15:00 Saturday

Wolves vs Brighton – Brighton 

We travel to the West Midlands for the first game of Saturday’s Favfour to see Wolves take on Brighton. The Seagulls have kicked on from last season and started their 23/24 season with an emphatic 4-1 demolition of Luton Town on the opening day. They maintained 71% possession and registered 12 shots on target as they ran away with three points against the league’s newbies. 

Wolves, after losing Julen Lopetegui at the last minute and replacing him with Gary O’Neil, looked like one of the teams destined for the drop this year. However, after a solid opening day performance away at Old Trafford public opinion has shifted. They were unfortunate not to walk away with a point after a blatant foul from Andre Onana wasn’t picked up by VAR. Regardless, O’Neil will be happy with that performance and will be able to take many positives away from it. 

However, for this one we think they face an uphill battle. Brighton have won on their last two visits to Molineux and dispatched Wolves 6-0 in their latest meeting. They won 42% of games away from the Amex last season whilst outscoring their opponents by 3 goals. Wolves on the other hand, struggled to score at Molineux in the league. They won more 47% of their games at Molineux last season but only managed to score 19 goals, only Everton scored less at home last season. For this reason we see only a Brighton win here. 

15:00 Saturday

Liverpool vs Bournemouth – Liverpool 

The next game of Saturday’s Favfour is the other three o’clock kick off in the Premier League. Liverpool take on Bournemouth at Anfield in a tie that ended 9-0 only a year ago. Miraculously after this, Bournemouth managed to stay up after Gary O’Neil came in to replace a struggling Scott Parker. Liverpool struggled for a majority of the season but put a good run of form together at the end to qualify for the Europa League. 

Both sides come into this with very different sides, so we can’t see such a demolition on the cards again. Liverpool have struggled to replaced Fabinho, missing out on both their targets to Chelsea, so they are a bit weak in the centre of midfield. However, they do still the attacking quality in midfield that won’t get the run around against lesser teams. 

 

 

Both sides drew their opening games but Liverpool are always good at home, so we can see this being a real challenge for Bournemouth. Although they had a poor season last year, compared to their standards, they still managed to win 68% in front of their home faithful, solidifying the fact that Anfield is always a hard place to go to. Bournemouth weren’t too bad on the road last season, winning 26% of their games, but we can see this one being too much for them. Liverpool to win this one. 

15:00 Saturday

Leicester vs Cardiff – Leicester 

We move down to the Championship for our next game as Leicester host Cardiff City. Many had Leicester as one of the favourites for the title this season and with two back to back wins to start off, they seem to be well within the mix. 

After a disappointing season last time out, Cardiff were tipped to struggle once again. They managed to hold newly relegated side Leeds to a draw at Elland Road in the opening game, which put some hope into the hearts of some Cardiff fans, but they went on to be beaten 2-1 at home by a QPR side who are one of the favourites for the drop in the next game. 

For this one, Leicester are the clear favourites with a huge advantage over their Welsh counterparts. They come down with several Premier League quality players so we can see an easy Foxes victory here. 

15:00 Saturday

Sunderland vs Rotherham – Sunderland 

Our final game sees Sunderland take on Rotherham at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats were beaten in the play-off semi-final by Luton last season and they will hope they can compete at the top once again after winning promotion to the Championship only the season before last. 

However, they haven’t gotten their season off to a good start. They have lost their opening two matches against Ipswich and Preston and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crewe Alexandra. Meanwhile, their opponents for this one were battered 4-1 by Stoke in their opening fixture and gave up a 2-0 lead against Blackburn to claim only a point in the next. 

Sunderland could have felt hard done by in their first game at home, after a good display, so they will be looking to put things right this time around. Rotherham were terrible on the road last season, winning only 9% of their games and we can see that continuing into the new season here. Sunderland to win.