- Michael Beardmore (@MickeyBeardmore) is 27.5pts in profit this season
Football betting tips: Women's Super League
1pt Caitlin Foord to score anytime in Arsenal vs Aston Villa at 12/5 (William Hill)
1pt Lucy Hope 1+ shots on target in Liverpool vs Everton at 5/2 (Sky Bet)
0.5pts Lucy Hope to be shown a card in Liverpool vs Everton at 7/1 (Sky Bet)
0.5pt Jennifer Beattie to score anytime in Arsenal vs Aston Villa at 16/1 (General)
Liverpool vs Everton
- Kick-off time: 16:30 BST, Sunday
- TV channel: Sky Sports Main Event
- Home 3/4 | Draw 13/5 | Away 10/3
Liverpool claimed a very respectable seventh-placed finish on their return to the WSL last season and are already showing signs they can exceed that after beginning the new campaign with excellent wins over Arsenal and Aston Villa.
Those victories mean they are already six points better off than Merseyside rivals Everton, who have lost both of their games thus far to Leicester and Brighton - not great news for the Toffees considering those sides battled relegation last term.
You can get 4/5 top-price on the Reds continuing their 100 per cent start. I wouldn't put you off as I think it's definitely the likeliest result but it's just a tad short to tip and the derby element also slightly puts me off as Everton will raise their game.
Fortunately, I have found a couple of much better value prices centred around Everton's Scotland midfielder/wing-back LUCY HOPE who has been one of the Toffees' standout performers for several seasons now.
The 27-year-old is overpriced in a couple of markets here, firstly to have 1+ SHOTS ON TARGET at 5/2 with Sky Bet.
In 20 WSL appearances last season, she tested the opposition goalkeeper eight times and has done so once in two games this term from four shots attempted overall.
Hope is an all-action kind of player and gets stuck in - she's attempted 11 tackles across those opening two matches and picked up a caution already.
Again taking the derby element into account, the price of 7/1 on HOPE TO BE SHOWN A CARD looks very generous. She's half that price elsewhere which is more reflective of the possibility of her entering the referee's notebook.
Score prediction: Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Sky Bet odds: 6/1)
Arsenal vs Aston Villa
- Kick-off time: 14:00 BST, Sunday
- TV channel: BBC One
- Home 2/7 | Draw 17/4 | Away 17/2
Out of the Champions League in the preliminary stages and with just one point from their opening two league games, it’s certainly not been the ideal start to the season for Arsenal.
Jonas Eidevall’s side will be looking to kickstart their campaign against Carla Ward’s Aston Villa, who have also begun slowly with back-to-back WSL defeats.
Villa were ‘the best of the rest’ last season, finishing in a best-ever fifth place but their record against the ‘Big Four’ since being promoted to the top flight is not pretty, reading W2 D3 L20.
However, the caveat is that three of the more positive results – two wins and a draw – came in their eight such games last season. One of those wins was away at Arsenal too.
Had they made a decent start to the campaign, I’d be finding a way to back the visitors here as Arsenal are far too short, not to mention inconsistent, but Villa’s disappointing 2-0 loss at Liverpool last weekend raises flags.
Given Villa have only kept three clean sheets in 25 meetings with the ‘Big Four’, I think picking a couple of Arsenal scorers provides the best value here. I expect Villa to focus on keeping Alessia Russo quiet and that should provide opportunities for others in red, not least CAITLIN FOORD.
The Aussie (above) has 34 goals in 95 Gunners games and has attempted seven shots in two WSL games this term, as well as netting in the Champions League – she looks nicely priced at 12/5 TO SCORE ANYTIME.
Additionally, as a small-stake longer-odds punt, I’m also backing JENNIFER BEATTIE TO SCORE ANYTIME at 16/1.
The Scotland centre-back has scored 58 goals in 375 career appearances, averaging a goal every 6.5 games and we can expect hosts Arsenal to earn enough set-pieces to give her opportunities.
Score prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Aston Villa (Sky Bet odds: 10/1)
Odds correct 1745 BST (13/10/23)
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