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The Scout: EPL Week 4 Preview

Posted on | Posted by The Scout

Southampton v Manchester United

The mystery of Manchester United took an unexpected turn on the weekend when, with fan protests raging around Old Trafford, they produced a victory over archrivals Liverpool. Given just how far United have fallen since the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, this could turn out to be a mere blip. And a swift return to their recent past might be just around the corner – let’s not forget they had lost 2-1 to Brighton and 4-0 to Brentford before springing to life. Or maybe, with Erik ten Hag having sent a clear message by leaving out some big names against Liverpool, this will be the start of their resurgence?

A trip to Southampton is the ideal platform for Ten Hag to cement his authority, having already made the bold move of leaving out of the starting line-up England defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian Fred. It was a statement from Ten Hag that was rewarded with his first victory.

Southampton have won just seven of their 46 Premier League encounters against Manchester United, although five of them were at home. This season they’ve had a mixed bag of results. A 4-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day sent shudders through Saints supporters but a 2-2 draw with improving Leeds was followed by last weekend’s come-from-behind victory over Leicester City. Che Adams’ double earned Ralf Hasenhuttl’s side victory despite Leicester dominating possession.

Ten Hag will consider throwing new signing Casemiro into the mix against Southampton after the Brazilian’s move from Real Madrid. To do so, he would have to resist the temptation to stick with a winning formula.

Suggested Bet: Manchester United to win + Both teams to score @ $3.05*

Manchester City v Crystal Palace

After their scare away to Newcastle United, Manchester City can’t expect to find it much more comfortable at home to Crystal Palace. Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Newcastle’s aggressive approach in a 3-3 draw and he might find himself talking up Palace boss Patrick Vieira this weekend.

Vieira’s impact on Palace can’t be underestimated; his team is playing with a verve and energy that was the hallmark of his own playing days with Arsenal. Eberechi Eze, Jeffrey Schlupp and Cheick Doucoure churned through mountains of midfield work in a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal, 1-1 draw with Liverpool and last weekend’s come-from-behind win over Aston Villa.

But the man for City to keep an eye on, is blindingly obvious with Wilfried Zaha exceptionally sharp in these early stages of the season. He scored twice against Villa, although one of them came from the rebound of his own saved penalty, and he also put Palace in front against Liverpool at Anfield.

So, is it reasonable to expect Palace to trouble City this weekend? They will certainly have to defend better, which is no easy task against Guardiola’s side. City have already scored nine goals in their three matches, a 4-0 whipping of Brentford sandwiched between an opening day victory away to West Ham and the thriller against Newcastle.

And now that they have Erling Haaland, City have another way to play, although Phil Foden hasn’t quite worked out that passing to the big Norwegian, rather than shooting from tight angles, might produce a better outcome. Despite City still adjusting to the extra dimension Haaland’s presence has brought, he has scored three times in his three games so far.

City’s real strength is their capacity to control possession and to choose the right moment to peel open a wary defence getting weary as the game wears on. Ilkay Gundogan looks good in a captain’s armband, which he proudly accepted this season, and Kevin De Bruyne remains his equal in terms of contribution to the City cause.

Suggested Bet: City to win + Over 2.5 goals + Both teams to score @ $3.70*

Aston Villa v West Ham United

It’s hard to fathom how West Ham United have gone from knocking on the door of a Champions League place to a stuttering start to the Premier League season. It’s understating matters to say that all has not gone to plan for David Moyes.

Last season’s seventh-place finish owed a lot to their early season form as the Hammers sat fourth on the table heading towards the halfway mark. But they won just two of their final nine games of the season, a run of form that has followed them into the new campaign. Successive defeats to Manchester City, newly promoted Nottingham Forest and Brighton have left West Ham bottom of the table and the only club without a single point.

But they are better than their early results suggest. Outclassed against City, they were very much in the contest against Brighton and were the dominant side against Nottingham Forest. With the likes of Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio, Tomas Soucek and Manuel Lanzini there is no shortage of talent to turn the tide in favour of the Hammers. West Ham, who started their Europa Conference League campaign with a win over Viborg and a goal from new signing Gianluca Scamacca last week, will play the second leg on Thursday (August 25).

If former Everton boss Moyes has had it tough, ex-Liverpool lad Steven Gerrard is not far behind. The Villa manager has seen his side lose to newly promoted Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, while key signing Diego Carlos was lost to injury in a 2-1 win over Everton. Even Villa’s bright start against Palace, when Ollie Watkins scored after just five minutes, turned out to be a false dawn as they conceded three times.

Watkins and Danny Ings, who was on target against Everton, are a threat up front, but Villa look light in midfield where the pressure to perform has been on Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsay, Philippe Coutinho and John McGinn.

West Ham have won the past four Premier League encounters against Villa, scoring 11 goals in the process.

Suggested Bet: Over 2.5 goals + Both teams to score @ $2.10* 

*Odds correct as at 11am, 26th August 2022.

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