Written by Shahan Ahmed
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Premier League Picks: Round 1
Last season, my picks ended at 697% ROI and won loads of money for all my followers (Detailed Expert’s Pick Review Here )It’s week 1, so there are no trends to really go off at this point. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to be had. With top players travelling across Europe for international duty on Wednesday, a plethora of external factors come into play, but I have two picks to offer… members, sign in now to see two Premiership picks:
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1. Newcastle United to win at 2.620
Looking purely at the odds, a Newcastle United win at St. James Park against a new look Tottenham Hotspur is offering 2.620. Hatem Ben Arfa is set to miss out due to a knee injury, but Demba Ba, Demba Cisse, Cheick Tiote, and Yahan Cabaye are expected to be passed fit in time for kickoff.
2. Over 3 goals: Manchester City vs Southampton
Manchester City scored three goals on their own last weekend against Chelsea. Aguero missed some chances, and frankly, City should have scored more. True, 10 man Chelsea allowed City a few more chances, but the Citizens have a potent striking partnership in Tevez and Aguero. The Over 3 goals is a good pick and the computer calculates City to average 3.5 goals, leading to the match ending Over 3 goals 52.2% of the time.
2012-13 Premier League Preview: A Manchester Affair
It took the 94th minute of the 38th match last season for Manchester City to edge out Manchester United and win the Premier League. This season hasn’t even kicked off, and the Manchester rivals are already jockeying for pole position for what promises to be an exciting domestic season.
Last season’s top scorer, Robin Van Persie, joined Manchester United this week. With that addition, United now possesses the top two scorers from a season ago. Wayne Rooney’s 27 goals were only bettered by Van Persie’s 30 goals last campaign, and if the Dutchman can stay healthy, he may well top last season’s mark. After all, RVP will finally have the support he was noticeably lacking after Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas were sold at the start of the 2011-12 season.
Despite United capturing the top scorer in the Premiership, Manchester City has to feel good about its chances this season. With Sergio Aguero third in scoring last season, the Argentine seems to have made the full adjustment to English football without much of a bump. Carlos Tevez, who led the Premier League in scoring two seasons ago, has returned fit and full of vigor. Prior to the Van Persie buy, Manchester City’s Argentine striking duo was best attacking combination in England without a doubt.
Tevez, in particular, has been widely lauded for his top form, fitness, and attitude entering this season. He seems so committed to Manchester City that it is hard to believe this same player refused to get off the bench in a Champions League match and left the team for half last season. Carlitos connected brilliantly with Aguero in the community shield in a partnership being dubbed “the two musketeers.” Tevez showed his quality with a remarkable strike in the Community Shield win against Chelsea. Despite RVP’s capture, City still have a nose ahead due to overall squad depth, particularly in the defense and middle of the park.
United, though, has a plethora of attacking options. Poor Berbatov is now buried even deeper on the bench. Er, that is probably a poor choice of words. Rich Berbatov is now buried so far down the bench that he may only play Carling Cup matches, and even that may depend on whether Chicharito and/or Macheda go out on loan. With Van Persie, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez, and Kagawa all preferred to the Bulgarian, Manchester United’s depth in attack is hard to dismiss.
Manchester City also has depth in attack comparable to the Red Devils. Aguero and Tevez expect to be first choice with Balotelli and Dzeko as the first two options off Roberto Mancini’s bench. Emmanuel Adebayor is back at the club, and the Togolese international who found the target 17 times last term is fifth choice for the Citizens.
Apologies to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Tottenham, but this year’s Premier League is a two horse race, once again. Much like Dortmund and Bayern in Germany or Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, the superior quality of City and United should not be a reflection of how poor the rest of the Premier League is; instead, both these teams should be marveled for the greatness they can and should achieve this season. In case anyone was wondering, the first Manchester derby on the 8th of December at the Etihad Stadium.
