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NIFL Premiership Betting Tips, Previews & Odds – Gameweek 1

In this post, you can find our NIFL Premiership betting tips and odds as we preview all the games ahead of the first Gameweek of the season.

The Northern Ireland Premier Division commences this Friday Night in what promises to be another exciting season. Larne comes into this season as defending champions having won the league title for the first time last season.

We have looked at the favourites in a separate post here.

Coleraine v Ballymena

When? 7.45 pm, Friday 4th August

Where? The Showgrounds, Derry

How To Watch?ย BBC iPlayer and BBC Website

MATCH BETTING ODDS

Coleraine are 4/11, Ballymena are 13/2, while the draw is 10/3.

Preview

Coleraine commence their season in the league opener at home in a match they will be widely expected to win. They finished their league season last season in the Championship section of the league but finished dead last five points behind Crusaders in fifth place.

Colerain recruited primarily in defence with Graham Kelly CB, Darren Cole CB and Jake Wallace RB the main additions alongside McDaid CF from Ballymena.

Ballymena finished in third place in the relegation playoff section last season and will be hoping for a stronger season this year. In the off-season, theyโ€™ve lost players to the likes of Glentoran, Crusaders and Coleraine.

Furthermore, theyโ€™ve been replaced with players with an average age of 23 which includes Coates (37) from Cliftonville and Walsh (22) from Duncannon the stand-out signings.

Prediction

Coleraine 2-0 Ballymena

Best Bet

Winning Margin Coleraine By Exactly 2 Goals @ 3/1

Click Below For All Our Coleraine v Ballymena Betting Odds

Glenavon v Glentoran

When? 3.00pm, Saturday, 5th August

Where? Mourneview Park, Armagh

How To Watch?ย N/a

MATCH BETTING ODDS

Glenavon can be gotten at 11/2, Glentoran are 3/1, and the draw is 16/5.

Preview

Glenavon had an interesting season last season, despite finishing in the relegation playoff places, they would top that six-team table coming twelve points clear of Carrick and earning their spot in the Europa Conference League playoffs.

Unfortunately from their perspective, Glenavon were dismantled 5-0 in the semi-final first stage by their opponents. In the off-season, they recruited mainly from the lower leagues aside from the signing of Niall Quinn from Linfield but Matthew Fitzpatrick leaving in the other direction will be a huge loss.

Glentoran had a strong finish to their season in the Championship playoff section winning their final three matches to finish third, only three points behind Linfield albeit nine points behind league winner Larne.

However, they secured Europa qualification by beating Glenavon 5-0 in the semi-final and Cliftonville in the final 2-0. Iโ€™ve been impressed with their off-season business bringing in the likes of Daire Oโ€™Connor and Fuad Sule and I think they could have an even better season this year.

Prediction

Glenavon 0-2 Glentoran

Best Bet

Winning Margin Glentoran By Exactly 2 Goals

Click Below For All Our Glenavon v Glentoran Betting Odds

Newry City v Loughgall

When? 3.00 pm, Saturday 5th August

Where? The Showgrounds, โ€ŽDown

How To Watch?ย N/a

MATCH BETTING ODDS

Newry can be gotten at 6/5, Loughgall are 7/4, while the draw is 13/5.

Preview

Newry newly promoted last season managed to stay up finishing fourth place in the relegation playoff section seven points clear of Portadown.

Newry have recruited interestingly during their off-season bringing in nine players at an average age of 22.1. That includes the likes of former League of Ireland players Georgie Poynton and Ciaran Oโ€™Connor. It will be interesting to see how the squad blends together.

Loughgall come into this NIFL Premiership season fresh off promotion from their Championship victory last season where they amassed 69 points from 33 matches. They were the division’s top scorers with 65 goals and had a watertight defence only conceding 20 goals.

The step-up in quality will be huge for them though and all four of their recruits came from the Championship or lower which gives me some cause for concern for them.

Prediction

Newry City 1-1 Loughgall

Best Bet

Both Teams To Score and Draw @ 10/3

Click Below For All Our Newry v Loughgall Betting Odds

Larne v Dungannon Swifts

When? 7.45 pm, Monday 7th August

Where? Inver Park, Antrim

How To Watch?ย Sky Sports TVย (TV)

MATCH BETTING ODDS

Larne – 1/10

Dungannon – 20/1

The Draw – 15/2

Preview

Larne will commence their first-ever league title defence on Monday Night, in the meantime they have what is likely to be their final game in Europe this season tomorrow night at home against Ballkani unless they can overcome a three-goal deficit.

This side will be out to prove it was no fluke but there has been a good few changes from their title-winning squad with Faud Sule gone to Glentoran, Graham Kelly gone to Coleraine and most notably for me Ben Doherty now back with Derry City.

Dungannon can consider themselves a little fortunate to not have been relegated last season finishing seven points ahead of Portadown in bottom place. They dramatically saved their Premier Division status by overcoming a 2-1 defeat against Annagh United in the first leg to beat them 2-0 in the second leg to retain their top-flight status.

Dungannon made some interesting additions in the off-season with twelve in and ten out. Their two most notable signings look to be Chris Hegarty from Crusaders along with Portuguese RW Leonel Alves from UD Santarรฉm.

Prediction

Larne 3-1 Dungannon

Click Below For All Our Larne v Dungannon Betting Odds

*Prices subject to fluctuation

Remember, always gamble responsibly. Hereโ€™s ourย Safer Gambling Guide.
Categories
Football
Tagged
NIFLNIFL PremiershipNorthern Ireland

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