Arsenal vs Chelsea Predictions, Betting Tips, and Match Preview. 1-08-20
The English FA Cup comes to an end on Saturday as London rivals, Chelsea and Arsenal, go toe-to-toe for the coveted cup. The match is set to go underway from 15:30 GMT as both teams will be bidding to secure their first silverware of the season.
Chelsea was impressive in their semi-final game against Manchester United. The blues emerged victors via a 3-1 scoreline. Olivier Giroud put his team in front in the dying minutes of the first half to ensure they go into the break with an advantage. Mason Mount doubled Chelsea’s lead courtesy of a goalkeeping error from David De Gea. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back to his side only after their woes had been compounded by Harry Maguire's own goal.
Chelsea will be heading into this one with a lot of confidence after they had sealed Champions League qualification on the final day of the season by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers. Mason Mount was at it again as he put his team in front with a well-curled free-kick into the top corner. On the 45th-minute mark, Olivier Giroud latched onto a through ball and dribbled past the Wolves goalie to slot the ball into an empty net. Frank Lampard’s team ran out 2-0 winners, sealing Champions League qualification.
Chelsea, on the road to etch their name on the title for the ninth time, knocked out Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Liverpool, Leicester City, and Manchester United.
Arsenal, on the other hand, has a lot more to play for as their Europa League hopes will be decided on Saturday’s all-London affair. Mikel Arteta knocked out his former boss Pep Guardiola in the other semi-final as the gunners emerged victors with a 2-0 scoreline. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted in both halves to give his team a chance to extend their record to 14 FA cup triumphs.
They will be heading into this final following a 3-2 win against Watford on the concluding match week. The match looked done and dusted as at the 39th-minute mark with the Gunners leading the way via a 3-goal advantage courtesy of a solitary goal from Kieran Tierney, and a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Although they still won the match 3-2, they will learn how to shut up shop a lot better if they are to pick up another FA Cup victory on Saturday.
They eliminated Leeds United, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield United, and Manchester City on their route to the final.
Callum Chambers, Gabriel Martinelli, Mesut Ozil, Bernd Leno, and Shkodran Mustafi will be likely to miss the FA Cup final with injury. With regards to the blues, N’Golo Kante and Willian are ruled doubtful
Arsenal vs Chelsea Prediction: 2-1
Goals are expected to rain at Wembley just like it did in their last encounter that ended in a 2-2 draw at the Stamford Bridge. However, we believe that The Gunners will triumph in Saturday's final.
Atalanta vs Inter Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Preview. 1-08-20
The fight for second place in the Italian top division goes down the wire as Atalanta and Internazionale lock horns at the Gewiss Stadium. With just one point separating the two teams, the match which goes underway from 18:45 GMT is expected to be a tightly contested encounter. The whole world will tune in to see which Italian giant will come out on top.
Atalanta is targeting a club-best second-place finish in the Serie A this season. Although they still have a quarterfinals clash with French giants Paris Saint-Germain, finishing second place will be the immediate objective for Gian Piero Gasperini. The Nerazzurri, however, is a very big fish to fry and will be looking to hold on to that second place as well.
The Orobici bounced back from a terrible first half against Parma as they managed a comeback victory on Tuesday. They couldn’t contain in-form Dejan Kulusevski in the first half as the 20-year Old Swede fires his team in front only two minutes from the first-half break. It took Atalanta 70 minutes to put their names on the score sheet and get back into the tie as Ruslan Malinovskiy sent a low-driven free-kick into the Parma goal. Individual brilliance seemed to be the order of the day for Gasperini as Alejandro Gomez copped all three points for his side with only six minutes to play via a brilliant solo effort.
The Nerazzurri are currently in second place, a point ahead of both Atalanta and Lazio on the league standings. The chance for the Scudetto has passed over their heads, however, they still have a chance at silverware as they take on Getafe in the last 16 of the Europa League.
They whacked Napoli last time out at the Giuseppe Meazza with a 2-0 win. It only took Antonio Conte’s side eleven minutes to score the first goal of the game as Danilo D’Ambrosio beat Alex Meret from inside the penalty area. Both teams had great chances to score but were flawed as opposite goalies kept shots off the goal. However, Alex Meret couldn’t save Lautaro Martinez’s long-range strike as the Argentine forward doubled his side’s lead, ultimately sealing the points. With that win, The Nerazzurri are now seven games without defeat heading into Saturday’s clash.
