After nailing an even-money winner in Scotland on Friday night, SlipsTips shares his favourite fancy from the first Saturday of the new English Premier League season.
Watford vs Aston Villa (Saturday, 15:00)
Newly-promoted Watford kick-off their Premier League campaign against Aston Villa at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon.
Bouncing back from relegation at the first attempt was a good effort by the Hornets and they will be desperate to hit the ground running when they return to the big time this weekend.
Aston Villa, meanwhile, start a new era without Jack Grealish, but Villa boss Dean Smith looks to have spent wisely as his side aim to build on some excellent performances from last term.
The bookies make the new-look Villians 6/5 (BetVictor) favourites to start the season with a victory but I'm going to swerve the match result market and instead head to Bet 365‘s Bet Builder.
If we combine each team to see over zero cards and over three match cards we will be presented with a backable 4/5 (Bet 365) punt that makes appeal.
This is set to be a momentous occasion for Watford fans, with Vicarage Road at full capacity for the first time in almost 18 months and that should contribute to a closely-fought contest between two sides who will be fired-up to get off to a flyer.
It's also worth noting that experienced Premier League referee Mike Dean has been selected to take charge of this season opener, an appointment that immediately had my eyes drawn to the card markets.
The Wirral-born whistler has a reputation for being card-happy – Dean was averaging 3.92 cards per-game in the Premier League last season – and with capacity crowds now being permitted, we could see an increase in names being taken.
What's more, Watford were the most ill-disciplined team in the second tier last term with their 1.8 card per game average whilst Aston Villa were seeing 1.82 bookings per 90 minutes last season – a tally only topped by a hapless Sheffield United team.
With all of that in mind, I'm more than happy to proceed with play on each team to see at least one card and over three cards combined, a 4/5 (Bet 365) shot.
Recommended Bet
- Over 0 Watford Cards, Over 0 Aston Villa Cards & Over 3 Match Cards– Bet Builder – 4/5 (Bet 365)
Freelance Sports Writer and Betting Analyst with over five years experience. I’ve written football and darts betting content for some of the biggest betting websites and newspapers in the UK. With a strong passion for the fascinating world of Scottish football, I also regularly feature in Nutmeg, the much-loved Scottish football magazine. Falkirk season ticket holder and avid watcher of football and darts, whether it be UK-based or further afield. Feel free to follow me on X @SlipsTips
