Sport

MICHAEL OWEN vs THE £10,000,000 COLOSSUS

Tottenham and Stoke would both have argued that they were value for at least a point after losing their opening Premier League games 1-0 at the weekend, but I think Mark Hughes’ team could be on the end of a similar score line on Saturday.

Man Utd didn’t create a great deal against Tottenham in the season-opener and had to rely on a Kyle Walker own goal to secure the win, so little wonder that Mauricio Pochettino was of the opinion that his side deserved something from the game and whilst that is debatable, at least they came away from the defeat believing they were hard done by, and not on the end of a comprehensive defeat.

However, Stoke can probably consider themselves more unfortunate to have lost 1-0 courtesy of a Coutinho wonder-strike at the Britannia on Sunday – they did well considering their injuries and the loss of big players Begovic and N’Zonzi in the summer.

Tottenham had one of the poorer home records of the top teams last season, losing six games. And one of those defeats came at the hands of Stoke, who won 2-1 at White Hart Lane before winning the return fixture 3-0. However I take Tottenham to win this game by the odd goal, either 1-0 or 2-1 and because I’m certainly not ruling Stoke out I will add 1-1 to my perm.

I am going for the same three score lines (1-0, 2-1 and 1-1) in the West Ham v Leicester match, too.

I think it’s fair to say that West Ham caught everyone unawares – most noticeably Arsenal – when winning 2-0 at the Emirates on Sunday, and they deserved the victory, too, even if Petr Cech had a day that he will be in a hurry to forget.

There were plenty of people who thought West Ham might struggle this season, though, and it may be unwise to get too carried away with the victory.

But that win will have certainly given Bilic and his players all the belief in the world – well, until their first defeat, anyway – and I have to favour them to nick this by the odd goal.

However, Ranieri and Leicester proved the doubters wrong too – among them, my goodself, who have tipped them for the drop – when thumping Sunderland 4-2 and you can’t rule out them out of getting a point. It was one apiece in meetings between them last season, too, West Ham winning 2-0 at home but losing 2-1 away.

QPR were beaten 2-0 at Charlton at the weekend and the “will he stay?” speculation surrounding Charlie Austin can’t be helping.

But they didn’t have a bad home record for a relegated side in the Premier League last season – though their form did drop off noticeably there, as the season progressed – and that could be enough to see them beat Cardiff 1-0 or 2-1.

They didn’t have too exacting a run-out when winning 3-0 at Yeovil in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night, when Cardiff won 1-0 at home to AFC Wimbledon.

Clearly Cardiff, who drew 1-1 at home to Fulham on Saturday, are not without a chance, so once again I am including 1-1.

Wolves, 2-1 Cup winners at home to Newport on Tuesday, narrowly missed out on a play-off spot last season and are among the market leaders for promotion this time around after winning 2-1 at Blackburn in their opening game.

The problem for them is that they face a Hull side even shorter in the betting for a return to the top flight, and whose bid to bounce straight back started with a 2-0 defeat of Huddersfield, though they needed penalties to see off League Two Accrington in midweek.

I’ll settle for a scoring draw, 1-1 or Any Other Draw (AOD).

It is a surprising statistic that Crystal Palace lost the most home games of any Premier League side last season, with 10 defeats, but a lot of the damage was probably done before Alan Pardew took over.

And Pardew would not have been out of place were he named manager of the season considering he guided them to 10th in the league, and his side started the campaign in good form with a 3-1 win at Norwich, even if they apparently rode their luck on occasions.

The pressure will be on Arsenal to deliver now. I never bought into the title talk about them, but it would plainly be ridiculous to dismiss them on the back of one defeat.

I favour a 1-1 draw but Arsenal won both of these sides’ meetings 2-1 last season, and they could sneak this 1-0. Let’s just say that Cech will be keen to keep a clean sheet.

I think the first big match-up of the season could end up all square as Man City host Chelsea, and I fancy a no, or low, scoring draw, either 0-0 or 1-1. It was 1-1 in both of the meetings between these sides last season.

You have to say that Chelsea were disappointing in a 2-2 draw at home to Swansea on Saturday – they could easily have lost the game after having Courtois sent off – but, as I said earlier, it would be madness to read anything into one game and they remain my fancies to retain the league title.

I said in my pre-season preview last week that I thought, of the top four sides, Man City could struggle.

But they put in a most impressive display in winning 3-0 on Monday night – Silva was magnificent and Toure looked interested again – although you can’t help feeling that West Brom played into their hands, and gifted them possession, in setting up 4-4-2.

And they won’t be afforded that luxury at the weekend.

I just get the feeling that both sides will be keen to avoid a loss here, so I think it will be a tight, cagey affair. Mourinho is always happy to settle for a point in these fixtures, and move on.

Liverpool needed one late moment of magic to take the three points at Stoke and I don’t think Brendan Rodgers would have been getting too carried away with the performance.

But the win is all that mattered and they will be looking to build on that victory against a Bournemouth side whose debut in the top flight didn’t go to plan in a 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa.

Rodgers will be keen to make Anfield the fortress it was in the 2013-14 campaign, where they won 16 of their 19 games, and they can start off with a 2-0 win here.