Premier League Betting Odds, Soccer Picks & Predictions for Matchday 4: Bets for Chelsea-Leicester City & Wolverhampton-Newcastle

The 2022-23 English Premier League season is here! OddsJam’s soccer expert @NorthSideCapper breaks down his top picks for the second matchday of the season.

EPL Matchday 4 Picks & Predictions

Chelsea vs. Leicester City Pick: Leicester City +1.25 | -115 at DraftKings

Saturday, August 27 | 10:00 a.m. ET

What an ugly start to the season for both Chelsea and Leicester City. Neither squad has really shown up and while the Championship Leicester side from 2016 are now a distant memory for many of us, Chelsea still expect to be at the top come season’s end.

The reality for Chelsea is they will have to improve on their performances and do so quickly if they expect to be in a fight for the League title. Having played three games so far and accumulating 4 points may not seem like a terrifying start.

A 1-0 win over Everton who themselves are struggling and are expected to be in the bottom half of the table; a 2-2 draw to the Spurs at home conceding the equalizer in the 96th minute via a Harry Kane goal and a 3-0 beat down on the road to Leeds is not inspiring the fan base as they already begin to ask for the manager Thomas Tuchel’s head.

Leicester haven’t been any better in the results category than Chelsea. Having lost two of their three matches while conceding two goals or more in all three of those losses will surely raise some concern to management.

Not having recruited any new players for this season and with no intention to do so, the club is going to have to sort their issues out on the training ground.

Coming off a poor 1-0 win via a Penalty Shootout in the EFL Cup over Stockport County isn’t likely to translate into any parades heading into Stamford Bridge, but a win is a win and if there is any momentum to be taken from it, surely the Foxes will take it.

Over the last five encounters, Leicester have put up quite a fight and we expect that to continue Saturday morning. Looking for the Foxes to simply stay within a single goal, this wager would have cashed in four of the last five matches with the only outlier being a 3-0 Chelsea win back on November 20,2021.

Even more impressive is Leicester’s track record at the Bridge, having lost only once in their last five visits, covering the +1.25 in all five trips. We love Leicester to compete today and although they may lose come the 90 minutes, it should be a close one.

Wolverhampton vs. Newcastle Pick: Newcastle DNB | -115 at DraftKings

Sunday, August 28 | 09:00 a.m. ET

The Wolves are bad. The Wolves are going to continue to be bad. It’s actually quite remarkable that with the sort of talent they have within the squad that this team struggles to score goals, but they do.

In fairness, they have recently completed the purchase of a couple Portuguese stars in Goncalo Guedes and Matheus Nunes so it is entirely possible they inject some life in the final third in the coming weeks, but until we see evidence of that, the opinion stands. Coming off a 2-1 EFL Cup win over Preston leaves little in the way of satisfaction.

Wolverhampton are three games into the new season, and have scored a single goal back on Matchday 1. Having gone scoreless the last two matches to both Fulham and Tottenham will give Newcastle a ton of confidence heading into their encounter at the Molineux Stadium.

Newcastle are doing anything but struggling. Entering off a 2-1 EFL Cup win over Tranmere in which they fought back after being down 1-0 will only add to the confidence after a 3-3 draw vs. Manchester City last Matchday. While they did concede a 3-1 lead to take a single point instead of 3, it would be hard to imagine there will be any sour faces in the dressing room.

Recent history between the clubs is split down the middle with the Wolves having picked up the only win in the last five head-to-head meetings (the other four being draws), but we’re taking current form into account and Newcastle are simply the team buzzing with confidence.

While the Wolves are trying to integrate their new pieces into a team who seemingly struggle in front of goal. While the Wolves fortunes may change in the future, it would be hard to envision it occurring so suddenly and especially against a team in the form Newcastle is.