Ladbrokes Free Bet and Saturday Premier League Preview Part 1
- By Allan Pederson on August 24, 2012 19:05 GMT
After an opening weekend packed full of surprise upsets, lopsided victories and some really exciting action; we're now finally ready to roll with the second weekend of the English Premier League season. The table looks a bit odd at the moment but let's see if some of these lower profile clubs can hang onto those coveted spots for the opening duration of the campaign. There are a number of very interesting variables at play right now and it will be interesting to see who can sustain the challenge over the 38 weeks of play.
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The early fixture is Swansea vs West Ham and the Welsh side go into this one in the unfamiliar position of favourites. They absolutely routed QPR last week in a smashing 5-0 victory that easily could have been 6-0 or 7-0 by the time they were through with things. Michael Laudrup really looks like he's found a way to get these players to play for him and they still look to have just as much panache as they showed last year.
West Ham will likely need a while to get going but are still decent value if you fancy them away. You reckon that they may not have a huge amount of travelling support so a draw would likely suit them.
Punters will find Swansea trading at 11/10 while West Ham float at 11/4 and the draw sits at 21/10.
Manchester United already face a must-win clash at Fulham - a side who also won 5-0 last week against beleaguered opposition. United were dealt a sharp blow with a 1-0 loss to Everton - who completely out battled what looked to be a relatively unprepared United side.
The Red Devils are getting some real support form the bookmakers here though and they are a very slim 1/3 to get the job done over the Cottagers at Old Trafford. Fulham are a hefty 10/1 to get the result and the draw sits at 7/2 - for the neutral fan that might be the bet of the day. Fulham have shown that they can score goals and United's back line is still clearly defined as makeshift.
Aston Villa vs Everton should be a lot more interesting than it might have been last year. The Villains have really stepped it up and actually seem to care about the matches that they're playing in right now. Everton also deserve respect having got the better of United last week in a hard-fought victory that they were able to grind out. It was not so much about dominating possession than it was about winning the key moments and that's what David Moyes' men are good at. They go into this as the 6/4 favourites despite it being an away game.
