The Premier League is back – and so are Mark Lawrenson’s red-hot top flight takes.
And, to celebrate the launch of the 2023/24 campaign, Paddy’s going to be dishing out free bets to shop customers who can out-shout our mighty soccer soothsayer each and every match day.
The rules are simple, winning is harder. Just predict the score of every Premier League fixture every game week. Get the score bob on and you pocket three points, get the result right and one point is added to your tally.
Rack up more points than our Lawro and you’ve got free bets heading your way. To show how not to do it, Paddy Power will be taking on Lawro in game week 1! But first, here’s Mark’s shouts.
Friday 8pm: Burnley v Manchester City
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
Manchester City will win. For the promoted teams, you won’t get a true indication of where they’ll finish until about 10 games in. This might not be the worst time to play Man City, you wouldn’t want to play them when they’ve won 10 straight. I think this might be a little bit tighter than people might think. Burnley 0-2 Manchester City.
Saturday 12.30pm: Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
TV: TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate
Arsenal to Win this one. Nottingham Forest know that you’re not going to get points when you go away to the really big boys and they know that their home form will be everything for them. I’ll go for Arsenal and it will be interesting to see how they set up as well. Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest.
Saturday 3pm: Bournemouth v West Ham
West Ham are finally splashing the cash but I don’t know how many of the new players will be available for this. I think they’ve got three maybe four coming in. I fancy a draw here. That would be a good result for Bournemouth. Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham.
Saturday 3pm: Brighton v Luton
A comfortable home win here. With Luton it will be a case of how many wins they can get at home that will decide if they stay in the league. They’ll be like a breath of fresh air because they’ve had a Pools win, haven’t they? They’ve gone up, they’ll get an awful lot of money coming to them over the next few years and this will just set them in good stead for years to come. They’ll give everything they’ve got, they just won’t have enough quality to stay up. It’s impossible. Brighton 2-0 Luton.
Saturday 3pm: Everton v Fulham
I’ll go for a bore draw here. I’m told Dominic Calvert-Lewin is fit. Fulham had a really good season last year and they haven’t really lost anyone other than Willian yet. They’ve got a good manager but this might be a tough watch. Everton 0-0 Fulham.
Saturday 3pm: Sheffield United v Crystal Palace
Sheffield United will be direct, they’ll be in your face but I’m going to go for Crystal Palace to Win. I think they’ve got a little bit more about them, certainly with Roy Hodgson still being in charge. The one thing about him is that he always has his teams very well organised. Sheffield United 1-2 Crystal Palace.
Saturday 5.30pm: Newcastle v Aston Villa
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
I think all us ex pros fancy Aston Villa a little bit because we can see that Unai Emery’s really improved on the team and built really, really well. When you watch him on the touchline he’s just completely engrossed by the game and his teams have a special way of playing. Newcastle have made some good signings but they’re under a little bit of pressure to perform this season. Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa.
Sunday 2pm: Brentford v Tottenham
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
I had Tottenham down for a 2-1 win but I’m changing my mind now it sounds like Harry Kane’s off to Bayern Munich! I’m going to go for another Draw. Brentford 1-1 Tottenham.
Sunday 4.30pm: Chelsea v Liverpool
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
I’m going to go for the seventh draw in a row between these two! I watched Liverpool the other night in a pre-season friendly and it looks like Alexis Mac Allister might have to play as an anchor man in midfield which would not be perfect for him. They need a couple of players in there, the world and his wife knows that. If you asked me to pick a Chelsea team I couldn’t! We know they’ve got umpteen players. Good luck to Mauricio Pochettino in the first few weeks sorting that lot out. Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool.
Monday 8pm: Manchester United v Wolves
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
Manchester United to win. We know that Wolves have lost lots of good players but I still think they’ll be competitive and Gary O’Neil, the new manager, knows the league. I thought he was as little bit unfortunate to lose his job at Bournemouth but it will be a question with Wolves as to where the goals are going to come from. Manchester United 2-0 Wolves.
So you’ve heard what Lawro has to say. But who’s this lumbering into view to take on the all-seeing eye of Premier League punditry? Why its the one and only Mr. Paddy P. Power himself to prove it’s not just horse racing that he knows nothing about.
So, to give you a steer on some traps to avoid, here’s Paddy’s picks for game week 1 in the 2023/24 Premier League.
Burnley 1-3 Manchester City
Arsenal 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham
Brighton 2-0 Luton
Everton 1-0 Fulham
Sheffield United 1-0 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 1-2 Aston Villa
Brentford 2-2 Tottenham
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
Manchester United 3-0 Wolves
The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now
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