Aston Villa begins their Premier League schedule on Saturday and bettors at the sports betting website don’t like what they see. Martin O’Neill quit as Aston Villa’s manager earlier this week and star player James Milner looks headed to Manchester City. Normally Aston Villa would be getting some action in sports betting odds against West Ham United but with so many problems, Aston Villa is a very vulnerable favorite in their opener.
Sports betting website odds still favor Aston Villa in their opener because they are at home but the team does look to be in disarray. The temporary manager for Aston Villa is Kevin MacDonald and he has his work cut out for him. Owner Randy Lerner has said that he wants to control player’s salaries. Milner obviously didn’t like what he heard and wants out and O’Neill was not pleased with the way the club was headed.
West Ham could be a good play on Saturday. Aston Villa is likely to give up goals as they have kept only one clean sheet in their last eight opening day matches. The Hammers have taken all three points on opening day in four of the last five seasons. The recent meetings between Aston Villa and West Ham at Villa Park have been low scoring with only four total goals being scored. Aston Villa really struggles against West Ham. They have won only won five of their last 20 Premier League games against West Ham. They have scored a total of one goal in seven of the last nine league matches against West Ham. It should be noted that 12 of the last 20 Premier League games between the two teams have ended in a draw.
It is tough to take the underdog or the draw when betting Premier League matches but those two options look solid in the match between Aston Villa and West Ham. It is hard to make any type of case for taking Aston Villa in this match even though they are at home. They have numerous problems on and off the field and the trends definitely point to West Ham. There are eight Premier League matches schedule for Saturday including an ESPN 2 televised contest as Tottenham hosts Manchester City.