After the first week of the English Premier League 2023/24 season, we caught up with Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba about the opening week of fixtures, and what we can take away from them going forward for the rest of the season.
Manchester City made easy work of Burnley before Newcastle United demolished Aston Villa 5-1 in what was a surprising scoreline so early in the season.
It’s great to have football back – what did you make of the opening week’s fixtures?
VI: It definitely is! There weren’t many big shocks this weekend to be honest, but the one result that did catch my attention was Newcastle’s big win over Aston Villa. Unai Emery’s side had a good end to last season and have added some big players this transfer window, but it might take a bit more time for them to gel together as a team. Newcastle are not a team that you want to play against at St. James’ Park on the first day of the season either.
For me, Chelsea drawing against Liverpool was a good result for them. We know that they had a disastrous season last year but they’ll be happy with the chances that they created, even if it wasn’t a vintage Liverpool performance.
Manchester City beat Sevilla on Wednesday to win the UEFA Super Cup. What did you make of that game?
VI: It was a great game of football between two sides playing in very different styles. Everyone knows that City want to keep possession, but Sevilla defended well and looked dangerous on the counter attack.
Despite being without their talisman Kevin De Bruyne, City were overall the better side so it feels right that they won the match even if it was on penalties.
Speaking of Kevin De Bruyne’s injury, how do you see that affecting Manchester City?
VI: City definitely have enough quality creatively to cover for De Bruyne, with Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden all being more than able to fill his spot.
For me City’s main man is Rodri. If they lose him they will look very different defensively – we’ve seen how good he is over the last two seasons.
As long as City manage to get the ball into Erling Haaland early they should keep creating chances. De Bruyne is usually the key player for those sorts of passes but I’m sure Pep will find a solution to not having him there.
As for this weekend’s fixtures, Manchester City vs Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United are the two big games. What are your predictions for these games?
I see two wins for the Manchester clubs. Haaland is full of confidence, and Kane will be a big miss for Spurs – they haven’t had a chance to replace him yet and although Heung-Min Son is a threat, he isn’t the centre forward that they need.
I’m also looking forward to the Monday night fixture between Crystal Palace and Arsenal – Michael Olise staying is a massive boost for them, and the EPL is full of games like this where the big teams can face tough tests against smaller sides.
Bukayo Saka is on his way to being one of the best wingers in the league – he is still young but he has the attitude and ability to go right to the top. His goal last weekend was another example of how he’s improved, if he can keep this up he’ll get to the level of the likes of Mohamed Salah on the right wing.
Man City & Man Utd double odds: 4.23
Booking number: 5898VTS
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