Liverpool and Manchester, situated in the northwest of England less than 35 miles apart. This rivalry dates back to the industrial revolution when the cities boosted economically - but for different reasons. Liverpool benefited significantly from its status as a major seaport, facilitating through its infamous docks. Manchester in turn, through its breadth of textile factories, making it the more populous city of these twin cities.
The first official meeting between these football giants was played in April 1894, being a football league test match. Standings over the past 140 years (!) leave us with Manchester United ahead in the series with 83 wins in all competitions. Liverpool has 71 wins, and there have been 59 draws. In the Premier League solely, United leads the series 29–15–19 taking its advantage thriving off the Alex Furgeson 26 year era of the club, kicking off in 1986 running through the 90’ies and into the 00’es.
Latest fixture was back on March 17th in the FA Cup quarter finals, being deemed already as a classic and one of the greatest FA ties to date. United brought home the victory - and subsequently the advancement ending with their FA Cup victory and saving the head of Ten Hag - after Amad Diallos winner deciding the game in stoppage time of extra time. That’s just how close these teams are - now, then and likely always will be.
Leaving the season 23-24 behind, we all thought we’d see both clubs moving towards a restart, with knowingly Jurg Klopp leaving Anfield as a legend throned next to Shankly, Paisley and Fagan, while us anticipating Ten Hag being given the boot. However, in contrast to many other seasons post the Furgeson-era, we actually see the Red Devils holding on to some level of continuity, while the Reds post the Klopp-era now will be the ones searching for a foothold under the helm of Ten Hag countryman Arne Slot.
Only two matches into the regular season, little conclusions can be drawn. Albeit Liverpool's standing being undisputed, it’s after winning to Ipswich and Brentford. One team this year returned to the Premier League after more than two decades in lower divisions, and the other ended 16th last season close to relegation. Not much to lean your wagers against. As for Man U their ending of poor performances see no closure. That said, four points without anything close to a strong performance - on or off the pitch - could be seen as some kind of bright light. I assume all fans across the globe held their breath gasping in disbelief when at a shared clean sheet to Fulham at 81st Ten Hag decided to seemingly secure one point giving entry for the Theatre of Dreams to Jonny Evans and Matthis De Ligt. Two centerbacks, by all means with good craftsmanship with respective headers. Color him stupid or bold? At the end of the day, the point ended in the pocket.
In summary, I’m pretty convinced this showdown will end in a draw and at 2-2, as earlier posted as Top Tip for the Pick of the Week. If you’d like more money in the bank, play it safe on players at this early stage of the season. Casemiro drawing a yellow, red or both is golden, while Alexander Arnold always stands ready for delivery proofing to earn all 90 minutes this weekend. Combined it’s giving you fair odds to low risk at Caibo. Off you go!
Manchester City’s start to the new season has been 100%. They beat their local rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield and followed that up with two Premier League wins out of two possible. West Ham have won one and lost one game in the Premier League under their new manager, Lopategui.
West Ham will host the reigning English champions Manchester City at the London Stadium in today’s evening match. West Ham hasn’t defeated Manchester City since September 2015. Slaven Bilic was the club's manager then and West Ham and they haven't won against Manchester City in 17 matches. That is a long time for sure. With the new manager, Julien Lopategui, West Ham are changing their identity a bit. West Ham lost to Aston Villa on opening day and won their fixture last weekend away to Crystal Palace. Tomas Sousek and Jarrod Bowen scored the goals for the Hammers in the two to nothing victory. The Hammers played a midweek fixture in the EFL cup against Bournemouth and won the match one to nothing.
Manchester City has been so dominant the last decade in the Premier League that we almost take them and the way they play for granted sometimes. We should not do that. Instead we should enjoy them while this era sort of lasts. The Citizens have scored six goals in their two opening league fixtures. Last weekend they won against the newly promoted Ipswich Town four to one. On the opening day of the Premiership Manchester City defeated Chelsea away from home. Haaland has scored four of the club’s six goals in the Premiership so far. The Citizens have been very solid at the start of the season. More so than usual under the management of Josip Guardiola. There is no slow start to this season like there have been some seasons before this one.
