Archived Premiership Football Betting Tips (19th August 2006)

Neil Warnock has finally guided his Blades to the Premiership but this is likely to be a difficult season for them and they will do well not to go straight back down. Notoriously they are hard to beat and scrap for everything but performing like that for 38 league games at the highest level can take its toll. Whilst they may hold their own defensively they could struggle for goals; does Rob Hulse posess the quality at the highest level? United's first Premiership game could not have come much more difficult than Liverpool (although they do have home advantage), especially after the Reds' recent win over Chelsea in the Community Shield at the Millenium stadium. Benitez has declared his intentions with the signings of Bellamy, Gonzalez and Pennant and their squad looks much improved. They should be just as steady at the back but be far more dangerous in attack. Steven Gerrard carried the team for much of last season but Liverpool now have players to share the responsibility and have the potential to do better this season. They should beat United but it won't be easy-going.

Arsenal need to improve on last season's Premiership performance where they only just scraped into fourth place, although they did finish up as Champions League losing finalists; they will need to be more solid away from home amongst the hustle and bustle of the Premiership. The Emirates Stadium now replaces Highbury as Arsenal's new home and they will need to be careful that they don't fall into the poor form that has befallen some teams when they have switched home venues such as Southampton and Man City. With only Rosicky coming in and some good pros leaving such as Pires, Bergkamp and Campbell, they will hope that their young players do well and their experienced players (especially Henry) stay injury-free. I suspect that their opponents, Villa, are about to see a turnaround in the club's fortunes. Although the impact may not be immediate the appointment of O'Neill, the takeover by Lerner and the subsequent availablility of more funds could spell an exciting period of transition for the Midlands' remaining Premiership side. O'Neill is renowned for his man-management, motivational techniques and shrewd tactical analysis; players will want to play for him and those that don't will find the exit door very quickly. It wouldn't be surprising to see them finish in the top ten this season once the manager has brought some new faces in; bit too soon for O'Neill to upset the Emirates party but there is plenty for Villa fans to look forward to.

Bolton have lost some key players during the summer with Nakata and Okocha retiring, and their 2 big centre halves (Jaidi and N'Gotty) going to Birmingham. Big Sam looks to be having problems attracting talent with only Fortune coming in and even the likes of Hamann opting for Man City instead, but as long as he can hang on to the likes of Nolan not all is lost at the Reebok. They finshed 8th last season but at the moment a couple of places below that looks more achievable this time around. Their visitors, Spurs, have bolstered their squad with the signing of Berbatov who has had no trouble finding the back of the net pre-season but Carrick will be a big loss, although Jol should have been prepared for this and £18.6m is a substantial amount with which to reinvest. Missing out on the Champions League may have been a blessing in disguise as it could all have been too much too soon. Lennon and Dawson forced their way through at White Hart Lane and they need to step up again, whilst Defoe needs to prove that he is worthy of a place in a 3 man strike force with Robbie Keane floating behind. Spurs usually start the season well and though the Reebok may be a difficult place to go, returning to the Lane with 3 points may not be too much of a surprise.