EPL: Top games in Round 1

The 2021/22 Premier League season fixtures were released at the end of June 2021, and in mid-August, the first of 380 league matches will be played, with newly-promoted Brentford welcoming Arsenal.

A number of top games are lined up on the weekend, with a full schedule of 20 matches set to be played from Friday 13th August to Sunday 15th. Champions Manchester City will be last to step up, with an away game in North London, against Tottenham Hotspur.

Brentford join Norwich City and Watford, who return to the top flight after just one season out, and each one of them will be hoping to avoid going right back to the Championship.

Wincomparator have the best Premier League odds listed for the opening weekend, for each of the ten matches.

Arsenal had a poor campaign once again last season, and for the first time in over two decades, they will miss European football. It means they have a lot to prove going into the new season, and it won’t be easy starting against a newly promoted team eager to prove its worth. Without European football, they have lesser matches and should be able to do well.

Manchester United starting at home to Leeds United also promises to be a key game in the opening weekend of action. United finished second last season, and this time around they should be targeting going a notch higher. A good start is thus key, but they face a Leeds United side that’s also a tricky opponent.

Chelsea dive right in with a London derby. They will be at home to welcome Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace, whose odds for a win, at 13, are the highest for the first week of action, perhaps going by the two sides’ finishes.

Aston Villa had a good run last season and will be keen to keep rising, even though one of their top players, Jack Grealish, is continually linked with a move away. They start the season away to newly-promoted Watford, and Villa are obviously tipped the favourites.

Wolves enter a new era after the departure of Nuno Espirito Santos, and they start it off with an away game against Leicester City. Going by their higher finish last season, the home team is definitely the one favoured to win here and have the best odds at 1.68.

Burnley and Brighton struggled last season, and even going to the new campaign, it isn’t that they’ve made really big moves in the transfer market. It follows then that picking a winner between the two will be tough. Brighton, the away team, is backed to win, though.

Liverpool travel to newly-promoted Norwich, carrying the favourites’ tag with odds of 1.34, while the league’s new boys have odds of 9.5, the second-highest after Crystal Palace for the opening weekend.

West Ham United, one of the surprise teams last season, will be away to Newcastle United, and they are tipped to win the game. 

The biggest game of the opening weekend will definitely be Tottenham versus Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

City start their title defence against the team they beat to the League Cup last season. It is likely Spurs’ top man Harry Kane will not feature here, which further advances City’s advantage.