West Ham will have to do without their experienced left back Aaron Cresswel who is nursing a hamstring injury. The seriousness of his injury is not determined yet. Lopetegui has a lot of midfielders to choose from. Players like Rodriguez, Alarez and Ward-Prowse are in contention for one of the available starting spots in the midfield. Palmier is expected to be back at the left back position which means that Wan-Bissaka will play on the right side. Lucas Paqueta will probably start and one of Niclas Fullkrug or Micheal Antonio will start the match for West Ham. A win would be more than huge for West Ham. It has after all been nine long years since they won against Manchester City.
Guardiola will have to do without the midfield dynamo Rodri at the London Stadium. He will be missed but City has plenty of good options to replace him in the best way possible. Phil Foden is expected to start after he missed the match against Ipswich. Kovacic will most likely come off the bench. Stones and Walker were benched the prior match and will probably be benched again in this one. Jack Grealish could start the match instead of Savinho.
West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson, Alvarez, Sousek, Bowden, Paqueta, Kudos & Antonio.
Man City: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo, Savinho, De Bryune, Doku & Haaland.
Analysis IPSWICH VS FULHAM FC:
It’s safe to say that no Ipswich supporter would have drawn up this schedule for the opening rounds. The newly promoted side has had to start their season against Liverpool and Manchester City—daunting tasks, to say the least. This match is their first realistic chance at securing points, and they’ll be eager to sink their teeth into Fulham.
However, the visitors from Craven Cottage are now an established Premier League club and fully aware of the challenge ahead. Marco Silva has the luxury of choosing his starting lineup from a completely injury-free squad. With both teams fixated on securing all three points, this should be an end-to-end encounter, likely producing plenty of goal-scoring opportunities. Fulham’s striker, Rodrigo Muniz, has already made four key passes and taken nine shots inside the box. Will he find the back of the net this time?
Analysis VERTON FC VS AFC BOURNEMOUTH:
Bournemouth has started the season with two straight draws, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that trend continues. They’re a well-coached team that should be able to compete even without last season’s top scorer, Dominic Solanke. However, this might mean that narrow wins turn into draws more often than not.
Everton, on the other hand, has had a dismal start with two poor performances. They managed to create some chances inside the box in their last game, but most of them were rushed and lacked composure. This match will likely be more about their attitude and proving to the fans that they can fight for the badge. A 1–1 draw seems like a plausible outcome.
Analysis NOTTINGHAM FOREST VS WOLVERHAMPTON:
Based on the chances and flow of the game, a 2–2 draw would have been a fair result for Wolves in their last match. However, they ended up leaving the pitch with a crushing 6–2 defeat against Chelsea. So, what do you do after conceding six goals? You focus heavily on defense during training.
Last season, we saw a clear trend across many leagues where teams that suffered heavy losses often responded with a more conservative, defensively balanced approach in the following match. I'm convinced that Wolves will prioritize keeping the scoreline at 0–0 for as long as possible. If they manage to do that for the first 45 minutes, we could secure a win at odds of @2.07. If there's exactly one goal in the first half, we'll get our stake back.
Analysis WEST HAM UNITED VS MANCHESTER CITY:
Manchester City continues to dominate effortlessly, but we'll see how long the good times last in the blue part of the city. There's still a potential points deduction looming over them, and there are question marks around key players like Rodri and Phil Foden. Foden missed the last match due to illness and hasn’t been spotted in this week's training sessions. West Ham, on the other hand, is missing Aaron Cresswell but has all their offensive weapons ready to go.
Home or away, it doesn’t seem to matter much to City—they go full throttle regardless. Last season saw some "unlikely" results for them, including a 3–3 draw at home against Spurs, a 4–4 away game against Chelsea, and a 4–2 win at Palace. While it's certainly a long shot, if you apply this high-scoring model throughout the Premier League season, there's a decent chance of turning a profit over time.
Only four teams are undefeated two weeks into the new Premier League season. Arsenal and Brighton are two of these four sides. Liverpool and Manchester City being the other two. Fittingly enough they play each other in the early Saturday game at the Emirates. Brighton has only won one of the last four Premier League matches against Arsenal.
