Premier League tips

Last week's returns: Profit £44.39
Overall returns: Profit £42.56

Saturday 6th October

Manchester City vs Sunderland
City were poor midweek against Borussia Dortmund and a lunchtime kick off Saturday morning isn't ideal after playing Wednesday and given the fact Steven Fletcher hasn't stopped scoring for Sunderland since his move from Wolves in the summer, expect City's long run without a clean sheet to continue.

Given City's brilliant form home, I expect them to edge out Sunderland, but it won't be a stroll.

Manchester City 2 Sunderland 1 - 9/1 with Stan James - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Over 2.5 goals - 4/6 with Betfair - Returns of £8.33
Carlos Tevez anytime goalscorer - Evens with Bwin - Lose a fiver
Highest scoring half First - 13/5 with Stan James - Lose a fiver

Match returns - Down £11.67

Chelsea vs Norwich
Chelsea impressed away to Arsenal and are flying high at the top of the Premier league, with five wins from six. Norwich are struggling, and a mixture of conceding too many and not scoring enough doesn't bode well for the Canaries.

Roberto Di Matteo's men should win this home encounter and continue their fine start to the league campaign.

Chelsea 3 Norwich 0 - 7/1 with William Hill - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Juan Mata to assist the first goal - 7/1 with BoyleSports - Lose a fiver
Chelsea to win - 1/4 with Bet Victor - Returns of £6.25
Both teams to score NO - 10/11 with William Hill - Lose a fiver

Game returns - Down £13.75

Mata scored on his debut vs. Norwich City last season

Swansea vs Reading 
Swansea haven't scored in three and winless in four Premier league matches, and were out thought last week against Stoke City, whilst Reading are yet to win since their return to the top flight. Back both teams to score as they've only two clean sheets between them, both Swansea's and in their first two games.

Reading need to start picking up points and back them to get a draw away to an out of sorts Swansea here.

Swansea 1 Reading 1 - 6/1 with Ladbrokes - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Draw - 77/29 with Pinnacle - Returns of £18.27
Both teams to score YES - 9/10 with Stan James - Returns of £9.50
Under 2.5 goals - 39/40 with Bet Victor - Lose a fiver

Match returns - Profit £7.77

West Brom vs QPR
West Brom have won all three games at the Hawthorns this season and are yet to concede a goal on their home turf. QPR have made a poor start to the season; however they've a more friendly looking fixture list coming up in the next few weeks and Mark Hughes will see this game as a chance to earn their first win.

The first goal in this game will be the key one especially with the way QPR are defending at the moment; however I reckon they'll get something from their trip here.

West Brom 1 QPR 2 - 14/1 with Totesport - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Both teams to score YES - 4/5 with Stan James - Returns of £9
Draw HT/ QPR FT - 17/2 with BetVictor - Lose a fiver
Over 2.5 goals - 5/6 with SkyBet - Returns of £9.16

Match returns - Down £1.84

Wigan vs Everton
Despite playing well in games Wigan are struggling to score the goals to give themselves a chance at collecting three points. Everton on the other hand are on fire! Second in the league and with four wins from six, they could surprise everyone and make the top four this season.

Last time these two met it was a draw at the DW Stadium last year, and I reckon Wigan will get a draw here again too.

Wigan 1 Everton 1 - 6/1 with Ladbrokes - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Draw -  47/18 with Pinnacle - Returns of £18.06
Both teams to score YES - 9/10 with Stan James - Returns of £9.50
Nikica Jelavic anytime goalscorer - 15/8 with Stan James - Returns of £14.38

Match returns - Profit £21.94

West Ham vs Arsenal
Last week for these two clubs was a week of first's as West Ham won a Premier League away game for the first time since the 2nd February 2011, whilst Arsenal lost for the first time this season at home to Chelsea.

West Ham are unbeaten at home so far and Arsenal are unbeaten away from the Emirates and I expect the first to come to an end this weekend with Arsenal winning narrowly.

West Ham 1 Arsenal 2 - 8/1 with Stan James - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Both teams to score YES - 8/11 with Stan James  Returns of £8.64
Arsenal to win - 24/23 with Pinnacle - Returns of £10.22
Gervinho anytime goalscorer - 9/4 with Ladbrokes - Lose a fiver

Match returns - Down £1.14
Day returns - Profit £1.31

Gervinho is in fine goalscoring form the for Gunners

Sunday 7th October

Southampton vs Fulham
Southampton will be pleased to get back to St Marys following their third consecutive away defeat last week against Everton. Fulham have always had troubles on their travels, but they did beat Wigan in their last away match two weeks back.

If Southampton are to survive then they will need to win there home matches against sides like Fulham and I expect them to do so here.

Southampton 2 Fulham 1 - 10/1 with Betfred - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Both teams to score YES - 8/11 with Stan James - Returns of £8.64
Over 2.5 goals - 4/5 with 888Sport - Returns of £9
Highest scoring half, Second - Evens with Paddy Power - Returns of £10

Match returns - Profit £7.64

Liverpool vs Stoke
Both Liverpool and Stoke earned their first wins of the season last week in comfortable fashion. Despite a midweek defeat to Udinese in the Europa League, Liverpool have improved over the last few weeks and expect them to pick up their first Anfield win of the Premier league season on Sunday.

