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Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka’s in for a Trentside drubbing.
The Premier League rolls into another Super Sunday, and PP football tipster Tamhas Woods has some sumptuous picks.
As well as a Roses derby that promises to make great ripples on and (in the case of Manchester United) off the pitch, there’s the M23 derby between Brighton and Crystal Palace, and the ‘we-got-up-at-4am-for-this’ derby between Bournemouth v Sunderland. The latter is a working title of course… but if the TV companies wanna use it, they’re more than welcome.
Anything else? Oh yes, just the small matter of the reigning champions touching down on Trentside to face Nottingham Forest.
Four games, four shouts… You may not agree with some (the bloomin’ nerve!), but what we know for sure is that this also provides a perfect opportunity for you to use your FREE Bet Builder this weekend, if you haven’t already done so. Let’s go!
Bournemouth v Sunderland
Evanilson to score or assist
Brighton v Crystal Palace
Brighton to win & over 1.5 goals
Leeds v Man Utd
Anton Stach to score or be booked
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Bukayo Saka to be fouled 3+ times
An Acca with these selections pays at approximately 22/1 with Paddy Power. TAP OR CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
When: Sunday, 18th October @ 2pm
Where: Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth
TV: Sky Sports Football / Sky Sports Premier League
With Bournemouth going nowhere and Sunderland having to quickly travel back from Portugal for a relatively long road trip early in the day, the price on a Bournemouth win looks incredibly generous. That said, their post-Andoni Iraola struggles are clearly reflected in a poor start that sees them kick off in 18th place – just one point and one place behind Sunderland – so a home win is far from guaranteed.
At least one of these teams will wake up on Tuesday morning in the bottom three, and someone needs to step up to flip the script. Despite his team’s struggles, Evanilson is always a strong candidate, having contributed in four of the Cherries’ six Premier League games so far this term.
When: Sunday, 18th October @ 2pm
Where: Amex Stadium, Brighton
TV: Sky Sports Football / Sky Sports Premier League
Unlike Bournemouth, Brighton are established veterans of fighting at home and abroad. But like Bournemouth, they have had the advantage of staying on home turf all week, while Palace were (and are) buzzing around like a proverbial Protophormia terraenovae, after being given a torrid time by French heavyweights Lyon across the channel.
As an added bonus for Brighton, they didn’t have to go full-strength in the Conference League clash against Lithuanian minnows Kauno Zalgiris, ensuring that it’ll be a fresher first XI taking on the Eagles than might otherwise have been the case. There’s also the fact that Brighton ended the last gameweek sitting pretty in third place, so there’s no qualms about backing them to win here.
They should be looking at multiple goals, and a handicap-beating win is very possible after three of them (to-nil!), including that 3-0 demolition of champions Arsenal. This selection is a safer way to account for that outcome, but we wouldn’t advise against switching this out for ‘Brighton (-1)’ by any means.
When: Sunday, 18th October @ 2pm
Where: Elland Road, Leeds
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
It’ll be a derby atmosphere like no other, and where it would normally be a case of Whites bantering Reds, the away section could also see some bother between fellow Manchester United fans, with divisions over the Lisandro Martinez issue being inevitable.
This cannot fail to filter through to the Man Utd players, who looked jaded and firmly second-best against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. They’ll undoubtedly be prone to a few rash challenges, but we feel that the likeliest candidate to be booked can be found wearing white, with Anton Stach starting the gameweek on 13 fouls – a tally exceeded only by Sasa Lukic.
That equates to an average of 2.17 fouls per 90’ from Stach so far this term, with that figure being inflated by the three fouls he committed against Arsenal last weekend. And while the German – somewhat miraculously – hasn’t been carded since a 1-1 draw at Everton in January, it’s worth noting that the last league meeting saw 2+ bookings for each side.
He’s a big character within the squad though, and has been a significant part of the Whites’ improvement, so we’ll hedge our bets by throwing the ‘To Score’ clause in as well.
When: Sunday, 18th October @ 4.30pm
Where: City Ground, Nottingham
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
On the flipside of the fouls table, Bukayo Saka has been fouled more times than anyone across all the squads in action this Sunday, with an average of 3.18 fouls won per 90’. Rather poetically, the aforementioned game in which Stach committed three fouls against Arsenal saw Saka win three fouls.
But it gets even better for the foul-market lovers out there, as Forest’s pre-round tally of 85 infringements is the second-highest in the league, averaging out at 14.17 per 90’. Unsurprisingly, the Tricky Trees have committed more fouls than the opposition on the day in three of their last four league outings too.
If you’re still not convinced, projected starting XIs also have Murillo as a potential man marker, and with Forest’s left-sided CB posting a team-high 10 fouls (1.67 per 90’), we’d be gobsmacked if he didn’t personally floor Saka at least once. And so, while the Saka pick got the nod here, we’re not against anyone adding ‘Murillo to commit 2+ fouls’ to the mix.
Bournemouth v Sunderland
Evanilson to Score or Assist
Brighton v Crystal Palace
Brighton to Win & Over 1.5 Goals
Leeds v Man Utd
Anton Stach to Score or be Booked
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Bukayo Saka to be fouled 3+ times
An Acca with these selections pays at approximately 22/1 with Paddy Power. TAP OR CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.