It was Preston North End and MK Dons who let us down last Saturday with Swindon Town, Barnet and Dundee United all doing their part of our 24/1 shot nicely.
We go only four-games deep this week but with one really big price, the current odds are actually slightly better at 26/1…
We start with a massive price that I’m sure will get many interested, considering what we’ve been seeing from Erik ten Hag’s men in recent weeks.
Outside of beating a weakened Crystal Palace side in the Carabao Cup, it has been back-to-back-to-back defeats for the Red Devils in front of their own fans, with Brighton and the aforementioned Crystal Palace taking three vital Premier League points with them back down south, coupled with Turkish club Galatasaray winning for the first time in 17 attempts away from home in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
Off the field issues have once more been dominating the headlines as after dealing with Mason Greenwood, issues have arisen with both Jadon Sancho and Anthony.
It doesn’t seem like a happy camp right now and even though Thomas Frank brings his side to Old Trafford without a win since the middle of August, the way things are going for the 20-time Champions of England, they will be fancying their chances.
In that run of five-straight league games without a win, they played well in the majority of them with only the 1-3 home defeat to Everton a real blot on their copybook. They play well on the break and if the home side start slowly, the atmosphere could turn toxic. Well worth the big price.
A much smaller price comes from just up the M66, where Chelsea take on a Burnley side who have looked better in recent weeks but this might be a bit of a step-up in class.
Vincent Kompany’s side went to Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night and won a big relegation six-pointer. They also gave Newcastle cause for concern early on in their game at St. James’ Park, before going down to a relatively routine 2-0 away defeat and Manchester United only managed to win 0-1 at Turf Moor.
The problem they have is that Chelsea finally looked half-decent on Monday night and whilst they may not have scored as many as they really should have, considering their total domination,particularly in the first 45 minutes. What we did see would have been rather encouraging for Mauricio Pochettino.
Raheem Sterling has started the season looking much more like himself and the England man is expected to return to the starting XI, with the injury doubt for Mykhailo Mudryk. The midfield three of Caicedo, Fernandez and Gallagher seemed to click and they controlled the middle of the park against Fulham.
If they can replicate this type of performance, then you would fully expect them to come away from Turf Moor with all three points.
Ipswich Town have been an absolute rock solid staple of this column so far this season and a home game against Preston North End is no reason to jump off that bandwagon.
PNE had enjoyed a good start to the season, primarily buoyed by four consecutive 2-1 wins at Deepdale. Last Saturday however, that run came to a shuddering halt as West Brom scored four without reply and they backed that poor result up with a 3-0 defeat at Leicester. Not good.
A trip down to Portman Road is not at all what the doctor ordered, with the home side having only dropped three points in front of their own fans so far this season, in that thrilling 3-4 game with Leeds United back in late August.
The Tractor Boys score plenty of goals – particularly at home – having scored at least three times in no fewer than five straight games in Suffolk. Recent evidence says they should be one of the first teams in any Saturday accumulator and I’m more than happy to put them in mine this weekend.
We finish up down at Home Park in a battle of mid-table teams separated by one place and one point.
Swansea have finally found some form, having won three straight beating Norwich City, Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday, to drag themselves away from the early season drop-zone.
As for Plymouth, their recent form has been heading very much in the opposition direction, losing three of their past five, including a pretty surprising 2-0 defeat at the hands of Millwall on Tuesday night.
Boss Steven Schumacher was impressed with their attacking play but their inability to find the back of the net despite having 21 attempts on goal will have been disappointing. It should be noted, however, that in their previous game at home, they smashed six past Norwich City.
That in large part is why I like the home side to win this one. They have played well enough at home so far this season that a team like Swansea – even in half-decent form – shouldn’t be overly concerning.
