Tag: Tottenham

Chelsea to re-enforce Title claims

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

From the media reaction to Chelsea’s 0-0 draw at Sunderland on Saturday you would think that Jose Mourinho’s side were in crisis. Manchester City closed the gap to six points by winning at Southampton on Sunday while Arsenal and Man United are 11 and 13 points adrift respectively.

It certainly was not a vintage Chelsea performance at the Stadium Of Light, perhaps suffering a little from their fantastic 5-0 win in Germany in midweek. Perhaps more significant was the booking picked up by leading scorer Diego Costa, ruling him out of the Spurs clash on Wednesday night due to suspension.

His place is likely to be taken by Didier Drogba who has looked sharper with each appearance this season. Spurs may feel some relief that Costa is not present but Drogba has a good record against them and is still a fearsome opponent. Eden Hazard and Willian have been running rings around most defences this season but have not been converting a high percentage of chances. This could be the time for Hazard to return to goal scoring ways in another home victory.

Sunderland battled for 90 minutes and fully deserved their point on Saturday. They now have to do the same with Champions Man City the visitors. The glimmer of hope for Sunderland is the news that Kompany is out, leaving a makeshift defence. City have been leaning heavily on Sergio Aguero so far this season but they showed at St Mary’s that they have plenty of other players capable of scoring, Frank Lampard included. I cannot see the Black Cats holding out here, despite having beaten City 1-0 in their last four clashes here.

Southampton’s bubble appears to have burst with the onset of a run of tough fixtures. The warning signs were clear at Villa Park on Monday where they had to fight hard for a point before suffering a 3-0 loss at home to City. A trip to the Emirates Stadium could see a second consecutive loss, although they did beat a sub-standard Arsenal side here in the League Cup. Olivier Giroud should be sharper for his 80 minutes at West Brom on Saturday and he can get his name on the score-sheet in a home win.

The final game on Wednesday should result in three points for Everton against struggling Hull City. The Tigers have looked pretty toothless of late while Everton nearly snatched a point at White Hart Lane.

Eden Hazard to score and Chelsea win @9-4 Bwin

Sergio Aguero to score and Man City win @7-5 Betfred

Olivier Giroud to score and Arsenal win @11-4 Bwin

Premier League Preview Oct 18 – 20th

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Premier League makes a welcome return on Saturday after the International break. First up are champions Manchester City who host Tottenham in the lunchtime kick-off.

Spurs have been down this route before, arriving here in buoyant mood last year to be thumped 6-0. They also suffered similar humiliation at home, conceding a further five as City waltzed through their non-existent defence. Will Tottenham make a game of it under Mauricio Pochettino?

Although Spurs trail City by just three points, this is really a match that the Champions should win if they are to keep tabs on Chelsea. Sergio Aguero scored three times against Spurs last year and is back to something like his best. He looks a decent bet to score in a home win.

Arsenal are currently residing in eighth place and they need a confidence booster at home to Hull. The dust has now settled on another defeat for the Gunners at Stamford Bridge and Arsene Wenger has begrudgingly apologised for shoving Jose Mourinho. There should not be too much to get fired up about in this one, although Hull may feel that they have a score to settle from last season’s FA Cup disappointment.

Burnley are starting to look like good things for relegation and a defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday would confirm that view. Sam Allardyce has pulled a rabbit out of the hat with Diafra Sakho who has scored in all five games so far for the Hammers. He could be worth combining with a Hammers victory, especially with Stewart Downing relishing his new role as midfield provider.

League leaders Chelsea travel to Crystal Palace for a game that they should win in a canter. Somehow they contrived to lose this match last year and it provides an opportunity to measure their progress since. Three points against Palace counts just as much as three against Arsenal and that is a lesson that they should have learned from last year. The bookmakers are growing to hate Diego Costa as he keeps coming up with the goods. He even scored for Spain in midweek and the omens are not good for Palace.

Everton must be scratching their heads when they look at the league table and see themselves one point above the drop zone. They have played some good football this season but their defence has been woeful. They need to tighten up against a slightly unpredictable Aston Villa side but should just edge it.

I would normally skip past Newcastle v Leicester but the Alan Pardew show re-starts at 3pm with more trials and tribulations expected. Papiss Cisse is the only man keeping Pardew in a job at the moment and he will be the key player again on Saturday. Don’t put it past him to pop up and save his boss for the third time in little over a month.

Southampton continue to astound and sit proudly in third position. They are at home to Sunderland but you get the feeling that the pressure will start to tell sooner or later. They needed a world class goal from Pelle to beat QPR and Sunderland returned to winning form last week. It may be worth taking the Black Cats to steal a point on Saturday.

