Before becoming a Sports Journalist for Free Super Tips, Aaron spent three years studying Sports Journalism at the University of Sunderland while taking in the Black Cats' 'glory years' under Martin O'Neill. Now back in Northern Ireland he turns niche stats into predictions for FST, while he's one of the few people on this island who is equally comfortable at Windsor Park and the Aviva.
All five big leagues are up and running on top of all the football happening elsewhere in Europe this weekend. There’s almost too many matches to get through, but luckily we’ve enlisted three Racing Post tipsters to help out.
Together we’ve picked out six standout bets from across Sunday’s slate, which combine for a 50/1 accumulator tip!
Don’t forget you can get coverage of the opening weekend in Serie A in our match-by-match guide.
Experts’ Best Bets Accumulator
Alex Wrigley
Sports editor and journalist at Free Super Tips
Southampton vs Man Utd – Man Utd to win at 4/7
Manchester United haven’t lost at St Mary’s since 2003 and after their 5-1 demolition of Leeds last weekend and Southampton’s second-half collapse at Everton I can’t see that changing this weekend.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are unbeaten away from home in the Premier League since January 2020 and their last meeting with the Saints was that incredible 9-0 win at Old Trafford. Southampton look primed for a difficult season and should struggle to cope with Manchester United’s talented attackers.
Aaron Rogan
Sports journalist at Free Super Tips
Napoli vs Venezia – Napoli -1 at 8/13
Napoli start life under Luciano Spalletti with a home clash against a newly-promoted Venezia side. The Partenopei have plenty of reasons to be optimistic after a good end to last term, while they built up a great record at their own ground.
The hosts are heavy favourites for another home win and with 75% of their victories at the San Paolo last term coming by at least two clear goals Napoli seem like good value on the handicap.
Gareth Freeman
Sports journalist at Free Super Tips
Dundee vs Hibernian – Hibernian to win at 4/5
Hibernian have started the Premiership season with six points from two games, scoring six goals and conceding just two in the process, and they should be too strong for promoted Dundee.
Hibs had a great away record last season – only champions Rangers picked up more points on their travels – and they’ve won each of their last three trips to Dens Park.
Ian Wilkerson
Sports journalist at Racing Post
Hoffenheim vs Union Berlin – Hoffenheim to win at evens
Hoffenheim began their Bundesliga season with a 4-0 win over Augsburg last week and they should be able to build on that by seeing off Union Berlin.
The hosts ended last season by winning their final three home matches and there seems little reason to believe they cannot continue that run of form at the PreZero Arena.
Union started their campaign with an encouraging draw against Bayer Leverkusen, but they have not been good travellers, winning just once in their last ten away games, so this one looks set for a home win.
Dan Childs
Sports journalist and EFL expert at Racing Post
Arsenal vs Chelsea – Chelsea to win at 8/11
There were very few positives for Arsenal to take from their 2-0 loss at Brentford and a second successive defeat is on the cards against the European champions.
The Gunners struggled in both penalty boxes against the Bees and could be picked off by a Chelsea side beefed up by the arrival of centre-forward Romel Lukaku. Arsenal’s fragile rearguard struggled to cope with Bees’ striker Ivan Toney and they are unlikely to fare any better at the weekend.
Steve Davies
Sports journalist at Racing Post
Rennes vs Nantes – Nantes Draw No Bet at 2/1
Rennes backed up a pair of Ligue 1 draws against Lens and Brest by seeing off Rosenborg 2-0 at home in their first Europa Conference League outing on Thursday.
That doesn’t leave much recovery time and boss Bruno Genesio has said he will make changes going into the big one, the Breton derby against bitter rivals Nantes. The Canaries survived relegation by the skin of their teeth last season but did finish the campaign strongly and four points from six thus far hints at a better year ahead.
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Get the latest Premier League Predictions from the experts at Free Super Tips. Just one of the many leagues we cover with our daily Football Predictions.
