English Prem 17th & 18th Dec

[Swooperman]

17 Dec-12:45 Aston Villa v Man Utd 4/1 9/4 4/6
17 Dec-15:00 Everton v Bolton 13/10 9/4 7/4
17 Dec-15:00 Fulham v Blackburn 6/5 11/5 2/1
17 Dec-15:00 Portsmouth v West Brom 11/10 11/5 11/5
17 Dec-15:00 West Ham v Newcastle 7/5 9/4 13/8
17 Dec-15:00 Wigan v Charlton 6/5 11/5 2/1
17 Dec-17:15 Man City v Birmingham 8/11 9/4 7/2
18 Dec-13:30 Middlesbrough v Tottenham 7/5 21/10 7/4
18 Dec-16:00 Arsenal v Chelsea 8/5 2/1 8/5

all odds Bet365

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Villa v Man Utd

Swoops - whats your thoughts here?

Your boys have picked up points away to some tricky places to go in Newcastle and Bolton in their last 2 games which is a bit of a worry.

But Man Utd for all their troubles have been pretty good away from home in the EPL. 6 wins out of 8 with 1 draw and a defeat makes for pretty good reading and makes me like this bet.

Man Utd looked far better with Van Nistelrooy back in the line up against Wigan and after a slow start were very convincing then on in.

Good record against Villa too..

2005-08-20 Man.Utd 1-0 Aston Villa
2005-01-22 Man.Utd 3-1 Aston Villa
2004-12-28 Aston Villa 0-1 Man.Utd
2004-05-15 Aston Villa 0-2 Man.Utd
2003-12-06 Man.Utd 4-0 Aston Villa
2003-03-15 Aston Villa 0-1 Man.Utd

Add to that they haven't lost in 20 games to them aswell.

Odds a bit low but i will take them.

Man Utd to win @ 1.78 Betfair

Fulham v Blackburn
Portsmouth v West Brom
West Ham v Newcastle
Wigan v Charlton

Them games all look like draws to me. Be interesting to see is Diop and Boa Morte are still suspended as if so then Blackburn would definately be of interest for me.

Anyone confirm this?

Middlesborough v Spurs

I must say i haven't been entirely convinced with Spurs. It seems that Jol isn't exactly sure of his best 11 and keeps chopping and changing which is definately unsettling the side and this is showing in their performances.

Their performances haven't been too convincing in recent weeks compared to what they were like at the beginning of the season.

They have a decent record away though and this is what puts doubts in my head.

Boro have a game tonight which shouldn't be a problem as they should be resting most their starting 11 tonight and playing fringe players so they will be fresh.

Boro have been inconsistent at home this season but when the bigger sides have come to the Riverside they have done well with their 2 wins over Man Utd and Arsenal proving this.

I just feel they are a more solid unit than Spurs at the minute so i quite fancy them.

Spurs ain't got the best record at the riverside either with no wins in their last 7 visits there losing 4 of them.

Boro to win @ 2.68 Betfair

[kompressaur]

from bet365.....

IT'S THE CHELSEA LATE SHOW…
Sunday December 18th, 4.00 ko, live on Sky Sports 1…
Arsenal will have their backers based on their 100 percent home record, but that has to be seen in the context of their previous opponents, none of whom were from the current top seven in the table. Successive away defeats (without scoring) against Bolton and Newcastle don't exactly inspire confidence either, so does that mean we should be lumping on Chelsea at 6/4. They're certainly going to be hard to beat. Their only defeat of the season came at Man United on November 6th, since when they've not even conceded a goal, let alone dropped a point.

