GW4 Premier League Previews and Free Bets with Samba Pools

After a brief hiatus due to international fixtures, the Premier League is back and with it your chance to take part in Samba Pools!

A reminder that you can claim a portion of the rewards from this post by making your predictions via Samba Pools. Follow the instructions here on how to join.

How will that break have impacted teams? We're about to find out but it'd be fair to say that not all squads have had a massive involvement in these international games played over the past 10 days.

At one end of the scale you've got the likes of Liverpool (21 players on international duty), Spurs (20 players) and even Brentford (18 players) whose squads have been out to all corners of the globe representing their nations. On the flip side, the likes of Leeds (5 players) and Everton (8 players) have had the majority of their squad available for training.

Round 3 results

With a few shock results it was a tough week with the contestants in round 3 all separated by just a handful of points. However it was @blanchy and @tengolotodo who came out joint winners with 16 points each.

However, with a generous payout on the GW3 post, everyone who took part in round 3 was ultimately a winner!

Here are the overall rankings in regards profit/loss made by Samba Pool participants this season. With @tengolotodo winning back to back weeks, he's now streaking out ahead!

If you want to get involved and win some Hive, all you need to do is make bet of 1 Hive or more on Round 4.

You'd ordinarily think that the main chat coming into this match would be around Arsenal looking to bounce back from their defeat at Anfield just before the break. However, ever a man for the limelight, the Notts Forest owner has decided that the biggest talking point will be the fact that his team go into the game with a new manager!

If it sounds somewhat ridiculous that a coach who has taken his team from the brink of relegation into European qualification in the space of under 2 years is now looking for a new job then you're probably right. This is madness! Marinakis certainly has lofty ambitions and high expectations but it seems like Nuno doesn't fit well with the the new management structure that has been implemented.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE8yMWW0A4c

It is somewhat ironic that Forest play Arsenal in their first post-Nuno match. After all, it appears that Nuno's breakdown in relationship with Edu who Forest brought in from Arsenal as the Global Head of Football is one of the primary reasons for his demise. Perhaps Arteta could have given him some tips?

Add to that the fact that the new Forest manager is the old Spurs manager and we've got ourselves a proper soap opera script in the making. Big Ange won a trophy with Spurs in his last game in charge. If he beats the Gunners in his first game as Forest boss then they might just build a statue of him outside both the City Ground and White Hart Lane!

Arsenal won this game comfortably last season, 3-0 and in fact you have to go all the way back to 1989 since the last time a Forest side won at what was then Highbury.

After the events of this week and the poor showing at West Ham in round 3, it's difficult to see how this Forest side can pick themselves up and challenge one of the best teams in the division.

It's a big weekend on the South Coast! With arguably the most fiercely contested derby in the region taking place at lunch time (Southampton v Portsmouth) this one should be well contested but maybe not as spicy.

Bournemouth's all-around play against Spurs last time out was brilliant. The only thing that was lacking was goals! They really should have been 4 or 5 up after about an hour but the longer the game went on the more nervous Cherries fans would have become that they were going to get sucker punched.

Brighton too have been fairly wasteful this season. Only Manchester United have a worse xG to goals scored conversion rate than the Seagulls do in the early part of the campaign.

This is a fixture that has been dominated by the home team in recent seasons with Brighton winning their last 4 against Bournemouth here at the Amex. In fact, the Seagulls have been good at home more generally in recent times with just 1 loss in their last 10 Premier League games here.

Karou Mitoma has enjoyed a particularly good record against Bournemouth with 5 goal involvements in his 5 games against the Cherries.

Crystal Palace will probably be happy that the transfer window has now closed following a summer of speculation and disruption. They've kept Marc Guehi which on paper looks like a big win although how the player reacts to having his move to Liverpool scuppered at the last minute will be interesting to see.

The Eagles recorded another impressive victory over Villa in round 3 and will be keen to back that up with a win against Premier League new boys Sunderland.

Villa looked to dominate possession against Palace who had no trouble keeping them at arms length before choosing their moments to go on the attack. However, you assume that this will be a very different proposition with the home side required to set the tempo. With the equal lowest possession stats in the league so far, let's see how Glasner's team goes about this one.

Sunderland will take great heart from their late win against Brentford last time out. They've looked solid at the back in their opening games with an xG against of only 3.01, the 6th best in the league. This could well be a tight match decided by the odd goal.

As is the case with every pre-season these days, a super computer makes a prediction on how the league table will shape up come the end of the campaign. In this year's iteration, it had Aston Villa finishing 5th which seemed to me like a stretch for a club that is currently unable to strengthen its squad due to financial constraints and if anything is having to gradually sell some of the team that has helped them become established in the top third of the table.

Villa's real problem at the moment is scoring goals. They haven't hit the back of the net yet and they've not really looked likely to with the 2nd lowest xG in the league to date. That's not to say that they don't dominate the ball, only City and Liverpool have enjoyed more possession than they have in the opening 3 games but breaking sides down seems a real issue at the moment.

After a disappointing opening day at Leeds, Everton have started to click through the gears and their plethora of new signings have added a sense of excitement to what has been a fairly stale side for several years. Chief amongst them is Jack Grealish who comes up against his boyhood club playing in the manner that he left them.

