All articles by: Elliott Jackson

Brighton vs Manchester City – Match Preview

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Brighton vs Manchester City – Match Preview – The Premier League is back! Pep Guardiola takes his Manchester City side to The Amex Stadium to face newly promoted Brighton.

After another huge summer of spending, the pressure is on for Guardiola, as he looks to build on last season’s third placed finish. The Citizens have spent in excess of 200 million, bringing in six new signings. City are expected to hand debuts to both their new full backs Kyle Walker and Benjamin Mendy, as well as new goalkeeper Ederson.

Bernardo Silva signed from Monaco this summer Photo Credit: skysports.com

The club also bolstered their already impressed attacking ranks, with the addition of Portuguese playmaker Bernardo Silva. Many are keen to see Silva in action, as he looks to settle in to life in the Premier League.  Alongside the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane, Guardiola has a wealth of options at his disposal, as he looks to secure a third league title for City.

The match marks a historic moment for Brighton, their first ever match in the Premier League. After such an impressive campaign last year, which saw them promoted, this year it will be a whole new test for Chris Hughton’s side.

Davy Propper signed from PSV this summer Photo Credit: theargus.co.uk

The Seagulls’ are as expected, one of the favourites for relegation. If they are to survive in the top flight, they will need to make The Amex a fortress, starting on the opening weekend. They have added well to their squad, breaking their club record to sign Davy Propper. The former PSV midfielder has joined for a rumoured fee of 10 million pounds, exceeding the previous fee, that was also broken this summer.

The club have also added a new goalkeeper to their ranks. With David Stockdale leaving the club to join Birmingham City, they have added Australian stopper Mathew Ryan to their squad. They have also secured the loan signing of Izzy Brown, who impressed on loan at Huddersfield last season, as they also earned promotion to the Premier League.

The last time these two sides met in the League was in 1989 in League two. Now both grace the Premier League, this shows how far both clubs have come in the last 28 years. Their most recent meeting was a 2-2 draw in the cup in 2008. That day Brighton came out on top, winning 5-3 in a penalty shootout.

Matches between these two have been scarce in recent years, with City’s last win against Brighton coming in 1988. The last six games between the two has seen, three draws and the other three games settled by a one goal margin. 14 goals were scored in those six games, with both teams scoring in four of them.

I think City will be in for a tough test, in what is bound to be an electric atmosphere. Whilst Brighton will work hard and make things tough for City, I think Guardiola’s side will have enough class to prevail, winning 2-1.

 

SKYBET: CORRECT SCORE – CITY TO WIN 2-1- 15/2

SKYBET: WINNING MARGIN – CITY BY EXACTLY ONE GOAL- 11/4

SKYBET: BERNARDO SILVA TO SCORE AND WIN- 5/2

SKYBET: SERGIO AGUERO AND ANTHONY KNOCKAERT TO BOTH SCORE- 6/1

SKYBET: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE AND OVER 2.5 GOALS- 11/8

SKYBET: CORRECT SCORE GROUP BETTING – CITY TO WIN 1-0, 2-0 OR 2-1- 13/8

Carabao Cup – First Round – Bury vs Sunderland – Match Preview

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Carabao Cup – First Round – Bury vs Sunderland – Match Preview – The first round of the formerly known League Cup takes place this week, with League one side Bury facing Sunderland on Thursday. The Black Cats will be hoping to sweep away the cobwebs of last year’s relegation by beating the Shakers, and give Simon Grayson his first win in charge.

Sunderland kicked off their league campaign on Friday night with a 1-1 draw against Derby County. Lewis Grabban opened the scoring with his first of the season, which turned out to be one of a number of positives to be taken from the game. There was, however, a few gentle reminders of their struggles from last year. Whilst they played well, they could have easily lost had Chris Martin not missed a guilt edged chance for the Rams’ in the second half.

Bury got off to the perfect start in league one, with an opening day 1-0 victory over Walsall. With striker James Vaughan leaving the club to join Sunderland, it left them with a sizeable budget to add to their squad. New signings Chris Maguire and Jermaine Beckford impressed on debut, with the latter scoring the only goal of the game.

