Weekend Best Bets
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
Weekend Predictions
Championship, EPL, Serie A Best Bets
Matchup: Nottingham Forest at West Bromwich Albion
League: Championship
Date: Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET
Best Bet: West Bromwich Albion to win and under 3.5 goals at 6/4
West Brom lead a fascinating Championship promotion race and can grind out a win against fellow challengers Nottingham Forest. West Brom had a bad run in January but have responded with hard-fought wins over Luton, Millwall and Reading. Forest are better than those sides, but they are a limited group whose strength is denying other teams chances. West Brom are used to promotion races, however, and look good value to win a low-scoring game.Matchup: Stoke City at Queens Park Rangers
League: Championship
Date: Saturday, 10:00 a.m. ET
Best Bet: Stoke City to win at 13/8
A terrible start to the season meant that Stoke have been embroiled in a relegation battle for the last seven months. But performances have never been that terrible, and have noticeably improved since the appointment of Michael O’Neill. They are still fourth from bottom, but they can finally start to convert decent performances into wins, starting at QPR. Since a 6-1 thrashing of Cardiff that now looks like a freak result, QPR have scored just three times in six games and their goal difference is just one better than Stoke’s. These are teams heading in opposite directions and the Potters look good value at 13/8.Matchup: Liverpool at Norwich City
League: Premier League
Date: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET
Best Bet: Liverpool -1.5 at 19/20
Liverpool raced into a 4-0 lead when these sides played each other on the opening weekend. The game ended 4-1 and Norwich gained plenty of plaudits for their bold approach, but it is impossible to see Liverpool not scoring at least twice (and probably more) at Carrow Road. In weaker years Norwich would have a very good chance of survival, but Liverpool have kept the most away clean sheets this season and Norwich’s passing style is not the kind that will trouble Liverpool. This should be comfortable.Matchup: AS Roma at Atalanta
League: Serie A
Date: Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET
Best Bet: Atalanta to win at 3/4
Atalanta lie fourth in Serie A but they lead the xG table and look good value to beat Roma at 3/4. They are exceptional going forward. Duvan Zapata will return for this match, while Josip Ilicic is in the form of his life. Roma conceded seven goals to Sassuolo and Bologna in their most recent matches, and there is every chance of Atalanta adding a few to their fantastic tally of 61 from 23 games. That is the best rate in Europe - better than an absurdly dominant PSG, or Bayern Munich, Manchester City or Liverpool. It is an incredible achievement for such a small club.Matchup: Newcastle United at Arsenal
League: Premier League
Date: Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at 11/10
Mikel Arteta has undoubtedly improved Arsenal, but that was not hard given the depths to which they sunk in the last months of Unai Emery’s tenure. That said, they have drawn their last four and only one of them - a 2-2 draw at Chelsea - could be considered a good results. 1-1 draws with Palace and Sheffield United and a turgid 0-0 away at Burnley are good games to look at when predicting this match against Newcastle. Steve Bruce’s men will be predictably defensive and will try to use their pace on the counter-attack. Arsenal retain possession well, but they still lack cutting edge - they have scored the same number oas 17th placed Aston Villa. A low-scorer looks likely here.Soccer News