Arsenal had a very tough game last weekend at Villa Park in Birmingham. They won two to one in the end against Aston Villa. Thomas Partey and Leandro Troussard were the goalscorers for the Gunners. A big and important win for Arteta’s men. The keeper David Raya was brilliant between the posts. In the first fixture of the Premier League season Arsenal got the better of Wolverhampton at the Emirates. They won two to nothing after goals from Saka and Haverz. Overall The Gunners have started the new season where they left the previous one. That would be in the best possible way.
Brighton crushed and embarrassed Everton in matchday one and they won three to nothing at Goodison Park. Mitoma, Wellbeck and Adingra scored the goals. Last week they defeated Manchester United in a very dramatic match. They won it two to one. Joao Pedro scored the winning goal in the 90th minute. Danny Wellbeck scored the first one against his childhood club. There is no question about how well Brighton has kicked off the new Premier League season. The manager Fabian Hurzeler is happy with his team.
Gabriel Jesus is out for Arsenal again. That goes for Tomiyasu and Tierney as well. The Gunners just signed the Spanish midfielder, Merino, he will likely come in from the bench. As far as Brighton goes the new signing O’Riley will miss the match and so will Solly March.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Havertz, Saka & Troussard.
Brighton: Steel, Veltman, Dunk, Van Hecke, Kadioglu, Milner, Gilmour, Minteh, Pedro. Mitoma & Wellbeck
Liverpool’s new manager, Arne Slot, will coach his first ever game at Anfield today. Klopp’s successor achieved something special on opening day when The Reds defeated Ipswich Town. Slot is the first manager for Liverpool to win the opening Premier League fixture since Gerard Houllier back in 1998. Brentford won their opening match vs Crystal Palace without the prolific striker, Ivan Toney.
Liverpool started their Premier League campaign of 2024-25 at Ipswich and won the match against their old foes from the eighties quite easily at the end of the day. Liverpool won two to nothing after goals from Mohammed Salah and Diego Jota. A great start for the new manager, Arbne Slot, who arrived this summer from the Dutch side Feyenoord. Replacing Klopp after his enormously big success at the club is very far from an easy task. Slot has his work cut out for him, there is no doubt about that. Slot will surely enjoy the atmosphere at Anfield today before the match. The question is if he will enjoy it after the game?
Brentford won their opening fixture two to one against Crystal Palace at home the past weekend. The manager could not pick the striker, Ivan Toney, to play the match due to transfer speculations. Toney is rumoured to be entertaining offers from Saudi Arabia. In the prolific striker's absence other players had to step up to fill the void. Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa stepped up and scored the two goals for Thomas Frank’s side. Brentford certainly has a challenge lined up in front of them today at Anfield Road. Before Liverpool decided to name Arne Slot as their new manager it was rumoured that Thomas Frank was about to take the job.
There hasn't been any news during the week about Toney’s status at Brentford. If Toney did not play on opening day, he will not play today either, most certainly. The situation has not changed and for now it seems like the club can’t count on Toney this season.
Speaking of transfers, Liverpool did not add any new players to their squad in the off season. They will most probably start the same eleven players as they did last weekend at Portman Road in Ipswich. Konate will be starting next to Van Dijk yet again. Brentford will miss Thiago, Henry, Da Silva and Hickey due to injury today.
LIVERPOOL: Alison, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Macallister, Gravenberch, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz & Jota.
BRENTFORD: Flekken, Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Ajer, Nørgaard, Janelt, Jensen, Mbuemo, Wissa & Schade
Both Aston Villa and Arsenal started their respective Premier League campaigns with a win each. You can not ask for a better start to a new Premier League season. Both clubs have an excellent opportunity to win the game tonight and make it two straight wins at the start of the season.
The managers Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta do not only have the Spanish connection, both of them are from the Basque country in the north of Spain. As you all know, Emery used to be the manager of Arsenal and he and his squad will be very motivated to win their first home game of the PremierLeague season.
