The newly promoted teams have shown well in the opening games of the season. But it has been more defence than attack and none of the trio look to be packing too much in the goals department.

Hull even though they are third and perhaps halfway to safety only have a goal difference of plus one. West Brom who are ninth have a difference of zero.

Stoke look to be in trouble. Their points have come from a surpising and untypical 3-2 win against Aston Villa and holding on for a point at Anfield. The rest they have lost and in the Carling  Cup they only beat Reading on penalties. Their goal difference is already minus six. Next up is Tottenham at home which by rights they should not win. Spurs are 6/5 to win.

West Ham will be nervous about a trip to Hull after last week’s defeat to Blackburn and Hull’s away form in the capital beating Spurs and Arsenal. A tough, possibly decisive call that one. The book says 6/5 Hull but Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke may be making their mark and do not have all their players away on international duty.

West Brom travel to Manchester United who, given that everyone returns from international duty un-injured, look to be purring again.  Or was last week’s victory more of an omen that Blackburn are on the slide?

Get all the Premier League betting here

Saturday sees some intereesting games looming. Bolton host West Bromwich Albion, both of whom lost in the Carling Cup in the week and will be smarting and also looking for points. There are not many points in the bag as yet for Everton, boosted by the arrival of Louis Saha now and poor Portsmouth who had the nightmare start away to Chelsea, home to Manchester United.

Hull will test Wigan and vice versa. Stoke are long odds to get anything from Middlesbrough. West Ham and Blackburn could find the cracks either way, while Kevin Keagan may find life a bit tougher at Highbury against an Arsenal side who looked elegant in the week.

Get all the weekend soccer betting here

Arsenal away was not the kindest of openers, but at least they have got it under their belt. An aggrieved Everton side losing at home last week could be an angry dog, although a lack of summer activity might suggest money problems behind the scenes or has David Moyes run out of imagination? The home crowd could be worth something for the Baggies return but both sides will desperate to impress. Draw. Put your money on here

Bet WBA

West Bromwich Albion are an astonishing 4999/1 not to win the Premiership, as are the other two promoted clubs which just shows the statistics are against them. But they are evens to go down. But the boing boing Brummies could surprise a few teams with the kind of attacking flair they showed last season and in getting to the semi finals of the FA Cup. All it takes is Alex Ferguson to have a nervous breakdown, Felipe Scolari to play overly pretty football, Arsene Wenger to sell his whole midfield and Rafa Benitez to buy in all team of plodders. At those odds an Abramovich could snap them up, buy a couple of extra players and clean up with a £1million on the nose.

Robbie Fowler joins up with Paul Ince at Blackburn which is an interesting one, although Blackburn might be 15/1 against relegation which could be a good bet, even if a bit depressing for a bright young English manager…Peter Crouch’s much heralded move from Liverpool to Portsmouth where he teams up with Jermaine Defoe looks another shrewd Harry Redknapp move and probably securing their contention in the top half of the table and maybe even a Uefa possibility. Portsmouth are a romantic 500/1 against winning the Premiership but stranger things have happened. Who won the FA Cup last year anyway? And goals is what you need and those two could score 20 apiece next season. Meanwhile Anfield welcomes the Swiss defender Philipp Degen on a free. The much injured full back arrives after three years in the Bundesliga Borussa Dortmund. Also arriving is Andrea Dossena , a stopper with 63 appearances for Udinese who finished sixth in Serie A last year and his perfromances against the top flight clubs impressed.  Plus also there is Steven Gerrard’s new pal Gareth Barry from Aston Villa, which looks like Rafa Benitez accepting that for Premiership football an English style midfield may be more effective tha silky Spanish skills. None of these three set the pulse racing the way a move for David Villa to partner Fernando Torres up front might. But Benitez this week ruled out such a move. It looks like more tinkering round the edges and another season of missed opportunity perhaps for the Reds. They are 1000/1 against relegation and 8/1 to grab that elusive title.  Gareth Southgate has signed the former sprinter and Dutch Under 17 international winger Marvin Emnes who scored eight goals for Sparta Rotterdam.  Southgate has also bagged Paris defender Didier Digard who will have endeared himself by turning down Newcastle and saying that club looked in a mess.  Middlesbrough are 8/1 to be relegated which is the same odds as Liverpool for the title,  neither of which look likely. West Bromwich Albion have bought the promising 21-year-old defender Gianni Zuiverloon turning down other clubs he said because he liked the Baggy style. West Brom are another team in the relegation odds mix but at 2/1, that looks a bad bet.  Another interesting move will be Steve Sidwell to Aston Villa. Can Martin O’Neill regenerate the career of the former Reading midfielder who was eclipsed in the Chelsea galaxy?  Similar questions will be asked at the Emirates where the long saga of Samir Nasri’s departure from Marseilles was completed for an undisclosed fee while Alexander Hleb looks set for the Deco role in the Barca midfield for £15million. There is also speculation that Marseilles fans are planning to have a £22 million whip round to get Didier Drogba back from Chelsea.