The Early Bird: Weekend football predictions from Aaron Ashley

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The Early Bird best bets

Omar Marmoush first goalscorer in Manchester City vs Arsenal
1pt 7-1 bet365

Norwich to beat West Brom
2pts 21-20 Coral, Ladbrokes

MK Dons to beat Oxford
1pt 12-5 Hills

Fleetwood or draw double chance vs Chesterfield
1pt 20-21 BoyleSports

Best Community Shield bet

Arsenal vs Manchester City

TNT Sports 1, 3pm Sunday

Arsenal and Manchester City dominate the betting in an intriguing Premier League title race and they will be keen to lay down a marker in Sunday’s Community Shield showdown at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Due to the World Cup, both teams have been without a number of their stars in pre-season so it remains to be seen whether Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Erling Haaland and Elliot Anderson among others will play starring roles.

Having got 28 minutes under his belt in a 3-1 win over K-League All Stars last Wednesday, Omar Marmoush led the line against Atletico Madrid four days later and scored a brace.

Haaland was due to return to first-team training only on Wednesday after helping Norway reach the World Cup quarter-final so Enzo Maresca may choose to side with Marmoush from the start and the Egyptian could be a big price to open the scoring.

Best Championship bet

Norwich vs West Brom

3pm Saturday

Norwich and West Brom both recorded emphatic 4-1 wins over lower-ranked opposition in the first round of the EFL Cup to enhance optimism for successful Championship campaigns, but the Canaries look best-placed to challenge for promotion.

Norwich had 25 shots in cruising past MK Dons, a team expected to enjoy a productive campaign in League One, and they won 14 of their final 24 games in the Championship last season to finish within eight points of the playoffs after a sluggish start.

Another season under Philippe Clement could deliver even better results and they should have the beating of the Baggies, who they defeated 5-0 at the Hawthorns in January before seeing them off again in a 3-1 victory in the FA Cup in February at Carrow Road.

The Canaries are 11-2 for promotion with bet365 while West Brom, who finished 21st last season and were only four points clear of relegation, are a 9-1 chance under rookie manager James Morrison.

The signing of Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Chelsea is an exciting one for the Baggies but their 4-1 win over Rotherham on Saturday may say more about their League Two opponents and Norwich could easily go off odds-on.

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Best League One bet

Oxford vs MK Dons

Sky Sports+, 12.30pm Saturday

MK Dons were dealt a harsh lesson by Norwich in the first round of the EFL Cup but they should find things much easier in their League One opener at Oxford, who limped to a 2-0 loss at Leyton Orient.

There is a chance that Dons, following last season’s promotion from League Two and with a number of new arrivals, may need time to settle.

But this should be the perfect time to face Oxford, who were relegated from the Championship last season and look ill-prepared for the start of the campaign.

The U’s are under a temporary transfer embargo, making it difficult for Aaron Ramsey to strengthen in his first managerial role, and plenty of players have left the Kassam Stadium over the summer.

Influential duo Brian De Keersmaecker and Stanley Mills were not involved in the cup loss at Orient while Jeon Jin-Woo, Ruben Roosken and Frankie Kent are out injured, which may go to show why they had only six shots and two on target.

Best League Two bet

Chesterfield vs Fleetwood

3pm Saturday 

Having edged past Chesterfield 1-0 in a drab EFL Cup first-round clash on Saturday, the Cod Army will be out to frustrate the Spireites again in their League Two curtain-raiser at the SMH Group Stadium.

Chesterfield are odds-on to exact their revenge but it is easy to envisage that price drifting as manager Paul Cook has said again that reinforcements are needed while Dylan Duffy and Will Dickson are nursing knocks.

Chesterfield dominated possession but only one of their 15 shots was on target and Fleetwood, who are set up to defend and have a solid base, held the hosts to a pair of 1-1 draws last season. They also lost only nine of their 23 away league games last term.

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