Premier League Week 2: Best Bets

The opening weekend of the 2023/24 Premier League season provided plenty of talking points. Defending champions Manchester City carried on where they left off with a smooth success at Burnley, Newcastle United’s five-goal salvo against Aston Villa stole the show on Saturday before the week rounded off with last-minute VAR controversy at Old Trafford.

Looking ahead to Match Day 2, we again have a cracking list of fixtures in store, with the Saturday night double of Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United and Manchester City vs Newcastle United providing the headline acts. Ten more matches mean ten more betting opportunities, and here we pick out the three sides that look to be overpriced, using data presented by newbettingsites.uk.

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Match Day 1 Stats

Little was expected of Wolves on their opening trip to Old Trafford, with new boss Gary O’Neill only arriving four days before the fixture. What followed was an exceptional display from the team in gold, who comprehensively outplayed a disjointed Manchester United side for the bulk of the 90 minutes, yet somehow managed to come out on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline – thanks in no small part to a VAR decision which was so bad that all of the officials involved have been given this weekend off. Matheus Cunha and Matheus Nunes both shone with their ball-carrying ability and whilst the conversion of chances remains an issue, if they are able to repeat that level of display, they could cause Brighton plenty of problems in their opening home game of the season.

Brighton’s stats were impressive on opening day, but with all due respect, the Seagulls were up against the side who are overwhelming favourites to be heading straight back to the Championship next season. The south coast club’s new-look midfield – shorn of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo – will be in for a far sterner examination here, and they are unlikely to find so many holes in a well-organised Wolves defence. This could be tight, but we make the game far closer than the odds imply, and Wolves look the best value bet amongst the Saturday 3pm games.

• Best Bet - Wolves to win @ 3/1 with Quinnbet

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United

Match Day 1 Stats

It is a time of change at White Hart Lane, with a new manager in the hot seat, and the Harry Kane saga finally reaching its Bayern-bound conclusion. As such, it’s tough to know what to expect from the North London club this season, but there were plenty of encouraging signs in their opening-day draw at Brentford. The Bees are a continually underestimated side under Thomas Frank, and to boss the possession and shot count stats at the Gletch Community Stadium is no mean feat.

Manchester United, in contrast, were awful at home to Wolves, lacking any kind of cohesion in the centre of the park, with new boy Mason Mount lost amidst the chaos. Still looking a striker short, following the injury to Rasmus Højlund, in the end, they had to rely on Raphael Varane to come up with the goods. On the back of that performance, it is difficult to fathom why they should start favourites in this tough away fixture. Spurs have beaten Manchester City at home in each of the last two seasons, and even in Kane’s absence, they look like a solid bet to dish out a little pain to the Red half of Manchester here.

• Best Bet - Tottenham Hotspur to win @ 39/20 with BetUK

Fulham vs Brentford

Match Day 1 Stats

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Fulham may have won on the road at Everton on opening weekend, but they were extremely fortunate to do so, having been battered by the Toffees for the duration. Everton’s ineptitude in the final third reared its head once again, allowing Marco Silva’s side to escape with a 1-0 victory - despite an xG figure of a paltry 0.05. Other than the three points gained, there were few positives to be taken from this performance, particularly considering it came against a side many are tipping to be involved in the relegation battle again this term.

Brentford didn’t sparkle to the same extent as they did so often last season, but they did at least show signs of life in the attacking third to make Spurs work extremely hard for a point. Extremely well organised under Thomas Frank, they have the players in Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa to cause Fulham plenty of problems on the break, look more organised in the centre of the park, and should be clear favourites to win this in our eyes. The fact that they aren’t, makes them a solid value selection to include in this week's three-pronged attack.

• Best Bet - Brentford to win @ 17/10 with BetGoodwin

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