Finally it’s back, and unlike the disgraceful Aussies in the Ashes, this is worth the lack of sleep. The EPL and Football League kicks off in all four divisions this weekend, and in fact has already kicked off with the first game of the season decided at Brighton this morning with the home side beating Nottingham Forest 1-0our preview of the season.
So onto the first week of the EPL. It all kicks off with Manchester United and Spurs, with the interest to see if United’s money has been spent any wiser than last year. Memphis Depay looks a great acquisition, Schweinsteiger has widely tipped as the worst potential buy of the year. Spurs have held onto Harry Kane for now, but will need as much from him as last year as Liverpool’s spending makes the top 4 look even further away this year.
Other games of interest are Bournemouth’s first game against Aston Villa. There’s plenty of love for Bournemouth, many tipping them to do well including us, and it’s good to have a brand new team in the top flight with a whole different back story and style. The other promoted clubs also have winnable games as Norwich host Crystal Palace, and Watford go to Everton. It’s easy to pick the three promoted teams for relegation, but all three have good claims for survival. Maybe it’s time for the teams who just survive every year to drop out and give the EPL a spring/summer clean.
Two of those teams play each other at Leicester as Sunderland come to visit. New Leicester manager Ranieri will no doubt be more pleasant to deal with than his predecessor, but has roundly panned and expected to be fired at some point.
Other game of interest will be Liverpool v Stoke. Liverpool have spent again this summer but the margin for error will be much tighter this year, and you tend to feel that if they aren’t top 4 or at least close at Xmas it’s all over for Rodgers.
We have also done a full Football League preview – check it out at a much better Australian Sports site than this with the Football League Weekend Preview.
And so to the first in many, many failures this year – The Gurglers UK Football multis. Not that we got them all wrong last year, League One was particularly profitable, but we’re due a better season. Like all the fans of the 92 teams kicking off this weekend, there’s plenty of time to dream.
GURGLER MULTIs
EPL $1 gets you $12
MANCHESTER UTD to beat Spurs
BOURNEMOUTH to beat Aston Villa
CHELSEA to beat Swansea
ARSENAL to beat West Ham
LIVERPOOL to beat Stoke
CHAMPIONSHIP – $1 gets you $69
IPSWICH to beat Brentford
CHARLTON to beat QPR
WOLVES to beat Blackburn
DERBY to beat Bolton
LEAGUE ONE – $1 gets you $30
COLCHESTER to beat Blackpool
SHEFFIELD UTD to beat Gillingham
BURTON ALBION to beat Scunthorpe
SOUTHEND to beat Fleetwood
LEAGUE TWO – $1 gets you $24
PORTSMOUTH to beat Dagenham & Redbridge
OXFORD UTD to beat Crawley Town
BRISTOL ROVERS to beat Northampton
WYCOMBE WANDERERS to beat York City
HARTLEPOOL to beat Morecambe