Aston Villa defeated West Ham two one away on the opening day of their Premier League campaign. A very solid win to start the fresh season. Lucas Paqueta and Jhon Duran scored the goals for Aston Villa. The Lions created a lot of nice chances at the London Stadium. They could easily have scored one or two more goals. It won't hurt them at all to take better advantage of the chances they will potentially create versus Arsenal today. Arsenal looked good on opening day, when they defeated Wolverhampton two to nothing. Arteta’s squad is one of the biggest threats to Manchester City this season as well as the past one. Havertz and Saka played very well and they combined for one goal each at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal has evolved immensely under the management of Arteta. The last season Arsenal played exceptionally well away from home. The team needs to repeat that this season if they want to take the title away from Manchester City. Remember that Astobn Villa defeated The Gunners in both their league fixtures in 2023-24.
Aston Villa will not have Tyrone Mings or Boubacar Camara available for the game. Matty Cash will be a game time decision. Kosta Nedelkjovic will probably replace Cash at the right back position. Another option is to let Konsa play at right back and Diego Carlos at centre back. Emery ought to start Duran this match after his decisive goal at London Stadium last weekend. As far as Arsenal goes Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasuwillbe out for some time. Declan Riceos ready to play after a minor injury versus the Wolves.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Bailey, Tielemans, Onana, McGinn, Duran & Watkins.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz & Marinelli.
Everton looked dreadful against Brighton—defensive, lacking creativity, and far too slow. They didn’t create a single clear scoring chance, and it’s no surprise that their only two close-range attempts came from headers. The team is already struggling with injuries, and now Ashley Young is suspended.
Tottenham, on the other hand, played well against Leicester—at least up until the final third. They lacked a bit of cutting edge and couldn’t quite deliver the final product. They’re close to putting in a really strong performance and were almost rewarded with a late winner against the Foxes. Lucas Bergvall delivered a sharp free-kick that Richarlison should have done better with, heading wide from close range. Richarlison is likely to come off the bench again, eager to find the net, especially against his former club.
Tottenham are hosting Evetton this afternoon at the White Hart Lane in North London. Spurs only drew to Leicester on day one and are in the driver’s seat to beat Everton. Sean Dyche’s squad played awful in the loss to Brighton at Goodison Park and they will be missing a couple of key players.
Tottenham could, and should have, beaten Leicester City away in their opening fixture the past weekend. The Spurs could not take advantage of the solid goal chances they created and the game finished one all in the end. Of course Jamie Vardy scored the goal for the newly promoted Leicester City. Tottenham played well on day one in Leicester and have a foundation to keep building on. The Spurs haven’t lost to Everton in the last six matches between the clubs. Ange Postecoglou’s men have to be more effective in the box moving forward. Pedro Porro scored Spurs firstPremier League goal of the season assisted by James Maddison.
The toffees pretty much got humiliated at home on opening day against Brighton. Sean Dyche’s men lost 3-0 at Goodison Park and they didn’t look good at all. Disorganised, not very much movement without the ball, no determination and no confidence on the pitch. Coming in to the game today at White Hart Lane the Toffees are having some problems with the back four. The experienced Ashley Young received a red card on opening day and will be suspended. Mason Holgate could replace him at right back. James Tarkowski at centre back is out. So is Patterson, Garner, Coleman, Chermiti and Branthwaite. As we said, Everton haven’t beaten The Spurs in the last six matches between them. I do not see how The Toffees could beat them today unless Tottenham plays well below their normal level. Everton hasn’t won an away game so far in the calendar year 2024. The game will be an uphill battle from the start for Everton at White Hart Lane this afternoon. A bit of strange stat is that Everton hasn’t won a match in the month of August the last three seasons.
Rodrigo Bettancourt got injured on opening day and will not play today. He will be replaced by Yves Bissouma who was suspended against Leicester City.Frasier Foerster is also out for The Spurs. Porro is fit to play but Dominic Solanke is not. Richarlison will start up front for the Spurs.
Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van den Ven, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Maddison, Son & Richarlison.
Everton: Pickford, Holgate, O’Brien, Keane, Mykolenko, Harrison, Doucoure, Iroegbunam, Guye, McNeill & Calvert-Lewin.
Crystal Palace transformed into a new team after last season's managerial change. Despite the loss in their season opener, there's no reason for concern—they created plenty of chances. They also had two goals disallowed, both involving Eberechi Eze, who had seven shots of his own. Eze is the driving force behind everything Palace does offensively.
