Premier League Previews – The London Clubs

12 min read
BetVictor Premier League
9 Sep 2017 0


The 2017/2018 Premier League season is here and, to save you from doing the hard work, we’re looking at the main contenders for the Premier League this season and some of the best bets from the wide range of Premier League specials available on site. To start with, we’re looking at the London sides and who will come out on top in the Top London Club market and other bets involving those sides.

Chelsea – Top London Side

The defending champions, unsurprisingly, come in as firm favourites for the top London side at 4/5. This is not a price I’d be looking to back. They were fantastic last season, but I can’t say they’ve really strengthened over the summer – they’ve brought in Morata, likely to replace Costa, Bakayoko replacing Matic and Rudiger to replace John Terry.  I don’t feel any of these are major improvements – they are more replacements – and considering they will have European football to contend with this season, they may not find this season the walk in the park they did last.

If you’re looking for a bet with a bit more value on Chelsea, I think Hazard to score 12 or more this season at EVS is a bargain. We still don’t know the status of Costa and Morata may find some time to find his feet. But Hazard was a breath of fresh air last season, finding his form after a poor 15/16 season. If you take out that poor season 2 years back, he’s scored 14, 14 and 16 goals in the last 3 seasons, and I’d expect him to notch more than 12 this campaign.

BetVictor’s Recommendation:

Eden Hazard to score 12 or more goals @ EVS

 

Tottenham – Top London Side

Tottenham, who finished 2nd behind Chelsea last season and well ahead of their North London rivals Arsenal, come into this market as the 2nd favourite. Much has been made of the fact that Spurs have not brought in a single player this summer. No one. Zilch. Nothing. Ask a Spurs fan and they’ll ask you where they need to improve. Well, a striker to challenge Kane may well be a start after Janssen flopped in his first season may well have been a target. Moreover, with Kyle Walker heading north to Manchester City, they only have Kieran Trippier to fill that void and, as promising as he is, he’s not Kyle Walker. Yet. One wonders why they haven’t invested some of the £50m they received for Walker into the transfer window – a question only Pochettino can answer.

There’s also the Wembley factor. Yes, Spurs struggled last season when they played at Wembley. However, if that will translate to their league form remains to be seen. The mean level of the teams they’ll come up against in a league season won’t match the competition they had in Europe, but even against teams they should have beat, they didn’t perform. Spurs fans will hope that they’ll get more used to Wembley playing there week in, week out. But they come up against Chelsea and Liverpool in 2 of their first 5 home games, so they don’t have a lot of time to get things right.

With others improving around them, there’s a chance they could fall out of the Top 4 this season. They’re 4/5 to do just that and unless something happens quickly in the transfer window, that’s the bet I would be backing.

BetVictor’s Tip:

Tottenham Hotspur not to finish in the top 4 

 

Arsenal – Top London Side

Arsenal come into this market as 3rd favourites and they would be the ones, if I was looking to have a bet on this market, that I would back. Despite a poor middle part to last season that saw them fall away, they improved substantially at the back end of the season winning 8 of their last 9 in all competitions – beating the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and of course Chelsea in the FA Cup final. They will be buoyed by having won the Community Shield against the current champions and with the issue the 2 aforementioned clubs are facing, Arsenal could be a good bet here at 11/4.

In terms of the transfer window, they’ve only brought in a couple of players, but what they have brought in is quality. Kolasinac looked excellent in his 60 minutes in the Community Shield, even notching the equaliser and could be a great bit of business on a free. The other big signing is Alexandre Lacazette and he needs no introduction – pacy, strong and he’ll no doubt bring goals. With Arsenal not having to worry about the Champions League this season, at 11/4, they’re a value bet for top London Side. Speaking of Lacazette, he’s a silly price at 10/11 for top Arsenal scorer and you should get on that before Sanchez (7/4) potentially leaves the Emirates as he’s been threatening to do all summer.

BetVictor’s Tips:

Arsenal Top London Side

Alexandre Lacazette top Arsenal Premier League Scorer

 

West Ham – Top London Club

For me, West Ham wouldn’t be a shout in the Top London club, but after a poor 16/17 season, Hammers fans will be buoyed by their signings over the summer. I think Javier Hernandez at £16m in this climate is an absolute steal. He’s a proven goalscorer and at EVS to be West Ham’s top goalscorer, I think that’s the bet of the season. No player reached double digits for them last season and Hernandez has done that in the last 2 seasons for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Elsewhere, they’ve added Marko Arnautovic from Stoke, brought in the experience of Pablo Zabaleta at right back and Joe Hart between the sticks on loan. I really think Joe Hart, if he has a good start, will be a firm fan favourite with the Hammers faithful. West Ham were well away from the Top 6 last season, as were everyone bar Everton, but if any one of the top 6 under perform, West Ham could be the team to squeeze in there. At , that represents some real value.

BetVictor’s Recommendations:

Javier Hernandez top West Ham Premier League Scorer 

West Ham Top 6 Finish

 

Crystal Palace – Top London Club

Crystal Palace are a tough one to call. They’ve brought in Frank de Boer as manager replacing the retired Sam Allardyce and he really could go either way. He had a successful spell at Ajax wining 4 successive titles with them, but after 2 seasons losing out to PSV, he resigned. Then came a torrid 3 month spell in charge of Inter and now, a little under a year later, he’s trying his hand in the Premier League. Given time, he could become a Palace legend, but if he gets off to a poor start, the board may well do what they did to Pardew last season, who was sacked just 6 months after getting them to their first FA Cup final in 26 years. They’re a shot to nab a top half finish, which they were only 4 points short of last season. I can’t personally back them for it, as I don’t think they’ve enough to improve on the teams above them, but that price may tempt Palace fans.

 

Watford – Top London Club

Watford close out this market at 250/1 and although they don’t have a cat in hell’s chance of winning that one, I do think they could be a surprise package this season. Marco Silva has come in, and even though he couldn’t save Hull from relegation last season, they did make a marked improvement with wins over Manchester United, Liverpool and 4 home wins in his first 4 home games. With a little bit more time, and crucially, a summer to bring in players, he could thrive.

He has brought in several players as well, the pick of the bunch looking to be Richarlison from Fluminense. We’ve set the line for Richarlison goals this season at 8 at odds of EVS and, if he can get a good run in the team, he’s a great shout to hit that mark. He looked a top player for Brazil’s U20 side in the summer grabbing 2 goals and the Brazilian was the top scoring U-20 player in Brazilian football last season – a steal at £11.5m. However, with Watford having just announced the signing of Andre Gray, that may be the stumbling block. If Watford can find room for both of them in the team, I don’t think he’ll have a problem getting 8 goals.

Elsewhere, The Hornets have brought in the likes of Chalobah from Chelsea, brought back Cleverley from Everton and signed Will Hughes from Derby after they failed to get promotion last season. This is the first time that Watford have had 3 seasons in a row in the Premier League and after a couple of seasons of consolidation, it’s not crazy to think they could break into the top half if they’re new players gel. You can back them at 5/1 for a top half finish.

BetVictor’s Recommendations:

Richarlison to score 8 or more Premier League goals

Watford to finish in the top half 

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