* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Paddy Power ambassador, Liverpool legend, five-time England captain and all-round good egg Phil Thompson returns to tackle another weekend of Premier League football. First up is the mouth-watering Chelsea v Manchester City clash at 12.30pm on Saturday.
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But he’s not come alone. Oh, no. The ex-defender has teamed up with Paddy’s top football trader Jason Murphy to run the rule over one of Saturday’s early games and deliver a raft of best bets to help you pick Paddy’s pocket and start the weekend with a bang.
12.30pm: Chelsea v Manchester City
TV: BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate
THOMMO
It’s fantastic, you’ve got Chelsea and Manchester City… there’s so many stats about this game it is quite astonishing. But, it’s a rerun of the Champions League Final and maybe City want to get one back on Chelsea. It’s early in the Premier League season but it’s fascinating.
Chelsea have had 10 different scorers in the Premier League this season. You think, ‘Wow! That takes something after just five games’. City have got nine different scorers as well, so there’s something special about this game.
Chelsea are unbeaten in eight in all competitions, City unbeaten in six in all competitions. Jason will allude to the Southampton game last week – only one shot on target. City have only had one draw in 31 Premier League games and that occurred last week which, I think, is quite astonishing.
I wouldn’t put anyone off backing The Draw but I fancy Chelsea for this one. They’ve won the last three against Manchester City. It’s telling you maybe they’ve got them. They have improved with Romelu Lukaku.
I just think Manchester City, with the injury problems that they have, I just think that one shot against Southampton is quite astonishing. I’m going for Chelsea to Win – just. I’m going for Jorginho to Score Anytime because I think he might get a penalty kick in this game.
Both Teams To Score would be a decent bet, I’d take that. I’m going 2-1 to Chelsea.
JASON
Yeah, it’s either take all three points or go home with Pep Guardiola. The price has been flipping all week so I’m not sure what it’s going to be come kick-off. Both have been favourites at various points this week.
What I will say is, if Man City go off as favourites they’ll be too short, for a couple of reasons. It’s been four and a half years since City played a Premier League game where they weren’t favourites!
That’s over 160 games which is an incredible run.
Us traders, market makers, are watching to see what price they actually go off on Saturday. If they go off as favourites it’s too short. Phil alluded to that Champions League final. City were Even money in 90 minutes at a neutral venue to win that game.
That, in terms of rating, was saying that City are 0.6 of a goal better than Chelsea. The fact the price is hovering around where it is says there’s about 0.4 difference between the teams now. I have it much, much tighter than that, I’d say at most 0.3 of a goal between them.
If you add on, since that Champions League final, Chelsea have improved a lot. Also, Thomas Tuchel’s getting a lot out of the squad – more than Frank Lampard did – with Romelu Lukaku coming in as well. Chelsea have improved since that Champions League final whereas City were already exceptional, Jack Grealish is an excellent addition, but they can’t improve much on what they already were.
To wrap it all up, basically what I’m saying here is that if City go off favourites I wouldn’t advise backing that and I’d look to side with The Draw as it’ll be the biggest price of the three. Given it’s so early in the season, neither team really wants to lose this game.
Both defences are exceptional, they don’t concede a lot of goals so I’d say, in a tight game with 10-15 minutes to go I can see it being a Draw. That’s what I’d back if I was looking for a match bet.
Chelsea v City tips
Thommo: Chelsea to Win, Jorginho to Score Anytime, BTTS, Chelsea to Win 2-1
Jason: The Draw
* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Saturday football betting tips
- BEST BETS: Thommo & trader’s Man Utd v Aston Villa punts with 6/1 pick
- BET BUILDER: Check out this 29/1 punt for Man City v Chelsea
- BTTS ACCA: Saturday’s 16/1 four-fold from the 3pm kick-offs
- SATURDAY FOOTY ACCA: Our 28/1 bet from across Europe
- BET BUILDER: Liverpool to batter Brentford in this 27/1 selection
- BEST BETS: Thommo & trader’s Brentford v Liverpool bets feature a 7/1 shout
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