Premier League betting: Back world-class Bukayo Saka to fire first at 8/1 | Football News

Jones Knows has an array of best bets to attack across the next set of fixtures, including a tip on Arsenal’s world-class winger Bukayo Saka.

How did we get on last time?

I declared my theory on there being under the market expectation of first-half goals on Boxing Day as an “educated guess” as we entered the unknown of how players and teams would react after the World Cup break. Well, in hindsight, get rid of the educated part. The Premier League began with a bang as the elite players returned in fine nick as games produced plenty of fireworks and goals in the first half of matches. My punt of 11/4 with Sky Bet on there being under a total of 10.5 first-half goals in the 10 Premier League fixtures ended up a laughable one as there were 17.

So, two points went into the bin. We all have to pay a bit of idiot tax from time to time and this was my contribution.

What Boxing Day did show me was that the Premier League has picked up where it left off with teams remaining in a similar mood and performance level to a month or so ago. This should give punters confidence to get stuck in on any potential betting angles. It certainly has for me. Time to get down to business with 4.5 points being laid down.

1pt on Bukayo Saka to score first in Brighton vs Arsenal (8/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Bukayo Saka to score first at 8/1 is a must back considering his performance level against West Ham on Boxing Day. I think we might be dealing with one of the best players in world football on current form.

Saka has taken his game to the next level in the last 12 months, as seen in the World Cup where he was England’s most potent attacker. He comes into this game in the form of his life, scoring four goals in his last five appearances for club and country. A player of his intelligence, quality, goalscoring ability and the fact he’s the Arsenal penalty taker equates to that 8/1 looking distinctly large.

2pts on Willy Boly or Joe Worrall to have one or more shots vs Chelsea and Aston Villa to win or draw vs Tottenham (3/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Nice feel to this New Year’s Day double. I’m a huge believer in Antonio Conte’s methods but his contract situation with the Tottenham board added to his team’s woeful intensity early on in games is going to bite them at some point. And when assessing the match prices here, the market is too skewed in favour of Spurs, who are so skinny at 8/13 with Sky Bet to beat an improving Aston Villa.

And, I thought Chelsea looked shaky when defending their box under pressure from corners and free-kicks against Bournemouth with the Cherries creating a healthy 0.29 worth of expected goals via set pieces with Lloyd Kelly and Dominic Solanke both missing the target from close range. Since Graham Potter took charge, Chelsea’s overall defensive metrics from set pieces are nosediving. They have shipped 33 shots from such scenarios to an expected goals backdrop of 3.18 – only six teams have a worse output from the day Potter took over.

With that in mind, it’s certainly worth looking at the Forest centre-backs to threaten.

Since Joe Worrall and Wily Boly have been paired together four games ago, they have had eight shots between them and that’s not including Boly’s disallowed goal against Manchester United.

Worrall is 13/8 with Sky Bet and Boly is 2/1 to have at least one shot in the player shots market. Both look big.