"The Shrimpers have had an excellent start to the campaign, following the heartbreak of their play-off final defeat last season.

They’re unbeaten, winning three and drawing two. That includes winning both away games without conceding a goal.

They have the joint best defence in the league, having conceded just a single goal in their opening five matches.

And with Sam Austin, Gus Scott-Morriss and Charley Kendal, they have plenty of attacking impotence. 

The Moors have had a really poor start and are yet to win a game.

They were absolutely dismantled by Aldershot last Saturday, as they suffered a 5-1 drubbing on home soil. The quick turnaround to Monday didn’t do much for them, as they were beaten easily by Altrincham. 

There’s concerns around the chances this squad can create. They made an excellent signing in Dan Creaney, who netted 19 times last season, but they’ve got little service going in to him."

"This should be a really exciting match. This fixture ended 2-2 last season with a combined xG of 3.73 between the sides. The initial meeting between the sides only ended 1-0 to the Cherries, but there was a combined xG of 4.58 on that occasion.

Tottenham covered this line themselves in their opening game of the season against Burnley, running out 3-0 winners. There will be more pressure on Frank’s side to dominate and take control of the game when Tottenham are the home side, so we can expect a more expressive and forward-thinking Tottenham side than the one we saw at the Etihad.

Bournemouth saw six goals in their opening game of the season against Liverpool as they fell to a 4-2 defeat against the champions. Iraola has shown that he won’t change his system too much despite the losses that Bournemouth have suffered in their backline over the summer transfer window. This should result in Bournemouth regularly being involved in end-to-end games that produce plenty of goals."

"I was a bit disappointed with Sunderland in their defeat to Burnley last time out in the Premier League, but they have managed to score four goals across their two games at the Stadium of Light this season in the EFL Cup and the Premier League.

Regis Le Bris’ side must pick up points in front of their home fans to be within a chance of staying up this season, and I think they can breach the Brentford backline at least once here. Keith Andrews’ side conceded three goals on the opening weekend of the season away against Nottingham Forest. 

Brentford also conceded 22 goals across their 19 away games last season (1.15), and I expect them to be a bit more porous on the road this season, when looking back over their opening day performance at the City Ground."

"This selection jumped off the research. All six Championship matches involving these teams so far this season have seen both teams score.

Watford have a young, dynamic attack, with Nestory Irankunda and Luca Kjerrumgaard looking like serious upgrades on what Watford had before going forward. Kjerrumgaard has two goals already and was unlucky not to add to that tally last time out, but more importantly, he has given consistency and a focal point to Watford going forward.

Southampton should have the defensive personnel to keep clean sheets, but structurally, it hasn't come together yet for Will Still. Saints are actually sixth worst in the Championship for xG conceded; they are sitting at 5xGA from their four matches.

However, Saints also currently have the highest xG created totals in the Championship, the only team to have over 7 xG so far.

We can expect chances at both ends here, and both teams scoring looks a reasonable assumption from data and form perspectives."

"There are just five places and three points between these two sides in the League One table, but it’s a good example of why the table isn’t always a reliable indicator of a team's ability.

If we switch to the xG table, Bolton Wanderers are the best side in the division, with an expected points tally of 10 from five games. They appear to have been unlucky to concede five goals so far, with an xGA of 2.9, the lowest of any side. They’ve also faced two of the current top six already.

Blackpool, despite much pre-season optimism, find themselves with just one win from five games, having lost the other four. They have conceded 12 goals, which is three more than the next highest, whilst their total xG of 3.6 is the 2nd-lowest. I witnessed them with my own eyes last Tuesday against Mansfield Town, and they failed to lay a glove, losing 2-0 with just one shot on target. The Stags have conceded against every other League One opponent they have faced. They then went to Plymouth, who were winless before their visit, and lost 1-0.

To see Bolton odds-against for this game is a steal."

"I successfully backed St Johnstone to defeat Arbroath last Saturday, and I’m keen to side with them again when they meet Morton this weekend. Simo Valakari’s side started the season in impressive fashion by winning each of their four games during the group stage of the Scottish League Cup, and they have carried that momentum into their league campaign.

In fact, St Johnstone boast the only 100% record in the Scottish Championship after winning each of their opening three matches of the season. The Saints hit the ground running with a 5-1 thrashing of Partick Thistle before battling their way to a 1-0 win away at Ross County. The Perth outfit then put Arbroath to the sword with a 3-0 success last weekend, and they should prove too strong for their latest opponents, Morton.

Having played out a trio of draws so far, Dougie Imrie’s side are still searching for their first league win of the season. The Ton needed a late equaliser to avoid defeat at home to Ayr last weekend, which doesn’t bode well given that a trip to McDiarmid Park will represent their toughest Scottish Championship assignment of the season so far."

"I think Ross County could find life difficult at Dunfermline on Saturday. The Staggies were considered as firm ante-post favourites for the Scottish Championship title but they currently find themselves bottom of the table with just one point after three matches.

Last week’s 3-1 loss at home to Partick Thistle proved to be the final straw for Don Cowie who parted company with the club, with John Robertson placed in interim charge.

Dunfermline will represent an awkward proposition for County on Saturday, so much so that I’m prepared to back the hosts to score at least once. While the Pars blanked during last week’s 2-0 defeat at Fife rivals Raith Rovers, that was just the second time that Neil Lennon’s side have failed to fire across their seven outings in all competitions this season. Dunfermline scored in each of their four games during the group stage of the Scottish League Cup - including away from home against Hearts - and they struck twice in their last home match against Airdrie. 

Therefore, the Pars look well placed to score against a County side that is without a clean sheet in each of their last four matches, conceding multiple goals in three of those contests."

"The newly-promoted sides often end up on the higher end of the card count at the end of the season:

Southampton 24/25 - 89 yellow cards (3rd in PL)

Leicester 24/25 - 87 yellow cards (4th in PL)

Ipswich 24/25 - 85 yellow cards (6th in PL)

This isn’t really surprising as these sides can get easily frustrated and are often on the end of some ugly scorelines, which can also lead to cards. Newcastle were one of the most fouled sides in the Premier League last season; only Aston Villa and Tottenham won more fouls than Eddie Howe’s side, which would suggest that Leeds should get through quite a bit of work off the ball here.

Leeds committed 11 fouls and received two yellow cards in their 5-0 defeat to Arsenal last time out. Newcastle’s strong fouls won record from last season should see Eddie Howe’s side draw quite a few fouls from the Leeds fans in front of their home fans in what is usually an intense atmosphere.

The referee for this game is Peter Bankes, who has handed out eight yellow cards across his two appointments in the Premier League so far this season."

"After winning the Serie A title last season, Napoli began the new campaign in emphatic style, easing past newly-promoted Sassuolo with a dominant away victory. Serie A MVP Scott McTominay was pivotal once again, opening up his goal-scoring account after just 17 minutes with a bullet header.

Gli Azzurri were formidable at home last season, no other Serie A side collected more points in front of a home support. Defensively, they were rock solid at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, conceding only 13 goals across 19 home fixtures while keeping nine clean sheets. Having retained their defensive personnel over the summer, that impressive record looks set to continue."

"Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid have enjoyed a flawless start to the new La Liga season, collecting six points from their opening two fixtures. Performances under the new manager have been impressive, with Los Blancos dominant on the ball. Real Madrid managed 71% possession against Osasuna and 65% against Real Oviedo helping them keep a clean sheet in both matches. 

Having scored only 35 goals across the entirety of last season, the third-lowest tally in La Liga, Mallorca aren’t a particularly dangerous side in the final third. In fact, they have created just 0.89 xG in total from their two league games so far."