Crisis dogs Chelsea, Arsenal to punt it

The opening weekend of the English Premier League season saw some interesting stories. Arsene Wenger’s naivety as a manager worked in West Ham’s favour, Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho has caused a crisis at the club by attacking his medical team and later ringing changes and much more. So what happens this week? Manchester United already had their first away game of the season last night with a trip to Aston Villa, a team they were expected to beat 1-0 in our punter book. SATURDAY SAINTS 3-2 EVERTON 1.45pm Southampton Saints created quite some good chances at St James Park in their opening game against Newcastle United, but settled for a draw. They might need to work out their defensive nous ahead of Everton’s visit to St Mary’s. The Toffees were left seeing blues when promoted Watford showed more verve and intent and smothering all of Roberto Martinez’s fine play to draw 2-2. Everton might now need to come out better and get the most out of Romelu Lukaku, plus also finally giving Ross Barkley his due. Short of that, the Saints will win. SUNDERLAND 3-1 NORWICH 4pm The Black Cats flattered to deceive in this total capitulation at the hands of Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City, but if Dick Advocaat had his notepad active and took back some points of weakness, he might not need to jot much more when promoted side Norwich City visit The Stadium of Light today. Norwich were outfoxed by Crystal Palace in the opening fixture and this could just be another defeat. SWANSEA 3-1 NEWCASTLE 4pm Andre Ayew was massive. Very lively and scoured the entire pitch. Jonjo Shelvey covered every blade of grass with his boots and Gomis showed he has come of age. That was at Chelsea. Now the Welsh side play their first home game of the season more confident than ever. Garry Monk has built a team. It will be difficult for Newcastle to contain Monterro’s pace on the left while also keeping alert to Shelvey’s ‘Gerrard-sque’ accurate long passes. SPURS 2-1 STOKE 4pm Tottenham Hotspur took the game to Manchester United last week and scored once: in their own net. But own goals haunt, they never thrill and Mauricio Pochettino will want to see Harry Kane, Eriksen and company find the back of the Stoke net today. But to do that, they would perhaps start with Erik Lamela than Nasser Chadli. Lamela showed some desire when he came on as a substitute. Mark Hughes could give a debut to former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan winger Xerdan Shaqiri, with the Swiss having completed his transfer earlier in the week. Stoke are good for draw today. WATFORD 0-0 WEST BROM 4pm Watford’s away kit makes them come out as much loved Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, and this probably scared whatever out of Everton as the two sides drew 2-2. Now the promoted side will host the Baggies hoping to compound to Tony Pulis’ misery with a win over the Baggies. West Brom were out of colour as Manchester City easily overran them en route to a comprehensive 3-0 win to open their league account. Pulis has probably administered a dressing-down to his stooges and that will make them come out to play. A draw is on the cards. West Ham 1-2 LEICESTER 4pm Strange. Very strange. This is the top of the table clash. Just imagine that. Both sides were touted to lose in their opening fixtures but they are top. Arsenal cooked themselves to West Ham, but Leicester City did not overplay their worth against Sunderland, instead Claudio Raneiri has left us eating humble pie. Now he can write off critics with a convincing win at Boleyn Ground to make Slaven Bilic taste his first defeat to. Either a draw or a City win. SUNDAY PALACE 0-2 ARSENAL 2.30pm Arsene Wenger did himself in by attempting to prove everyone wrong on Olivier Giroud. So West Ham deployed a 16-year-old in defensive midfield role and boy oh boy! Reece Oxford literally pocketed Mesut Ozil all game long as Giroud fluffed on the pitch for 90 minutes. Wenger will today deploy his most reliable attack with Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott both likely to start. That should reassure Petr Cech that even if the defence is shaky, the firepower up front will keep the opponents busy defending. Selhurst Park was a no-go zone for big sides under Tony Pulis, but Alan Pardew has a way of capitulating before Arsene Wenger. Two seasons ago, Arsenal started off with a 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa, before Wenger fashioned them into title contenders until March when a string of defeats saw the Gunners finish fourth. This season’s start just about tells a repeat. CITY 2-1 CHELSEA 5pm The biggest game of the weekend will come on Sunday when champions face a strong test from a City side that is already talking their heads off after beating West Brom. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. You can’t beat West Brom and talk about being title contenders. City must neutralise crisis-hit Mourinho who was forced to attack his own medical staff, reshuffle their service and now faces pressure. MONDAY LIVERPOOL 3-0 Bournemouth 5pm Liverpool might be nervous at home for this game and will need time to settle down and respond to Eddie Howe’s cool approach that sees the Cherries keeping the ball down for much of the game. If they can do that early, they will open the defence and probably score, too. All eyes will be on Coutinho, the hero of the 1-0 win over Stoke, but now to exorcise the Monday night ghost – Liverpool struggles in Monday fixtures – Brendan Rodgers might need a new wizard and that is where starting with Firmino sounds benign. OTHER FIXTURES BAYERN 3-1 hamburger mALAGA 1-2 sEVILLAbILBAO 0-2 barcelonagijon 0-2 real madridbremen 2-1 schalkedortmund 3-1 gladbachwolfsburg 3-0 frankfurtjuventus 1-1 udinese Seaman is a Liverpool fan

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Crisis dogs Chelsea, Arsenal to punt it