It won't be as many goals as last week; however given Luis Suarez's rich vein of goal scoring form, I fancy him to score in a Liverpool win.

Liverpool 2 Stoke 1 - 17/2 with Stan James - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Luis Suarez to score and Liverpool to win - 13/8 with Bluesquare - Lose a fiver
Both teams to score YES - 6/5 with Stan James - Lose a fiver
First team yellow card Stoke - 1/2 with bet365 - Returns of £7.50

Match returns - Down £12.50

Tottenham vs Aston Villa
Tottenham were brilliant as they finally ended their Old Trafford hoodoo last week and backing that up with a home win here is vital. Villa rescued a point at home to West Brom last week; however if they are to avoid a relegation fight, they are games they should be winning.

Andre Villas-Boas is slowly getting there with Spurs, and back them to win here quite comfortably.

Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 1 - 11/1 with William Hill - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Jermaine Defoe to score anytime - 11/10 with Bwin - Lose a fiver
Over 2.5 goals - 21/20 with You win - Lose a fiver
Tottenham to win - 1/2 with William Hill - Returns of £7.50

Match returns - Down £12.50

Newcastle United vs Manchester United
Newcastle recovered well, all be it in controversial circumstances, last week against Reading, and backed it up with an impressive win at home to Bordeaux mid-week in the Europa League. Manchester United however were poor in their defeat to Spurs, but did manage to win in Romania in the Champions League.

With Newcastle the home side, I can't see much separating these two and it'll probably be a draw.

Newcastle United 1 Manchester United 1 - 7/1 with William Hill - Lose a fiver

Other tips:
Both teams to score YES - 8/11 with Stan James - Lose a fiver
Over 2.5 goals - 4/7 with 188Bet - Returns £7.85
Wayne Rooney anytime goal scorer - 15/8 with Stan James -  Lose a fiver

Match returns - Down £12.15
Day returns - Down £29.51
Weekend returns - Down £28.20
Overall returns - Profit £14.36

Accumulator of the week - Manchester City, Chelsea, Southampton and Tottenham to win - £5 returns £29.79 with Skybet

Reading to struggle!

Having started their Championship campaign in lethargic fashion, very much suffering from their play-off hangover, following their 4-2 final defeat to Swansea City in 2011, Brian McDermott performed a miracle in orchestrating their end of season form which saw them gain promotion to the Premier League as Champions!

Reading celebrating their 2012 Championship success

Continuing the trend of promoted sides, Reading have brought players from the Championship whom are at the right age and probably equipped to handle top flight football. Chris Gunter, Gareth McCleary and Adrian Marriappa, all second tier performers last year, deserve their chance in the Premier League, and credit to McDermott who’s given them exactly that. However for me the best addition is Danny Guthrie. Having failed to dislodge Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote at his former club Newcastle, Guthrie left the club on a free transfer and will no doubt flourish given a decent run in a side.

Their threat from the wide areas of the pitch is a key part of Reading’s game as both Jimmy Kebe and Jobi McAnuff took the Championship by storm last year. Kebe has an extremely good end product, something flair wide players usually come without, and if he has another good season, I’m sure some of the bigger clubs will check the availability of the Malian midfielder. 

Key player - Pavel Pogrebnyak: The big Russian centre forward was a surprise transfer addition, with many people expecting him to sign for Fulham, whom he was on loan at during the previous campaign. But Fulham’s loss is most certainly Reading’s gain. He has all the attributes to make it in England, and having already broken his Reading duck with a brilliant header against Chelsea, I reckon the former Stuttgart man will reach double figures for the Royals. Whether that'll be enough to save his new club is another thing. 

Pogrebnyak scored 6 goals in 12 games when on loan at Fulham

Prediction – 18^th: I’m a huge fan of the manager and I believe he's assembled a strong squad; however I do feel they lack the quality to survive in the Premier League. I worry where the goals will come from if Pogrebnyak is ever injured; however they’ve impressed me in both games so far this season and were very unlucky not to leave Stamford Bridge without a point.

View from a fan - Dan Brown @DAB_44

What would be a good season?
A good season would to just stay up, preferably without getting into a dog fight at the bottom. Mid table is the best we can hope for.

What would be a nightmare year?
Relegation followed by the loss of our manager and best players!

Do you have the right man in charge?
Brian McDermott is the best manager we could have, he’s been at the club for 10 years, and has managed all the different age levels at the club, so he knows the place like the back of his hand. A very very good manager!

How would you rate your transfer window?
The business done in the transfer window was good! Players were brought in where needed, and we didn’t go crazy like QPR, the manager wanted cover for every position and that is exactly what he did!

Aside from Pogrebnyak where are the goals going to come from?
Goals can come from anywhere, last season we very much spread out the goals amongst the squad. We’re a threat from anywhere; we scored goals from the wings as well a set pieces. Adam Le Fondre is definitely our secret weapon for the Premier League though, he’s a typical poacher and if he gets the opportunity he will score. Also you’d always fancy Ian Harte when he’s standing over a free-kick.