English Premier League Round 1 (13-15/08)

Liverpool v Sunderland
Wigan Athletic v Norwich City
Blackburn v Wolverhampton
Fulham v Aston Villa
QPR v Bolton
Newcastle United v Arsenal
Stoke City v Chelsea
WBA v Manchester United
Manchester City v Swansea City



Saturday, August 13

Liverpool v Sunderland

Liverpool will aim to fire a signal of intent across the bows of all its major rivals as its well enhanced squad face Sunderland. Kevin Keegan has invested greatly over the summer with several English players, including former Black Cat Jordan Henderson, making their way across to Merseyside. Steven Gerrard will miss this game, as he nurses his infected groin, while Skrtel is out with a calf strain. Luiz Suarez is a chance to come off the subs bench after enjoying a mini-break on the back of his exploits in the Copa America with Uruguay. Steve Bruce has raided former club, Manchester United, for the services of experienced defenders Wes Brown and John O'Shea while boosting his midfield ranks with the acquisition of Seb Larsson and David Vaughan.

Only three teams failed to score less than Sunderland last season (two of those were now relegated Birmingham City and West Ham United) so it's somewhat suprising to see that Bruce has only drafted in young Connor Wickham to bolster his attacking arsenal. With the impressive Danny Wellbeck returning to parent club Manchester United and Frazier Campbell out with a knee cruciate, a lot of the goal scoring burden will fall on the broad shoulders of Asamoah Gyan. Liverpool have no such worries with a plethora of attacking talent brought to the club over the summer. Andy Carroll is sure to enjoy his football this year with the service into the box from Downing, Adam, and Kuyt (just to name a few). The Reds backline still looks a bit suspect, and will come under scrutiny against the title challengers, but Sunderland is way off being a potent attacking force. Key central pairing, Turner and Bramble have played little football this pre-season so I expect Liverpool, especially Carroll, to have some joy running into the heart of the visitors' defence.

Pick: Liverpool -1ah @1.86 (ladbrokes, 10 units)
Liverpool 1 - 1 Sunderland

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Wigan Athletic v Norwich City

It took a nail-biting 3-2 win over West Ham United, on the final day of the season, for Wigan Athletic to remain in the top flight. Their fans will hope history doesn't repeat itself this season as the Latics welcome new boys Norwich City, and some 4,500 fanatical away fans, to the JJB Stadium. Wigan gaffer, Roberto Martinez, has either complete faith in his current squad of players or is strapped for cash as his only notable expenditure was £4m on securing the services of keeper Al Habsi. Going the other way, the enigmatic but at times brilliant Charles N'Zogbia has moved to Aston Villa. Norwich City are back in the big time after a six year hiatus in The Championship. Notably, the Canaries have invested wisely on unfulfilled talent, ex-Evertonian James Vaughan, while raiding Championship clubs for their starlets.

Wigan will rely on the goal scoring instict of Hugo Rodallega and the ever-growing wizadry of Viktor Moses to unlock Premiership defences. The Latics must hit the ground running, unlike last season, as they face the three newly-promoted clubs in their first three outings. Led by midfielder Wes Hoolahan and striker Grant Holt, Norwich City stormed into the Premier League with an impressive tally of 83 goals scored, conceding 58 in the process. Masterminded by ambitious young manager, Paul Lambert, I see Norwich surprising many unsuspecting Premier League sides with their attacking verve and intent.

Pick: Over 2.25 goals @1.78 (10bet, 10 units)
Wigan Athletic 1 - 1 Norwich City