Soccer: Premier League Matchday 1 Preview 2022-23

EPL Season Kicks Off

Six Matchups to Watch For in the EPL

After two and a half months of wait, the Premier League is back! There are some intriguing matchups right off the bat and we’ll cover them in this Premier League Matchday 1 preview. This weekend, we’ll get the first look at all of the new signings and the newly promoted clubs. With Liverpool and Manchester City’s dominance of the league over the past few seasons, the big question is, can anyone else compete?

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal

Arsenal will be hungry this season after narrowly missing out on a Champions League place in 2021-22. Gunners legend Patrick Vieira will kick off his second season as Crystal Palace boss with a visit from his former club in the EPL opener.

Last season, Palace dominated Arsenal 3-0 at Selhurst Park and it took a last-gasp goal for Arsenal to get a 2-2 draw at the Emirates. With Summer signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arsenal have strengthened in key areas, though.

So, the Gunners come into this match as -110 road favorites in this London derby. In their last two preseason matches, Arsenal outscored Chelsea and Sevilla by a combined 10-0 scoreline.

The O/U goals total is currently set at 2½. The cover has come through in the last three Premier League meetings.

Fulham vs Liverpool

Newly promoted Fulham will be thrown into the Premier League fire as they host Liverpool on Saturday. Our Premier League Matchday 1 preview identifies this as one of the Matchday 1 fixtures with the widest spread. Notably, four of the last five Premier League meetings between these teams have been decided by a goal or fewer.

Coming off of a 3-1 victory vs. Manchester City in the FA Community Shield, Liverpool is 1½-goal road favorite. New striker Darwin Nunez opened up his Liverpool account as a substitute with a goal vs. City.

Fulham was dominant last season in the Championship and Aleksandar Mitrovic scored 14 more goals than any other EPL player in the league. The Cottagers are massive +825 underdogs, while Liverpool is showing -325 English Premier League betting odds to win.

Tottenham vs Southampton

Tottenham invested heavily in their squad in the offseason and start the 2022-23 campaign vs. Southampton. Spurs are 1½-goal favorites but it’s Southampton who is implied to be more likely to cover, at -135.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton is priced at +300 to get relegated and it’s unclear where they’ll get scoring from this season. Armando Broja, who scored six times last season, is back with Chelsea.

Antonio Conte, on the other hand, has molded Spurs in his own image. New signings Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Richarlison, and Djed Spence could all play key roles this season.

Everton vs Chelsea

This is one of the most intriguing EPL matchups of the weekend according to Premier League Matchday 1 previews. Everton manager Frank Lampard is a Chelsea legend but was unceremoniously fired as Chelsea boss in early 2021. The Toffees also narrowly avoided relegation last season and could certainly gain some momentum with a result here.

Everton got a crucial win over Chelsea in their Premier League survival fight in May and was undefeated vs. the Blues last season. On the other hand, it’s not easy to know what to expect from Thomas Tuchel’s Blues. They lost key defender Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and the Romelu Lukaku experiment is over…for now at least.

Chelsea stumbled to the finish line last season with just three wins in their final eight Premier League matches in 2021-22. Despite their personnel losses, they’ve retooled by signing Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly. The Blues are still -135 favorites here, while Everton sits at +370 odds to win their season opener.

Manchester United vs Brighton

After rumors of Cristiano Ronaldo wanting a move away, Ronaldo is back in training and could feature on Sunday vs. Brighton. The last time these two teams played, Manchester United was embarrassed 4-0 by an upstart Brighton.

What should help Man U is having their home fans behind them to start the Erik ten Hag era. They’ve 6-0 vs. Brighton at home in the Premier League and are -190 favorites as a result.

The Seagulls, sitting at +525 odds, shouldn’t be completely counted out, though. Brighton manager Graham Potter seems to get the best out of the talent he has year after year.

West Ham vs Manchester City

This is a difficult fixture for two-time defending Premier League champions Manchester City. In the midst of Manchester City’s title bid last season, West Ham managed a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.

EPL futures odds price the Cityzens as odds on favorites to win the league again, at -170 odds. New signing Julian Alvarez scored in his debut last Saturday, in a 3-1 Community Shield loss vs. Liverpool. Norwegian standout Erling Haaland will also be eager to open up his City account on Sunday in his EPL debut.

With Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus gone, City’s two young Summer signings will be tasked with shouldering the goalscoring load this season. Meanwhile, West Ham should continue to be a tough Premier League team to play under David Moyes. City are 1½-goal favorites but the last five meetings in all competitions have been decided by a goal or fewer.

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