English Premier 10-12th Nov

[slick]

Barclays Premier League
Sat
10 Nov 12:45 Sunderland v Newcastle 2.70 3.25 2.40
10 Nov 15:00 Derby v West Ham 3.00 3.25 2.20
10 Nov 17:15 Liverpool v Fulham 1.22 5.00 13.00
Sun
11 Nov 13:00 Birmingham v Aston Villa 2.50 3.25 2.60
11 Nov 14:00 Chelsea v Everton 1.33 4.50 8.50
11 Nov 15:00 Bolton v Middlesbrough 2.10 3.25 3.20
11 Nov 15:00 Man Utd v Blackburn 1.33 4.50 8.50
11 Nov 15:00 Tottenham v Wigan 1.44 3.80 7.00
11 Nov 16:00 Portsmouth v Man City 2.10 3.25 3.20
Mon
12 Nov 20:00 Reading v Arsenal 6.00 3.75 1.50

Odds Bet365

After tonights and recent performances by Man City I'd say Portsmouth look a pretty good bet for all 3 points here. I'd also fancy Sunderland at home to Newcastle but again after watching them tonight they seem to lack any bite up front while having a lot of possesson wouldent be surprised to see this local Derby end in a draw.

Talking of which don't Birmingham at home usually do well against Villa?

[ONEDUNME]

This is where Derby spring their second surprise of the season by beating West Ham on the second weekend this season that's seen only one traditional 3pm kick off.

I see the early kick off as a draw too. I can see Newcastle starting a bit nervy with their recent bad press so I wouldn't be surprised to see Sunderland take the lead in the first half.

Liverpool will paste Fulham in the later game.


Six home wins on the Sunday and Reading springing a surprise by holding Arsenal on Monday.

Piece of piss this gambling lark

[fasteddy]

(last week's results are on that thread...did ok, overall)


Saturday

Sunderland vs Newcastle
Roy Keane's honeymoon period is well and truly over. Welcome to the Premiership proper! Sitting in 15th spot with 9/36pts, GF 1.00 and GA 1.75 , and 0.75 points per game average?....well , if he keeps this up he'll be in with a chance of survival but it'll be very sweaty stuff.
Sam Allardyce has got the seat he may have wanted at a big club, but just like his predecessors he finds himself facing the same question: "How do you solve a problem like The Magpies"...sing!
It may seem obvious , but I'll say it anyway: Sunderland just concede too early in the game. So far they've lost 5 in the opening 20 mins, and have to play catch up, which puts too much pressure on this newly promoted side. Newcastle have scored twice in the last 2 games, but they've had to thank o.g's for that stat, so Allardyce must be anxious to see his formidable strikeforce get back on track.
These 2 sides will ind this a physical battle, with a lot of long balls being played. I fancy Kenwyne Jones to get on the scoreboard against a Newcastle defence that has yet to keep a clean sheet 'away' , while Martins has the pace to cause big problems for the Black cats back four, and a returning Viduka is always a big threat. "I see goals people"

K.Jones to score anytime @ 3.25 Hills
& Over 2.5 @ 1.94 canbet

Derby County vs West Ham
Derby...what's there to say? They never look like being able to make a move up the table, or simply being able to keep pace with the others, so I don't see any reason to back them to win a match anytime soon. Three goals in 11 matches!...not exactly hard to see where the problem lies.
West Ham miss the presence of Ashton and Bellamy, two experienced goal scorers , while Cole struggles to impose his threat on the opposition. Boa Morte has the ability to keep the Hammers with options, but I'm not convinced about them making the chances count with the line up at the moment.
I make this quite an open game , but with goals in scarce supply.

