Ugh. The international break. Any fan of domestic leagues knows that it’s basically tantamount to a bunch of Mondays running for a couple of weeks until league action resumes. But we’re back, baby!
The Premier League returns with one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports kicking off the weekend’s action when Liverpool and Manchester United square off at Anfield on Saturday morning.
Per usual, Andrew Avery and Rob Trites have combed the board to each find a side, total and prop that they love this week. Here’s what they’ve got this week.
Sides
Andrew: Tottenham -2 (-105)
Tottenham’s form at “home” this season is well documented. Their season at Wembley hasn’t necessarily gone according to plan and the North London outfit is – get this – 17th in the league in home performance with just two draws through three games.
White Hart Lane was a fortress one season ago as they had dropped just four points all season long. They’ve already dropped seven points on “home turf” this season with their measly two points.
I’m banking on them to get that monkey off their backs Saturday with Bournemouth coming to town. Eddie Howe’s side is 19th in the table with just four points and Spurs are starting to look more like the potent team we expect them to be.
There’s no value on their moneyline price at -500 unless you’re going to build a parlay card, so I’m taking Spurs on the spread at -2. Harry Kane is scoring when he wants and somehow, Christian Eriksen gets better and better every time I watch the Dane step on the field. I think this one will be a three or four to nil final for Tottenham.
Rob: Liverpool (+175)
Liverpool hosts an unbeaten Manchester United side on Saturday morning in what is easily the match of the week and darn it, I like the Reds to deal Jose Mourinho’s Men their first loss of the season.
This may not be a popular opinion but Jurgen Klopp’s record against top clubs speaks for itself. Since being appointed manager of Liverpool, he’s earned 36 points in 20 matches against the other five teams that finished in the top six last season – eight more points than any other top-six club in that span.
Without Sadio Mane for the fixture, I expect Liverpool to play to keep the United attack contained and to counter with Coutinho, Salah and Sturridge when the opportunities present themselves.
This feels like a 2-1 result for the Merseyside Marauders.
Totals
Andrew: Leicester vS West Brom OVER 2.5 (+115)
The Foxes returned to the Premier League for the 2014-15 season so they have played West Brom six times over that span in the league. Of those six, four matches have eclipsed 2.5 goals and the average combined score has been 3.16 per game.
Leicester doesn’t possess that same strong defensive unit that we saw in their championship run a couple of seasons ago and it’s been problematic. They’ve conceded the joint third-highest number of goals in the league (12) and are coming off 2-1 and 3-2 losses at the King Power to Chelsea and Liverpool respectively in their previous two home games.
There is good value on the OVER here at +115 and with Jamie Vardy seemingly back to his goal-scoring ways, I don’t anticipate this being a low-scoring affair.
Rob: Southampton vs Newcastle UNDER 2.5 (-135)
With Newcastle’s three road fixtures this season netting a total of three goals, this play is easy.
Southampton has failed to score in eight of its last nine matches at St. Mary’s Stadium and Newcastle has conceded just six goals all season. The Saints and Magpies have both been playing an exceptionally boring brand of football and that’s not changing this weekend.
This is one of those matches that I could see finishing with no goals and I’ll probably have a punt at a 0-0 exact score line as well.
Props
Andrew: Chelsea to win Half Time/Full Time (+105)
Not as adventurous as I normally like to be in my prop pick this week, but the Blues to win both halves here against an absolutely dreadful Crystal Palace side at plus-money is pretty solid.
Chelsea has been perfect on the road this season with three wins in three matches and, you guessed it, they’ve won half time and full time in all three of those games.
Still winless, pointless and goalless through seven games, Crystal Palace is going to be a desperate club come Saturday. They’ll really get a boost if electric attacker Wilfried Zaha returns to the mix, but even with the Ivorian in the side, the gulf in talent on display at Selhurst Park will be vast. So much so that this one is probably going to be a multi-unit play for me.
Rob: Newcastle to keep a Clean sheet (+315)
Playing off my last pick, I like Newcastle to deal the Saints yet another shutout on home turf in a match that’s almost definitely going to be a snoozer.
Rafa Benitez’s side has been extremely disciplined through seven games and Southampton offers almost nothing on the offensive. I absolutely love the value on this bet with Newcastle’s Rob Elliot posting two clean sheets already this season.
Knock on (Bobby) wood but I’m 7-0 with my prop bets through the first seven gameweeks. You might consider hopping on the winning train before I run it off the tracks.
