Premier League predictions and best bets: Chelsea put unprepared Man City in trouble | Football News

Our football betting expert Jones Knows is back to share his insights and top angles on every match as the Premier League restarts.

Brentford vs Crystal Palace, Sunday 2pm, live on Sky Sports

Sunday August 18th 1:00 PM

Starts at 2:00 PM

Crystal Palace won seven of their 13 games under Oliver Glasner last season, picking up 24 points and winning six of their last seven. I was excited about what could be achieved this season but the transfer window has dampened my enthusiasm with Michael Olise gone and Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen potentially gone too.

Brentford are notorious for their strong home games against teams from the bottom half, having lost just two of their 20 games in the last two seasons. I’m not exactly bubbling over their prospects this season with a potentially stagnant squad at Thomas Frank’s disposal, but this could be a great time to play Palace with so much transfer speculation in the background. The 11/8 with Sky Bet for a home win seemed the right choice.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1

Chelsea vs Manchester City, Sunday 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports – PLAY £2M SUPER 6 HERE!

Sunday August 18th 4:00 PM

Starts at 4:30 PM

Manchester City are 4/5 to win with Sky Bet and are therefore an easy skip due to City’s arguably underpowered starting line-up and a strangely poor recent record against the top six teams away from home.

City will almost certainly be without Rodri, who didn’t feature in any of their friendlies, and fellow Euro 2024 finalists Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden are also short of friendlies. City lost all three of their matches without Rodri last season at Wolves, Arsenal and Aston Villa, averaging just 0.66 expected goals per game in those three games.

Furthermore, Pep Guardiola’s team have won just two of their last 10 away games at a top six club over the past two seasons, with six of those 10 games coming under the 2.5 goal threshold.

Chelsea are not exactly a team you can rely on, as Enzo Maresca is likely to take some time to put together the best eleven from the 41 players at his disposal.

But once that happens, Chelsea have the talent to compete with the top clubs.

It’s tricky to formulate a betting plan for this match, but if you head to the Bet Builder and bet Chelsea with a +2 goal handicap and under 3.5 match goals, you’ll have odds of 10/11 with Sky Bet, which gives you a good chance of success.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1

Leicester vs Tottenham, Monday 8pm, live on Sky Sports

Monday August 19th 6:30 PM

Starts at 8:00 PM

I love the arrival of Dominic Solanke. He could be the final piece of the puzzle for Ange Postecoglou as he is the perfect modern striker who is a great penalty box finisher and links the game expertly.

I think Postecoglou and his methods can take him to the next level. And boy, he’s going to get chances as the focal point of Tottenham’s attack.

Solanke scored 19 goals for Bournemouth last season, only two of which came from the penalty spot. I expect him to surpass those figures by improving the service level in the wings. It’s those cutback finishes in the wings where he really shines and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him do well against who I think is most likely to prop up the division this season.

The 4/1 bet on Sky that Solanke will score first demands to be backed.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-3 | JONES KNOWS BEST BET: Dominic Solanke to score first (4/1 at Sky Bet – part of the 14/1 weekend treble!)

Jones Knows’ top picks…

1 point in treble for Arsenal to win 0-0, West Ham to avoid defeat to Aston Villa and Dominic Solanke to score first in Leicester against Tottenham (14/1 at Sky Bet – Bet Here!)