The English Premier League’s first top-six clash comes very early for fans as Frank Lampard’s Chelsea travel to Old Trafford to face off against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United.
After a drop off near the end of last season, Solskjaer will be desperate to start things off on the right foot with a victory on home soil valued at $2.10.
Similarly, Lampard will want to begin his Chelsea management career on the right track and take three points [$3.25] back to London.
Chelsea have proven to be somewhat of a bogey team for United in the Premier League era, with the Red Devils having lost more league games (18) and conceding more goals (71) against the Blues than they have against any other team.
Additionally, Manchester United have won just two of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Chelsea - losing five and drawing six across that period.
Although he has been seeking a move away from Manchester in the off-season, Paul Pogba was one of the main beneficiaries of Mourinho’s departure, scoring 10 goals in the English top-flight after Solskjaer’s introduction.
He will be hoping to take that record into the new season and start his season off with a goal with odds of $3.10 for him to score anytime during the match.
With Eden Hazard leaving to seek pastures new at Real Madrid, Chelsea's midfield will need to pick up the goalscoring slack. In pre-season, Lampard's two midfielders, Ross Barkley and Mason Mount, have shown their potential as players who can clinically put away chances, sharing seven goals between them in their last five non-competitive fixtures.
Barkley and Mount both have odds of $13 to be the opening goalscorer of that match, while Barkley is $7 to score first for his team with Mount trading at $6.50.
Both teams are currently undergoing a serious amount of transition in their squad as they look to renew after a few frustrating seasons of stagnation.
The main objective for both teams will be to keep it tight at the back in their season opener and this might result in a low-scoring and scrappy affair, with odds of $1.76 for the game to end with less than 2.5 goals.
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