5 Premier League Tips - 11/8/23

Treble winners, Manchester City make the short journey up to Lancashire this Friday to kick off the brand new 2023/24 Premier League season, with the Citizens taking on a Burnley side being managed by their ex-captain Vincent Kompany.

The outcome of this one is widely expected to be a routine win for Pep Guardiola’s men over the Clarets, and last season’s top-scorer Erling Haaland is almost certainly going to be among the goals in this one as he looks to get off to a fast start in the race for a second PL Golden Boot. The Norwegian scored a record-breaking 36 league goals last year, a figure that was more than Everton and Wolves, the same as Southampton, and just two less than Nottingham Forest and Chelsea bagged.

Although this Burnley side under Kompany has earned a reputation for being more exciting to watch, they should surely be no match for this City side. The Clarets have conceded at least 50 goals in 5 of their last 6 Premier League campaigns, and that is likely to be the case again this season.

Spanish midfielder Rodri averaged 1.3 fouls per game in the Premier League last season, with Burnley’s revamped and quick attacking style of play, could the Spaniard commit two fouls tonight?

Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest in the midday kick-off on Saturday, which is the first of six fixtures on the day, and we expect the Gunners to make a strong start to the new season with a big win.

Key to that big win will be Arsenal’s rising star Gabriel Martinelli, who enjoyed what could be considered his breakout campaign in English football last year, with the Brazilian ultimately finishing the league season with 15 goals and five assists to his name.

The Brazilian scored one in Arsenal’s 5-0 home win over Forest in October and might’ve had a similar impact in the reverse fixture later in May but missed out with an ankle injury. In total, the Brazilian has three goals in his two home games against Forest in all competitions, and he will almost certainly be a handful for their defence in this match as well. So with Forest’s defenders knowing what a danger he is, expect Martinelli to be on the receiving end of quite a few fouls, which is why we expect the 22-year-old to win 3+ fouls in this match.

One of Saturday’s 3 pm kick-offs sees Fulham making the journey up to Merseyside to take on Everton, in what could end up being quite an entertaining game. On both occasions when these two sides met each other in the 2022/23 campaign, the match was characterised by many bookings and corners in what were two physical encounters between the two clubs.

October’s meeting saw both sides win a combined total of 17 corners and share three yellow cards, while the reverse fixture saw a combined total of 12 corners and 5 yellow cards dished out. Considering the fact that this is each club’s opening match and they will be eager to get off to a good start as a result, expect this to be yet another feisty affair between these two teams with goals and plenty of both corners and bookings.

Saturday’s evening kick-off between Newcastle and Aston Villa at St James’ Park is an intriguing clash between two sides who surprised everyone by finishing in the Premier League’s top 7 last season.

Alexander Isak and Ollie Watkins will likely be players to watch in this match, with the Swedish striker averaging 2.3 shots per game, while scoring 10 Premier League goals in just 17 starts (5 sub) appearances for the Magpies. Watkins managed a brace against Newcastle when the Villans beat Eddie Howe’s side 3-0 at Villa Park back in April.

Brazilian midfielder averaged two fouls per Premier League game last season, could the Brazilian beat his average having accumulated 12 yellow cards in 2022/23?

Monday’s evening kick-off between Manchester United and Wolves is a match that seems likely to have only one outcome – a relatively easy win for the Red Devils against a Wolves side that are currently in somewhat of a crisis.

Wolves have lost their star midfield duo of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho this summer alongside defender Nathan Collins moving to Brentford, with Matt Doherty being the only arrival of note. The lack of investment in the squad is a major reason why Julen Lopetegui elected to leave the club a mere three days before the new season begins, and it seems like the West Midlands side will struggle once again this season after finishing 13th and also being the lowest-scoring side in the division last season.

Last season, Marcus Rashford fired in a total of 30 goals across all competitions for United, his best tally to date with 17 of these coming in the Premier League - with one of these strikes coming in a 1-0 win over Wolves at Molineux back in December.

Bruno Fernandes managed to create an assist both home and away against Wolves and will be looking to add a goal to his record this time out. The 28-year-old former Sporting Lisbon midfielder has scored 64 goals in 185 matches for the Red Devils.

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