Weekend Premier League Accumulator – Opening Week (Aug 15–18)

Finally. After months of transfer rumours and meaningless pre-season friendlies, the Premier League is back. And nothing says welcome back like throwing together a tasty ACCA for the first round of fixtures.

This ones a mix of "bankers" and a couple of cheeky Both Teams to Score shouts. Here’s my six-fold for the weekend and why I’m backing each leg.

Sunderland v West Ham - BTTS

It’s been a whirlwind summer for Sunderland. Since Tommy Watson’s unforgettable 95th-minute winner in the play-off final, the club has overhauled the squad, bringing in ten new players, including Premier League-proven stars like Granit Xhaka and Simon Adingra. While promotion brought pure joy last season, all this change adds a layer of uncertainty. Historically, newly promoted sides have struggled to stay up, the last six English top-flight teams to make the jump all went straight back down, so Sunderland need a strong start if they want to avoid a relegation scrap.

West Ham, fresh off finishing 14th for the second time in three seasons, have also had a summer of upheaval. The sale of Mohammed Kudus to Spurs and the departure of several long-serving players means Graham Potter will field a very different Hammers side this weekend. Pre-season form in the Premier League Summer Series (two wins, one loss) gives fans some hope, but the real test begins now.

History adds a little spice to this clash. Sunderland haven’t faced West Ham in any competition since 2016/17, the season they were relegated with just 24 points, one of those points coming against the Londoners. West Ham, meanwhile, have been unbeaten in their last eight head-to-heads with Sunderland (four wins, four draws), and Sunderland have struggled at home recently, losing their last three regular-season games 1-0.

Season openers haven’t been kind to Sunderland either, they haven’t won any of their last nine opening fixtures in the Premier League (three draws, six defeats). West Ham, on the other hand, were strong as pre-match favourites last term, unbeaten in eight of 11 league games in that role (five wins, three draws, three losses). They’ve also done well away against promoted sides, losing just once in their last eight matches (six wins, one draw).

Granite Xhaka, Sunderland’s new midfield maestro, brings plenty of experience, having won more Premier League games against West Ham than any other team in his career (10 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss), and he assisted in his last home meeting with the Irons. Jarrod Bowen remains West Ham’s key man, with 56 goals in 193 top-flight appearances, and he’ll be looking to continue his streak of scoring in the club’s opening away game for the third season running.

Both teams have plenty to prove on the opening weekend. Sunderland are brimming with exciting new talent, West Ham have shown promise over the summer, and the clash promises goals at both ends. Backing Both Teams to Score looks like a smart move in what should be an entertaining kickoff to the season.

Wolves vs Manchester City – City to Win

Wolves on opening day? An ideal opening for City to ease themselves into the new season in an effort to leave a low-key previous campaign behind.

City might not have been perfect last year, but they’re still City, stacked with quality, ridiculous depth, and a style that doesn’t really need a warm-up period. Wolves, on the other hand, were scraping along in the bottom half last season and didn’t exactly strengthen massively.

If Wolves sit deep, City will just keep the ball and wait for the gap. If they press high, Haaland will be away before you’ve finished your pint. Either way, I can’t see anything but three points for the away side.

Tottenham vs Burnley – Spurs to Win

New season, new boss, new buzz. Thomas Frank is in, and Spurs fans are going to be well up for this one.

Burnley are back in the top flight and will want to make a statement, but they’re also facing a side that’s just spent the summer getting drilled into a proper shape. Spurs under Frank are likely to be more organised at the back and still dangerous going forward.

Yes, they've lost James Maddison to injury but Mohammed Kudus has arrived as has Palhinha.

Opening day at home is usually worth half a goal anyway — add in the “new manager bounce” factor and I think Spurs should get the job done here.

The Londoners have won their last six home games with Burnley and are unbeaten in 12 such meetings.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – Chelsea to Win

Chelsea vs Palace at the Bridge is one of those fixtures you just trust. Palace rarely get much joy here, and Chelsea bounce into the new season as "World Champions."

They’re still a work in progress, sure, but with the home crowd behind them and the sheer amount of attacking talent they can throw on, I think they’ll have enough to edge Palace, even if it’s not a cricket score.

The Eagles haven't won at Stamford Bridge since 2017 with the Blues winning eight of the last night clashes on the King's Road and also going unbeaten across those nine home fixtures.

Aston Villa vs Newcastle – Aston Villa to win

This has “goals” written all over it. Just look at the recent H2H scorelines, 4-1, 3-0, 1-3, 5-1, 3-0, 4-0, with Newcastle winning three in a row before Villa comprehensively took the most recent collision in April at Villa Park.

Usually, this would be billed as Watkins v Isak but the latter remains exiled by Eddie Howe, Watkins scored in Villa's last prep match, a 0-2 win against Villarreal.

Newcastle have had a bruising pre-season both in terms of results and in the transfer market and they may get off to a sluggish start as a result.

Only Liverpool, City and Chelsea had better home records than Villa last term.

Brighton vs Fulham – Both Teams to Score

Brighton games are basically BTTS bingo. They score plenty, but they also give you that “will they keep a clean sheet?” feeling, and the answer is usually no.

Fulham aren’t a park-the-bus kind of team either. They’ve got wingers who can hurt you, and they like getting numbers in the box. This is one of those matches where both sides will fancy their chances, and neither will be happy with a point until late on.

In fact, a league-high 71% of both Brighton’s and Fulham’s games last season saw both teams score.

There was a combined total of seven goals in the two meetings last season, while there has been over 2.5 goals in all of the last three.

Fulham's opening day record is poor with just one win in their last eight season openers but Brighton have lost their star striker João Pedro to Chelsea.

The Seagulls did end last season in good form at home with five wins from their last eight at the Amex, netting 2+ goals in all those victories.

Our Accumulator

BTTS (Sunderland v West Ham)

Man City to Win (at Wolves)

Spurs to Win (vs Burnley)

Chelsea to Win (vs Palace)

Aston Villa to win (Villa vs Newcastle)

BTTS (Brighton vs Fulham)

COMBINED ODDS: 9.17 - Remember to shop around for the best value.

You can also claim over £150 worth of free bets for this weekend's Premier League return.