Premier League predictions: Three underdog picks for Week 2

The 2023-24 Premier League season kicked off without much fuss last weekend.

The big favorites (Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton) all took care of business and there were no big upsets around the league, which is not usually the case in Matchweek 1. 

But just because the underdogs didn’t bark during opening weekend doesn’t mean they won’t cause some trouble this coming weekend.

In fact, there are a number of pooches that could cause a stir across the pond in Matchweek 2. 

Sheffield United (+360, FanDuel) at Nottingham Forest

Friday 3 p.m. Eastern. Often we’ll see the betting market overreact to Matchweek 1 (just like in the NFL after Week 1) and that provides betting value going the other way.

That seems to be happening here as Sheffield United is an unfancied underdog after looking out of ideas against Crystal Palace in a 1-0 loss. 

Nottingham Forest also came up empty in its curtain-raiser, but it put forward an admirable display in a 2-1 loss at Arsenal.

Those performances caused the market to shift quite a bit.

Forest opened as a +120 favorite on the three-way moneyline despite the fact both of these clubs are expected to be in a relegation scrap all season.

There’s not enough of a gap between Forest and Sheffield United to make the Tricky Trees an odds-on favorite even at home. 

There’s value on the Blades on Friday afternoon.

Manchester United at Tottenham (+185, BetMGM)

Manchester United looked wholly uninspiring against Wolverhampton in its opening match, but the Red Devils were able to eke out a 1-0 win at home.

Had Wolves been able to finish a couple of chances, the scoreline would have looked very different and we’d be talking about United in a very different way heading into this match against a revamped Spurs side that has the potential to be an offensive buzz saw this season. 

While we all know that Manchester United has plenty of offensive weapons and should be able to outscore its defensive flaws against most opponents, that job will get a lot tougher against opponents with the attacking upside that Spurs possess.

Tottenham was lively against Brentford in its season opener and should have success against a United side that couldn’t slow down relegation-threatened Wolves.

Manchester United was overrated by the betting market coming into Matchweek 1 and that remains the case on Saturday.

Back Spurs to get manager Ange Postecoglou his first win.

Everton (+420, FanDuel) at Aston Villa

Everybody knew Everton would struggle to score this season and that issue reared its ugly head in a 1-0 loss to Fulham on Saturday.

The Toffees created 2.7 expected goals against the Cottagers but were wasteful in front of the goal and came up empty despite an impressive performance in front of their home fans. 

Aston Villa represents a step-up in class for the Toffees, but the Villans will be without Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia and Jacob Ramsey for quite some time and they showed some real cracks defensively against a lively Newcastle United side in a 5-1 loss. 

Villa is the better team in this matchup and deserves to be a chunky home favorite, but Everton’s midfield and defensive structure should make it an intriguing underdog throughout the season.

Back the Toffees to pull the upset at a terrific price.