Correct score : 0-0 @ 10.00 bet365

Liverpool vs Fulham
If Liverpool play as they did against Besiktas then this will be an easy 3 pts, however, if they revert to their 'jekyll and hyde' approach then who knows what will happen? Crouch certainly gives them the more direct option plus he is a very handy player on the ball, great for the flick ons and holding it up. Steven Gerrard has come on to his game in style the last few weeks and looks like being back to his 'inspirational' best.
Fulham got a much needed 3pts last week, with Simon Davies once again proving his value to the side. Dempsey followed up previous luckless displays with a goal at least, while Healy will be relieved to be back amongst the scorers.
Fulham are quick off the mark and Liverpool will have to defend against his from the whistle. Lawrie Sanchez should be aiming at striking early and forcing the home side to chase the game , but even if they do succeed in taking a lead, will it be enough? Liverpool do look like a side getting close to form again, so it's going to be a tough task for the Cottagers.

Fulham to score @ 1.83 bluesq
& 1st g/scorer (each way): S.Davies @ 26.00 skybet
& HT betting: Fulham +0.5 @ 2.25 canbet


Sunday

Birmingham vs Aston Villa
Birmingham don't score enough, while Villa find the net regularly , but fail to translate that into 3 points as often as they should. Villa have scored in the last 6 league games, and are W3-D2-L1 , and have 11 players on the scoresheet so far this season. Martin O'Neill will be pleased with the progress made especially as Carew hasn't been available all the time.
With Forssell back fit for Birmingham they should find more chances opening up , and with Kapo keeping his form well , Steve Bruce has the firepower, so just needs the tactical know-how to put it all together.....hold on, I think I've found the flaw!

Villa @ 2.80 boylesports

Chelsea vs Everton
Midweek blank in the Champions League doesn't mean there will be no goals here either , but after such a fruitful run of games in the premiership i was a bit surprised to see the scoreline. They've had 5 consecutive clean sheets in the league as well , so Everton know the task ahead of them.
David Moyes secured striker Andy Johnson to another contract, so he'll be looking for some immediate payback soon, while Yakubu managed to find not only his feet , but the back of the net as well last week. Home and away wins, back to back is all good stuff, but it was against bottom half sides, so a trip to imperious Chelsea at Stamford Bridge needs another gear change. Everton are looking much improved recently with the return of Cahill a significant factor. Could be a tough match, with bookings a plenty, and it's about time Everton got awarded a penalty!

Everton +1.5 @ 1.80 canbet
& Everton to score a penalty @ 17.00
( small saver on 'to miss a penalty' @ 34.00, as well) bet365

Bolton vs Middlesbrough
Two sides struggling with form face up to each other in this fixture, and you have to think it must be a 3pter for one of them. Bolton's new manager , Gary Megson, can see the Reebok is still a provider of points for the home side with a W1-D2-L3 home run, while Boro's Southgate sees his team sitting 1pt above the relegation zone and no obvious way to get up the table. All looks set for a very scrappy , messy 90mins, with little goal action on offer. If Anelka plays then Bolton have a clear edge, while his absence will make for a poorer spectacle. Middlesbrough have the players but they're failing to gel on the pitch. A defeat here will start the warning bells for Southgate ...and about time to!

Under 2.5 @ 1.84 mansion88

Man Utd vs Blackburn
Game of the round , for me.
Blackburn have been putting on a some great shows of attitude, skill, determination, but more importantly...confidence , in the last month or so. I won't go so far as to say they have been dominant in their games , but what they have been is unrelenting in their desire and self belief. Against Liverpool last week they took a point , but it could easily gone either way. Mark Hughes has his side in great form, and will have absolutely no fear of thsi trip to Old Trafford.
Man Utd produced another 4 goal game in the CL midweek vs Dynamo Kiev, making it 5 matches with 4 goals in all comps since the start of Oct. Quality. Just quality. Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez are on form, and even though they let 3pts against Arsenal slip away in injury time, there won't be any hangover from that come kick off here.
Going back to 98/99 season this tie is traditionally a Home win, or a draw. Only twice has there been an 'away' victory. Rovers have a big physical defence to deal with Utd's Rooney and Tevez, plus set pieces should be dealt with. A strong midfield presence will give Fergie much to think about, while McCarthy and Santa Cruz are really hitting it off now.
This will be a real tough battle, with hot heads and hearts playing their part, so the 10.00 for Rovers seems a pretty big price to me. Anything could happen in this one. With both teams unbeaten at home + away, respectively, I'll take some Asian handicap odds on Rovers.

