The Panel: Troy Deeney Shares His Premier League Opening Weekend Tips

Former Watford and Birmingham forward Troy Deeney is sharing his Premier League opening weekend selections with The Panel.

Deeney, who scored over 130 goals for the Blues, is a respected pundit working with the likes of the BBC throughout the football season.

Deeney also scored one of the most dramatic goals in the history of the Championship scoring for Watford in their Championship play-off semi-final, second leg win over Leicester, who had an injury-time penalty saved by Manuel Almunia and seconds later, the striker scored to make it 3-1 to progress to Wembley. 

Let's start with the first of 380 Premier League matches this season at the Emirates as newly-promoted Coventry City travel to the champions Arsenal.

Arsenal Vs Coventry City, 8pm Friday

Few are giving Frank Lampard's side a chance when they travel to Arsenal this evening, and Deeney agrees.

He expects the Gunners to get off to a winning start, despite the fact they will have a target on their back.  

Deeney believes Mikel Arteta's side will begin their title defence with a win by two goals or more. 

Arsenal were the corner kings last season and they were a profitable source for goals throughout their title-winning campaign.

The Gunners will be expected to have the majority of possession and they have the quality to turn that possession into goalscoring opportunities against Lampard's side, who might need a game or two to get up to speed. Troy is going for over 6.5 corners to land in the contest.

Arsenal's new summer signing Christos Tzolis shone in last weekend's 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City with two assists and that's good enough for Deeney, who fancies the Greek to score or assist against the league's newcomers.

Troy Deeney's Arsenal Vs Coventry Bet Builder:

• Arsenal -2
• Over 6.5 total corners
• Tzolis to score or assist

A £10 bet returns £31 with Bet365, including a £7 boost. 

Try build your own bets this weekend with BetBuilderAI now. All matches, all players and every stat you need to build your bets, smarter.

Troy Deeney's Weekend Acca

Deeney has put together a 12/1 acca for the weekend action, that includes the champions tonight.

We know he has gone for the Gunners to win, but he has also gone for Manchester United to win at Hull City in the lunchtime game tomorrow, as the Tigers return to the top flight after a decade away.

On Sunday, Deeney is tipping Brighton to capitalise on the disruptive summer Aston Villa have had with players leaving and on the verge of exits. In the late kick-off, Deeney predicts a win for Andoni Iraola in his first game in charge as Liverpool boss at Newcastle. 

The opening round of fixtures comes to a close with a west London derby on Monday night, which Deeney sees going the way of Chelsea, under the management of Xabi Alonso. 

Troy Deeney's Opening Weekend Acca

• Arsenal Vs Coventry: Arsenal to win
• Hull City Vs Manchester United: United to win
• Brighton Vs Aston Villa: Brighton to win
• Newcastle Vs Liverpool: Liverpool to win
• Fulham Vs Chelsea: Chelsea to win

This 5-leg acca works out to be around 12/1 at most leading online betting sites.