QPR look as weak as Burnley at present and should provide Liverpool with a much-needed three points on Sunday while Stoke and Swansea has “draw” written all over it. The mega-bucks spent at Old Trafford have started to pay off and they can continue their upward climb by winning at the Hawthorns on Monday. Di Maria continues to impress and can get on the score sheet for the Red Devils.

Sergio Aguero to score and Man City win @11-8 Coral

Arsenal to win by one goal @11-4 Skybet

Diafra Sakho to score and West Ham win @5-1 Bwin

Diego Costa to score and Chelsea win @6-5 Ladbrokes

Everton to win by one goal @11-4 Skybet

Papiss Cisse to score and Newcastle win @15-4 Bwin

Southampton v Sunderland DRAW @3-1 Bet365

Liverpool to win by three or more goals @4-1 Skybet

Stoke v Swansea DRAW @21-10 Bet365

Angel Di Maria to score and Man Utd win @3-1 Paddy Power

Premier League Preview Oct 4th – 5th

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After a busy week of European football, the best of the Premier League action is reserved for Sunday.

Chelsea host Arsenal with the Gunners still smarting from their 6-0 thrashing in Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game in charge. The Blues raced into a 2-0 lead in the first seven minutes before Kieran Gibbs was sent off for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin’s handball. Things went from bad to worse for Wenger and it seemed for a while that his long reign at Arsenal was drawing to a close.

The FA Cup and Champions League qualification were sufficient to give him a lifeline for this season and Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Galatasaray has raised expectations yet again for their supporters. Their form has been patchy in the League and their recent record against Chelsea is poor.

Jose Mourinho’s side had much the tougher Champions League fixture this week in a gruelling encounter with Sporting Lisbon. Diego Costa spent as much time on the floor as on his feet on Tuesday night but Mourinho is adamant that he will start on Sunday. If teams become fixated in stopping Costa, Chelsea have plenty of other players capable of hitting the target. Take Chelsea to edge it by a single goal.

Manchester United host Everton on Sunday with the Toffees returning from a 1-1 draw in Russia on Thursday. United obviously have no European distractions this week so have a huge advantage. Their incredible 5-3 defeat at Leicester reminded United fans that it takes more than £150million of talent to make a team. Van Gaal will have been working overtime in trying to sort out their defensive frailties and this looks like a game that they can win.

Southampton continued their incredible run to second in the table by beating QPR last week. The spelling may be slightly different but Pelle lived up to his name with a wonder goal to seal the three points. They travel to Tottenham on Sunday and a meeting with old boss Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs have had their ups and downs this season but played well at Arsenal and this could result in a draw.

Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat in Basel on Wednesday and their Champions League prospects look bleak with two matches against Real Madrid ahead of them. Their league form has been indifferent and a home game against West Brom on Saturday is exactly the sort of game to pose problems. Rather like United, they are having trouble moulding a team out of a bunch of talented individuals and Brendan Rodgers will be looking for signs of improvement here.

Manchester City were held by Roma on Wednesday and now travel to Aston Villa. A draw was not the result that they were hoping for but they played well against a good side. Frank Lampard continues to impress and he has scored more goals against Villa than any other Premiership side. I would be surprised if he doesn’t play a part on Saturday and City can grab a comfortable three points.

Liverpool 1 West Brom 0 @15-2 BetVictor

Aston Villa 1 Man City 3 @12-1 William Hill

Frank Lampard to score first @7-1 Paddy Power

Man United 3 Everton 0 @15-1 BetVictor

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 @8-1 Bet365

Tottenham 1 Southampton 1 @13-2 BetVictor

Premier League Preview Sep 27

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

This weekend’s Premiership action gets off to a cracking start with Liverpool playing Everton in the Merseyside derby.

Both teams are struggling to find any consistency this season and arrive here in desperate need of a good result. Liverpool have survived Champions League and Capital One Cup games by the skin of their teeth and lost 3-1 to West Ham in between.

Everton were thrashed 6-3 by Chelsea but bounced back to beat West Brom and Wolfsburg. Progress came to a shuddering halt against Crystal Palace last weekend and they were then dumped out of the Capital One Cup by Swansea. Both sides are leaking goals at the moment and this has the makings of another thrilling encounter.

A repeat of the 3-3 draw at Goodison Park in November is not out of the question but I think Liverpool could just shade it, particularly if Sturridge is fit to play a part.

League leaders Chelsea lost their 100% record last weekend when Frank Lampard struck late on for Manchester City. That sentence still does not read true for Blues supporters and Lampard’s double-strike in midweek suggests that Chelsea were negligent in not offering the midfield player a one-year extension.

