Premier League Betting Tips September 18/19

While Manchester United and Manchester City’s title challenges were damaged last weekend when they dropped points, Chelsea and Arsenal maintained theirs with comfortable wins. Both added extra comfortable wins midweek in their opening Champions League games. Now they return to the Premier League to maintain their impressive starts. Here are my selected bets for the weekend:

Stoke City kick-started their season on Monday night with a late come-from-behind victory over Aston Villa. Their strengths in the Premier League have been set pieces, something which West Ham have struggled to dealt with this season. Defensively they look a shambles and goalkeeper Rob Green does nothing to help them. His dealing with crosses has been woeful this season. Expect Kenwyne Jones to cause this defence real problems aerially, and even the long throws of Rory Delap. A great opportunity for Stoke City to double their point’s tally this weekend, and the bookmakers are giving us great odds.

Should Arsene Wenger not re-jig his side that successfully walked over Sporting Braga on Wednesday night, I would expect Arsenal not to slip up here. They thumped Bolton in the league last weekend too as Arsene Wenger’s side finally show signs of maturity and consistency after a couple of seasons without. A strong Arsenal first team will win here. A strong Arsenal team will play Cesc Fabregas, whom is on fire at the moment. Sunderland will be without the suspended Lee Cattermole that should see Fabregas receive some freedom. Sunderland are likely to play rough with Arsenal, putting themselves at risk of conceding a penalty. Fabregas is the spot kick taker. Should he play, I expect him to score. Should he not, you’ll get a refund.

Manchester City dropped points at home to Blackburn last weekend, followed up with a trip to Austria on Thursday night. Pressure will be on Roberto Mancini if his side fail to pick up 3 points on Sunday. Wigan are one of the poorest sides in the league this season, even if they are unpredictable. They’ve been beat 4-0 here by Blackpool and with the talent Manchester City have at their disposal, I would expect to see nothing less than a win from them. It’s time Roberto Mancini’s team got going this season and this is the perfect opportunity for them to do so. Disappointing against Sunderland in their last league away match, I expect a different performance from City here, with the likes of Carlos Tevez, James Milner and Gareth Barry working their socks off to pick up the 3 points.

Chelsea eased past West Ham last weekend, correctly tipping them on the odds-against Asian Handicap. This weekend their odds aren’t as promising, but that’s hardly surprising against Blackpool. Yes, Blackpool have made a fantastic start, but as Arsenal did previously, Chelsea are capable of tearing the away side apart. The pace of Nicolas Anelka will cause Stephen Crainey problems, as will Florent Malouda enjoy success down the opposite flank. This defence will struggle to deal with Didier Drogba, who’s only scored in home games this season. Defensively, Chelsea should not have too many problems. Michael Essien has also provided goals from the centre of midfield too recently as Blackpool will not enjoy their trip down to London this weekend.