Blackburn DNB @ 7.50 sportingbet
& Blackburn +1.5 @ 1.82 mansion88

Tottenham vs Wigan
With a new manager at the helm I was tempted to get involved with Spurs last week, but I'm glad I didn't as another draw played out. However a visit from helm less Wigan is a real fight with my conscience. Spurs are the worst team in the EPL for home form, while Wigan are 2nd worst for away form...it really is a stinker on paper , but of course one thing you can be sure of with Spurs at White Hart lane: goals.
Wigan will be under pressure from the start with Spurs presenting so much pace and width , therefore I'd guess it will be a 'wigan wall' formation on show, and be glad to take a point away.

Over 2.75 @ 1.91 canbet

Portsmouth vs Man City
Interesting match up with the wily, cool and calculating Sven, going head to head with Harry the Spiv, the Guv'nor, the Arfur Daley of Footy. Man City have been the real revelation this season with a run of games that propelled them to the top of the league early doors. On the road they've failed to maintain their blistering home form (W7-D0-L0), the best in the league to date, so Fratton Park is going to be a tough trip, and a point here will be a good result.
Pompey are 4-1-1 vs City at Fratton Park, so history is on their side, but of course this is a very different City than before. All those games involved 3+ goals so it has always been a keenly fought fixture, and that part I firmly believe will remain.
man City have lost away to Arsenal, Chelsea and Blackburn, while drawing 3-3 at Fulham, so Portsmouth can be considered a true equal for the first time, therefore I favour a close match with any advantage on offer a real steal.

Over 2.5 @ 2.11 canbet
& Man City +0.50 @ 1.90 pinnacle

Monday

Reading vs Arsenal
Arsenal win. End of. A team at the top of their game , with great strength in depth and 22 goals 'away'. Reading, a side with a decent home reputation but lacking the threat of last season. They're 4-0-2: 7-7 so far but that has been largely achieved against bottom half sides. It's not reasonable to expect Reading to step up a couple of gears just because it's Arsenal. They have been making gradual improvements recently and if they can keep this down to a respectable loss then that will continue their progress.

Arsenal -1 @ 2.01 mansion88

[EasternFox]

fasteddy,


Good previews. I've been concentrating on the Champs League and UEFA Cup all week, and hadn't had time to think about the Prem, but your post has put me in the picture.

betinternet can't separate Birmingham v Villa and Sunderland v Newcastle in the Asian Handicaps, both games are 0. That I like because your risk's reduced. However, I can't call the Birmingham derby. Yes, on the one hand Birmingham have had the upper hand in recent years, but this season MO'N's in charge of Villa and he's more tactically astute than his predecessors.

The N.E. derby's also a tough one to call. If anything I fancy a draw, but Big Sam seems to be cracking under the pressure and it's only the beginning of November, and I wonder if it's going to affect his players as well. I realise Sunderland are under pressure as well - pressure of slipping deep into relegation trouble - but with home advantage I'm tempted to back them on the AH.

Portsmouth, apart from missing a 90th min penalty against West Ham a couple of weeks ago, have been the punters' friend for a number of weeks now and the chance to double your money on 'em against Man City seems too good to resist. City have a good home record but are poor away, and their home record also hides a number of poor performances where they've just scraped through (e.g. v Sunderland on Monday). Portsmouth have won 5 in 6 and I'd expect them to continue their quality run on Sunday.

I need to think about all of this - I haven't checked out team news yet - but these are my initial thoughts.

[slick]

Aye nice stuff again Eddy and good luck.

Saturdays games

Sunderland v Newcastle
First of the weekends two local Derbys and this one couldent really be closer with Sunderland playing at home.
Necastle have the quality and on paper look the much better side but like West Ham last yr they don't seem to have any cohesion at the moment and are faultering in games they should be winning especially away from home.

Pompey did a nice job on them last week at St James's and the pressure will be really on this weekend especially against their old adversaries.