If you are going to back them, it might be worth backing the Draw / Chelsea double result instead at 9/2. This combination has already come up trumps nine times in the Premiership, while Chelsea have yet to concede in the second half this season. However, the best bet looks to be 'under' goals at 8/11. Mourinho's main priority will be to deny Arsenal any chance to grab the points and cut into the massive Chelsea lead, which means scoring opportunities could be at a premium. Once the game goes live, don't forget to check out our 14 exciting live 'In-Play' markets.

bet365 latest match prices… Arsenal 15/8, Draw 21/10, Chelsea 6/4

Arsenal v Chelsea Picks:

Draw / Chelsea @ 9/2
Under 2.5 Goals @ 8/11

TOFFEES TO NICK THE POINTS AT 2.10…
There won't be many goals in the Everton vs Bolton game either (currently 4/6 'under'). Nine of Bolton's last 11 games have been 'under', while Everton's home games average 1.33 goals, and a single goal for the home side could well be enough to nick the points. They've already beaten Bolton this season, and are playing much better now with three wins - plus a draw with Chelsea – from their last five games. They go into our Premiership acca this weekend along with Wigan, who are fancied to get back to winning ways against Charlton.

Charlton broke a losing run of their own last weekend, but that was against Sunderland and their defence still can't be trusted. Prior to last Saturday, the Addicks hadn't kept a clean sheet in 13 games, and the likes of Jason Roberts and Henri Camara should have no trouble finding a way through. Wigan certainly haven't been disgraced in their recent defeats, and this looks a great opportunity to get back to winning ways. Roberts is 11/2 to score first in the game, and that doesn't look bad value considering we'll give your money back if he scores the last goal in the game instead.

Fulham are not obvious acca material based on their lowly position in the table, but a glance at their home performances tells a different story. Chris Coleman's side have already accounted for Liverpool, Man City and Bolton at Craven Cottage this season, and Saturday's opponents, Blackburn, are no bigger threats than those teams. Besides, Blackburn's away form is one of the least impressive in the Premiership, which makes the case for including Fulham even stronger.

Remarkably, there are only two odds-on chances on the coupon this weekend. Man City (4/5) should batter a poor Birmingham side, but Man United (8/11) can't be trusted right now, and are potential 'banana skins' away at Aston Villa. Instead, we'll stick to Everton, Wigan, Fulham and Man City, safe in the knowledge that we're nicking a bit of extra value with our Premiership Accumulator Bonus (up to 60% extra every weekend). In fact, I wouldn't put anyone off backing Villa, getting a half-goal start on our Asian Handicap (currently 2.10). This form of betting consistently throws up some excellent value, particularly as we bet to just 102%.

Weekend Best Bets:

Everton to beat Bolton @ 11/10
Wigan to beat Charlton @ 5/4
Fulham to beat Blackburn @ 13/10
Aston Villa @ 2.10 (+1/2, Asian Handicap)
5-fold: Everton, Wigan, Fulham, Man City - pays out £513.49 (£25 stake), which includes a bet365 bonus of 5%

[Swooperman]

After the weekend & whilst SAF seemed to be internally combusting, I did actually fancy Villa to get something here, but after that 4-0 last night I cant see it now, they were enough to put me off

2 quotes I've heard in the last couple of days come to mind:

O'Leary: 'it doesnt take a rocket scientist to see we need a central defender in the transfer window'

and on the radio: 'Mellberg misses Man U game with injury'



We've picked up decent points lately whilst not exactly setting games alight, & I expect us to scrap well here, & I think we'll score....but I think they'll score at least 2, probably 3

[Kop66]

I'm not confident with that Boro pick Kiko. I'm thinking of going with Spurs.

Spurs played superbly to come back from a goal down to win on Monday. I believe they will remain top five with that sort of fight. They are a good young team with experience where needed. Davids was a driving force Monday, he's becoming very popular at WHL and they also have Englands Number 1 in goal. They are a team that are on the up and have goalscorers throughout the team. The Fans are happily giving it the ''ARE YOU WATCHING ARSENAL'' at the mo and they're not going to give that up to easily.

Jol has had all week to plan for this game while Mclaren has had tonights Uefa cup game to think about. Boro look defensively weak to me too, i cant remember the last time they kept a Premiership clean sheet, West Brom scored 2 at the Riverside last time out.

