Weekend Bets 15th December

Villa away at Sunderland @13-10 – Villa on fire away from home, sides are struggling to cope with the counter attacking pace of Young and Agbonlahor.

 Juventus away at Lazio @ 5-4- Lazio return to Rome via their excursions in Madrid midweek, where they gave their all. While The Old lady have had the week off, their away form needs to improve if they are to challenge Inter this season, and Ranieri will be looking for all three points.

Blackburn away at Wigan @ 5-4– Rovers are a class above The Latics, who are in a transitional stage with Bruce, and I expect them to win again at the JJB where they have done for the past 3 seasons

Inter away at Cagliari – @ 2-5 - Inter may have some injury problems, with most of the midfield still missing,  but they still keep on winning, and I’m trusting them again to get a win at the bottom side.

Back 3 trebles and a single
The 4 timer pays 16-1 @ Coral

Last week Liverpool’s 4th goal meant we missed out on a 350-1 correct score treble (but we go for it again this week!). We did get a nice 10-1 double on the Catalan derby and the Milan – Juve clashes being draws, as well as the 5-1 on the 1-1 draw in Catalunia.

The heavyweights are, for the first time this season, filling the top 4 positions in the league, and this weekend they all face clubs struggling in the bottom half of the Premiership.

Man Utd v Derby – Jewell will looking for damage limitation from the off
Chelsea v Sunderland – The same goes for Keane….
Reading v Liverpool – The Scousers will have one eye on midweek, but they are good enough to win without too much trouble.
Boro’ v Arsenal – Wenger’s side should bounce back here, they have already qualified in the CL, and so won’t be resting players.

There are numerous bets that appeal with the straight win for all four teams advised at around 9-4 with most firms. Another two which tempt are the -1 handicap and the win with a clean sheet. The handicap accy pays a juicy 14-1 while the clean sheet accy pays 12-1 both @ Bet365.

In the quest for what is fast becoming a holy grail for this column, I have opted to go for the formidable Inter Milan to complete the treble amongst familiar pick Chelsea and United. Inters record in Serie A for the past 2 seasons is incredible and it’s no different this term, with 10 wins 4 draws and 0 losses. Torino are the visitors this weekend, they have yet to register a win on the road, and it’s unlikely to happen this weekend. Chelsea without Drogba didn’t win in the 3 games he missed this season, but they should have enough to get past The Makems. The United match is my main worry as they could easily put 6 or more past Derby, but just as easily miss a host of chances and only win 2-0 like they did against Fulham. I’m going for more goals though, as I don’t think Stephen Bywater and his defence are anywhere nearly as good as last Monday’s visitors.

United 3-0, 4-0, 5-0
Chelsea 1-0, 2-0, 3-0
Inter 1-0, 2-0, and 3-0

Minimum odds treble pays 234-1 @ Bet365 for Chelsea 2-0, United 3-0, Inter 2-0
Maximum odds treble pays 720-1 @ Bet365 for Chelsea 1-0, United 5-0, Inter 3-0

The Eredivisie has thrown up some tempting away fixtures and Bet 365 have thrown in a few nice prices imo.
 

Selections
Willem II v Ajax @ 2-5
Excelsior v NAC Breda 10-11
Heracles v De Graafschap 19-10
VVV Venelo v Feyenoord @ 2-5
Sparta Rottedam v NEC Numegen 17-10

Bet 5 Four folds and an accumulator.
Minimum 4 fold return is 10-1 while the accy pays 28-1.
Oh and get on Ronaldo to score against Derby 5-4 @ Skybet, he may even get that elusive hat-trick he is after which is worth a punt at a standout 33-1 @ Blue Square.

Good Luck

When Sunderland were trounced 7-1 by Everton the other weekend, many football fans probably felt a little bit sorry for Roy Keane and his bunch of hapless Black Cats. Why? It might be because there are certain teams one feels an instinctive sympathy towards. Not necessarily for any overriding reason, more a feeling, an intangible something that makes you not want them to be managed by Graeme Souness. Maybe it’s the gloomy humour of the fans, or the team’s commitment to attacking football, or something even more prosaic, but Manchester City, Fulham and Celtic, for example, are probably quite well-regarded by fans of other sides.

By contrast, there exist several clubs football lovers feels nothing but contempt towards. Chelsea (all that money), Manchester United (all that money and all those glory fans) and Leeds (too many to mention) are obvious examples. Sheffield United less so. It’s nothing against the club per se, and it’s no reflection on Blades fans and players, really, but certain elements leave a sour taste in the mouth of the neutral. Foisting Brian Deane upon an unsuspecting world, for example. Acting hard done by after being relegated from the Premier League last season, when a solitary point at home against Wigan (Wigan!) would have kept them up. Having Sean Bean as their most famous celebrity fan. And, of course, allowing Neil Warnock to remain in gainful employment.
But then Warnock resigns, for reasons too complex to go into, and the United board have the perfect opportunity to show the world that the Bramall Lane denizens are, in fact, a caring, considerate, family club, not one who allow a Sky documentary crew to film behind-the-scenes goings-on and fail to emerge with even a modicum of sympathy. (If you haven’t seen it, do your best to get hold of it on DVD; Warnock shaking hands with the Millwall players after a particularly tasty encounter at The New Den is worth the price of it alone.)

So, a perfect opportunity. And then they go and spoil it all by doing something stupid like appointing Bryan Robson. And blowing £4m on James Beattie.

Actually, Beattie has impressed, having netted 12 goals by the end of November to lead the scoring charts, but Robson hasn’t: a 3-0 home reverse against an Arsenal second team in the Carling Cup had one irate fan storming the pitch and throwing his shirt in the manager’s direction. (Whoa, steady on there, tough guy.) What was expected to be a stroll to promotion is looking somewhat more testing, particularly as Watford and West Brom appear to have gained some crucial momentum already.

Yet the Blades are not out of it, and though Robson is pretty clueless as a boss, feelings towards the club have probably become less hostile in recent months. (I have a sneaking suspicion Crystal Palace might suddenly become everyone’s most-hated team.) Sheffield United’s problem is one that several Championship teams are currently experiencing: they’re a biggish club from a large urban centre, with good support and a proud sense of tradition, but the expansion of the Premier League left them behind. Perhaps if Mark Stein hadn’t scored twice for Chelsea in the last 10 minutes on the last day of the 1993/94 season to send United down, Everton might have spent most of the last decade in the second tier. As it is, the Blades, like Norwich, Palace, Southampton and Wednesday, have never really recovered from relegation.

It may irk fans of those clubs that Wigan, Reading and Fulham occupy places in the top flight, but without a sugar daddy, clubs find it increasingly difficult to compete. Nottingham Forest won Division Two in 1978 and the League championship the very next season. The gap between Premier League and the rest is bigger than ever. It may seem as if Adam Pearson has got it all wrong by sacking Billy Davies before December, but in one way he’s right: if you avoid relegation in that first season, you can very quickly become an established club. I mean, just look at Bolton. (Just don’t stare at Andy O’Brien for too long. You might never recover.)