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Arsenal v Swansea

Two weeks is a long time in football when the last result your club recorded was an 8-2 thrashing by a team you were hoping to match, but for Arsenal the day has come to put that nightmare firmly behind them. A home game against 1.66 relegation favourites Swansea - who have yet to score a Premier League goal in 270 minutes of football - is a perfect opportunity for Arsene Wenger and his team to kick start their season, and the Gunners should be backed to win in a canter.

With four deadline day signings (Park Chu-Young, Andre Santos, Per Mertesaker and Mikel Arteta) added to their ranks Wenger appears to have plugged some of the gaps left by their high-profile summer departures, so expect a steady climb up the table in the coming weeks.

Swansea look destined for the drop, even at this early stage of the season. They play some neat football but I've seen it all before; if you can't stick the ball in the net - and let's face it, Danny Graham and Leroy Lita hardly inspire confidence - you won't win many games. Brendan Rodgers' men have already failed to beat Wigan and Sunderland at the Liberty Stadium and those are the games you need to be winning if you want to remain a Premier League outfit.

As Opta stats show Arsenal have never lost three consecutive home games in the Premier League, so they won't lose this one. And with Opta also pointing out the fact that the Swans are yet to score a league goal this term then a safe wager should be Arsenal Win to Nil at 2.2. I Expect the Gunners to burst out of the blocks, so hopefully they'll get an early goal to land the Arsenal/Arsenal bet at 2.08 in the Half Time/Full Time market.

Everton v Aston Villa

I remember previewing this exact fixture in April, and thankfully landed a nice bet when I advised Over 3.5 Goals simply because of the head-to-head stats. Of course, trends don't always bear fruit but this was a good example of a time when they did. Going into April's game, from Everton and Villa's seven previous meetings six of them had resulted in both teams getting on the score sheet, and at least four goals had been scored in five of those games. April's game ended 2-2 so the stats are even stronger now.

Both teams are arguably weaker than they were five months ago and I'm of the opinion that both will do well to finish in the top half of the table this season. That said, this should be an entertaining encounter given what I've already mentioned and the fact that - as Opta stats show - Villa have kept just one clean sheet in their last 21 away league games, and Everton have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 15 games against Villa.

Two bets stand out then - the Yes option in the Both teams to Score market at 1.95 and the Over 3.5 Goals option at 4.2. Layers obviously haven't checked those head-to-head stats!

Man City v Wigan

You can't help but laud the squad Roberto Mancini - with a staggering financial backing of course - has put together at Eastlands; it's full of quality and has incredible flexibility, especially in attack. I really can't choose between City and Manchester United for the title, so at the current odds - 3.2 City, 2.4 United - I'd have to go for the blue side of Manchester.

As the Opta stats point out, City have won their last six league games stretching back to the end of last season, but rather surprisingly Wigan are currently on the longest unbeaten run (seven games) of all the Premier League clubs. Don't let that latter stat sway you however, this is far and away Wigan's toughest test for a long time (their three games unbeaten this season were all against newly-promoted clubs) and I expect them to get rolled over quite easily.

An interesting Opta stat points out that no current Wigan player has ever scored against Man City, and although that stat is a bit of a frivolous one it does add a tad of confidence to the Man City Win to Nil wager at 1.9. Mancini's men have been so free-scoring this term (12 goals in three games) that I also fancy the Man City Win Both Halves bet at 2.1.

Recommended Bets
Best Bet: Back Arsenal Win to Nil @ 2.2 v Swansea
Back Arsenal HT/Arsenal FT @ 2.08 v Swansea
Back Both teams to Score @ 1.95 in Everton v Aston Villa
Back Over 3.5 Goals @ 4.2 in Everton v Aston Villa
Back Man City Win to Nil @ 1.9 v Wigan
Back Man City Win Both Halves @ 2.1 v Wigan

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