Goals in short supply at Everton and Chelsea, plus five other bets for your Saturday afternoon acca
- Lee Bassin
- 13 August 2021
Chelsea look light in attack while Rafa’s reign at Everton looks set to start with a whimper, plus five other bets for your Saturday afternoon acca.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
The news that Chelsea's latest signing Romelu Lukaku will not feature against the Eagles would have been music to the ears of new Palace boss Patrick Vieira, along with Hakim Ziyech missing out with a shoulder injury and N'Golo Kante being an injury doubt.
Unfortunately for the Frenchman though, newly-crowned UEFA Super Cup winners now have one of the strongest squads in the league and will still be able to field a galaxy of stars at Stamford Bridge.
Tommy Tuchel's men are 1/4 favourites to start the season with a win, however, there is a "but" here which is that Chelsea's top scorer in the league last season was Jorginho with just seven goals, all of which were penalties.
Timo Werner has under-achieved, Tammy Abraham seems Roma-bound and Mason Mount may need a few more weeks to settle back in after the Euros, so while we do expect Chelsea to prevail, we like the look of a home victory and under 2.5 goals at 2/1.
Everton vs Southampton
The Rafa Benitez era starts with a very winnable game at home to Southampton, but you will struggle to find an Evertonian with any great degree of optimism heading into this matchup. This is mostly due to the lack of marquee signings, doubts surrounding the futures of Moise Kean and James Rodriguez and a squad that looks severely lacking, particularly in midfield.
Added to that, star players Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison have yet to even play under Benitez, with the Brazilian ace, in particular, having only just returned with his gold medal in tow from the Olympics.
A 4-0 loss to Man United last week did nothing to cheer up the Toffees faithful, but Southampton fans are also down in the dumps having lost Danny Ings to Aston Villa and Jannik Vestergaard to Leicester.
Everton do have more quality in their ranks and many a punter will be tempted at 10/11, but with both sides scoring just 47 goals last season and no marquee reinforcements on either side, we're all over the under with less than 2.5 goals an 8/11 shot.
Leicester vs Wolves
After a predictably Portuguese appointment of Bruno Lage to replace Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves fans will be hoping for better after a season of underachievement defined by a horrendous head injury suffered by Raul Jimenez.
The Mexican ace is back in the starting line-up and must feel like a new signing at Molineux, with tasty odds of 12/5 on him scoring against the Foxes.
The major question for Leicester is whether they can achieve the Champions League spot that has eluded them at the death in the last two seasons, and with predominantly the same squad and some notable additions, they have a real shot of being more than just the "best of the rest".
A thoroughly deserved Community Shield win last time out was also a real statement of intent and we reckon Brendan Rodgers' men will continue that form with a home victory here, at 4/6.
Watford vs Aston Villa
They may have a revolving door on the manager's office at Watford but they are back in the Premier League at the first attempt and raring to go at home to Aston Villa.
Jack Grealish may be gone but Danny Ings is a fantastic addition who will provide goals-galore as long as he can stay fit, while the signing of reigning Championship player of the year Emi Buendia could prove to be a masterstroke.
And with proven Premier League quality throughout their ranks, we reckon this could be a season to remember for the Villans, starting with victory at Vicarage Road, priced up at 13/10.
Burnley vs Brighton
However, we're not sure why Brighton are 29/20 favourites here, away from home at a side they finished just one place and two points above the last campaign.
It will not have gone unnoticed to their gaffer that Burnley's next five league games are all against teams that finished in the top 10 last season, so he will drum into them the need for a quick start, and 2/1 on a home win is a real value play here.
Reading vs Preston
They travel to a Reading side yet to win this campaign, losing 3-2 at Stoke before being dumped out of the League Cup after a 3-0 loss at home to Swansea.
And a Reading win is a worthy acca addition at 23/20.
Hull vs QPR
Unbeaten in their last eight league games at home, the newly-promoted Tigers are 7/4 to bounce back and build on their eye-catching rout of Preston on the opening day.
A look at previous fixtures between the two sides also unearths a potentially profitable play, as the last seven matches have each produced at least three goals, and at 20/21 over 2.5 goals is our final pick.
