Arsenal comes to play (finally) as former Gunner Van Persie scores a hat trick for United.
The predictable results in this weekends fixtures were City downing QPR 3-1 and their neighbors United defeating Southampton, albeit barely and thanks to a superhuman hat trick including the game winner in stoppage time by offseason high profile transfer Robin Van Persie. Goals from Toure, Dzeko, and Tevez sealed QPR’s fate, we expect City will continue to climb higher in the table, as of now they find themselves in 4th.
This weeks draws included a 1-1 final in both Newcastle v Aston Villa and Tottenham v Norwich. Tottenham got the worst of these 2 matchups, giving up the equalizer in the 85th minute. Huddlestone also drew a red card and was sent off in the 89th minute for a relatively foolish foul. The 2-2 draws were Swansea v Sunderland and Wigan v Stoke. Wigan and Stoke each got one goal from a penalty and although Wigan dominated possession 69% to 31%, Stoke got off more shots and put more on goal 19(7) versus 13(3). Swansea managed to preserve their point after dominating the final 20 minutes despite being a man down thanks to Chico’s challenge on Saha. Sportsbook Advisor expect to see the Swans in the top half of the table all year. Is it time to pick them as a Champions League dark horse qualifier? No.
Although we expected Arsenal to start showing up, a coveted 3 points on the road at Liverpool was a bit surprising. We expect Wenger’s squad to play well all season, and the additions of Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla clearly paid dividends as both newcomers scored and Mannone kept a clean sheet while he is still filling in for Wojciech Szczęsny who is still recovering from a rib injury.
West Brom beat Everton 2-0 and West Ham beat Fulham 3-0. West Ham continues to do most of their damage in the first half, all three of goals this weekend, and West Brom apparently fancies waiting until their fans get nervous as both goals against Everton came in the 2nd half. While Fulham continues to disappoint West Brom continues to be a surprise, 3rd in the table! Don’t expect it to last. As of now the top 4 are Chelsea, Swansea, WBA, and City; at least 2 of these clubs know what it’s like to be up there!
In a quick preview of the games for the 15th we like Chelsea over QPR and United over Wigan; odds aren’t posted yet so we can’t tell you where the value is. Check out Sportsbook Advisor for all of your US sports handicapping needs and our daily free pick.
