Last season was a pretty hard one for Aston Villa and their new manager Paul Lambert, as the young team he put faith in found itself embroiled in the relegation struggle for much of the season – so you would have to put bets on next season being exactly the same, right?

Well not necessarily, as these young players will now be a year older and better for that fraught experience, and Lambert is a proven quality manager. Villa’s next competitive game however is a tough trip to Arsenal on the opening day of the new season, and the bookies don’t fancy their chances.

Arsenal are the odds-on favourites to win this game, with the best odds being 2/5, while Aston Villa are comparative outsiders. You would expect this, as it is a team which qualified for the Champions League playing relegation strugglers at home, but the odds of 4/1 on Villa indicate that even the bookmakers don’t see them as rank outsiders.

Arsenal have clear vulnerabilities – especially in the centre of defence – and Villa could definitely exploit the height and power of Christian Benteke at set pieces to cause havoc in the Gunners defence. Overall this may be one of the opening day games where it is worth considering an outside bet – although it is probably better to wait and see who stays and leaves each club in the summer before betting – as you can play a football slots game at an online casino in the meantime.

There are loads of these games to choose from now – including the loopy video slot Soccer Safari, where animals like lions, cheetahs, buffalo and warthogs rampage around a jungle football stadium in an alternative World Cup tournament – and the great thing about these games is that you can play them from virtually anywhere these days using mobile casino apps at places.

However it is the fun, cheap game play and overall quality that slots like Soccer Safari offer (not to mention the jackpot of $8,000) that have done most to get football fans interested in trying out this different mix of football and gambling.