ALEX CROOK PREVIEW: Premier League Weekend

Star Sports ambassador ALEX CROOK casts his eye over the weekend Premier League fixtures, and puts up another ALEX ACCA…

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🌳 NOTTINGHAM FOREST V CHELSEA 🔵
Saturday, 12.30pm

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Nottingham Forest kick off the weekend with a visit of Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime with manager Ange Postecoglou already fighting to save his job.

It has been little over a month since Postecoglou replaced the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo, but the Australian has failed to win any of his first seven matches in charge.

That has prompted talk that the hard-to-please owner Evangelos Marinakis is already contemplating bringing in his third different manager of the season, with former Burnley and Everton chief Sean Dyche strongly tipped to replace him.

It does not get any easier for Forest against the Chelsea side, who are bound to be high in confidence after seeing off champions Liverpool last time out.

Postecoglou also has a stinking record against the team from west London, losing all four matches by an aggregate score of 11-4 during his Tottenham tenure.

Forest also haven’t beaten Chelsea at home since 1997 so it is hard to see beyond the visitors here.

The Blues’ games have featured more goals than any team in the Premier League this season so a Chelsea win and over 3.5 goals at 15/5 with starsports.bet.

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⚪️ FULHAM V ARSENAL 🔴
Saturday, 5.30pm

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New Premier League title favourites Arsenal will put their credentials on the line when they travel across London to take on Fulham on Saturday teatime.

Craven Cottage has been a ground at which the Gunners have struggled in recent seasons so manager Mikel Arteta will see this as another opportunity to lay down a marker to their championship rivals.

Meanwhile, Fulham are hoping to get back on track after suffering two successive defeats prior to the international break, although manager Marco Silva will be boosted by the fact he is yet to see his team lose at home.

Arsenal, who host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, have suffered only one defeat and that was away at champions Liverpool.

They also dropped two points at home to Manchester City, but it was hard not to be impressed with the manner in which they ground out a 2-1 victory at Newcastle in the closing minutes in their last away game.

The return from injury of Bukayo Saka has been a major boost for Arteta’s troops, and he has been in brilliant form, including scoring a stunner for England in their 3-0 friendly win over Wales last week.

Defensive solidity has been the key to Arsenal’s impressive start to the season so I like the look of Arsenal to win, both teams to score, no, and Saka to score at any time, which returns just shy of 4/1 as a build-a-bet with starsports.bet.

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🔴 LIVERPOOL V MANCHESTER UNITED 🔴
Sunday, 4.30pm

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Manchester United may not be the force of old, but their clash with Liverpool on Sunday is still the biggest game in the English football calendar, in my opinion.

Both teams come into the weekend in patchy form, with United still waiting to win back-to-back games under Ruben Amorim after almost a year in charge and Liverpool looking to recover from three straight defeats.

It should be noted that all three of those losses came away from home and Arne Slot’s side remain pretty imperious at fortress Anfield.

You have to go all the way back to 2016 for the last time United came out on top on enemy soil thanks to a Wayne Rooney goal in a 1-0 win.

Since that rare triumph, the fallen giants have been on the receiving end of some humiliating scorelines, including a 7-0 mauling two seasons ago.

Both teams have looked defensively vulnerable since the start of the season, and these meetings do tend to provide plenty of goals, with three or more scored in nine of the last 10 meetings.

United produced arguably their most complete performance under Amorim to draw 2-2 on Merseyside last season, and I am backing over 3.5 goals at 21/20 with starsports.bet.

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⚒️ WEST HAM V BRENTFORD 🐝
Monday, 8.00pm

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Monday night’s London derby is the battle of a West Ham team hopeless at home against a Brentford side who are terrible on the road so something has to give.

The game will also take place against the backdrop of the threat of a boycott from the home fans to protest against West Ham’s owners.

That is hardly conducive to new manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s hopes of turning their dreadful season around.

The Hammers were more organised in their 1-1 draw at Everton in Nuno’s first game in charge but still gave away plenty of chances.

Brentford lost 1-0 at home to Manchester City in their last game and struggled to create scoring opportunities, but will surely be more ambitious against a potential relegation rival.

The Bees have gone even more direct than they were before under new boss Keith Andrews, which may explain why they are struggling on the road.

This is a tricky game to call, but Jarrod Bowen has been the hosts’ one shining light since the start of last season so I am backing him to take centre stage in a low-scoring affair.

West Ham to win, Bowen to score first and under 3.5 goals pays around 11/1 as a build-a-bet with starsports.bet.

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📊 BUILD-A-BET: Arsenal to win, both teams to score, no, and Bukayo Saka to score at any time 1 pt at 3.96/1 with starsports.bet

🎲 LONGSHOT: West Ham to win, Jarrod Bowen to score first and under 3.5 goals 0.5pt at 10.84/1 with starsports.bet

🚀 ALEX ACCA: Manchester City, Arsenal, Coventry, Cardiff and MK Dons 1pt at 9/1 from 7/1 (⭐️ ? CLICK TO BET NOW)

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ALEX CROOK P&L (OCT 2025): -8.80 points

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