This could be a defining moment in the Premier League this weekend. Arsenal host Aston Villa and where the kids were in fine form in the week and last week’s epically entertaining game against Manchester United showed the best of them. But Villa are capable and capable of scoring goals, so they could get a surprise. Equally Bolton won at Hull last week - mainly thanks to their goalkeeper admittedly -  but and with  Jussi Jaaskelainen still there Liverpool have to find a way past. Manchester United’s vaunted front men were firing blanks mostly against QPR and Stoke may be better opposition which sort of says it is another stutter or a slaughter. The only one of the top four sides that look like a banker are Chelsea at West Brom. Have a triple on Liverpool and Arsenal to lose and United to draw and £1 pays £336. Bet the other way on the top four all to win and £1 pays £3.50. Get a free £10 bet here

There will be no love lost when Spurs face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had the hoodoo on Spures for many seasons until the spell was broken at Wembley in the Carling Cup Final and the arrival of Juande Ramos and the svengali and ex Chelsea maestro Gus Poyet. The league game at Spurs last March ended 4-4 and paid out a beautiful 125/1. A repeat perfromance is currently 149/1. Spurs have no points and look blunt in attack. Chelsea under Big Luiz Felipe Scolari look fluent and sharp. But three games and zero points is not quite what Ramos or Spurs were expecting to start the season and there will grit to stop it happening. Ramos may park el autobus across the park and trust to a David Bentley flyer.

Sunderland should capitalise on their good start with a visit from Manchestery City who looked bad in the midweek but may have Brazilian striker Jo in action.

Aston Villa host Liverpool in the late kick-off and judging from what has been seen so far this season Liverpool may be lucky to get anything at all.

£10 pays £98 on three home wins. Bet here

Liverpool have not exactly come to life as yet, traditionally slow starters, they have looked sluggish and where Gareth Barry might help the midfield, it is the left side that is perceived to be the problem, plus along with internationals this week there will be little time on the training ground to work things out. And Liverpool have an important and potentially tricky game in the Champions League coming up and Benitez has been known to get distratced in his team selection. Middlesbrough on the other hand were unfancied at the start but a victory over Spurs will have done them a power of good, they have fewer players away on international duty and a good record against the Big Four. Draw. All the Premier League betting here

Bet Premier League

Fernando Torres skips past Standard Liege’s Mohamed Sarr but there were few signs last night that Rafa Benitez’s re-arranged side would be knocking at the door of the Premier League title or the later stages of the Champions League. There are good odds on Sunderland grabbing some points off them in the late fixture on Saturday too which suddenly look attractive. The £20 million Robbie Keane was substituted. Steven Gerrard was not fit enough for the 90 minutes although he added some fizz when he came on. Pepe Rainer saved a penalty and the Belgians made most of the running. Benitez’s seemingly thwarted desire to bring in Gareth Barry from Aston Villa suddenly seemed an inspired thought because this was a team without inspiration lobbing long balls up to Torres. As the TV commentary said: where was Peter Crouch? Maybe Benitez is on borrowed time, saved over the years by his luck and the sublime spirt of Gerrard. On last night’s display Tottenham could well fancy their chances of finishing above them in the league. Unlike Sir Alex Ferguson Benitez’s spending seems increasingly to be a churn without yielding real quality. A baffling selection of unknowns, promising kids who might develop better at another club where they could get first team football and only Torres as his real star buy. Torres is favourite to be top goalscorer thisyear, but who is going to provide the service?

There is a very easy way to get better odds when you are betting on a soccer team to win a league or a tournament. If you turn it into a double with the next game, which logically if you are right they have to win, then your margin goes up disproprtionatlky. Liverpool for example today are quoted as 14/1 to win the Champions League. So that would pay £140 for £10. But if you double it with a victory on Wednesday against Standard Liege suddenly the pay out leaps to £222. A note of caution, you may need to use two bookmakers to take the bets serperately.

Bet Manchester United

The goalless draw played out by way of a friendly by the teams of those wily old soccer assassins Alex Ferguson and Claudio Ranieri last night may give some pointers to events about to unfold. United have a problem scoring goals without Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. These two players above all represent Manchester United’s class, the more so on the pitch than off it where they seem to want to rival each other as spoilt brats of the Premier League. On Sunday, United go to Wembley to play the showpiece Community Shield against Portsmouth who have their own new strike force in Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch. They also meet Portsmouth as their second game of the season. Their first is Newcastle in what looks like a leisurely start to the campaign to retain the Premier League and another showpiece game in the European Super Cup against Uefa winners Zenit St Petersburg, probably now without a striking Arshavin. In September they have just three fixtures - Liverpool, Chelsea and Bolton. Ferguson will have needed to have greased the engine by then.

Liverpool are noteworthy slow out of the blocks. They travel to Sunderland for the first day of the season, entertain Middlesbrough who punch above their weight against the better teams, get distracted by the European Cup against Standard Liege and then visit Aston Villa who were scoring for fun at the end of last season. Rafa Benitez will need to find a rythmn quickly. The bad news is that in September they also face Everton.

Arsenal are looking the part again with just the question mark about who will actually tap the ball into the net. They are young, fast and play attractive football on the harder surfaces in the sunshine of early seasons. West Bromwich Albion, Fulham and Newcastle are first up and don’t look likely to be given any change. They also have what should be an easy September before meeting Tottenham and Everton in October. The tough stuff starts in November with both Chelsea and Manchester United.

Luis Felipe Scolari seems to have the charisma to further bond and fuse the Chelsea fighting spirit with impressive wins on their travels. 5-0 against an unfit AC Milan is still 5-0. But they have some testing games against teams that would hope to break into the top four starting with Portsmouth, then Spurs, then Manchester City, then  United, then Villa. These are games that are going to matter and if the Blues can get the points in the bag, they are probably worth more than ther equivalent games for their rivals. It will also be a test of their mettle. If they are top of the league by the end of September, everyone else will fear the worst.