Expert Premier League predictions and free betting tips from Mark Langdon

If you were compiling a list of five players Manchester United definitely should not have even contemplated signing it would quite possibly have featured Adrien Rabiot and Marko Arnautovic.

The move for Arnautovic now appears dead in the water, but only highlights the general malaise around Old Trafford. Here are five players who impressed in the opening round of Premier League matches and who could have been on United's radar.

Bruno Guimaraes

With (no) respect to some of the rubbish midfielders in Newcastle's ranks in the past decade it is quite unnerving to see how Bruno Guimaraes has flourished since arriving from Lyon.

The Brazilian midfielder had five passes into the penalty area against Nottingham Forest last Saturday, completed four dribbles (joint-second best) and led the league in shot-creating actions (seven).

Oleksandr Zinchenko

A move to Manchester United would have been difficult for Oleksandr Zinchenko because of his affection across the city but he deserves a shout-out for an excellent Arsenal debut.

Zinchenko's ability to drift inside and play as a playmaker from left-back adds a whole new dimension to Arsenal's play and was one of the reasons they were so electric in the first quarter of the 2-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Moises Caicedo

It was almost embarrassing seeing how Brighton's Moises Caicedo helped Albion to play around McFred on Sunday.

Caicedo looks another terrific talent and I read this week that the Seagulls' transfer policy bears the motto "if you've heard of them we don't want them".

Brighton and Brentford are putting bigger clubs to shame with their modern talent identification processes.

Palhinha

Aleksandar Mitrovic grabbed the Fulham headlines after his goalscoring double against Liverpool, but new recruit Palhinha was critical to grabbing a draw against the mighty Reds.

The former Sporting midfielder anchor featured highly in several fbref.com statistics for week one, including tackles (six), tackles won (four) successful pressures (11), tackles and interceptions (eight), ball recoveries (19) and aerial duels won (five).

Dejan Kulusevski

As well as central midfielders, United are also hunting wingers and Dejan Kulusevski cost Tottenham about a third of what the Red Devils paid for Jadon Sancho.

Aged 22, Kulusevski - or Kulusexy as one replica shirt had it on Saturday at White Hart Lane - is doing remarkable things.

He matched Kevin De Bruyne for Premier League assists last season despite not arriving until the end of January from Juventus and is tracking Mohamed Salah for goals and assists combined per 90 minutes.

The silky but still powerful Swede needs to produce over a sustained period to be mentioned in the same ballpark as De Bruyne and Salah but another goal and assist against Southampton was the perfect start to a campaign which promises much for Spurs.

They face a much tougher test against bogey club Chelsea, who won all four meetings to nil against their London rivals last season, much to the chagrin of Tottenham and former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.

The best bet for Sunday's Stamford Bridge showdown, scheduled to take place during a heatwave, is under 2.5 goals.

Six of the last seven meetings have been under 2.5, only 11 goals have been scored in that time, and 11 of Chelsea's 14 games against the big six last term featured no more than two goals.

Best bet

Under 2.5 goals Chelsea v Tottenham Sunday 4.30pm
1pt 10-11 bet365

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