Premier League Preview 3rd March

Manchester City’s defeat at Liverpool on Sunday has shifted the balance firmly in favour of Chelsea in the Premier League title race. Bookmakers have pushed City out to 7-1 to retain the title but there is plenty of time for further twists and turns along the way.

The top teams are in action on Wednesday night with City having the much easier task at home to Leicester while the Blues travel to West Ham. Tuesday night’s action largely concerns the other end of the table with two relegation scraps at Aston Villa and Hull. If Tim Sherwood had any doubt about the task he faces at Villa Park, their seventh successive defeat at the weekend will have brought the message home.

There have been some remarkable stats in the Premier League this season, one of which is the incredible lack of goals from Villa. They have scored a miserly 13 goals all season which is less than half of the total managed by QPR, ahead of them on goal difference at present. Christian Benteke has looked a pale shadow of his former self since returning from injury and they desperately need to find a goal from somewhere.

They face a West Brom side that are on a great run of form since Tony Pulis took over. A 1-0 win over Southampton on Saturday hoisted them eight points clear of the drop zone. They may be without Saido Berahino on Tuesday but could still be good enough to take all three points. If you fancy a long shot to open the scoring, defender Joleon Lescott has scored more goals against Villa than any other side in his career.

The Hull v Sunderland game does not exactly scream goals either with Gus Poyet’s side having failed to hit the target in four matches. Hull grabbed vital points against Villa and QPR and could have enough quality to do the same to the Black Cats.

The wheels have come off a bit at Southampton in recent weeks and a top four finish is starting to look like a pipedream. It was very entertaining while it lasted but they too are struggling to hit the back of the net, Graziano Pelle in particular. They are at home to Crystal Palace who have been transformed since the arrival of Alan Pardew. Most worrying for Saints, Palace seem far better away than at home at present. They look overpriced at around 4-1.

West Brom to beat Aston Villa @21-10 Bet365

Joleon Lescott to score first @33-1 Bet365

Aston Villa 0 West Brom 1 @7-1 BetVictor

Hull to beat Sunderland @23-20 Ladbrokes

Hull 1 Sunderland 0 @6-1 BetVictor

Crystal Palace to beat Southampton @19-4 BetVictor

Southampton 0 Crystal Palace 1 @13-1 BetVictor

FA Cup Fifth Round Preview

Betcirca football followers were 20 points up on Wednesday night’s Premiership games after we correctly forecast the score for the matches at Old Trafford and St Mary’s. Profits could easily have been doubled had Branislav Ivanovic broken the deadlock at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately he had one disallowed, blazed another over the bar and had a decent shot saved by Howard in the Everton goal.

The Premiership gives way to the FA Cup this weekend and the shock exit of Chelsea and Man City in the last round has left us with a rather bland set of fixtures. No doubt supporters of the sixteen remaining clubs would beg to differ so we’ll see if we can find some value bets for die-hard FA Cup enthusiasts.

The tie of the round is probably Crystal Palace versus Liverpool, Saturday’s late kick-off. The Reds survived by the skin of their teeth in the previous round against Bolton and struck late again in midweek against Spurs. That 3-2 victory has re-ignited their hopes of finishing in the top four so there must be danger of some squad rotation from Brendan Rodgers on Saturday.

If any Premiership team is going to be fully committed to the FA Cup you would expect them to be those in mid-table, not worried by relegation but too far down to be in contention for Europe. Crystal Palace fit the bill quite nicely and it may be worth taking Alan Pardew’s men to cause an upset.

The early kick-off sees West Brom host West Ham and I favour the home side to capitalise on the fact that the Hammers have endured two very tough matches in the past week. They were robbed of a victory in injury-time by Man United on Sunday but clung on with ten men against Southampton on Wednesday. They lost their goalkeeper to a red card and Andy Carroll picked up another knock so it could be a patched-up West Ham team that takes the field.

I don’t see Arsenal slipping up against Middlesbrough on Sunday and they can be backed to win comfortably and it should be a similar story for Man United at Preston on Monday. Van Gaal’s team selection is anybody’s guess so the goalscorer markets may be best avoided. It is difficult to predict the outcome of the game between managerless Aston Villa and rudderless Leicester while Stoke could struggle at Blackburn after their 4-1 home defeat by Man City.

Crystal Palace to beat Liverpool by one goal @9-2 Paddy Power

West Brom to beat West Ham @7-5 Bet365

Saido Berahino to score at any time @2-1 Betfair

Arsenal (-1.0 handicap) to beat Middlesbrough @6-5 Bet365

Man United (-1.0 handicap) to beat Preston @5-4 Bet365

FA Cup Fourth Round Preview

The FA Cup Fourth Round draw did not exactly provide us with a feast of big matches and it is difficult to see where, if any, the major shocks will be.

