Saturday Premier League betting preview with free bets
Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal, 12.45pm
The Gunners were enjoying a run of five consecutive wins against Blackburn before the teams met at Ewood Park last May, with Rovers running out 2-1 victors. Sam Allardyce will be hoping for a repeat performance from his side as they look to bounce back from last Saturday’s defeat at Birmingham and they’ll have their backers at odds of 11/2 (Paddy Power).
After all, Blackburn beat Everton on the opening day of the season and also beat Norwich in the Carling Cup on Tuesday. The on-loan Mame Biram Diouf scored the winner against the Canaries and the striker is 10/1 with bet365 to open the scoring against an Arsenal team still hoping to draft in a replacement for Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal are strong favourites at 4/7 with bet365 to win at Ewood Park and their tails will be up after spanking Blackpool 6-0 last Saturday. Theo Walcott was the hat-trick hero against the Tangerines and he’s 8/1 (Ladbrokes) to open the scoring in this match, while Marouane Chamakh’s physical prowess might mean that the Frenchman is a decent bet to score first at 5/1 (Ladbrokes).
Manchester United v West Ham, 5.30pm
Sir Alex Ferguson was clearly unhappy with the two points dropped against Fulham, claiming that Ryan Giggs should have taken the penalty awarded to the Red Devils when they led 2-1 at Craven Cottage. This time around, any spot kick awarded will mean Wayne Rooney will be taking control, with the striker having missed last weekend’s match with a stomach complaint.
The England front man is 9/4 (Sporting Bet) to score first and end a drought which goes back to the month of March. You can back him at no bigger than 8/15 (Sky Bet) to find the net at any stage against a team that have conceded three goals in both of their opening Premier League matches. Indeed, Manchester United will be a popular accumulator filler at Ladbrokes’ 1/6 and it’s hard to see anything other than a home win.
Avram Grant will be thinking about damage limitation when the Hammers travel to Old Trafford and it’s a big old ask to see them winning at odds of 18/1 (Blue Square) or even getting anywhere near a draw (7/1 bet365).
It took until the 90th minute for them to find a breakthrough against Oxford United and the defence will have a job keeping out Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (7/2 William Hill) and Javier Hernandez (7/2 Paddy Power). It might be worth considering some tasty correct score bets such as 5-0 (16/1 Blue Square) and 6-0 (33/1 Coral) in favour of the home team.
Blackpool v Fulham, 3pm
So far, there have been at least four goals scored in each of Blackpool’s three matches and they now have a home game for the first time this season. Whether that means a lower-scoring encounter is anyone’s guess, although they can be backed at 11/5 (bet365) to bounce back from that drubbing at the Emirates to beat Fulham and go into the international break with a creditable six points on the board.
Tuesday night’s Carling Cup game away to MK Dons served notice that Ian Holloway will not be dispensing with gung ho approach that helped them get promoted last season. The manager will hope that the Tangerines can supply plenty of quality service to Marlon Harewood (7/1 bet365) and Gary Taylor-Fletcher (7/1 William Hill) as was the case at Wigan on the opening day of the season. It’s surely only a matter of time before Charlie Adam (15/2 Paddy Power) breaks his Premier League duck.
Nevertheless, Fulham have landed a point both away at Bolton and home to Manchester United, illustrating that Mark Hughes is making the Cottagers a tough nut to crack this season. Stan James make them the 7/5 favourites to win this game and start correcting the sorry away form that saw the team collect just one victory on the road last term. Bobby Zamora should cause plenty of problems for a defence which have Ian Evatt suspended and Brede Hangeland is a decent outside bet at 25/1 (Paddy Power) after nodding home against Manchester United.
Chelsea v Stoke City, 3pm
Two seasons ago, Stoke came within a whisker of winning at Stamford Bridge, although the plain fact is that Chelsea have beaten the Potters on each of the five occasions that the teams have met since 27th September 2008. There are no prizes for guessing that the Blues are massive odds-on with the bookmakers to win this one, with Paddy Power bravely going 1/8 compared to the 1/10 on offer with William Hill.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team didn’t play particularly well at Wigan last Saturday yet still managed to win 6-0, the same scoreline that they managed against West Brom on the opening day of the season. While Blue Square were going 40/1 about the Blues managing half a dozen goals at the DW Stadium, the best odds you can get for this Saturday’s game is 28/1 with Sporting Bet.
If you expect the champions to steamroller the opposition yet again, Victor Chandler offer 1/2 that it’s a half-time full-time success for Chelsea, although Tony Pulis will be making sure his team are well organised from set pieces and there’s a case to be made for Draw HT Chelsea FT at odds of 4/1 (Stan James). After all, Wigan were holding the Blues for most of the first half and the potters will assemble plenty of players behind the ball.
Quite whether they can stop Didier Drogba (2/1 Sporting Bet) is another matter, although better value can be had from backing the excellent Florent Malouda (9/2 William Hill) who seems to get forward at the drop of a hat. Stoke are 22/1 with Ladbrokes to come away with an unlikely win and the draw is an 8/1 chance with bet365.
Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic, 3pm
Latics manager Roberto Martinez decided to field a strong team at Hartlepool on Tuesday night and was rewarded with a 3-0 win at Victoria Park, although they still face a daunting trip to White Hart Lane on Saturday where they were humiliated 9-1 by Tottenham. The visitors will hope that Wednesday’s match against Young Boys will have taken its toll on Spurs, although Harry Redknapp’s team are still massive favourites at 3/10 (Stan James) to make it seven points from a possible nine.
Redknapp is struggling for fit strikers at the moment, with Peter Crouch likely to be deployed in an attacking role again. The lanky striker is 7/2 (Paddy Power) to open the scoring, although there’s a case for backing Gareth Bale at twice the odds (7/1 William Hill) after the left midfielder bagged an impressive brace at Stoke last Saturday. One can’t help but feel that Wigan will put up far more resistance than they did at the Lane last season and it could be worth a bet on Spurs to win 1-0 at 15/2 (bet365).
If you think that Wigan can take advantage of tired legs in the home team, they are 5/1 (Ladbrokes) to come away with a draw and Ladbrokes offer 12/1 that Martinez silences his critics by guiding the Latics to their first Premier League win of the season and illustrating that Tottenham’s domestic form might just be affected by the Champions League this term.
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Newcastle United, 3pm
Newcastle supporters didn’t have too much to cheer about when their team were last in the Premier League, although the Magpies served up a treat against Aston Villa on Sunday to win 6-0 and announce their return to the top flight in a big way. Chris Hughton’s men will be buzzing after that victory and bet365 offer a tempting 21/10 that they kick on by winning at Molineux and cementing their place in the top half of the table.
Not that it will be an easy game when you consider that Wolves have beaten Stoke and drawn at Everton so far. Mick McCarthy will be keen to avoid the second season syndrome that seems to plague many Premier League teams and Ladbrokes go 11/8 that it’s back-to-back Premier League home wins for the team in old gold. Kevin Doyle (11/2 Paddy Power) and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (8/1 Coral) linked up well for the equaliser at Goodison Park and will look to combine to great effect again.
The visitors have a new number nine in Andy Carroll, who demonstrated against Villa that he could have a bright future at St James’ Park. It was an excellently-taken hat-trick by the forward and he’s a 6/1 chance (bet365) to score first in this match. Kevin Nolan is available at 8/1 (Coral) and the midfielder plays in an advanced role which should see him help himself to plenty of goals for the Magpies this term.
