Sunday’s Football Tips: Premier League champions Manchester City provide early acid test of Chelsea’s latest rebuild

Manchester City are favourites to claim a stunning fifth successive Premier League crown and they get their title defence underway today with a trip to Stamford Bridge.

While City have been the picture of stability under Pep Guardiola, Chelsea have been the kings of chaos since American Todd Boehly replaced Roman Abramovich in the boardroom.

There seems to have been a revolving door in the dressing room and Boehly is already on to his sixth manager, with Enzo Maresca taking over from Mauricio Pochettino in the summer.

Maresca would have wanted a kinder opening fixture than a visit from the champions but Chelsea did cause Manchester City problems last season and Guardiola's side were lucky to avoid defeat in last week's Community Shield.

Chelsea v Manchester City top betting tips

Maresca isn't the kind of manager who parks the bus so this should be an entertaining game. Both sides were leaking goals in pre-season so it's no surprise to see over 2.5 strikes at just 1/2 with Befred and BTTS the same price. If you want to find a bit of value in the goals market then over 1.5 first-half strikes pays 11/10.

The player markets offer better prices and Guardiola will lean on Kevin De Bruyne for some moments of magic again. The Belgian is 7/4 for an assist at Bet365 and that looks good value.

Erling Haaland is just 10/11 with Betfred for a goal but if you back him to score a header then the odds increase to 9/1 at Bet365.

Brentford v Crystal Palace top betting tips

The other Premier League clash today sees Crystal Palace head to Brentford for an intriguing London derby.

The Eagles were one of the form teams towards the end of last term but have lost winger Michael Olise to Bayern Munich. Eberechi Eze and Jean Philippe Mateta are still around though and Palace look a bit overpriced at 2/1 if they can pick up where they left off.

Brentford also have plenty of firepower so we should see goals at both ends. Combining BTTS with over 2.5 strikes pays 10/11 with Betfred.

Ivan Toney should lead the line for the Bees and he’s 7/4 to have two or more shots on target.

Celtic v Hibernian top tips

There’s three more Scottish League Cup ties today and Hibernian head to Celtic Park looking to make amends for last week’s 2-0 loss to the SPFL Premiership champions at Easter Road.

That defeat could have been a lot heavier and it’s reflected in the odds for this game, with Hibs 10/1 outsiders to reach the quarter-finals.

The Hoops scored four in their last home game with Kilmarnock so there could be some value in backing a Celtic win with over 3.5 goals at 6/5.

Hibs struggled to deal with the pace and movement of Celtic last week and picked up a few cards for desperate tackles. Full-backs Lewis Miller (23/10) and Jordan Obita (3/1) could be worth backing for a card against some speedy wingers.

Sunday's Football Tips: Super singles

• Kevin De Bruyne assist 7/4 Betfred
• Ivan Toney 2+ shots on target 7/4 Betfred
• Jordan Obita to be carded 3/1 Betfred

Long shot

• Erling Haaland to score a header 9/1 Bet365

Upcoming match previews & tips

• Sun 12:00 Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday
• Sun 14:00 Brentford v Crystal Palace
• Sun 15:00 Celtic v Hibernian
• Sun 16:00 Chelsea v Manchester City
• Sun 17:30 Bologna v Udinese
• Sun 17:30 Verona v Napoli
• Sun 19:45 Rennes v Lyon
• Sun 19:45 Lazio v Venezia
• Sun 19:45 Cagliari v Roma
• Sunday’s goals accumulator tips: Today’s 9/2 both teams to score & total team goals acca
• Erling Haaland odds: 22/1 for hat-trick as bookies reveal prediction vs Chelsea

Racing tips

Rizzel is riding solo for the Sunday racing and has picked out two horses to watch at Pontefract and Southwell.

• Sunday’s Racing Tips – Path To Dubai can bounce back to form now back on the all-weather
• Sunday’s Lucky 15 Tips – Sunday’s selections from Southwell and Pontefract

As always, post your betting tips for today in the comments section below.

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