They play host to Aston Villa on Saturday, a side that have sometimes caused problems in the past. Villa made a flying start to the season before being brushed aside 3-0 by Arsenal. If you ignore that poor performance and judge them on their victory at Anfield, they look seriously overpriced at 16-1. Cynics may point to Chelsea’s 8-0 win in 2012/13 but Villa are a lot stronger now and Chelsea’s two draws and a scrappy 2-1 win over Bolton are a warning not to expect too much.

Crystal Palace and Leicester looks like a draw banker. The Foxes have not won in London in any of their last 15 Premier League visits but they look good enough to battle for a point. Hull play host to Champions Manchester City who look to have turned a corner this week. Lampard’s previously mentioned intervention rescued a priceless point against Chelsea and they then proceeded to blast seven goals past Sheffield Wednesday in midweek. With confidence on the up and Dzeko back in scoring mode, this should be another three points.

Perhaps the most intriguing fixture of the week is Manchester United versus West Ham. The Red Devils are brilliant going forward but leaking like a sieve in defence. They probably need to score at least three to be sure of a point! Angel Di Maria has been very impressive and he can be backed to score again with both sides finding the target. West Ham pulled off a great win over Liverpool last week and will approach this game with some optimism. Expect another feast of goals.

Southampton continue to confound their critics. Not only are they flying in the Premier League, they also knocked Arsenal out of the Capital One Cup in midweek and will be expected to see off QPR at St Mary’s. Ronald Koeman’s summer signings are all punching above their weight and they can continue their unlikely charge towards the top.

The late kick-off is the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham. Rather like Liverpool and Everton, these two sides are having a topsy-turvy start to the season in Cup and League. Arsenal’s defeat against Southampton underlines a lack of depth in their squad while Tottenham still have two ways of playing. In recent seasons, Tottenham have disappointed in these types of fixtures and Wenger can recall Wojciech Szczesny, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Mikel Arteta, Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck on Saturday.

Liverpool 3 Everton 2 (correct score) @22-1 Bet365

Liverpool v Everton over 3.5 goals @6-4 Coral

Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 1 (correct score) @11-1 BetVictor

Crystal Palace v Leicester DRAW @19-5 BetVictor

Edin Dzeko to score first @5-1 Paddy Power

Man City to win by 3 or more goals @4-1 Skybet

Man United to win by 2 goals @100-30 Bet365

Angel Di Maria to score first @7-1 Bet365

Southampton 3 QPR 0 (correct score) @10-1 BetVictor

Arsenal to win by 2 goals @4-1 Stan James

Premiership Preview 19th May

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The final day of the Premiership does not have the title or relegation drama of 12 months ago but that was always going to be a tough act to follow. In truth, Manchester United were given an easy ride to the title as their main rivals dropped tamely away. Manchester City failed to build on last season’s title success and were strangely inactive in the summer transfer market. The signing of Van Persie was sufficient to make the difference between the two teams whilst the London clubs battled it out for minor honours.

It is the battle for Champions League places that remains the only significant issue to be decided on Sunday. Tottenham will miss out again if Arsenal take all three points at Newcastle, regardless of Chelsea’s result at home to Everton. Spurs must defeat Sunderland to keep their hopes alive and rely on results elsewhere allowing them to sneak into the top four.

Chelsea v Everton

This game will have a distinct end-of-season feel about it after Chelsea virtually guaranteed their Champions League spot last weekend at Aston Villa. The question has been raised this week of a possible third-place playoff between Chelsea and Arsenal should they finish level on points, goal difference and goals scored. This scenario can only come about if Chelsea draw 0-0 and Arsenal win 2-1. Whether this will be enough to spur the Blues on to one last effort this season is another matter. Several of their players looked dead on their feet on Wednesday night as they won the Europa League with a last-gasp header from Ivanovic.

Everton meanwhile are saying farewell to David Moyes after eleven years at the helm. He was given an emotional send off by the Goodison fans last week in their 2-0 victory over West Ham and the teams look evenly matched. Rafael Benitez will also be packing his bags shortly but will surely send out a re-shuffled side for this finale. I can see Everton upsetting Chelsea’s victory parade by grabbing at least a point and a 1-1 draw might be the way to go. Kevin Mirallas looks overpriced at 11-1 to open the scoring after his two against the Hammers last week.