Lautaro Martinez started on the bench last time out but he’s expected to start Saturday’s game. Diego Godin and Milan Skriniar are also expected to be back in the starting 11. Stefano Sensi and Matias Vecino are likely to miss via injury.
Josip Ilicic has been struggling with injury and is set to miss this clash on Saturday and the Champions League encounter with PSG. Rafael Toloi is back after serving a one-game suspension against Parma.
Atalanta vs Inter Prediction: 2-2
Even with the title out of their hands, both teams will want to crown their efforts this season by finishing as the second-best team in Italy. Although a draw will be enough for Inter if Lazio beat Napoli, we find it hard betting against either team, as Saturday’s match will probably end in a high-scoring draw.
Celtic vs Hamilton Academical Predictions, Betting Tips, and Match Preview. 02-08-20
We kick off the 20/21 Scottish Premiership season this weekend as the fixtures of the opening round are spread across Saturday and Sunday. Our focus, however, will be on the 19/20 Champions Celtic as they welcome Hamilton Academically to the Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon. The match is set to kick off at 15:30 GMT as both sides will be looking to start the season with a positive result.
Celtic were crowned 19/20 champions after the season was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. This meant that they've won nine Scottish League titles in a row- their 51st in total.
After a couple of friendlies against Ross County and Hibernian, Neil Lennon and his men will be looking to get down to business as they would want to pick up where they left off last season.
Hamilton Academical finished just one place above Hearts who relegated to the Scottish Championship. Head Coach Brian Rice is very Sunday confident that they’re heading this season with an advantage following first team cuts for clubs across Scotland. The Accies’ youngsters were crowned champions last month and three have been promoted to the first team ahead of the new campaign.
The match on Sunday is however going to be tough for the Accies’ boss as they go up against a side that has been dominant in the league for almost a decade.
Celtic vs Hamilton Academical Prediction: 3-0
Celtic are eyeing their 13th consecutive wins against the Accies and are fully expected to do that with a win by two or more goals on Sunday.
Benfica vs Porto Predictions, Betting Tips, and Match Preview. 01-08-20
We will conclude the Portuguese Cup on Saturday as Benfica and Porto go head-to-head at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra. The match goes underway from 19:45 GMT much to the delight of the Portuguese football fanbase as both teams fight for a chance to be crowned champions.
Benfica are heading into the game as the most successful club in the competition’s history with 26 titles. They would be bidding to secure their second silverware of the season after winning the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira early in the campaign. However, they failed to defend their Portuguese league title, conceding it to rivals Porto.
They were impressive on the final matchday of the season as they beat the current holders of the Taca de Portugal Sporting Lisbon. Haris Seferovic gave his side the lead in the first half- The Eagles heading into the break in front. Andraz Sporar pulled one back for his team, setting the stage for Vinicius to score the winning goal for the Eagles only two minutes from time. The Eagles will be pretty confident that they can extend their record to 27 Taca de Portugal titles as they are currently on a run of five games without defeat.
Nelson Verissimo’s troops eliminated Cova de Piedade, Vizela, Braga, Rio Ave, and Famalicao thereby sealing a place in the final.
Porto, on the other hand, had a fantastic season, winning the Portuguese league title for the 29th time on the illustrious history- only their second title in six years. They would be bidding to put the cherry on top of the icing as they go in search of their 17th Taca de Portugal title. The Dragons will want to rectify the errors they made last year after losing to Sporting CP in the 2019 final.
The loss to Braga last time out was expected as they rested a couple of key players with the final in mind. Although they took the lead in the 6th minute courtesy of Mateus Uribe- who is unavailable after picking up a knock on the day-, they couldn’t hold the home team out as Braga ultimately won the game with two second-half goals from Ricardo Horta and Fransergio.
Sergio Conceicao’s men knocked out SC Coimbroes, Vitoria de Setubal, Santa Clara, Varzim, and Academico de Viseu en route to the final.
Benfica vs Porto Prediction: 1-1
Both teams are more than capable of nicking a victory on Saturday. This makes it a lot harder as we don’t see a clear winner. However, both teams to score option should be considered judging by the attacking threat posed by each side.
