The Highest Scoring Team market is back ahead of the weekend’s Premier League fixtures, and Manchester City are 3/1 favourites as they prepare to host Nottingham Forest.

Premier League Highest Scoring Team odds:

It’s a competitive market with five sides priced up at 10/1 or shorter and three places available each-way, but Pep Guardiola’s side are deserved favourites after their 3-1 win against West Ham last week.

Though it should be said, as good as Manchester City have looked without really breaking sweat, Forest have been a more resolute outfit this season. 

They were robust against Arsenal, largely kept Sheffield United at bay and were good value for their clean sheet at Stamford Bridge.

Of course, they haven’t faced Erling Haaland yet, with the City man looking even more dangerous than he was last season. 

Top scorers in the division, Brighton are second favourites as they play host to Bournemouth. The sacking of Gary O’Neil over the summer looked harsh for all of around five minutes until Andoni Iraola was announced as his replacement, but the Spaniard is yet to get the best out of his players on the south coast.

Iraola will, in time, want his players playing adventurous football, getting the ball forward quickly, even if it will lead to his side being hit on the break. The Cherries aren’t there yet, and it’s unlikely they’ll be too adventurous at the Amex knowing how dangerous Brighton are in transition, but if they are, don’t be surprised to see Roberto De Zerbi’s men punish the visitors.

Liverpool, at home to West Ham, are third favourites, and while they rank fourth in the Premier League for goals and expected goals, the Reds aren’t quite a fully functional outfit just yet.

The transition to a new midfield will bring inconsistency for a little while, but the fact they can now bring the likes of Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Ryan Gravenberch off the bench certainly makes them more dangerous going forward. 

They host a West Ham side who can be very pleased with their start to the season. They’ve played Manchester City, Chelsea and Brighton, taking six points from those games, and barring their clash with City at the weekend, hadn’t conceded more than a goal in a single game this season.

David Moyes is all too happy for his side to play without the ball, with the likes of Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen providing counter-attacking options, and they’ll look to make things difficult for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Arsenal play host to Tottenham in what is perhaps both sides’ toughest test of the season. Arsenal have just about done enough in all their games so far, coming up short against Fulham in a game they ought to have won, while Spurs have been excellent under Ange Postecoglou. 

In Harry Kane, Spurs have lost more than 40% of their goals from last season, but are the league’s third highest scorers, notching nearly three times a game. 

It could be argued that Tottenham haven’t faced a significant test so far this season – and even in the first half against Manchester United they could, even should, have fallen behind, and it will be fascinating to see how Mikel Arteta, operating with a new system, sets his Gunners side up on Sunday afternoon. 

Newcastle are joint-fourth in the betting at 10/1 with Arsenal as the Magpies take a trip to Bramall Lane against a Sheffield United side who may need a result to keep Paul Heckingbottom in a job.

Eddie Howe’s side put five past Aston Villa on the opening weekend but have only scored three in the four games since (admittedly, they’ve been against Manchester City, Liverpool, Brighton and Brentford).

One reason for that could be that Bruno Guimaraes has been deployed in a slightly deeper role while still being expected to contribute in the final third like he did so well last season, and it seems to be to the detriment of Newcastle’s output in the final third.

Newcastle scored four or more on eight occasions in the league last season, but based on what we’ve seen recently, those days may be few and far between.

Liam Williams

• Manchester City F.C.
• Nottingham Forest F.C.
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