Daniel Muñoz plays as a right wingback for Crystal Palace. He’s a tireless player, contributing both offensively and defensively. He’ll face a significant defensive challenge, going up against the ever-dangerous Mo Kudus. Muñoz might have to resort to some questionable tactics to keep him in check.
Yesterday’s season opener was thrilling and well-played, with United eventually securing all three points against Fulham, who put up a strong fight. I’m convinced Fulham is a team destined for the top half of the table. United, however, will need to play better if they want to challenge for a top-four finish. Today, our focus shifts to Everton vs. Brighton and the clash between West Ham and Aston Villa.
Last season was a strange one for Everton. They played decently at times, only to be hit with a points deduction, forcing them into a battle to avoid relegation. They managed to secure their place in the Premier League, and it seems their finances have stabilized, but we’ll have to wait another year before we see the Blues step out into their new stadium.
It’s been a relatively quiet summer for Everton, who opted to stay in England for preseason instead of going abroad. This might be related to financial constraints, but they’ve mostly played against British teams with mixed results. Much of the focus around Everton has been on Onana and Braithwaite, two players who were rumored to be on the move as early as spring. The club sold Onana early in the summer, making him their second most expensive sale after Lukaku, for €60 million. Braithwaite, who was linked to United all summer, seems set to stay after United completed the signing of De Ligt, and I’m sure the blue half of Liverpool is celebrating this, as he will be crucial if they are to avoid relegation.
The club also sold Ben Godfrey, who made a substitute appearance for Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup final against Real Madrid. With the money they brought in this summer, they decided to spend the majority on two players: striker Iliman Ndiaye from Marseille and Jack O'Brien from Lille. Both seemed overpriced to me, but I’m happy to be proven wrong. Sean Dyche remains at the helm, meaning Everton will continue to be a hardworking team that avoids relegation and is dangerous on set pieces.
For the past two seasons, it seemed Brighton’s purpose in the Premier League was to play attacking football and develop talents for the big clubs. Over the last two years, the club has sold players for over €300 million, making them the best in the UK, if not the world, in this regard. Many expected the same this summer, but that hasn’t been the case. Roberto De Zerbi, who did a fantastic job with Brighton, grew tired and left for Marseille, and in came Fabian Hürzeler to lead the team.
Hürzeler, the league’s youngest manager at just 31 years old, is seen by many as the next Pep Guardiola. I wouldn’t go that far, as he has a lot to prove—his biggest achievement so far was taking St. Pauli from Zweite to the Bundesliga last season. However, he has clearly been trusted to spend, as the club splashed out €120 million on new players this summer. Most of the money went on Yankuba Minteh, Mats Wieffer, and Brajan Gruda, all of whom are exciting players who had excellent seasons last year. Both Minteh and Wieffer were Feyenoord’s most important players last season, while Gruda is a huge talent from Mainz who could develop even further in the right environment.
It will be interesting to follow Brighton this year because it feels incredibly uncertain where the club will finish. They could just as easily secure a European spot as they could be relegated. It would have been interesting to see where De Zerbi could have taken this team if he had been given the same resources as Hürzeler.
This is an uncertain matchup on paper, with two managers who are quite different in their approaches. Dyche, a more pragmatic coach, faces off against an untested young manager in Hürzeler, who can be compared to his predecessor De Zerbi, as well as Klopp and Nagelsmann when it comes to offensive pressing. Both teams seem to be missing several key players ahead of today’s match. Everton will be without Chermiti, Garner, and Patterson. Braithwaite has been a doubt, but I think he’ll start because he’s too important for this Everton side.
Brighton, on the other hand, will be without Enciso, March, and goalkeeper Verbruggen. It’s also unclear if the crucial trio of Ferguson, Estupiñán, and Lamptey will be match-ready. Both meetings between these teams last season ended the same way, 1-1, and these are two sides that tend to go for the win, often resulting in conceding goals. I think we’ll see a similar match pattern today. Both Hürzeler and Dyche will want to make a strong statement at the start of the season, so we’re likely to see goals. Both teams would probably be content with a draw, but they’ll both push for the win as well. So, betting on both teams to score at odds of 1.63 feels like a sure thing.
