Swansea v Manchester United: Mourinho Looking to Build on Emphatic Start

It seems strange that anyone would really place so much importance on a league table after teams have played just one game. Huddersfield Town briefly went top on Saturday but we know they aren’t going to stay there so why do 24 hours sports channels make such a big deal of it?

By Sunday evening, Manchester United had taken over at the top after their emphatic victory over West Ham but maybe this carries more significance. Following a sixth place finish last season, United manager Jose Mourinho knows that a title challenge is required to appease the fans and based on that performance, the Red Devils might be on the correct path.

United now travel to Wales to face Swansea in the Saturday lunchtime kick off and, on the back of last weekend’s results, the visitors are hot favourites for another win.

Match Odds

In the lead up to this match, Manchester United are odds on with all bookmakers and can be picked up at best odds of 19/50 with MarathonBet. The Draw can be found at 41/10 with MarathonBet once again while a victory for Swansea is available at a top price of 10/1 with WinnerSports.

It’s still very early in the season and these games can sometimes be tough to predict but based on the nature of that 4-0 win over West Ham last time out, you would have to consider Manchester United as the best option here.

Swansea drew 0-0 away to Southampton last weekend and although that wasn’t a bad result, the Swans have lost their best player with Gylfi Sigurdsson moving to Everton and there’s unlikely to be too much improvement on last season’s average campaign.

There will be some enhanced odds deals on United for new customers but for now, we’ll look for value in other markets.

Individual Goal Scorer

You should have already guessed that Romelu Lukaku is the favourite to score the first goal in this game and, having scored twice on his league debut last weekend, the United man is at best odds of 3/1 with 188Bet and bet365.

Marcus Rashford follows at a top price of 9/2 with Paddy Power and BetFred and in a market dominated by Manchester United players, Anthony Martial is next at a best of 5/1 with BetFred and BetBright.

An outside option for United could be Paul Pogba, who was also on the scoresheet last weekend and looks a real tempter at his best price of 7.00 with Winner Sports and Betway. Pogba is another player who seems energised at the start of a new season and the Frenchman is our tip for an anytime goal at best odds of 3/1 with Paddy Power.

According to the bookies, Swansea’s best hope of finding the net lies with the Spanish international striker Fernando Llorente who is on offer at 4/1 with BetFred for a goal in 90 minutes or 12/1 with BetBright to open the scoring.

Other Side Bets

When we previewed Manchester United ahead of their home game with West Ham last weekend, we took a profit by backing over the 3.5 goal line and that could be a good option again. It may, however, need United to score all of them as, without Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea have had a chief goal threat removed.

You could go a little safer and back over 2.5 goals at best odds of 10/11 with BetBright and MarathonBet but we’re keeping the faith and sticking with over 3.5 at an excellent top price of 11/5 with BetFred and 32Red.

Other common bets for punters to consider include Both Teams to Score and this is at an odds-against best price of 13/10 with William Hill. That indicates just how tough it may be to break down this United defence but we feel that the Swans may just nick a goal and with that in mind, a wager at best odds of 12/1 on a correct score of Swansea 1 Manchester United 3 may just be a perfect way to round off the game. That price is available with bet365 and BetFred.

Best Bets:

• Paul Pogba to score anytime at 3/1 with Paddy Power
• Over 3.5 goals at 11/5 with BetFred
• Correct Score of Swansea 1 Manchester United 3 at 12/1 with bet365