Manchester Derby and Other Matches: Online Betting Preview
The English Premier League resumes this weekend after a short international break. There are some potentially exciting encounters right at the start: Arsenal vs Southampton and Liverpool vs Leicester City. However, talk of the town on this weekend is going to be the Manchester derby. Manchester United hosts Manchester City on Saturday. There are many ways to label this turbo-charged, emotion-filled encounter. It can be the clash of the high-profile managers or it can be the face-off between the temperamental stars in either camp. For betting enthusiasts, it is a match in which all three results are really possible and probable.
The Manchester derby
This is going to be the 148th meeting between the two teams. United have won 58 of those matches against City’s 43. But if you take only the last 10 matches, City are marginally ahead: five wins against United’s four. There are not much in the stats that give away anything about online betting predictions.
On the team front, both teams have injury worries. Antonio Valencia and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are doubtful starters for United. For City, the most high profile absentee will be Sergio Aguero, who will serve the first of his three-match suspension on this match.
Despite their absence, there is no dearth of goal-scorers in either team. Zlatan Ibrahimović and Marcus Rashford are in good touch. Wayne Rooney is struggling for form. But there is no better occasion than the Manchester derby for him to make an impact. Manchester City possess a galaxy of attackers: David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling are in especially good touch.
What to expect from this game: a number of goals. From the betting odds, it is clear that bookies are favouring a Man United win. But City start as equal favourite too. Both the teams have nine points from three matches. The winner can go up in the points table alone.
Other matches
The best among the other matches is Arsenal vs Southampton. Arsenal are back on track after registering their first win of the season against Watford. But Southampton has not scored a win yet in the season. The Saints are feeling the brunt of being a selling team in the transfer market. Arsenal have the advantage, for all online betting purposes.
Another interesting match of the weekend is Liverpool vs Leicester. Liverpool tend to do well against teams that attack more. Both the sides have a similar pressing game strategy, and both the teams have four points from three matches. Liverpool will have a slight edge, but everything depends on how the mercurial goal-scorers perform.
Photo Credit: ESPNFC
