Football Betting
Premier League Betting
To say that Liverpool flatter to deceive season after season would be something of an understatement. Rafa Benitez has spent over £220 million since taking over at the club and fans might well question where those many millions have gone when the Spaniard was forced to field Lucas and Jay Spearing in central midfield against Sunderland last weekend. The Reds’ title challenge could be all but over by Sunday afternoon as Man Utd are visitors to Anfield.
Alex Ferguson’s side have looked surprisingly vulnerable defensively this season with Rio Ferdinand looking out of sorts and England hopeful Ben Foster suffering from what the Guardian rather cruelly called ‘talent-knack’. Edwin van der Sar returned in their unconvincing 2-1 win over Bolton and should add some much needed composure to the back four whilst the focus will undoubtedly be on Michael Owen who returns to his former club.
A defeat for Liverpool would all but end their title hopes in mid October. Ferguson however has the luxury of rotating his squad in this week’s European matches whereas Benitez has a crunch clash against Lyon and doesn’t have that flexibility. United should be the fresher and I can see them piling further misery on their fierce rivals at 6/4 (in from 7/4).
Looking at the Premier League table, I was surprised with Wolves’ position in the league. Their results seem to be intuitively better than their league position suggests and whilst they don’t look like they will set the top flight on fire, they look a more promising unit than the side that were relegated with a whimper in 2004.
Mick McCarthy’s side host local rivals Aston Villa in Saturday’s early kick-off. Martin O’Neill’s side have been improving ever since their win at Anfield and showed plenty of attacking flair in defeating Chelsea at Villa Park last time out. Wolves have only won once at Molineux this season and local bragging rights look set to go to the increasingly impressive away side at a value price of evens.
A few weeks ago, Chelsea looked odds-on favourites to regain their Premier League crown as they effortlessly dispatched any team who crossed their path. Defeats to Wigan and Aston Villa have shown chinks in their armour however (particularly defensively) which Carlo Ancelotti will have to address. The Blues face Blackburn on Saturday teatime and even though Sam Allardyce’s side will retain their Premier League status, this is the sort of game they have little hope of winning.
It could be a long, hard season for West Ham who sit in the bottom three with just one win so far this campaign. It gets no easier for Gianfranco Zola’s side this Sunday as Arsenal the visitors to Upton Park. West Ham were a little unlucky to lose at Stoke last time out but with Arsenal in good goalscoring form they could leave the east Londoners firmly planted in the relegation zone on Sunday teatime.
Premier League Betting
Championship Betting
In a league where one win can lift you from the fringes of the relegation battle to the play-off places, analysing form in the Championship is a difficult task. Derby recently followed up a 6-1 hammering at Cardiff by beating an improving Sheffield Wednesday side 3-0 at Pride Park and so trying to decide whether Nigel Clough’s side will beat QPR in front of the BBC cameras on Saturday teatime is pretty tricky.
A win for QPR could lift them back into the play-off places but Derby’s form has improved of late. The Rams beat play-off hopefuls Bristol City 1-0 before their win over Wednesday and they kept a clean sheet in both those matches. County can consolidate their mid-table position at 11/8.
For those of you who have followed my recent advice to back Derby’s local rivals Nottingham Forest you will have turned in a very tidy profit. Forest have won four Championship games on the spin and travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday with confidence extremely high. Palace have improved of late but Forest’s best form has been away from home at they once again look great value at 19/10.
Championship Betting
SPL Betting
It has been a strange season in the Scottish Premier so far with neither of the big two Glasgow clubs looking particularly like they want to win the title. A series of limp performances have afflicted both Celtic and Rangers in recent weeks with both sides finding goals hard to come by. Rangers left it late to beat St Johnstone at McDiarmind Park last time out whereas Celtic were held to a goalless home draw by Motherwell.
Tony Mowbray’s side head to New Douglas Park this weekend to face a Hamilton side who were denied a second league win of the season last weekend by Garry Kenneth’s 93rd minute equaliser for Dundee United. Despite Celtic’s shaky form this is a match I expect them to win and I can’t make much of a case for Hamilton, even at 17/2.
Scottish Premier Betting
La Liga Betting
After their defeat at Sevilla, Real Madrid got their season back on track last weekend with a comfortable 4-2 home victory over Valladolid. The Galacticos travel to El Molinón this weekend, the oldest professional football stadium in Spain, to face a Sporting Gijon side who have made a promising start to the season.
Manuel Preciado’s side sit seventh in La Liga table on the back of a terrific 2-1 away win in Bilbao. Attacking midfielder Miguel scored both the Rojiblanco’s goals in their win at the San Mames and a brace in their previous match - a 4-1 win over Mallorca - and would be my choice in the ‘first goalscorer’ market. This is an awkward fixture for Raul, Ronaldo et al and I wouldn’t be piling on them at 2/5, that’s for sure.
Sevilla remain third in the table despite their 1-0 defeat at the Riazor last time out to a resurgent Deportivo la Coruna side. They face an Espanyol side who I expect to finish comfortably in the top half of the table and with home advantage I expect Manolo Jiménez’s side to keep up the pressure on the big two.
La Liga Betting