Suderland on the other hand have had a pretty steady start whilst coming to terms with the Premiership and have produced nothing more nor less than was expected of them, They looked quite impressive midweek against Man City allthough lacking any sort of bite up front but if they can get their act together and push that bit further with it being a Derby then i see no reason Sunderland cannot take the points here.

My first reaction to this match was 'draw' written all over it, but i have a sneaky feeling Sunderland will pull this out of the bag.

Sundreland Win

Derby v West Ham
like ODM i think Derby can get something from this match due to West Hams Injury problems at the moment, I don't think they will win the match as the Hammers look good for a goal but Derby can certainly match them and i wouldent be surprised to see them grab a point so long as the hit the onion bag as scoring has been there biggest downfall this yr.

Tricky game to call as if Aston plays and clicks from the off, he could cause some damage and Ethrington is also starting to look a lot busier and more dangerous this season, no bet for me as there are too many ifs and buts in this game allthough like a said i wouldent be surprised to see this end in a draw.

Liverpool v Fulham
Good result for Fulham last week but they shouldent cause Liverpool to many problems here, Liverpool need to start getting their Premiersip arses into gear as they are still odds on not to qualify through to the next round of the Champs League, because if they don't then they need to make sure of qualification next yr as there are a few more pretenders to that lucrative fourth spot this season and if they drop any more points they could find themselves struggling.

With no game for a fortnight after tomorrows match Benitez should be pulling out all the stops for this one.

Liverpool Win.

[slick]

I'll have a look at Sundays games tomorrow but just glancing through the list Bolton have started to stand out.

Tails will be up following the display against Bayern and the defence looks a lot more sound now Megson has moved Gardner up to his more natural position on the left wing, playing as fullback/wingback didnt really suit him and he has looked out of sorts all season just meandering around the pitch and not chasing back, he had a lot better game on Thursday without those defensive responsilblities.

Bolton have looked a lot more balanced overall since Megsons took charge and i see no reason why Bolton shouldent take all 3 points here as Boro are a bit of a joke at the moment and if not carefull will have some battle on their hands come the end of the season avoiding relegation.

Bolton are in the same boat but seem to be taking steps to avoid that situation and if Anelka and Diouf are available on Sunday then even better.

Even so i think Bolton are more than capable of rolling over Boro and I'm confident of them doing so.

Bolton Win

[Cinny]

Fully expect Newcastle to turn over Sunderland who i deem one of the worst teams in the premiership, i think newcastle will come out all guns blazing after last weeks shambolic performance against Portsmouth.

Fancy Birmingham as well who i rate as a decent side, id reckon kapo will have a big influence on the game. Bolton as well who have been gradually improving under Megson and if they are to climb out of the trouble they are in they have to be beating Boro at home!

[ashbury1]

Here;s a few of my opinions for this weekend;

Newcastle are a decent lay at Sunderland - Jones is looking a quality signing and newcastle after their pummeling agst Pompey are showing the usual inconsistentcy associated with them.

Ive tipped up Fulham +2 10/11 with paddy power after their usefull displays of late especially the 0-0 away at chelsea and only losing to 90th min goals at Aston Villa and Arsenal.

West Ham are also a decent lay with their lack of depth due to injuries altho some are back this week. Derby will be scrapping already but with Barnes flying down the wing they are likely to nick one.

[ashbury1]

I have always been a massive spurs fan -

Tommorws game agst Wigan should be a walk in the park at White Hart Lane but Dawson, who is awesom IMO, has lost all confidence and looks a shadow of what he did last year. We look so shaky at the back i can only see us conceeding...again. We only just had a clean sheet agst Hapoel during the week and they are dreadfull.

There are 2 bets that i like the look of - The 16/5 that Wigan score 2 or more goals and the 7/4 over 3.5 goals.

I can only hope im wrong and that Ramos instills some confidence into our defence but he hasnt had long enough yet and so i think altho we may score a few and still win the game we are bound to conceed

[selectabet]

Just some thoughts from my blog...

