With the international break officially a thing of the past for Premier League squads, the first weekend back in domestic action was packed with some strong performances, upsets, and, above all else, goals.
Only two of the 14 teams who played Saturday were held to a clean sheet.
With another big matchweek up to go and contenders now forced to balance European play, let’s look at some best bets for Matchweek 6, including a high-value parlay.
Premier League Matchweek 6 Predictions
Premier League odds used below are current as of Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 9 a.m. ET, at the specified sportsbook.
Double Result: Tie or Tottenham Win (+110) at Arsenal
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Let’s kick things off with an upset pick of sorts, as we’re taking Tottenham to come out of the North London Derby with at least one point.
Yes, this is an away fixture, but with a local derby like this, there will absolutely be a fan presence on the Spurs side as well. Spurs are back to playing some solid attacking football with Son Heung-Min in solid form and new addition James Maddison contributing nicely already with two goals and two assists in league play.
Like Liverpool, they shook off the rust with an opening match draw but are 4-0 in the league since then.
Another wrinkle here is that on Wednesday, Arsenal will be playing their long-awaited first Champions League match of the season after a lengthy absence from the competition. They’ll most certainly be throwing their all into that competition, and to make this appearance worth their while, the Gunners will need every point they can get from a potentially challenging group.
Meanwhile, Tottenham were so bad last season that they’ve been excluded entirely from European competition, an embarrassment. Still, in this instance, they’ll be fresher than their rivals coming into Sunday’s match, making this our EPL pick of the day.
Double Result: Tie or Aston Villa Win (-115) at Chelsea
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With the exception of Tottenham migrating over from the parlay to a main play, Villa are the long club who are making a second consecutive appearance in this series after making us proud with a 3-1 win over Palace.
The Eagles are sitting in seventh again after finishing in that same spot last season, but they’ve had a pretty challenging schedule to start the season. They’ve also battered Burnley and Everton thus far while suffering tough but understandable defeats at the hands of Liverpool and Newcastle, the latter of which was on opening day.
Unai Emery’s squad is playing some excellent football, and by contrast, it’s almost impossible to overstate the hole in which Chelsea find themselves.
The addition of Mauricio Pochettino has not proven to be a secret remedy of any sort, as the Blues are once again down in 14th place with just five points. Following a scoreless draw at Bournemouth and a home loss to Nottingham Forest, Chelsea haven’t scored in the league since a late August meeting with prem debutants Luton Town, and it’s hard to imagine them turning things around against such a solid Villa team.
Brentford ML (-125) vs Everton
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If there’s one thing I will promote until proven wrong this season, it’s fading Everton.
Sean Dyche’s tough brand of football may not be enough for the Toffees, who finally look to be heading down to the Championship after seemingly flirting with the concept for a couple of seasons now.
Their only point in the Premier League thus far has come from a draw with similarly-doomed Sheffield, with losses including a home defeat to Fulham, another to fellow bottom-dwellers Wolves, and a drubbing from Villa.
Everton are not getting points on the road against a Brentford squad that sits just in the middle of the table but has been quietly solid thus far.
The Bees actually own a positive goal-scoring differential due in large part to an impressive 3-0 road win at Fulham. Brentford fought to tough draws with Tottenham and Palace and even hung right in there with Newcastle over the weekend.
This squad, with a top-eight attack thus far led by Bryan Mbeumo’s four goals, is due for a breakout, and a home meeting with Everton is a perfect opportunity for just that.
Premier League Matchweek 6 Parlay
EPL Matchweek 6 Parlay (+182)
- Liverpool ML (-245) vs West Ham
- Brighton ML (-265) vs Bournemouth
- Newcastle ML (-220) at Sheffield United
DraftKings Sportsbook • WAGER: 1 Unit
With a week of uncertainty on tap, we’re going with three heavy favorites to end up with a nice +182 payout in a relatively low-risk parlay.
Jürgen Klopp’s new-look Liverpool side feels as fresh as they have in years. After kicking the season off with a draw at Chelsea, they’ve won each of their past four matches and have looked good in doing so.
The highlight has been another dramatic comeback victory at Newcastle, in which Darwin Núñez showed just how good he can be with an incredible bench performance, but overall, the attack looks to be free-flowing once more.
After what amounts to a mid-week tuneup in the Europa League, the boys in red should be all set for a thrashing of West Ham at Anfield, which is always such a great home-field advantage.
Brighton are absolutely on fire, as they’re coming off of a pair of massive 3-1 victories, one at home against Newcastle and an emphatic road effort over Manchester United over the weekend.
The club continues its rise towards the top spots in the league and will no doubt be invigorated after a manageable midweek fixture against AEK in the Europa League, their first European appearance since the club was founded in 1901. Their opponents for the day, Bournemouth, have picked up a couple of big draws recently but still have yet to win in the Premier League this season.
Newcastle have floundered just a little bit with those losses to Liverpool and Brighton, and I’m a little nervous about backing a squad coming off of a very tough Champions League fixture in Milan.
However, to put it bluntly, Sheffield are not a Premier League-caliber side. They haven’t won yet this season, with their only point coming from a draw with fellow relegation squad Everton, and they even lost their Carabao Cup match to third-tier Lincoln City.
This club knows they need to get back in the wins in England, and after doing so against Brentford, they can absolutely keep it going against one of the lowest sides in the league.
