BetMGMBetMGM

GOLDEN GOALS MD9: BIG WIN FOR MANCHESTER CITY & AN ARSENAL-LIVERPOOL CLASSIC

The Premier League serves up a blockbuster on Sunday as Arsenal and Liverpool meet at the Emirates.

Arne Slot’s Reds sit top of the league while Mikel Arteta and co. are reeling from being humbled at Bournemouth last weekend and will be looking to bounce back in fine style.

Elsewhere on Matchday 9, winless Southampton face the unthankful trip to Manchester City, bottom-of-the-table Wolves travel to Brighton and Bournemouth look to build on that Arsenal win as they take on Aston Villa.

Erik ten Hag, meanwhile, takes his faltering Manchester United side to face out-of-form West Ham and Everton are up against Fulham at Goodison Park.

Remember, this week’s Golden Goals continues an exciting change to our prize offering – while predicting all six scores correctly will still win you a share of the £1 million jackpot, two correct scores and more will net players prizes ranging from Free Bets to a share of cash.

Click here for full Golden Goals information, including prize breakdown and terms..

Let’s take a closer look at Golden Goals Matchday 9…

Manchester City vs Southampton

After throwing away a two-goal lead at home to Leicester last weekend, the last thing Russell Martin and Southampton need is a trip to face reigning champions Manchester City.

The Saints haven’t won at the Etihad since 2004 and, while they were conceding injury-time winners, Manchester City were scoring them; John Stones’ last-gasp header at Wolves gave Pep Guardiola’s men all three points as they stay hot on the heels of Liverpool and remain unbeaten in the league.

Despite needing a late winner, City dominated the game at Molineux with 22 shots and 77% possession – but their inability to turn this into a more comfortable win may be cause for concern for Guardiola.

Regardless, Southampton will need a defensive masterplan to take anything from this one; City will surely have too much for a side which has conceded 18 league goals this season already and earned just one point.

Erling Haaland scored twice the last time City faced Southampton and, after going three Premier League games without finding the back of the net, he will be eyeing up this one as the perfect way to end his domestic mini-drought. He is 23/4 to score his third hat-trick of the season and 20/1 to score four.

An early goal for the home side here will be curtains for the visitors and it’s impossible to look at anything other than a very comfortable win for City. Saints fans will be having sleepless nights ahead of this one – it could be bad.

Prediction: Manchester City 6-0 Southampton

Brighton vs Wolves

One is enjoying one of their best Premier League starts on record, the other is on the hunt for points after taking the champions to the wire; both together has the makings of an afternoon thriller at the Amex.

Brighton are coming off two back-to-back wins after Danny Welbeck’s 35th-minute goal ended an impressive Newcastle unbeaten home run that stretched back to January. Wolves, on the other hand, have a mountain to climb despite impressing in moments against the likes of Liverpool, Brentford and, most recently, Manchester City.

You might look at their positions on the table and think this is going to be a one-sided contest – the Seagulls sit fifth and Wanderers 20th – but Gary O’Neil’s side have shown they won’t go down without a fight. They have scored five in the last five with exciting summer signing Jørgen Strand Larsen finding the net not once but twice.

So the goals are coming – their total of 10 is around midtable – but it’s the other end of the pitch that is costing Wolves points. They have conceded two or more goals in the past six games in all competitions, one of which was against Brighton in the EFL Cup which ended 3-2 to the Seagulls in a back-and-forth game.

These results may be having an impact on some players, notably João Gomes. The Brazilian has committed the most fouls (20) in the Premier League this season while his yellow card against City was his 20th in only 53 appearances. He’s 17/10 to pick up another against Fabian Hürzeler’s high-flying Seagulls.

The head-to-head record is what decides this one. Brighton have won four of the last five meetings against Wolves and don’t look likely to drop points come Saturday based on current form.

It could, however, be quite a show if the League Cup game is anything to go by.

Prediction: Brighton 3-2 Wolves

Aston Villa vs Bournemouth

It was yet another good evening for Aston Villa and their manager Unai Emery on Tuesday, after a 2-0 victory over Bologna saw them continue their perfect start to the Champions League and end the third matchday top of the new-fangled tree in Europe.

Things are going well on the domestic front, too. In fact, they have arguably never been better in the Premier League era with the 3-1 win over Fulham ensuring the Midlands side secured their best start to a campaign in 26 years.

An enormously successful week might have been so different if it had not been for Emiliano Martinez’s penalty save from Andreas Pereira. Only Lukasz Fabianski has saved more penalties (five) than the Argentine since he made his Villa debut back in 2020.

It’s not just from the spot where Martinez has been impressive. He has been the last line of a defence that has conceded just one goal in the last four games across all competitions.

However, Bournemouth aren’t for simple cherry-picking. An impressive win over Arsenal last weekend, which ended the Gunners’ unbeaten start, propelled them above Manchester United into 11th.

It’s a measure of how far they have come; this time last year they had not won a single league after nine matches.

Part of their good start to the campaign is owed to forward Antoine Semenyo, who has scored three goals so far. No player has managed more shots on goal this season either – it’s an ugly-looking conversion rate of just under 17% at the moment though he is an intriguing 3/4 to have over 2.5 shots against Villa this weekend.

Overall, though, we expect Aston Villa to continue their good form on Matchday 9.

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Bournemouth

Everton vs Fulham

After failing to win in their opening four matches of the season, Everton have now gone on a four-game unbeaten league stretch including back-to-back clean sheets against Newcastle and Ipswich.