Chelsea and Man City both have relatively easy home matches against Bradford City and Middlesbrough respectively. The Blues have the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final with Liverpool on Tuesday night and then Man City in the Premiership on Sunday. Fortunately for Mourinho, he has a fully-fit squad and afford the luxury of some squad rotation.

Bradford are priced at 28-1 but a more likely outcome is a repeat of Chelsea’s 3-0 third round victory over Watford. There has been speculation that the Blues were willing to part with Andre Schurrle but he is in the line-up on Saturday and can score in a comfortable home win.

City had an unusual prep for the home tie with Middlesbrough by playing in Dubai. They are likely to field a strong enough team to see off Boro with Sergio Aguero looking to recover his goal scoring form. Predicting the line-up is almost as difficult as forecasting the result but I’d expect Aguero to score in another home win for the champions.

There are two all-Premiership games with Southampton at home to Crystal Palace and Tottenham facing Leicester. Spurs were poor against Sheffield United on Wednesday and grateful to escape with a 1-0 advantage to take to the second leg. Leicester have been battling away but you have to wonder about the merits of a Cup run whilst they struggle to avoid relegation.

Crystal Palace seem to have been revitalised by the arrival of Alan Pardew and their clash with Southampton is a tricky one. The Saints needed a replay to get past Ipswich in round 3 and they could face a similar scenario here. The late kick-off sees Liverpool host Bolton, another side buoyed by a new coach in the shape of Neil Lennon. The former Celtic boss has only lost one in twelve since joining the Trotters but Liverpool may just edge this one.

Sunday should see Arsenal and West Ham go through safely, at Brighton and Bristol City respectively. Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil could make their return for the Gunners as Arsene Wenger’s squad gradually approaches full fitness. Arsenal could be worth a bet on the handicap in this one while the Hammers deserve to go further in the competition after their epic battle with Everton.

Andre Schurrle scores and Chelsea win @5-4 Paddy Power

Sergio Aguero scores and Man City win @8-11 Ladbrokes

Southampton v Crystal Palace DRAW @3-1 Bet365

Tottenham to win by one goal @11-4 Sky Bet

Liverpool to win by one goal @3-1 Ladbrokes

West Ham to beat Bristol City @21-20 BetVictor

Arsenal (-1.0 handicap) to win @7-5 Paddy Power

Pre Christmas Football Preview

Well, its that time of the year again. Next Thursday we’ll all be getting horrifically drunk while enjoying time with our families. For the avid sports fans among us, Christmas day is perfect for researching not only the boxing day football, but also the excellent racing. It’s the one day of the year where there is no betting activity (unless you like basketball that is!)

I’m going to put up my best bets, while focusing on just the one game, the “big” TV game on Saturday.

Manchester City v Crystal Palace.

Now, Aguero is out. The main man is out injured. In his absence City have started Dzeko and Jelovic and they’ve not had anywhere near the impact Aguero has had. That said, City have won their last 5 with a reasonable amount of ease. They haven’t been smashing the goals in with absence of Aguero, but they’ve been doing enough.

Palace on the other hand have drawn 3 of their last 4 games and have only won 1 game away from home all season. On their day they are a decent outfit who COULD beat anyone, but they’re just horribly inconsistent, as bar most of the teams in their situation.

So, on that note. We think City win, but 3/10 with Skybet isn’t much of  a price. We like the idea of this offer.

Purchase GTA 5 for Xbox One or PS4 for £45 and should City win you’ll get your money back. Act quick as this offer is for a limited time ever! Head over to DiscountIf.

Best bets:

Manchester City to win to nil 11/10 Skybet

Manchester City -2 Handicap 21/10 Skybet

Save the rest of your money to back Aston Villa to beat Swansea away from home on boxing day at 18/5 with Skybet 😉

 

William Hill 9 Fold Acca

This weekend has been fun and exciting but now it’s the end of the football season and Crystal Palace have now made it to the premiership with a 1-0 penalty scored by the old guy of football Kevin Philips. Watford played well but gave away a penalty that clinched the game for Crystal Palace.

The season is over and now we have to wait for August for the start of the 2013-2014 football season to kick off.

We do have some international friendly’s to look forward to in the coming weeks between England and Brazil. My moneys going to be on England to win at home but lets wait and see the line up. My weekend has not been to bad on the horses but check out my big miss on the weekends football. I had a massive nine fold with William Hill and both Madrid teams let me down. Real Madrid drew 3-3 with Real Sociedad and Athletico Madrid also drew 0-0 with Mallorca.

For a £10 bet I would have well over £700, oh well you win some and you lose some but you must have fun along the way.

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