I've talked myself into it, 15/8 is to big to ignore imo.

[mrmuzeman]

I wouldnt put anyone off the 2/1 available on Bolton

My lay system tells me Man City are too short this weekend at an odds on price. I think id tend to agree especially as Birmingham had a potentially morale boosting first home victory in their last game where City were going down against Brom. Ill be laying City if I can get 11/10 on the Birmingham double chance.

[keemanan]

I'm with Kiko here , sorry swoops but United always win at Villa, I agree Villa will score but United will get at least 2 here.

Boro v Spurs is a straight fight , kiko v kop , the battle of the k's . It'll make this game spicier for you two at least .

I never back city at odds on MrM but having said that I think they will win this one .We'll miss Dunne and Cole but it gives others a chance , we have players to come in who will want to impress rather than switching square pegs into round holes . Fowler wont play as if he does we'll have to fork out 1/2 million to leeds so it will be either Sibierski or Bradley up front. All this will change if Distin isn't fit as we will lose. So I'd wait for team news

[kompressaur]

Man U 4/5 on the betfred bonus list with Man City the same price. I think i'll just take Man U unless instructed otherwise

[Keith]

Everton v Bolton

When I arrived at Goodison last Wednesday my heart sank. Moyes had named an unchanged side. Why for gods sake? Because he wanted to reward those who were on duty that earned a creditable draw at Old Trafford. Did he not realise that I had backed us

Stupid twat. Mr Moyes is still young and inexperienced and is prone to making basic mistakes. He chooses Kilbane ahead of our Spanish genius

What every Evertonian except David appreciates is that Everton struggle without Arteta. In fact the only game that they have won without him since he arrived last January was against Norwich.

I am not tipping Everton tomorrow because Bolton are a very good side. But you can expect an improved performance from the Blues if Arteta is in the starting line up and the return of Cahill should also help

[Keith]

Man C v Birmingham

I see City have Cole and Dunne out through suspension.

It is said that Distin and Thatcher are also doubtful. Does anyone know how likely either of them are to be out? Birmingham are not my favourite team but 5.00 could be interesting

[slick]

I'd definately wait for team news Was especially if Distin is out as we will be thread bare as Dunne is suspended too, Onuoha good player though he is, is only a young lad and will miss the experience around him as Distin has mopped up his mistakes on more than a few occasions this season.

Fowler will be an interesting one with the absence of Cole as there's been talk of leaving him out of the side purposely as apparently Leeds will get another half million if he makes two more starts and with him almost a certainty to be going come the end of the season , will be fascinating to see what Pearce does.

[keemanan]

ahem

I never back city at odds on MrM but having said that I think they will win this one .We'll miss Dunne and Cole but it gives others a chance , we have players to come in who will want to impress rather than switching square pegs into round holes . Fowler wont play as if he does we'll have to fork out 1/2 million to leeds so it will be either Sibierski or Bradley up front. All this will change if Distin isn't fit as we will lose. So I'd wait for team news

[slick]

soz Keema , i popped in and saw Was's last post off the cuff, just shows were on the same wavelength when in comes to our beloved Blues.

[PTDSEI]

Birmingham (DNB) @ 5/2 are jumping out at me.
Morale boosting min last week was a huge monkey off their backs and Mikael Forssell is back. I can see Forssell causing problems, along with heskey especially if Dunne and/or Distin are out.

I watched Man city v liverpool a couple of weeks ago and was not impressed at all. I`m expecting big games from the Brum central midfielders and I think and hope they`ll at least get a draw.

Last seasons game ended as follows:

Manchester City 3-0 Birmingham City
20 April 2005 - Ref: Martn Atkinson
Man City scorers: Maik Taylor 55 og, Dunne 80, Sibierski 86 pen


Not fully decided but Brum DNB (5/2) @ Laddies

[PTDSEI]

Anyone fancy Charlton @ 2/1? They always seem to nick away wins at places such as Portsmouth, Wigan,Brum etc...I`m off to research.