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Preview 15/16 August

Having to face Liverpool on the opening day of the season is never an attractive prospect but Totttenham Hotspur can at least take consolation from the fact that their strikers are in form. Jermain Defoe scored both goals in England`s 2-2 draw against the Netherlands whilst Roman Pavlyuchenko got on the scoresheet for Russia against none other than Argentina. Not wanting to be out-done by their upcoming opponents though, Liverpool`s Fernando Torres, Alberto Riera and Dirk Kuyt all scored on Wednesday night as well. In a tight match to call, going over 2.5 goals at 2.08 (11/10) on Betfair may be the right shout.

Every year pundits seem happy to doubt Everton`s ability to match the previous season`s achievements before a ball has been kicked and every year David Moyes takes great pleasure in proving them wrong. The Joleon Lescott saga is unlikely to be resolved by the time the Toffees kick-off against Arsenal in the Saturday tea-time kick-off but Everton are anything but a one-man team and if he goes to Manchester City, they will get on with the job as ever. Both teams would probably settle for a draw early on in their campaign and at 3.4 (12-5), so should you.

No prospective future owner, no manager and no Michael Owen or Obafemi Martins didn`t bode well for Newcastle United`s chances of going straight back up. So it was perhaps a surprise to some that they showed great fight in coming from a goal down to draw against Championship favourites West Brom on Saturday. They host Reading this Saturday, a side with plenty of problems of their own after losing first manager Steve Coppell and then Marcus Hahnemann, Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt. A repeat of their performance last week should see Newcastle take all three points off the Royals, a 2.24 (5-4) chance.

Leeds are the clear favourites to make it into the very division that Newcastle are desperate to get out of. No prizes for guessing who scored both their goals as they beat Exeter on the first day of the season. And even if Jermaine Beckford doesn`t score again, Leeds should still be too good for Wycombe. Get with them at 2.0 (evens).

In League Two, Aldershot are gunning to make it two from two after beating Darlington last weekend. They`re a 4.5 (7/2) shot to beat Rochdale and whereas that may be a little ambitious, the 3.65 (11/4) on them grabbing a point is tempting.

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