Will Villa, Leeds and Wolves find the net?
Aston Villa have failed to score a single goal in their first four English Premier League matches – and unkind people say they’ve been lucky to get nil.
Other teams finding the net elusive are Leeds United with just one goal, Wolves with two, Fulham with three and Newcastle United with three.
Goal droughts can bring monetary rain to astute punters who pick up such trends in the match data.
This weekend’s Sunderland v Aston Villa and Wolves v Leeds fixtures grab attention in this respect.
Despite playing at home, Sunderland are 3.60 outsiders, with the visitors from Birmingham marked up at 2.13.
To justify those odds, Villa will have to exorcise the goal hex. Sunderland could end up being a clever play, though it’s worth remembering the lingering naivety of newly promoted teams and their opponents’ EPL street smarts.
Sunderland have scored five goals in the four rounds, but three of those came against West Ham’s calamitous defence. So, the draw at 3.40 – possibly goalless – is a calculated move.
Under Which Team to Score, option “None” is 9.60 and “Sunderland Only” 6.00.
Wolves (2.65 for the win) and Leeds (2.85), with their combined total of three goals in eight games, could deliver something similar. Again, the draw is value at 3.25.
Both Teams to Score for this match is at 1.93 for “Yes” and 1.85 for “No”.
In the Over/Under choices, 0.5 total goals is 1.08 and 7.40 respectively. Total goals of 1.50 is 1.40 over and 2.90 under.
For fans who prefer the more glamorous end of the league table, the weekend’s highlights are the great northern derby of Liverpool (1.46) and Everton (6.60) in Saturday’s early kick-off and Arsenal (1.94) against Manchester City (3.85) on Sunday evening.
The latter game will draw more than a few value-bet hounds.
All Betway odds correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
