EPL 2023/24 Matchweek 1 – Betting tips & Predictions

After a long break, the English Premier League is finally back. It all starts early Saturday morning with Man City going up against Burnley to kick off a full week of 10 EPL games.  Here is what you need to know going into Matchweek 1 of the 2023-24 English Premier League season. Stick around for our EPL betting tips and predictions and get up-to-date on all the newest EPL storylines. 

Odds by Playup

Turf Moor, 5.00 AM, Saturday, August 12

Man City come into this year on the back of their greatest ever season last year. The Cityzens completed English football’s second ever treble by winning the EPL, FA Cup, and prestigious UEFA Champions League. Burnley also enjoyed a successful 2022-23 season. Former Man-City man Vincent Kompany guided the Clarets to a 101-point season to win the EFL Championship and earn promotion back to the EPL. 

Despite both clubs coming in on relative highs, this match should be a no-contest. Over the past seven years, there have been very few more uneven matchups than Man City vs. Burley. In the last five meetings between these clubs, Man City have outscored Burnley 17-0. We expect to see a familiar victory for City come Saturday morning. 

Both squads will have practically their full squads available. Man City may be without Nathan Ake. Burley will be missing forward Michael Obafemi.  

Predicted Lineups

Burnley: Trafford; Roberts, Beyer, Ekdal, Taylor; Cork, Cullen; Brownhill, Redmond, Zaroury; Rodriguez.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Akanji; Rodri, Kovacic; Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland

Emirates Stadium, 9:30 PM, Saturday, August 12.

Nearly all the best betting sites have this match as the most lopsided of Matchweek 1. Forest continue to be one of the weaker squads in the EPL, despite all their new signings. Arsenal, meanwhile, have reinforced their squad with big names such as Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber. 

The Gunners will unfortunately be without some of their big names against Forest. Star forward Gabriel Jesus and starting left back Oleksandr Zinchenko are out with injuries. Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny are also likely to miss the Forest game.

Arsenal need to get a strong victory early to set the tone for the rest of the season. We think they will get one against Forest, but it could be tricky considering Forest beat Arsenal twice last season. 

Predicted Lineups

Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Trossard

Nottingham Forest: Horvath; Worrall, Boly, McKenna; Aurier, Yates, Mangala, Aina; Danilo, Gibbs-White; Johnson

Vitality Stadium, 12:00 AM, Sunday August 13. 

Bournemouth were one of the worst defensive teams in the EPL last year. Only Leeds and Southampon, who both were relegated, allowed more goals throughout the season. On the offensive end, the Cherries also struggled. They scored the fourth-fewest amount of goals in the league. Their opponents, West Ham, were fairly mid-table on both metrics. 

Since then, West Ham have lost striker Gianluca Scamacca and talisman Declan Rice. With no major incomings, West Ham are a bit of a crisis club at the moment. Attitudes are much more positive at Bournemouth who are tipped to be one of the surprising clubs of the season under new manager Andoni Iraola.

The clubs’ differing fortunes make this one hard to predict. West Ham defeated Bournemouth twice last season, which may be why most Australian betting sites have made the Hammers slight favourites. 

Predicted Lineups

Bournemouth: Radu; Smith, Mepham, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Billing; Brooks, Traore, Kluivert; Solanke

West Ham: Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson; Soucek, Downes, Paqueta; Bown, Antonio, Benrahma

Amex Stadium, 12:00 AM, Sunday, August 13. 

Brighton were one of the Premier League’s darlings last season. The Seagulls wowed fans all across the world with their daring play under Roberto De Zerbi. Players like Kaoru Mitoma, Alexis Mac Allister, Evan Ferguson, and Moises Caicedo became household names as Brighton qualified for the Europa League. Mac Allister left for Liverpool and Caicedo is strongly linked to Chelsea. Even without those players, Brighton’s goal will be to qualify for Europe again. 

Luton Town head into this season with one thing on their mind; survival. The Hatters came up via the EFL Championship playoff last season, and are widely-tipped to be the worst team in the league this season. Tahith Chong is the squad’s only major acquisition. For all intents and purposes, this Luton Town side is a Championship squad. Brighton should handle the Hatters easily. 

Predicted Lineups

Brighton: Steele; Gross, Dunk, Webster, Estupinan; Dahoud, Caicedo; March, Pedro, Mitoma; Welbeck

Luton Town: Kaminski; Anderson, Lockyer, Bell; Kabore, Mpanzu, Nakamba, Chong, Giles; Adebayo, Morris

Goodison Park, 12:00 AM, Sunday, August 13. 

Everton nearly avoided relegation last season. Fulham, meanwhile, finished 10th in the league last year. This year, they will be hoping to avoid the dreaded “second-season syndrome” and have another successful season. 

The Cottagers should be able to achieve their goals. That is if Saudi clubs will let them. Saudi Arabian clubs have come for Fulham’s manager Marco Silva, star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, and veteran winger Willian. All players should be available against Everton. Mitrovic has just returned to the squad though, so he may not start right away. Additionally, Fulham are missing João Palhinha with a shoulder injury, which severely weakens their midfield. 

