Bryan Power

8* Tottenham (4:00 ET): The Hotspurs find themselves in the middle of the Premier League table right now, but actually own the best goal differential (+7, tied w/ Aston Villa). They are off a very shocking draw with West Ham last week where they blew a 3-0 lead, conceding all three goals in the final 10 minutes. I look for them to bounce back this week though and get the full three (points) at the expense of Burnley, who is down in the relegation zone and simply lacks the firepower to compete with Tottenham here. 

Burnley are one of four EPL sides currently without a win this campaign. They’ve played just four times, but have lost three and drawn one. That one draw was last week, against fellow winless club West Brom, and was of the scoreless variety. Burnley has scored just three times in four games, two of those goals coming in a 4-2 loss to Leicester City. Individual game efforts have not been impressive for a side that has finished 10th or lower three of the last four years. Compared to past seasons, this outfit seems weaker. 

Remember that before the Int’l Break, Tottenham crushed Man U 6-1. They are tied for most goals scored in the EPL this season (15) and that’s despite playing one fewer game than virtually everyone else. They’ve actually already bounced back somewhat from last week’s heartbreak, winning their Europa League opener 3-0 over LASK Linz. But their standing domestically is still of greater importance and I expect a very sharp performance Monday afternoon. 8* Tottenham

10* LA Rams (8:15 ET): Chicago is a very fraudulent 5-1 SU right now as they’ve twice come back from 17+ pt deficits to win in the 2nd half. All five wins have been by 7 pts or less. They were badly outgained two weeks ago on Thursday night by Tampa Bay, yet still managed to win 20-19. They averaged only 4.1 yards per play in that game. So far, the Bears have been outgained on both a per game and per play basis this season. In the four games they didn’t rally back from 17+ down, they have failed to score more than 23 points. This is a team I want to fade.

Meanwhile, the Rams are 5-1 ATS off their L6 SU losses. They lost to 49ers as a road favorite on SNF last week, a spot where I actually played against them. But they are 4-1 ATS L5 as a home favorite. Unlike the Bears, LA is outgaining teams on a per game and per play basis. Even though Chicago is carried by its defense, the Rams are giving up fewer yards and points per game. 

Only two teams in the Super Bowl era have pulled off five outright upsets in the first seven weeks of the season, which is what Chicago is vying to do here. The Bears have been outgained in 4 of their 6 games this year. Even though they’ve won two straight, I don’t feel that QB Nick Foles has necessarily been any kind of improvement compared to Mitch Trubisky. 10* LA Rams