Having started their Premier League campaigns on winning notes, champions Manchester City and top-four contender Arsenal will aim to continue their winning ways when they take on Bournemouth and Leicester City, respectively, on Saturday, August 13.

Event # 1 – EPL, Arsenal vs Leicester – 9:00 am

Arsenal will aim to build on their impressive 2-0 win over London rivals Crystal Palace when they host Leicester City at their Emirates Stadium tomorrow (August 13, 2022).

The Gunner’s, Arsenal, impressed in their season opener, and will be looking to continue their winning trend against a potentially tricky opponent who will also be aiming for a top-six finish. After Arsenal got the first goal after just 23 minutes against Crystal Palace, they never looked like giving up their lead, and late in the game, dangerman, Bukayo Saka, sealed the victory with another goal. For Arsenal, the win last weekend made for a better start to the season than a year ago when they also opened their campaign on a Friday and fell to promoted Brentford 2-0, they went on to lose the next two matches as well. The Gunners are now hoping they can reverse that trend.

Leicester City got their campaign off to an exciting start but failed to hold on to a two-goal lead against Brentford and had to settle for an absolutely thrilling draw, conceding the equaliser in the final minutes of the match. Leicester’s issues from last season in holding onto leads continued in their opening match. That result meant Leicester City failed to win a Premier League home match in which they were two-plus goals for the first time since August 2003. Leicester’s fans should be a bit worried heading into Saturday’s encounter as they don’t have a great history with Arsenal. In fact, Leicester lost each of their previous three matches against Arsenal, scoring just once during this run, with Arsenal scoring seven times. Now, when it comes to them playing at the Emirates, it gets even worse. Leicester have won just one match at the Emirates since 1995.

KEY STATS

• Arsenal – the Gunners have started a Premier League campaign with two wins on six occasions, but they’ve not started with two wins without conceding since 1971-72.

• Leicester – have won just one of their last 25 away league matches against Arsenal (D4 L20), a 1-0 win in October 2020. The Foxes have lost more away top-flight matches against the Gunners than against any other side (35).

• Both sides – Arsenal have won their last three Premier League matches against Leicester City, scoring seven goals and conceding just one. The Gunners last had four consecutive league victories over the Foxes between February 1999 and December 2000.

The betting tip. Arsenal win.

Event # 2 EPL – Manchester City vs Bournemouth – 9:00 am

Buoyed by their 2-0 win over West Ham Premier League champions, Manchester City will be aiming to make it two wins on the trot when they host promoted side Bournemouth tomorrow, Saturday (August 13, 2022), at the Etihad.

City’s new summer signing Erling Haaland lived up to the billing and impressed on his Premier League debut by scoring both goals against West Ham. While neighbours Manchester United seem to be in chaos, rivals City appears happier and more relaxed, if not brutal. City dominated West Ham from start to finish having 76 per cent possession for the game, while allowing just six shots (only one on target). One match. That’s all Erling Haaland needed to make an impact in the Premier League. After being trolled by fans for missing a clear-cut chance in the Community Shield against Liverpool, the Norwegian roared back with a double to secure another routine win for the defending champions.

The Cherries, Bournemouth, following their relegation to the Championship during the 2019/20 season, made a triumphant return to the Premier League by beating Aston Villa 2-0 in their opening match. However, they will have a much bigger fish to fry against a star-studded Manchester City side – this match is being dubbed as David against Goliath in the Blue sections of Manchester, meaning anything but a routine home win would be viewed as a major surprise. With that said, Bournemouth have been involved in 15 top-flight games with over 2.5 goals, and, given that nine of Manchester City’s last 10 matches have followed suit, fans should brace themselves for another goal fest.

KEY STATS

• Man City – have only lost their first home league game in one of the last 22 seasons (W15 D6), a 5-2 loss against Leicester in 2020-21. The Citizens,’City, last four such games have produced 23 goals (F15 A8) at an average of 5.8 per game.

• Bournemouth – are winless in all 16 league meetings with Manchester City (D2 L14), the joint most one side has faced another in the history of the Football League without winning, level with Halifax Town against Cardiff City, and Wrexham against Crystal Palace. In fact, Bournemouth have only led for eight minutes in their 16 league meetings against Manchester City between 1987 and 2020.

• Both sides – Manchester City have won all 10 of their Premier League matches against Bournemouth, the best 100 per cent winning ratio by a team against another in Premier League history. Meanwhile, Bournemouth have won two of their five Premier League away games against reigning champions (D1 L2), although both of their defeats in such games have been against Manchester City.

The betting tip. Man City win.