Those defensive shutouts mean the Toffees have now kept six clean sheets in their last seven Premier League outings in October. If you fancy Everton extending this impressive run, you can get Fulham to have under 0.5 goals at 12/5.

There may be nothing scarier in the lead-up to Halloween than having to play a Sean Dyche-led Everton side. Since the 2022/23 season, Everton have averaged 1.55 points per game compared to 0.75 throughout August and September.

If the Toffees' impressive spell is to continue, it’ll likely be due to Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye’s impressive offensive output. The former has been involved in six goals across his last six matches (three goals and three assists) while the latter is second in the Everton squad for goals per 90 minutes (0.32).

Also keep an eye on the goalscoring exploits of centre-back Michael Keane in this one – yes, you read that right. Dyche’s side have scored the second-most goals in the league from set-pieces (27, excluding penalties) since he was hired at Goodison Park and the English defender has netted twice already this campaign. He is 8/1 to score anytime this weekend.

As frightening as Everton’s October form seems, Fulham have not felt threatened at Goodison Park in recent years. Marco Silva’s side have won on their last three visits to the blue side of Merseyside by an aggregate score of 6-1.

Despite losing consecutive games for the first time this season, Fulham can feel buoyed by the return to form of Raul Jimenez. The Mexican forward has four goals and an assist in his last five Premier League appearances and has been on the scoresheet in five of his eight games against Everton, making the 3/1 for him to score anytime against the Toffees on Matchday 9 an interesting shout.

Generally, goals come at a premium when Everton face Fulham. Five of the last six matches in all competitions have had under 2.5 goals – including a pair of 0-0 encounters. This one will be similarly contested… but it’s the home team who will edge it in a tight affair.

Prediction: Everton 1-0 Fulham

West Ham vs Manchester United

West Ham are yet to hit full stride under Julen Lopetegui in the Premier League.

An impressive win over Ipswich before the international break was curtailed by a dismal 4-1 defeat last Saturday to Tottenham.

It all started swimmingly for the Hammers with Mohammed Kudus opening the scoring after 18 minutes – but all the Ghanaian’s hard work was undone within eight second-half minutes thanks to some calamitous defending.

To make matters worse, Kudus was dismissed in the 86th minute after striking Micky van de Ven and he will now serve a three-game suspension. The former Ajax winger will be a huge miss going forward for the Hammers – he is their joint-highest scorer this season and leads the team in expected goals, progressive carries, successful take-ons and touches in the attacking third.

Crysencio Summerville will likely fill the offensive void left by Kudus but he has so far failed to make much of a mark since signing from Leeds in the summer. However if he can show the form he showed in the Championship last term – when he produced the most shot-creating actions per 90 minutes – he could stake a claim to start more frequently for Lopetegui.

Manchester United ended a five-game winless run across all competitions by beating Brentford on Matchday 8. Alejandro Garnacho opened the scoring with his 12th league goal since his debut – only Cristiano Ronaldo has found the net more before their 21st birthday for the Red Devils – before Rasmus Hojlund netted his first goal of the campaign to secure all three points.

They both found the net in United’s 3-0 win against West Ham in March and you can get 23/2 for them both to be on the scoresheet again this Sunday.

Could this be the catalyst for a winning streak? If so, ten Hag’s side will have to turn around their fortunes at London Stadium given they have lost half of their eight games at West Ham’s new home, which is more than they lost in their 20 visits to Upton Park.

United are the definition of inconsistency this season but they look good to win on Sunday afternoon after three consecutive away clean sheets in the league and facing opposition simply struggling to find their feet. Away win here.

Prediction: West Ham 0-2 Manchester United

Arsenal vs Liverpool

Rounding off the weekend is a Premier League classic and potentially significant meeting in the context of this season’s title race: Arsenal vs Liverpool.

The Gunners are aiming for the title once more but come into this game without some of their key players, including the suspended William Saliba and the injured Bukayo Saka and potentially captain Martin Odegaard and summer signing Riccardo Calafiori.

Ben White, usually so reliable at full-back, is likely to deputise in the middle of defence and Arteta will be sweating on the fitness of Jurrien Timber, who continues to struggle for 100% fitness after his devastating knee injury last year.

If they are to get three points against Liverpool, they will likely need all 11 players on the pitch – and discipline has been an issue for the north London outfit this season. Indeed, they have amassed three red cards so far, more than the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns combined.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are enjoying life under their new manager. Slot has barely put a foot wrong so far and his men are in early pole position following an impressive win over Chelsea last weekend and 11 wins from 12 in all competitions.

Much of that good form has to do with his defence, which has conceded just three goals in eight games so far.

That’s not to suggest this will be a cagey affair, though. On the contrary: history suggests this should be a high-scoring classic. Both teams have scored in each of the previous four league meetings with just one of those games ending in under 2.5 goals.

The away side has won just one of the last six games between these two so home advantage could be key this time round.

Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool

Add our Golden Goals selections to your betslip here

Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change. Please note: This week's Golden Goals deadline is Saturday 26th October 15:00. Opt-in is required and you can find out more here.

Golden Goals Terms and Conditions

Opt in & predict 6 correct scores (see game lobby for weekly tournament cut-off time) to win up to £1m Jackpot. Predict 2+ correct scores and win a prize (ranging from Free Bets to £5k Prizepool). Winnings shared evenly in case of multiple winners. Each prize subject to its own terms. Void if 1 or more matches postponed/abandoned or not completed. Verification procedures apply. 18+. T&Cs and exclusions apply.

We're sorry!

Unfortunately, BetMGM isn't available in your country.