Learn About the Premier League’s Opening Weekends History and Make the Right Betting Decision

Check out the history and statistics of Premier League opening weekends to make a better betting decision.

The wait for the new Premier League season is coming to an end! The first matches will take place tomorrow, and online sportsbooks in the United Kingdom are already offering a huge selection of betting odds for the football clashes.

The opening day will provide punters under British gambling laws with seven great matches to watch and bet on, while the remaining three openers will be held on Sunday and Monday. There are 38 games ahead for each of the 20 teams in the Premier League.

The league matches has already gotten to a start, sort of, Manchester City and Arsenal have contested the FA Community Shield and the Gunners have beaten the Citizens 3-0 getting their new season off to a very bright start.

Betting on the first weekend

A bit of statistics and how it will influence betting on the Premier League opening weekend

• Looking back through the history might provide great help to punters

• There’s a huge list of betting offers to choose from at online sportsbooks in the UK

• Chelsea are the current favorites to win the season’s trophy

Everyone expects the host teams to be performing better during the first weekend, mainly thanks to the home crowd’s support. But in some cases home advantage will not be enough to get favorable odds for those who bet on sports in the UK.

Last season only four teams out of 10 won their first home fixtures, and a year before that it was 6 teams managing to grab all three points in the first game at home. However, in the 2011/12 season only a single side won their opening game at home.

The main question for football punters this weekend is just how much can history influence a team’s form and the outcome of their first game in the season. Looking at the statistics we can see that Chelsea have only lost three of their twenty two opening Premier League matches. On the other hand QPR haven’t won any from their six attempts.

While some teams are considered to be good starters and some are not, it’s better to look at each individual game in order to make an informed decision about betting. Knowing the history of transfers and management changes won’t hurt either.

What are the odds for the weekend

Chelsea are the current favorites to win the Premier League with 15/8 odds. Their opening game is away, but they are facing the newly promoted Burnley and no surprise that the Blues are favored to win with 4/11 odds compared to a long line of 9/1 for Burnley. Chelsea have signed Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, and even brought back Didier Drogba. This kind of firepower should definitely find the back of the net, but there’s a nice line of 4/6 at Bet365 that at least one team doesn’t score.

Back when Frank Lampard was still wearing the Blues shirt, he really enjoyed the opening weekend, having scored on eight occasions. Lampard is now on loan to Manchester City, and perhaps will not get a starting place against Newcastle, but might very well be substituted in later on. There’s a juicy line of 9/4 for him to score at any time, and a huge offer of 9/1 for Lampard to score last.

Liverpool may have said goodbye to Luis Suarez this summer, but have stripped Southampton of three players and will now be welcoming Southampton to Anfield. The Reds have a shaky opening-match history, but considering they’ve missed out on a title last season by a very narrow margin, Liverpool are expected to get off to a fiery start.

Bet365 offers them a line of 5/6 to lead at half-time and win in the end – a pretty smart bet by all means. Dejan Lovren is now a Liverpool player and will definitely try and shine especially playing against old teammates. Last season Liverpool scored 36 goals from set-pieces (more than any other team) and Lovren is a specialist of those.

Dejan has already scored in pre-season and there should be no reason why he can’t do it again in the first official match for the new team. He’s got 13/2 odds to find the back of the net at any time and a huge line of 20/1 to score first.

Manchester United may have had a dismal season last time around, but there’s a new manager – Louis Van Gaal – and hopefully a brand new attitude among players. The Red Devils will certainly be looking to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the fans and get the season off to a fast start.

Wayne Rooney shined in pre-season games and since Van Gaal has named him captain, lots of things are expected of Wayne. He got 10/11 odds at Bet365 to put a goal into Swansea’s net at any time. During his career Rooney scored 6 times in opening matches, making this particular wager a very smart bet indeed.