Jermaine Beckford scored in the 1-0 win over Walsall over the weekend

The two sides have not met for over 11 years. The last time they did, was also in the League Cup, where Bury produced a shock 2-0 victory. In their last ten meetings, of which three have been cup ties, there have been 33 goals. In those ten games, seven of them have been settled by a maximum of a one goal margin, showing that these fixtures are usually closely contested.

With Gigg Lane filled with optimism at the moment, these two clubs seem to be heading in opposite directions. A lot will come down to what teams the two managers opt to field, although I feel Bury will have more interest in the fixture than Sunderland. Grayson knows his bread and butter is the Championship, and that’s what he will ultimately be judged on, come the end of the season.

There are always upsets in the cup, and this is a fixture I would mark down as a potential banana skin. Roared on by their home crowd, I can see Bury knocking out Sunderland, and progressing to the second round.

 

Suggested Tips:

SKYBET: BURY TO WIN BY EXACTLY ONE GOAL- 4/1

SKYBET: JAMES VAUGHAN TO SCORE FIRST AND SUNERLAND TO WIN 2-1- 25/1

SKYBET: JERMAINE BECKFORD TO SCORE AND BURY TO DRAW – 10/1

SKYBET: SUNERLAND TO WIN AND OVER 2.5 MATCH GOAL- 9/4

SKYBET: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE IN BOTH HALVES- 18/1

Aston Villa vs Hull City – Match Preview

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Aston Villa vs Hull City – Match Preview – Steve Bruce faces his former club as Aston Villa host recently relegated Hull City. Bruce left the club at the beginning of last season, and comes up against them for the first time. The match also sees the debut of new Hull manager Leonid Stlutsky. He is tasked with trying to secure another promotion for the Tigers, starting with a win at Villa Park.

Aston Villa are amongst the bookmakers’ favourites for promotion, and they know anything less than a return to the top-flight will be a failure.

After a hugely disappointing season last year, Steve Bruce is under pressure to return Villa to the Premier League. The club have backed him in the transfer market, making five additions to an already impressive squad. With a number of options now available to him, it is Bruce’s job to fit the pieces together to find his best team.

John Terry signed for Aston Villa this summer Photo Credit: skysports.com

Summer signings John Terry, Glenn Whelan, Ahmed Elmohamady and Chris Samba are experienced heads, who know how to win titles. Couple this with the attacking threat of Jonathan Kodjia, Scott Hogan and Albert Adomah, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t be challenging for automatic promotion.

After one season back in the top-flight Hull were relegated and now return to the Championship. After a turbulent year, which saw them have three managers, they now have another new face at the helm.

Stlutsky succeeds Mark Silva, who left to join Watford. The former CSKA Moscow boss is looking to gain promotion, which would fulfil a life-long goal of being the first Russian to manage in the Premier League. He won three league titles in his four years at Moscow, and lead Russia to the finals of Euro 2016, before stepping down as manager.

Frazier Campbell returns to his former club Photo Crdit: hulldailymail.co.uk

The Tigers have made six new signings this summer. Fan favourite Fraizer Campbell returns to the club, alongside Liverpool midfielder Kevin Stewart. They have also signed Chelsea defenders Ola Aina and Michael Hector on season long loans.

Villa have lost only one of their last 12 meetings against Hull, winning 11 of them. The two club’s last meeting however saw Hull defeat Villa 2-0 in 2015, when they were managed by Steve Bruce.

Hull’s last victory at Villa Park came back in 1967, a record that has lasted 50 years. This underlines the huge task that Slutsky has on his hands, if he is to record a win in his first game. There has been a total of 28 goals in the last 12 meetings, with only one draw coming in that time. The stats would suggest a home win is on the cards, and that is what I predict will happen as well.

 

SKBET: VILLA TO WIN 2-0- 15/2

SKYBET: KODJIA TO SCORE FIRST AND VILLA TO WIN- 9/4

SKYBET: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE AND HULL CITY TO WIN- 15/2

SKYBET: CAMPBELL TO SCORE AND HULL TO WIN- 11/2

SKYBET: BOTH GABRIEL AGBONLAHOR AND ROSS MCCORMACK TO SCORE – 8/1