Top Match Tips: The smart money on this week's biggest games
As club football resumes with a bang this weekend. Mario Balotelli will be looking to continue his renaissance against Lyon on Friday before Manchester United face Liverpool in the North-West derby on Monday. Wedged between those fixtures are Napoli and Roma in the Derby del Sole and the meeting of two Italian managers, Antonio Conte and Claudio Ranieri, when Chelsea host Leicester on Saturday.
LIVERPOOL vs MANCHESTER UNITED – Over 1.5 goals in the first half @2.62
Liverpool have put together four straight wins in the league and are looking to make it five in a row for the first time since February-March 2015. Jurgen Klopp will still look for Liverpool to play with their usual high intensity style against United but will be cautious not to gift opportunities at the back against Jose Mourinho’s side. Liverpool tend to mirror their manager’s philosophy at the start of matches and there have been at least two goals in the first half of five of their opening seven league matches thus far.
CHELSEA vs LEICESTER – Chelsea first half – Chelsea second half @2.37
Conte’s attempts to get Chelsea back on track with a win over the reigning Premier League champions was slightly derailed on Thursday when bookmakers reportedly suspended betting on the former Italy boss becoming the next Premier League manager to be sacked. It now appears this was nothing more than a unusual betting patterns but the speculation will not have helped Conte’s preparations following their underwhelming start to the season.
The Chelsea manager is helped this weekend by the fact Claudio Ranieri has one eye on their Champions League meeting with Copenhagen next week. In the WhoScored Match Forecast the only predicted scenario is that Chelsea are ‘likely’ to dominate possession. Leicester are one of three teams yet to pick up a single point away from home in the league this season and the only way you can see them getting serious joy is from any confusion in Chelsea’s new back three. An in-form Diego Costa at other end of the pitch should cancel that out, however.
NAPOLI vs ROMA – Over 1.5 goals in the second half @1.80
This will mark Napoli’s first match without Arkadiusz Milik, who has been ruled out for six months with a serious knee injury. Maurizio Sarri was arguably one of the best tacticians in Serie A last season and he must now prove that again in the absence of their summer signing. So having coped without Gonzalo Higuain so far this season, Sarri must not make do without an established centre forward until at least January.
Roma appear to play at their best when the other side take the initiative, which should suit them perfectly in this match. Expect this match to open up into the second half when the message of the game becomes clear. Mo Salah’s pace and Jose Callejon’s form could prove decisive for the two sides.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs HERTHA BERLIN – Both teams to score @1.80
Hertha have sprung a surprise this season and enter this weekend in second place and have seemingly replaced Dortmund as Bayern Munich’s closest challengers at this point in the second. Both teams have scored in three of Dortmund’s last four competitive home matches and they are dealing with a lengthy injury list that could feature as many as 12 senior players.
NICE vs LYON – Nice to win @2.90
In France Nice have already been wrongly compared with Leicester. Lucien Favre’s side are top of Ligue 1 and will have used the international break to take stock and recover from early season fatigue. They host a Lyon side that would be favourites normally but have endured a difficult time of late without Alexandre Lacazette and will have one eye on the Champions League next week. Mario Balotelli will also be looking to continue his strong start to the season, having scored six goals in five matches in all competitions this season.
What are your top tips this weekend? Let us know in the comments below
