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Football betting tipsby Ben, last updated 2008-01-02 19:06:50Let's all do the Bart ManGerry McDonnellIgnorance is not necessarily bliss. I've recently discovered that binge drinking can lead to long-term health problems, such as crabs and Chlamydia.The arrival of a new year offers me the opportunity to reflect upon my previous excess and resolve to make a significant change. I have made a solemn pledge to drink no more than the next man; as long as the man next to me is Joey Barton. I hope that Joey has used his time in custody productively, and has questioned the wisdom of some of his earlier decisions. He should never have taken tips on dining etiquette from Lee Bowyer. A source close to Sam Allardyce has told me that Nicky Butt is extremely disappointed in his teammate's behaviour, and will be having a quiet little word in his ear to remind him of his responsibilities. Just when Joey thought things couldn't get any worse, he now has a sore Butt to contend with. I'll happily pounce on the 11/8 for a Newcastle win over Stoke. Lee Hughes can empathise with the Barton situation, as he has also returned to football after completing a stretch. "I was touching my toes every night," bragged the ginger fitness fanatic. Many people were disappointed with Oldham's decision to employ Hughes on his release, but Andy Johnson remains fully supportive; he's even promised to make an 'A' sign if he scores a goal. Everton will run over an outclassed Oldham at 1/4. Manchester United supporters always enjoy their trip to the midlands for their traditional FA Cup 3rd round meeting with Aston Villa. Not only have they saw their team emerge victorious on each of their last eight visits, it's also a shorter journey than they're accustomed to. I'm absolutely overjoyed with the prospect of 10/11 for another Manchester United win. Steve Bruce compared purchasing players in January to buying puppies at Christmas, "You have to make sure it's long term and for the right reasons," lectured the pugnacious manager. I'll definitely be getting my hands on a couple of puppies if Sunderland end Wigan's campaign at 5/4. An apoplectic Juande Ramos threatened to completely dismantle the Spurs team after they lost to Aston Villa in midweek. I fully expect to see a superhuman effort from the Tottenham players after the manager's tirade. They can be heroes, just for Juande. Tottenham will repeat last week's victory over Reading at 8/15. Freddie Ljungberg is still suffering from migraines. My wife can totally sympathise with the Swede, she's had a recurring headache for five years. I will be getting my hands on the 6/4 for a West Ham win over Manchester City. Mark Hughes appears to be willing to release Robbie Savage. The Blackburn manager stated that Robbie 'doesn't take not playing very well' and added that Savage was 'frustrated'. That's just a fancy way of confirming what we already suspected. I'll be furiously pounding the 2/5 for a Blackburn win over Coventry. Coventry could do with a decent cup run, as they still face the threat of liquidation. That must be one big blender. Burnley face an absolute shoeing at the hands of Arsenal, I'm taking an involvement at 2/5. QPR have some serious financial clout in the boardroom. Lakshmi Mittal could buy and sell Roman Abramovich like a cheap blonde, although Mark Hughes is now attempting to flood the market. Backing Chelsea to beat QPR at 1/6 will lead to small economic growth. The 'romance of the cup' may be a cliché, but I genuinely fancy Sheffield Wednesday to pull off an upset against Derby at 7/2. In fact, it will be more of a shock if they don't. Incredibly, I was once accused of being unromantic. This allegation is a complete fabrication. Even when drinking heavily, i'll always pay for a lady's kebab before introducing her to the little G. If Tottenham, West Ham, Arsenal and Newcastle land a 10/1 weekend accer, I'll even consider throwing in a small chips. FA Cup BettingWill Round Three Throw Up Any Shocks?This weekend sees a break from the Premiership title race, and the focus instead turns to the magic of the FA Cup. Though it is probably the most famous club knockout competition in the world, the FA Cup is losing some of its glory due to the domination by the big boys. Over the last twelve years Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea have been the only winners. West Ham came within seconds of breaking their grip in 2006, and maybe there’ll be some big shocks this weekend. For up to 60% better FA Cup betting odds go to PinnacleSports.com.
Alex Ferguson was bemoaning the ‘funerial’ atmosphere at Old Trafford on New Year’s Day, despite a crowd of over 75,000 fans, as United laboured to a 1-0 win over Birmingham. Fergie was watching from the stands serving a touchline ban, but will back in the dugout for the visit to Villa Park, where he should be guaranteed the buzz he craves, though almost all of it will be in favour of the home side. The Villans have been revitalised under Martin O’Neill, occupying sixth position in the Premiership, with the scalp of Chelsea under their belt. However, they were beaten 4-1 by the Red Devils at Villa Park back in October, their twelfth consecutive defeat by Man United, including three FA Cup ties. Villa’s last victory over the current Premiership champions was a League Cup win, back in 1999, so O’Neill will really have to pull something out of the bag to upset the odds here. They ran United close in last season’s FA Cup, losing to a 90th minutes goal at Old Trafford, and the Midlanders will be encouraged by United’s recent capitulation at Upton Park, throwing away a comfortable 1-0 lead, to eventually lose 2-1. Fergie may also decide to ring the changes after a hectic Christmas period. PinnacleSports.com have Aston Villa as underdogs 1.952 (+0.5) with Man United 1.971 (-0.5) – a market priced to less than 102%!
Sam Allardyce has struggled to make a good impression since taking over as manager of Newcastle United in the summer. The Magpies are regarded as one of the sleeping giants of English football, but a succession of managers have failed to take control of an unruly dressing room. Big Sam hasn’t been helped by injuries, but the risky of signing Joey ‘Badboy’ Barton has backfired dramatically, with the midfielder arrested over the Christmas period, and likely to have his contract terminated. Alongside these off-field distractions, Allardyce’s biggest issue is the lack of entertainment on the pitch, which is normally a trademark of Newcastle sides, win or lose. The suggestion is that failure in the FA Cup, the only remaining possible silverware left to aim for, would lead Allardyce to get the boot, even though it may cost £20million to buy him out of his contract. The ex-Bolton boss’s career could therefore be ended by Stoke, who host Newcastle on Sunday evening. The Potters are flying high, fourth placed in the Championship, and unbeaten in their last twelve games. City have a breadth of experience in their side, with several ex-Premiership players, such as Rory Delap, Dominic Matteo and Ricardo Fuller. This game has the potential for goals with Stoke’s last five outings averaging over 4 goals. PinnacleSports.com price the Overs total at 2.130 for more than 2.5 goals, while in their Asian Handicap Newcastle are marginal favourites 1.926 (0/scratch & -0.5) with Stoke City 2.00 (0/scratch & +0.5). ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 Next → |
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