16/17th Aug: Premiership

[kompressaur]

16 August 2008
12:45 Arsenal (2/9) Draw (11/2) West Bromwich (16) 103%
15:00 Bolton (5/6) Draw (5/2) Stoke (4) 103%
15:00 Everton (1) Draw (23/10) Blackburn (16/5) 104%
15:00 Hull (8/5) Draw (23/10) Fulham (9/5) 104%
15:00 Middlesbrough (11/5) Draw (12/5) Tottenham (6/4) 101%
15:00 West Ham (1) Draw (12/5) Wigan (10/3) 103%
17:30 Sunderland (9/2) Draw (11/4) Liverpool (8/11) 103%

17 August 2008
13:30 Chelsea (1/3) Draw (4) Portsmouth (11) 104%
15:00 Aston Villa (11/10) Draw (23/10) Manchester City (3) 103%
16:00 Manchester United (3/10) Draw (9/2) Newcastle (12) 103%

[slick]

I know I'm a City fan but where did they get those odds from considering our past form against the Villa, early doors yet but it must be worth at least a lay as it must be at least 5 yrs since City were beaten at Villa Park , will be better still if Barry goes too which is very likely.

[kompressaur]

Just a quick update of the odds and ths bumpety bump post to bring it back to page one. good luck for the season.

[SuperTyke]

These are my predictions:

Arsenal to beat WBA
Hull to beat Fulham
Liverpool to beat Sunderland
Chelsea to beat Portsmouth
Man UTD to beat Newcastle UTD
Wigan to beat Fulham
Tottenham to beat Middlesborough
Bolton to beat Stoke
Villa to beat Man City
Everton to beat Blackburn

I quite fancy Hull to get off to a flier - I can't see them maintaining it this season, I reckon they will struggle big time; however, I can see them getting a win over Fulham here.

Wigan to beat West Ham - I'm fancying Wigan here. They've made some shrewd signings pre-season in De Ridder, who might I say, looks an absolute gem of a signing and Lee Cattermole from 'Boro who again is a solid, accomplished midfielder. I saw them against Barnsley pre-season and they looked very good.

Man United, Arsenal are no-brainers. Chelsea could meet a challenge in Portsmouth, although I fancy Chelsea to win; something is niggling at me, this one could be a draw. But I wouldn't bet against Chelsea at home.

I can't see Stoke getting anything at Bolton; I'm not over excited about their signings pre-season and from what I saw of Stoke last season, they were distinctly average. Out of all the games, I would take:

Bolton to win
Hull to win
Wigan to win
Liverpool to win

Of course, Man U and Arsenal (and maybe Chelsea) - but the odds are crap.

ST

[trigger_82]

im all over the spurs @ $2.50

[bromsgrovegreen]

wigan look a good outside bet at 10-3 v west ham who havent strengthened their squad as far as i am aware,they even gave a trial to ben thatcher which is hardly sending out positive vibes to their already disgruntled supporters. brucie has knocked wigan into shape and they have got some very underated players imo.
roy hodgson for me should have got manager of the season for somehow keeping fulham up and 9-5 at hull looks another value bet imo, hull will be fired up no doubt but if fulham can weather the storm i fancy their better quality to come through

[keemanan]

I agree and city won at west ham first up last year. Wigan have a decent squad as you say and could hit the floor running.
I fancy Villa all day slick , last night was woeful, it may help us that dozy bollocks Dunne aint playing as he cant pass and Ben Haim is no left back. Richards looks class though but Ball will struggle against any pace on the left. Up front should see Bojinov , a drop off type in the hole forward without great talent, who maybe carrying a tight calf paired with the promising Sturridge who seems overanxious to make his mark. Hopefully Hamann will play as last nights pairing of Johnson and Fernandes was overrun by the Danish side. Ireland could start on the right maybe but more likely is Elano. I'd play Ireland and Hamaan in midfield and 'rest' Johson who needs to put some performances together to justify his inflated opinion of himself.
Villa had a morale boosting win in Iceland and are up and running already. Carew caused massive problems last season to Richards and with Barry staying another season they look much more prepared for this game.
Villa at anywhere near evens is a cracking home bet.
United will win and I'll pair them with another 'cert ' from elsewhere

[Bigkegman]

Cant see any of the big 3 slipping up.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd should all win.

Fancy Spurs to win as well but 6/5 with Lads is a stinker of a price

[daikoku]

Middlesborough v Tottenham

Tottenham are favourites for this clash after a superb pre-season. Although I do think Spurs will win I'm not going to get involved with it being the first day of the season. I am going to have small stakes on Darren Bent as anytime goalscorer. Bent has been in superb form over the pre-season, scoring 12 goals in 6 pre-season friendlies, including 2 in the 5-0 drubbing of Roma last weekend.

2.5 units on Darren Bent anytime goalscorer @ 2.75

You can get circa 3.00 on the exchanges.

[Wayne]

Agree that Spurs are a decent bet but I hate betting against Boro at home - they've got some decent scalps there over the last few years. You never know what you're going to get. Spurs should win but I'll leave it alone on the first day of the season.

Villa should do Citeh tomorrow but I'll worry about it then.

My only bet in the PL today is Bolton v Stoke.

Bolton have made some decent signings over the summer, in particular Elmander and Muamba whilst Stoke have made a few moderate signings. Stoke's record signing Dave Kitson shows the level of their squad and I reckon they're in danger of doing a Derby this season.

Stoke also have a few injury worries with concerns over two of their better players, Fuller and Lawrence. It won't be pretty but I reckon Bolton will win this by a couple of goals.

[investonsoccer]

Middlesbrough vs Tottenham
Data: 16-8-2008
Pick: Tottenham 0 @ 1.71

Middlesbrough after securing near the end of last season the permanence on Premiere League, seems a weacker team this season, with some important player leaving team: Mark Schwarzer, Fabio Rochemback, Luke Young, George Boateng and Lee Cattermole.
On Middlesbrough, Pogatetz and Arca are injuried and out of this 1 game.

Also many changes on Tottenham, with 5 player going out: Robbie Keane, Robinson, Malbranque, Tainio e Chimbonda...but also some good players coming in: Bentley, Modrić, Dos Santos, Heurelho Gomes and Cesar Sanchez. With Juande Ramos team is playing more consistent and we have a recent big win against Roma.
Alan Hutton is out on Tottenham for this game.

With big ambitions, we expect Tottenham to have a good performance on 1 game and we see good value on line Tottenham dnb.

[kompressaur]

How the hell did none of us think to get on the under card points when it was mentioned about this niceness with refereees?