GW 3 – Ones to Watch
Steve: One to watch out for this weekend has to be Saturday’s early kick off, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City. The dreaded COTEKO (Curse Of The Early Kick Off) might just be enough to put a few people off this game, but it is very difficult to imagine The Citizens failing to find the net against a newly promoted, albeit very decent, Wolves side. This should be a fairly routine away victory for the current reigning Premier League Champions.
I’m dropping down a tier to the English Championship for my next pick of Aston Villa against Reading. Villa have scored in each of their four league games so far and amassed 9 goals in the process, whereas their opposition have conceded a goal or two in each of one of their fixtures. The Royals have made a poor start to the season and Villa will be looking to ensure that doesn’t change this weekend.
Ally: I’m hoping to build on my good run of tips after Fylde and Celtic knocked in 7 between them last weekend. First up in my quest is a London derby between Premier League sides Arsenal and West Ham United. The hosts of course are still adapting to life after Arsene Wenger, with Spaniard Unai Emery now at the helm. He could barely have had a harder pair of opening fixtures, starting with the visit of champions Manchester City followed by a trip across town to Chelsea. It came as little surprise to anyone that they lost both games, but there were enough signs against The Blues that Arsenal are still a force to be reckoned with, as they fought back from 2 goals down and squandered some superb chances during the course of the game. West Ham started the season with high expectations after the owners finally loosened the purse strings and allowed new manager Manuel Pellegrini to overhaul the squad with a £100m spending spree, but they’ve had a torrid start and I can’t see that improving against the attacking flair of Arsenal.
My other tip comes from Scottish League Two, where Peterhead face a trip to Stirling Albion. Many of you will know that Peterhead came agonisingly close to promotion last season, having led the league for a long time only to be pipped at the post by Montrose. Peterhead have already put 4 goals past Albion away from home, while Stirling have lost all 3 games so far this season, including a 3-0 home defeat to Clyde, so I fancy the visitors to pick up the points here and get among the goals in the process.
Jamie: My first selection for this week is going to be Liverpool, who will be facing Brighton & Hove Albion. Although the Seagulls showed great confidence and character in beating Manchester United 3-2 last weekend, I think they are always look capable of conceding in the top flight and it doesn’t get much harder than a trip to Anfield. I expect Mo Salah and crew will fancy netting a few goals on home soil come Saturday afternoon.
For my second tip I’m heading to the Scottish Championship, where Ayr United are at home against Dunfermline. Even though there’s only a single point separating third place Ayr and sixth place Dunfermline, plus throwing the host’s two recent 0-0 results into the mix, they’ve still bagged themselves 12 goals in their last half dozen games and are generally good for a couple in front of their home fans at Somerset Park.
Matt: Another productive weekend for us ‘tipsters’ in GW 2, let’s see if we can keep the 100% record going until the end of August and beyond.
Whilst the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool are, understandably, going to be in high demand again this weekend, i’m continuing to try and unearth some of the lesser lights that could really get among the goals. With that in mind i’m singling out Colchester United for your consideration. The U’s are at home to Northampton Town in this third top versus fourth bottom encounter and if Colchester’s previous match at the Community Stadium is anything to go by, it could be raining goals! They thrashed hapless Crewe Alexandra 6-0 (only a couple of weeks after Crewe had put 6 past Morcambe themselves!) to continue their unbeaten start to the campaign. The Cobblers, meanwhile, have not adapted to life in League Two at all well and their bid for an immediate return to League One already looks unlikely. It may look even less so come 5pm on Saturday if Colchester continue where they left off in midweek.
Dropping down a division into the Vanarama National League, i’m going to take a first punt of the season on the big spenders Salford City. Famously part owned by Manchester United greats such as Giggs, Scholes and Neville (i’ll let you decide which one of the two Neville’s was considered a great!), The Ammies have designs on being a Football League club in the very near future and don’t mind splashing the cash in order to make that dream a reality. An away trip to Havant & Waterlooville, themselves only promoted to the National League a few months ago, could provide plenty of goalmouth action as between them the two sides have been involved in games that have produced 22 goals in the last couple of weeks. I’ll take more of the same at West Leigh Park on Saturday. Good luck to you all!