Villa did the double over Everton last season and in fact you have to go all the way back to 2015 for the last time they lost an away game in Everton. They'll be hoping that the Toffees new ground offers similar returns as Goodison Park once did so that they can get their campaign up and running.

Hopefully the international break has given Marco Silva the chance to calm down after some fairly contentious refereeing decisions cost his side at Chelsea. After a disappointing transfer window they did also manage to secure the services of Brazilian winger Kevin on deadline day to bolster their attacking options.

Fulham will be, as they always are, well organised an tactically astute. They've not conceded a goal from open play so far this season a feat only matched by Arsenal. Their inferior xG against mainly down to the fact that they've had 3 penalties awarded against them in 3 games!

Leeds have looked solid in their home matches but conceded 5 in their last away fixture, also a trip to London to face Arsenal. Clearly the level of opposition will be different in this game but Daniel Farke will want to ensure that his side are at least competing away from Elland Road.

With just 1 goal so far this season and that a penalty, getting the ball in the back of the net enough times to win matches is already looking like a potential issue for Leeds.

With the Isak saga now behind them and 2 shiny new strikers in the squad, it feels like Newcastle can finally move forward with their season. After 2 x nil-nil draws and the dramatic home defeat to Liverpool, this is a must win for Eddie Howe's team against a side currently propping up the table with 3 losses in 3.

What the Magpies need to be most cautious of is not taking this Wolves team too lightly. They have a big match against Barcelona here in midweek which will undoubtedly be in their thoughts but first league win of the season is crucial.

Wolves have looked fairly bereft of ideas in attack and vulnerable at the back so far this season. They've only won once at St Jame's Park in the Premier League era back in 2018 when a vintage Nuno side (he's available by the same) were upsetting plenty of more established clubs. It doesn't feel like this side will have enough to resist Newcastle at home.

2 sides who went into the break with differing emotions off the back of contrasting performances in GW3.

West Ham's 3-0 romp at Forest was arguably the most surprising result of the season to date but since the sacking of Nuno has perhaps been put into a bit more context. Meanwhile Spurs after 2 encouraging displays were absolutely dreadful at home to Bournemouth and fortunate to not lose by 3 or 4 goals.

There is a general feeling that West Ham and their supporters get themselves up for this game more than any other fixture in the calendar and that is certainly borne out by the results here in recent years. The last 3 league games here have all finished 1-1 with West Ham winning the 2 prior to that.

Spurs of course were pretty busy at the back end of the window. Will they unleash their new attacking signings in this derby? One man who is almost certain to feature for them is Mohammed Kudus who is not likely to be given a warm welcome by the home fans.

Another week and another London derby for Chelsea who are yet to leave the capital this season.

The Blues will have to admit that they were poor in the first half against Fulham and got the rub of the green with refereeing decisions that ultimately helped them to a 2-0 win.

With the constant transfers in and out and now a spate of injuries, it's still really difficult to judge where this Chelsea side are in terms of their development. Still, a win here would take them to 9 points and with European football starting next week, leave them in a strong position thanks to the massive squad resources they have to call upon in a congested calendar.

Brentford will have been bitterly disappointed not to leave the North East with at least a point last week. Other than the last 10mins of that game and the first 45 against Forest, they've looked like a decent team. However, on such brain farts are seasons often decided and they'll need to put in a complete performance to get anything from this game.

The last 3 Premier League matches here between the 2 teams have finished in draws, 2 of them nil-nil and on current form you wouldn't imagine that it'll be a particularly open game.

Burnley got a valuable home win in their first game of the season at Turf Moor but Liverpool are likely to pose a much more significant threat than Sunderland did.

While they were competitive against Manchester United, they did conceed 3 goals, as they also did against Spurs on the opening day. With an expected xG against of 7.12, the highest in league to date, it seems difficult to imagine that they'll keep Liverpool's attackers at bay in this one.

As for the reigning champions, it was, as expected, a much cagier game against Arsenal in GW3. Will they come out and entertain us in the same manner as they did in the first 2 weeks?

This game is likely to come too soon for Alexandar Isak who has not really kicked a ball in anger for the last 4 months. He did come off the bench for Sweden against Kosovo on Monday night and I'd imagine he'll start this game as a substitute too.

Liverpool have won on their last 6 visits to Turf Moor and indeed have kept a clean sheet in their last 4 away trips to Burnley.

What is always a big game looks like it will take on even greater significance as these 2 sides seeks to establish some early season momentum.

United needed a win at home to Burnley in GW3 and they got it, just! Still, the feel good factor for the squad going into the international break and perhaps just a massive sense of relief for the manager mean that they come into this match with slightly less riding on it than might have been the case.

City however are hardly the force that they once were. Over the past 12 months they appear to have lost that fear factor with which they've dominated the Premier League in recent times. United can attest for how difficult it can be to get that back!

Despite a couple of very tough seasons, United's performances against City have been good. They are unbeaten across 90mins in their last 4 games versus the blue half of Manchester having recorded 2-1 wins in their last 2 visits to the Ethiad.

What'd you'd hope for is a few goals in this one! Both teams have plenty of attacking talent on the pitch and neither have looked particularly assured in defence. To that extent, there is the possibility that both clubs will give debuts to a new goalkeeper in this match which might only raise the possibility of a few cracks appearing in the respective backlines.