premier League, Saturday 26th to Sunday 27th September 2015

After a mid-week foray into the wilds of the Capital One Cup there might be a few tired legs out there during weekend 7 of the Premier League.

First up on Saturday is a trip to London for Manchester City, as the league-leaders visit Tottenham at 12.45pm on BT Sport 1. Spurs’ slowly improving league form, and a solid opening win in the Europa League, was somewhat spoiled on Wednesday with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Arsenal in the League Cup. Mauricio Pochettino will not want to completely lose the momentum Tottenham appear to have tentatively gained since the arrival of Son Heung-Min from Bayer Leverkusen (at a Super Mega PGM spread of 14-18) with another loss. However, the North London side arguably face their toughest game of the season so far in the form of Man City.



Whilst Manual Pellegrini’s side lost 2-1 to a sporadically great, but largely outshone, West Ham in their first league defeat of the season last weekend, the game did bring with it an impressive performance from the club’s record signing Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian scored his first City goal against the Hammers, adding a second in the Tuesday’s 4-1 victory over Sunderland in the League Cup to give the former-Wolfsburg star 2 goals in 2 starts. With Raheem Sterling also scoring his second City goal in that mid-week win, City fans must be salivating at the chance to see the incredibly attractive quartet of De Bruyne-Sterling-Silva-Aguero on Saturday, with the Spanish member of the line-up potentially returning from the injury that prevented him from playing during the week.

City will want to ensure that their defeat to West Ham was a forgivable blip in what has been an otherwise impressive start to the season. And with the potential for the Fab Four to start together for the first time our Spreadex traders have given City the advantage, at a Manchester City/Tottenham (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.45-0.65 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.75-2.95.

It will likely be an uncomfortable afternoon for Steve McClaren on Saturday, as his Newcastle take on a gradually resurgent Chelsea at 5.30pm on Sky Sports 1. Whilst Newcastle haven’t necessarily had the easiest set of fixtures to start of the season, including games against Man United, Arsenal, and the surprisingly strong West Ham, 2 points from 6 games, including a 2-1 loss last weekend to Watford, leaves them at the bottom of the league alongside Sunderland – unflattering company for any team in the league. Things were summed up in the Toon’s mid-week League Cup match, a game they lost 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday in a lifeless performance that merely piled more pressure onto an already hot under the collar McClaren.



In comparison, Jose Mourinho seems to have relieved some of the tension in the Chelsea camp with a win over Arsenal last weekend. That vital 2-0 win over a 9-man Arsenal wasn’t pretty, and wasn’t without Diego Costa-inspired controversy. However, Chelsea got what they needed from the game – 3 points and a much-needed injection of confidence, tentatively putting the Blues season back on track in the process. With Costa absent on Saturday due to a 3 game ban dished out by the FA after the Arsenal match it will likely fall to Loic Remy to lead the charge against his old club, and the Frenchman sits at a Super Mega Player Goal Minutes spread of 29.35 ahead of his return to St James’ Park.

With that victory over the Gunners sandwiched between a 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Champions League and a 4-1 run-out against Walsall in the League Cup, Chelsea are, to Steve McClaren’s likely dismay, beginning to look like their old selves, with our traders fancying the Blues at a Chelsea/Newcastle (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.9-1.1 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.7-2.9.

Finally, Sunday’s game sees a battle between 2 of the season’s surprising(ish) successes, as Watford take on Crystal Palace at 4pm on Sky Sports 1. The Hornets have gotten off to a quietly impressive start since being promoted to the Premier League; 3 draws on the trot, against Everton, West Brom and Southampton, likely got 3 more points than many Watford fans were expecting. And with a forgivable loss against Man City followed by victories against Swansea and Newcastle Quique Flores’ side sit at a respectable 10th after 6 games. Odion Ighalo has undoubtedly been Watford’s star so far this season, scoring 4 of their 5 league goals, and goes into Sunday’s game at 5/1 to score first.



It has been a slightly more mixed start for Palace; yet there have arguably been more positives than negatives. Victories over Norwich, Aston Villa and, astonishingly, Chelsea have left Alan Pardew’s side with 9 points (the same amount as their weekend opponents); a feat countered by losses to ostensibly ‘bigger’ opponents like Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham. Yet they managed their 2nd 4-1 League Cup victory in a row mid-week, with a Dwight Gayle hat-trick (at 11/2 to score first on Sunday) following a Frazier Campbell opener to help them see off Charlton Athletic.

Watford’s 2nd round League Cup defeat to Preston North End in August meant they weren’t in action during the week. Therefore their subsequent fresh(er) legs, and the fact they haven’t yet conceded at home this season, has left the Hornets with an incredibly slight advantage of a Watford/Crystal Palace Goal Supremacy spread of 0.05-0.25 with a Total Goals spread of 2.35-2.55.