First up in the Premier League is the Birmingham derby where City host Aston Villa. These game s always seem to be tense but fiery affairs and Villa have the recent upper hand winning the last 3 encounters. I think Martin O’Neill’s men can extend that run to 4 out of 4 today and take all 3 points at St. Andrew’s. The Blues look like they could be without a few key men up front, whilst Villa look set to welcome back John Carew to an attack that has plenty of pace and drive about it. Villa are 13/8 (BetFred, Ladbrokes, totesport) to win the match but I’d suggest backing them on the Asian Handicap (0, -0.5) at 123/100 with Paddy Power.

Juande Ramos takes charge of his first League game at White Hart Lane today as Spurs welcome the managerless Wigan. These are the kind of games that Spurs just cannot afford to lose otherwise their season will quickly turn into a relegation dogfight. For me they have too much class going forward for Wigan, although defensive frailties still mean Wigan could be good for at least 1 goal today. Tottenham look certainties today but the 4/9 available makes them difficult to back. 4/6 (BetFred, BlueSq, Paddy Power, Stan James) on there being over 2.5 goals also has appeal and to me might be the better bet.

Gary Megson seems to have steadied the ship since his arrival at the Reebok and the Trotters will be bouyed by their excellent 2-2 draw away to Bayern Munich on Thursday. Today they take on Middlesborough and I’ve decide I’m going to back the Boro to get beat away from home no matter who they are playing for as long as Gareth Southgate remains in charge (which won’t be long!). They are a poor side who seem to be lacking in confidence and I think they still have a bit further to fall before things will start to get better. As long as their midweek exploits haven’t taken too much out of them Bolton should record their first victory under Megson quite comfortably. Back them at 6/5 with Skybet.

Elsewehere I expect Portsmouth’s fine home form and Man City’s dismal away form to continue. Home win at Fratton Park; 1/1 at BetFred, Boylesports and Skybet. Premership contenders Chelsea and Man Utd both have home games today against Everton and Blackburn respectively. Both will be tough games and I think one of them will drop points. I just don’t know which one so I’m going to leave them both alone.

So my picks for today;

* Aston Villa (0,-0.5) - 123/100 (Paddy Power)
* Spurs v Wigan; Over 2.5 Goals - 4/6 (BetFred, BlueSq, Paddy Power, Stan James)
* Bolton - 6/5 (Skybet)
* Portsmouth - 1/1 (BetFred, Boylesports and Skybet)

Accumulator pays out £145.46 for £10 at Paddy Power

[slick]

Fcuk me that must be the miss of the season from vassell, plonker.

[deckyh]

Arsenal tonite forn the big hiters take the 1/2 but i cud be tempted into Arsenal -1 at 6/5 with boylersports

[kompressaur]

How have Arsenal done down at Reading the last few seasons deckyh? I suppose a midweek trip down to Reading doesnt sound too bad. Quite pleasant infact. Suppose the players would have had a nice day and just ready for a wee game of football at the end of it.

Anyone else considering betting on this game tonight?

[jimmyt]

Considering a large bet on the Gooners tonight but getting the jitters !!!
Anyone sway me ??

[Seen]

Originally Posted by Cinny

Fully expect Newcastle to turn over Sunderland who i deem one of the worst teams in the premiership, i think newcastle will come out all guns blazing after last weeks shambolic performance against Portsmouth.

What makes you rate Sunderland as one of the worst Premiership teams? In recent games they've outplayed West Ham (10th), Man City (3rd) and Newcastle (11th) and only serious bad luck prevented them from winning at least 2 of those games.

Also, narrow defeats at Man Utd (0-1) and Arsenal (2-3) show they can push even the best teams close.

Newcastle on the other hand were shockingly bad - the worst team they've had for many a year - and with some real tough fixtures coming up, fat Sam will have his work cut out keeping the fans on his side.

I also thought Man City were terrible v Sland considering they're 3rd, if Sland had had Whitehead or Edwards fit to give a bit of vision they'd had won comfortably imo.