The off-field chaos and injuries at Fulham are why most betting sites surprisingly have Everton as favourites in this one. We think those sites are right. The Toffees will be solid under Dyche, and with Dominic Calvert-Lewin back from injury, they should be okay against Fulham.

Predicted Lineups

Everton: Pickford; Patterson, Keane, Tarkowski, Young; Garner, Onana, Gueye, Doucoure, Iwobi; Calvert-Lewin

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Bassey, Diop, Robinson; Reed, Lukic; Wilson, Pereria, Willian; Jimenez

Bramall Lane, 12:00 AM, Sunday, August 13.

Sheffield United are back in the EPL after finishing second in the Championship to Burnley. Speaking of returns, Roy Hodgson is back at the helm as manager for his boyhood club Crystal Palace. 

Under Hodgson, Palace played exciting football to close out the end of last season and avoid relegation. This was a departure from his normal style of defensive football. Many people, including us, are looking forward to seeing what Hodgson does to start this season. Against Sheffield United, Palace should have a strong chance of scoring goals thanks to the likes of Odsonne Édouard, Eberechi Eze, and Michael Olise. However, the latter of that group is expected to miss the Sheffield game. 

Sheffield United has home-pitch advantage on their side. The Blades finished last season with the second best home record in the Championship. Even with that being true, we don’t expect much from United in this one. 

Predicted Lineups

Sheffield United: Foderingham; Ahmedodzic, Egan, Robinson; Baldock, Slimane, Osborn, Berge, Lowe; Osula, McBurnie

Crystal Palace: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Clyne; Doucoure, Lerma; Ayew, Eze, Schlupp; Edouard

St. James' Park, 2:30 AM, Sunday, August 13.

Saudi investment into Newcastle has proven to be an almost immediate success. The Magpies qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 2003 last season. It will be a tough task to do it again this year, but investment in players like Sandro Tonali certainly will help their efforts.

Villa were another surprising team from  last season. The mid-season appointment of Unai Emery saw the Villains shoot up the table and finish 7th. Villa have upgraded significantly on the pitch by bringing in players like Moussa Diaby and Pau Torres. 

These teams played to a 3-3 draw in the preseason. It’s unlikely we see such an exciting scoreline on Sunday, but we do expect this one to be very tight. Another draw seems likely. Virtually all betting sites in Australia disagree with us, so if you choose to back our pick, you could potentially win big. 

Predicted Lineups

Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Joelinton, Guimaraes, Tonali; Almiron, Isak, Gordon

Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Torres; McGinn, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Buendia; Diaby, Watkins

Gtech Community Stadium, 11:00 PM, Sunday, August 13.

Tottenham’s offseason has been dominated by the Harry Kane to Bayern Munich transfer saga. This Sunday is reportedly the deadline for such a move to take place, so Kane might not participate. Outside of Kane, Spurs have signed James Maddison, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, and a new manager Ange Postecoglou. 

Brentford’s big story coming into this season is that they will be without Ivan Toney for the first part of it. Toney is banned from playing for Brentford until January 2024 thanks to hundreds of alleged violations of the FA’s anti-gambling policy. The Bees are also going into this season with goalkeeper David Raya after selling him to Arsenal this week.

Without Toney, we think Brentford could struggle against Spurs. However, the Bees are very good at slaying bigger teams. We suggest you avoid picking Tottenham to win outright. 

Predicted Lineups

Brentford: Flekken; Hickey, Mee, Pinnock, Henry; Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa, Lewis-Potter

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Udogie; Lo Celso, Bissouma, Maddison; Kulusevski, Kane, Son

Stamford Bridge, 1:30 AM, Monday, August 14.

Liverpool and Chelsea were two of the most disappointing teams in the Premier League last season. Liverpool managed to salvage something out of the season and qualify for the Europa League. Chelsea could not do the same, and floundered under Frank Lampard, finishing the season in 12th. 

Poor seasons last year have not stopped bookmakers in Australia from backing Liverpool and Chelsea this season. GetSetBet and PlayUp have Liverpool as third-favourite to win the EPL title with 8.00 and 8.50 odds, respectively. The same betting sites have Chelsea as fifth-favourite with 15.00 odds.  

If the bookmakers are right, this could be the most exciting match of Matchweek 1 in the EPL. 

Predicted Lineups

Chelsea: Kepa; James, Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Enzo, Gallagher; Sterling, Chuckwuemeka, Mudryk; Jackson

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Gakpo, Jota

Old Trafford, 5:00 AM, Tuesday, August 15.

Wolves are the crisis club of the 2023-24 EPL season. They have just let go of manager Julen Lopetegui, and are extremely bound up by a financial fair play. They are many betting sites’ odds-on favourites to go down. 

Manchester United, on the other hand, are looking to go from strength-to-strength this year in their second season under manager Erik ten Hag. New signings like Andre Onana, Mason Mount, and Rasmus Højlund should be enough for the Red Devils to finish inside the top 4 at the end of the season.

Barring a disastrous performance by ManU, they should easily handle the spiralling Wolves. 

Predicted Lineups

Manchester United: Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Verane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Mount; Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho; Rashford

Wolves: Sa; Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Bueno; Nunes, Lemina, Hodge; Sarabia, Cunha, Neto

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