The Premier League bursts back into action this weekend after the international break with Arsenal sitting pretty at the top of the table on 16 points with Liverpool (second based on their inferior goals scored record) breathing down their necks with the same points and goal difference.
The North Londoners have the easier fixture on paper this weekend as they host a struggling Norwich side at the Emirates, while Brendan Rogers’ Liverpool have a tricky-looking trip up to Newcastle to contend with.
Despite Chelsea having had their worst start to the season under the Roman Abramovich era, the mercurial Jose Mourinho has guided his side to third place in the table after seven matches and their home match against Cardiff on Saturday looks like a nailed on three points (at least if the bookies are to be believed: the home side are available to back at odds of just 1/4).
Man United have been struggling badly by their very high standards and they face a very tough task at Old Trafford as in-form Southampton roll into town. In years gone by the Saints at home would be an almost certain three points for the Red Devils, but times are a changing in Manchester and David Moyes will be a very happy and relieved man if his men get the win. We smell an upset, however, after Southampton won 1-0 at Liverpool recently, and backing the Saints with a +0.5 goal advantage in the Asian handicap market looks a top bet at odds of 11/8 with Bet365.
On Sunday Andre Villas-Boas takes his Tottenham side to Aston Villa and we anticipate Spurs will bounce back in style from their embarrassing 3-0 home defeat to London rivals West Ham. Backing Spurs to be winning at half time and full time looks very good value at 11/5 with BetVictor as a Villa side without the services of the injured Christian Benteke look set to struggle against a well-drilled and creative Tottenham outfit.
