SOCCER

Premier League Betting Guide for Matchweek 3

After opening the season with two defeats, Unai Emery and Arsenal are comfortable home favorites versus West Ham. Should you bet on the Gunners to cover the 1.5-goal spread?

Last week produced a stunning upset as Manchester United fell to Brighton by a 3-2 scoreline, but will matchweek 3 provide any similar drama?

Using Top Bet as the source for lines, let's take a look at some bets you should zero in on this week.

Please note that lines are subject to change after this article is published, which impacts betting advice. All betting lines were taken from topbet, and you can check here to see their most updated lines.

Fulham vs Burnley

Burnley +0.5

Fulham earned promotion from the Championship last season, and they were boosted by a solid 13W-8D-2L record in home matches. This is a strong mark, but they still only won 56.5% of their home matches, and Europa League-bound Burnley is certainly better than anyone Fulham faced in the Championship. Fulham’s 2018-19 EPL campaign has not started off on the right foot, as they have endured loses to Crystal Palace and Tottenham.

Burnley were one the sixth-best side in the Premier League away from home, last year, finishing with 7-7-5 mark. They have continued to play well away from home this season, having drawn all three of their away games in all competitions (including Europa League games against Aberdeen and Istanbul). With a +0.5 betting line, a draw, of course, is just as good as a win for betting purposes.

Most sportsbooks peg Burnley to be a better team than Fulham for the season, and given Burnley’s strong track record away from home, one would expect them to be able to at least earn a draw against Fulham this weekend.

Arsenal vs West Ham

Arsenal -1.5

The Unai Emery era has gotten off to a terrible start, with consecutive loses to Manchester City and Chelsea, but that's a pretty brutal schedule. Arsenal should be able to rebound as they return to the Emirates this weekend. Last season, Arsenal won all 10 of their home games against the bottom half of the league (West Ham finished 13th last season), and all but two of these victories were by two goals or more.

In contrast, West Ham were a poor away side last season, finishing with a -18 goal difference and a league-worst 42 goals allowed away from home. They also have endured a poor start to this season, including a 4-0 loss away to Liverpool and a 2-1 loss at home to Bournemouth.

A home match against West Ham should be the perfect cure for Arsenal’s early-season woes, and given their slow start, it seems unlikely that they would settle for a 1-0 victory if the game is going in their favor.

Wolves vs Manchester City

Man City -1.5, -2.0

It would seem impossible for Manchester City to be able to match their historic year from last season, but Pep Guardiola’s side have managed to look just as good, if not better, than last year through the first two games. Last season, Man City won an eye-popping 22 league games (57.9%) by at least two goals .

After dominating the Championship last season, Wolverhampton were expected to be at least a mid-table side in the EPL, but they have struggled mightily to find their footing thus far. Despite playing more than 70 minutes up a player due to both of their first two opponents receiving red cards, Wolves still have managed only one point in their first two matches.

Quite frankly, Wolves have failed to live up to their billing in the early stages of the season, and a matchup against City is not exactly a recipe to break out of an early-season slump.