West London home teams worth backing in EPL openers

Fulham is the best bet on the opening weekend of the English Premier League season as the Cottagers welcome a Norwich team that looks set to struggle now that its inspirational manager, Paul Lambert, has flown the Canaries`s nest.

Martin Jol enjoyed a decent first season in the Fulham hot seat and, having replaced departing strikers Andrew Johnson and Pavel Pogrebnyak with Mladen Petric and Hugi Rodallega, the Dutchman can be hopeful of equalling last term`s ninth position, three places and five points ahead of Norwich.

The Canaries went from English League One to the English Premier League in consecutive seasons under Lambert, whose obvious managerial talents prompted former European club champion Aston Villa to headhunt him with a big cheque.

As likely as Lambert is to become the next Alex Ferguson, Martin O`Neill or Arsene Wenger, there is little doubt that Norwich was flattered by its 13th position at the end of its first English Premier League campaign, with its woodwork being struck a division-high 26 times during the season.

The strong impression is that Lambert got the very best out of a Canaries squad that, in other hands, would have find itself back in the English Championship after one campaign with the big boys. New Norwich coach Chris Hughton has his hands full keeping the Norfolk club among the English elite, not helped by the fact that his summer signings have come from sides such as Barnsley, Leeds and Sunderland.

Fulham, whose pre-season results have been superior to those of Norwich and who won last term`s corresponding fixture, are available at around 5-6 and that is a good price.

There is another great value English Premier League match bet in west London, with big-spending Queens Park Rangers attractive at around 6-5 to defeat Swansea at Loftus Road.

While the Super Hoops were somewhat fortunate to survive last season, one must not overlook the fact that they won their last five home matches, beating Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke, Tottenham and the Swans from south-west Wales.

Rangers are likely to secure a mid-table position thanks to the heavy spending of Mark Hughes in the transfer market, a ranking that Swansea would take now with so many question marks about how it will fare under new boss Michael Laudrup.

The Swans find themselves in a very similar position to the Canaries. They, too, have seen the architect of their recent success lured away to a bigger club and it remains to be seen how they respond to a change of management.

QPR is around 6-5 to get off to a winning start by beating Swansea and that looks over the odds. The home team should be in the red numbers given the off-season movements.

Last but not least, Reading appeals at around 11-8 for its English Premier League game versus the side that everyone loves to hate, long-ball Stoke, at the Madejski Stadium.

The Royals were easily the best team in last term`s English Championship, making light of a bad start to win the title thanks to a stunning run of 20 victories in 26 matches.

While Reading seems to be heading in a northerly direction, Stoke appears set to travel south. The Potters have stuck with the roster that won only one of their last 11 English Premier League games last season and that solitary success came at the expense of the bottom club, Wolverhampton.

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19/08/2012     © Frixo 2024