Favorites Travel to Hostile Stadiums for Sunday Opening Matches
Published August 22, 2021 by Florin P
Manchester City, Leipzig, Lyon and Atletico Madrid kickstart the new seasons with difficult matches on the road.
This weekend is the most anticipated of the month, as it marks the return of top European football leagues. Some of the best teams are scheduled to play on the road and they are hard-pressed to kickstart the season with victories. They play against tough opponents and teams in good form, so the matches promise to the entertaining for football fans.
Tottenham and Manchester City Play an Early Derby
Manchester City won the Premier League again and they have no intention to let anyone interfere with their quest this season. In order to take a firm step towards this objective, they need to defeat Tottenham on the road in the opening match. They’ve enjoyed a lot of success in recent years, hence the odds of 3/5 offered by bet365 Sports. Tottenham won the last three head to head games played at White Hart Lane and they are priced at 4/1 to do it again.
Lyon Travel to Angers Desperate for a Win
Lyon continue to disappoint in inaugural matches, after failing to defeat lowly Brest in the opening game of the French first division. They need to perform much better if they are to pick up all three points on the road against Angers. A few injury concerns and fatigue issues are not enough to rob them of their favorite status. bet365 Sports sees the visitors as favorites to pick up a win, with odds of 3/4. Angers is a stringy team that knows how to defend at home, but a shock win will benefit from odds of 4/1 at this bookie.
Leipzig Makes another Attempt at the Bundesliga
Leipzig is a team famous for starting the season on a positive note and take an early lead in the standings. They hope for a similar outcome in 2021 when they play the opening match on the road at Mainz. The campaign of friendly games was not terribly successful, but they still get odds of only 7/20 at 888 Sport. The hosts have been more successful recently and they also won the last official game against Leipzig. This makes the odds of 7/1 on a home win particularly appealing.
Atletico Madrid Travel to Vigo for a Serious Test
Atletico Madrid are the reigning champions and hope for a repeat performance in 2022. They will face serious opposition once again from the best Spanish teams and can’t afford any false steps. Defeating Celta Vigo on the road would be a confidence booster, but this is a difficult mission against a very aggressive home team. 888 Sport offers odds of 9/10 on the champions to start the season with a victory, while pricing a home win at 33/10.
Disclaimer:
The odds mentioned here were accurate at the featured bookmakers at the hour the article was written, respectively on Thursday, August 12 at 8 A.M. UK time.
