Football Betting
Carling Cup Final
The first major domestic silverware of the season will be decided this Sunday as Aston Villa take on Manchester United in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley.
United have shown signs of taking this tournament more seriously in recent years with two of their three League Cup wins coming in the last four years. The reigning champions have played a much stronger side in the Carling Cup in the last couple of years and haven’t lost a fixture in the tournament since September 2008.
Villa have been steadily improving under Martin O’Neill and now have strength in depth to add to a youthful and talented starting XI. They have beaten Cardiff City, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers en route to the final and are a stand out 7/2 to win the match in 90 minutes.
It’s a tricky one to call, and much will depend on the strength of side Sir Alex Ferguson puts out at Wembley.
Premier League
With Manchester United in Cup final action, Chelsea have the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table as they host Manchester City on Saturday.
After a promising start, City’s form doesn’t seem to have improved much with Roberto Mancini at the helm, and they looked far from Champions League material in their drab 0-0 home draw with Liverpool last weekend. Chelsea aren’t in the best of form either, but should have enough to beat a stuttering City side at 1/2.
Spurs leapfrogged both Man City and Liverpool into the fourth Champions League qualifying spot with their 3-0 win over Wigan at the DW Stadium last Sunday. Still in with a real chance of nicking the fourth position, Spurs face a difficult match in front of the TV cameras against Everton.
The return of Mikel Arteta last weekend compensated somewhat for the loss of Marouane Fellaini and Arteta featured heavily in the Toffee’s excellent 3-1 win over Manchester United. David Moyes’ side have shown good form over recent weeks and are great value at 11/4 to keep up their recent good run at the expense of Spurs.
I tipped Stoke City last week to continue their excellent unbeaten run in 2010 and they duly obliged with a 2-1 victory at Fratton Park. The Potters have it more difficult this week as Arsenal are the visitors to the Britannia Stadium.
Tony Pulis’ side are on a great run and beat the Gunners 3-1 in the FA Cup less than a month ago. I think this could, once again, be a difficult match for Arsene Wenger’s side and I fancy Stoke to squeak a narrow win at 4/1.
Championship
There will be many twists and turns before the end of the Championship season, and there could be more drama this weekend.
After their surprise 2-1 defeat at Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion sit outside the automatic promotion places and so the Baggies will be keen to record a home win over Derby County on Saturday. The team that leapfrogged them into second place, Nottingham Forest, equalled a club record on Saturday as they recorded their ninth consecutive home league win. Their away form has been suspect over recent weeks and they face a tricky encounter at Leicester City.
Newcastle United can cement their top spot with a win at Watford whilst at the other end of the table Sheffield Wednesday can put some distance between them and the bottom three with a home win over Plymouth Argyle.
Championship Betting
Scottish Premier League
There is a crucial match in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday as Rangers host Celtic in the Old Firm derby.
The postponement of Rangers’ match against St Johnstone last weekend meant that Celtic cut the gap at the top of the table to seven points with their 1-0 win over Dundee United. A win for Tony Mowbray’s side is essential if they are to have any chance of catching Rangers, and Robbie Keane and co are tipped to inject some life into the title race with a vital win at 21/10.
In Saturday’s live match, Aberdeen are 6/5 to beat Hearts.
Scottish Premier League Betting
La Liga
The La Liga title race looks ever increasingly like being decided by the result of the Gran Clasico encounter between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Bernabeu on Sunday 11th April as two points still separate the top two.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the inspiration for Real Madrid last time out, scoring and setting up four other goals in Madrid’s 6-2 thumping of Villarreal. Manuel Pelligrini’s side have a straightforward looking away fixture in Tenerife this weekend.
Barcelona remain on the top of the table thanks to their 4-0 win over Santander. They also have an easy looking match this weekend and are 1/7 to beat Malaga at the Camp Nou.
Sevilla did their Champions League qualification hopes no harm whatsoever on Saturday as they came from behind to end Mallorca’s 100% home record with a 3-1 win. The Rojiblancos host a high flying Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