1-1 draw 8-1 Bet Victor

Kevin Mirallas first goalscorer 11-1 Bet365

Newcastle v Arsenal

Arsenal wavered slightly against Wigan in midweek before producing a second-half blitz to send the Latics down to the Championship after eight seasons in the top flight. Arsene Wenger will be calling on them to produce a similar effort against a Newcastle side that must be breathing a collective sigh of relief now that their Premiership status is secure. The Magpies have put in some desperate displays this season, none more so than their 6-0 drubbing at the hands of a moderate Liverpool side. Anything like that on Sunday will result in another embarrassing defeat but Alan Pardew faces an uphill task rallying his troops for this match. I can only see one winner here and it might be worth taking a risk on the 100-30 about the Gunners winning by three or more goals with Skybet. Theo Walcott is in flying form and 11-2 represents fair value in the first goalscorer market.

Arsenal to win by 3 or more goals 100-30 Skybet

Theo Walcott to score first 11-2 Coral

Tottenham v Sunderland

Tottenham were denied a place in the Champions League by Chelsea’s win in the competition last May and now look poised to miss out, possibly only on goal difference to their London rivals. They are only in contention thanks to Gareth Bale who has dug them out of many a hole this season. There is speculation that he may leave White Hart Lane if he does not get Champions League football next season but it is difficult to see them achieving that. Even so, it is worth taking the 11-4 about Bale scoring first here. Tottenham will have one eye on the Arsenal match and if that starts to go against them it is possible that their heads may drop. With the exception of their mauling at Villa Park, Sunderland have shown a lot more fight since Paolo Di Canio arrived and they could poach a point here.

Draw 19-4 Bet Victor

Gareth Bale to score first 11-4 Ladbrokes

Football Preview May 11th and 12th

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FA Cup Final – Manchester City v Wigan

It is a sign of the times that the FA Cup final is almost a sideshow to the Premier League action this weekend. Gone are the days when the Cup final was the grand finale to the season and dominated the sports pages. This year’s final also has a one-sided look to it as Manchester City seek some consolation for losing their Premiership title to archrivals United against a Wigan side staring down the barrel of relegation.

City look assured of second place but grateful for the opportunity of pocketing a bit of silverware at the end of a slightly disappointing season. There is no doubt that they have the firepower to beat Wigan, although they only scrambled past them by a single goal in their recent league clash. Roberto Martinez approached the FA Cup in the same manor as most Premiership managers these days, using it as a platform for his youngsters to gain valuable experience. By virtue of a favourable draw and an impressive 3-0 victory at Goodison, the Latics have found themselves in the final for the first time in their history. Had they managed to perform their usual Houdini act and escaped the drop, this would be a momentous occasion. Unfortunately, a 3-2 defeat at home to Swansea in midweek has left them in deep trouble.

I would love to be able to tip Wigan here but it is looking increasingly bleak for them. The most likely scenario is defeat on Saturday, relegation and even the loss of their manager in the summer. They have simply failed to find the consistency needed this season and I don’t think City will pass up this golden opportunity for a trophy. I take City to win by 2 goals at odds of 3-1 and City to be winning at half-time and full-time at 10-11 with Skybet.

Manchester City to win by 2 goals 3-1 Paddy Power
Manchester City to be winning at half-time and full-time 10-11 Skybet

Aston Villa v Chelsea

Saturday’s lunch-time kick-off sees Chelsea going in search of the win they require to secure a top four finish and a Champions League spot. That looked to be within their grasp on Wednesday night before a late Tottenham goal forced them to settle for a 2-2 draw. Chelsea supporters will not have been at all surprised to see the agony prolonged after a hectic but, as yet, unproductive season at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea may have thumped Villa 8-0 earlier in the season but it is a very different side they are facing on Saturday. Villa dished out a 6-1 thrashing to Sunderland to put themselves within reach of Premiership survival and received a further boost when Wigan were defeated in midweek. Another complication for the Blues is the prospect of the Europa League final next Wednesday. They do not have the strength in depth of previous seasons and have suffered when fielding a weakened side. They rely heavily on Juan Mata and Eden Hazard to provide the spark in their attacking play and both have been showing signs of a long season recently. Chelsea may again be frustrated and have to settle for a draw, putting their supporters through the agony of going to the last match against Everton in the process.

Draw 14-5 Bet Victor

Stoke v Tottenham

Spurs managed to hold Chelsea to a draw on Wednesday and will be hoping that Aston Villa can do them a huge favour on Saturday. They were not at their best at Stamford Bridge but it is to their credit that they managed to get a result and they will need the same sort of determination to get all three points at Stoke on Sunday. Gareth Bale has been largely responsible for keeping them in the hunt for a Champions League spot and they will look to him again this weekend. I think they can grab a vital win and Bale to score at any time looks a fair bet at 6-5.

Tottenham to win 10-11 William Hill
Gareth Bale to score 6-5 Bet Victor