Picks
|
|
|
Weekend football
by Ben, last updated 2006-08-10 19:08:39Gerry's Picks
by Gerry McDonnell
A tie, with a Lam starterSometimes in life you have to be willing to compromise. This morning for example, it was too chilly for a t-shirt, yet perplexingly, a little too warm for a jacket. After considering my options at length, i embraced the middle ground by selecting a long sleeved top. An almost identical situation is currently in play in the Middle East; they could do worse than ‘be like the G' and consider a compromise, as could all bettors looking to take an interest in the Community Shield.
There's a stigma involved with backing a draw in a football match, you're basically telling the bookmaker that you're not smart enough to solve the conundrum, but with so many question marks surrounding the preparation of both Chelsea and Liverpool, backing the draw at 11/5 will prove a profitable concession.
Jose's getting his excuses in early by claiming his players are under prepared, the reality is that Rafa has him by the short and baldies. Mourinho has come out on top in only two of his last seven face-offs with Benitez, Jose's incessant whining is an exercise in pre-emptive damage limitation. Chelsea can't be backed at 11/10, a 1-1 scoreline must be at 11/2.
Frank Lampard's autobiography made fascinating reading. He claimed that his legs were heavy during the World Cup; talk about stating the obvious. He was told that he was the fittest England player; you can get 8/11 about a typo. Frankie's performances in Germany were truly, truly awful, but there are few that can argue with the fact that ‘Lamb lard' always performs for his club. The Lamp is an 8/1 shot to open the scoring.
Jose has gone to the extreme of shaving his head in a symbolic gesture that he is ready to go to war. Jose's no mug, when entering the field of battle, it's almost compulsory to have a German in the vicinity, hence the signing of Ballack. A sending off has been priced up at 11/4, if Craig Bellamy was on the pitch on his own that would tempt.
Bellamy and Pennant should both be in the starting 11 for the Pool, and let's be honest; it's probably not the last time they'll appear in a line-up. Bellamy remains controversial, but the boyo can play. The Bell has been chalked up at 15/2 to score the last goal.
There's another full Championship programme to get our teeth into, and Southampton are the weekend nap at home to West Brom. I fancy the Saints to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, 11/8 is too big against a mediocre Albion side. Paradoxically, I can't see the Saints performing well in the Cup competitions, with Pele in their team; they won't get past a semi.
Ex-Baggie Rob Earnshaw found the net in midweek, and goals to Earnie are like bottles of buckfast to the wife, one begets another. Norwich look a great investment at 10/11 to beat Luton and the pacy, goofy, dwarf-like striker should be backed at 4/1 to bang in the opener.
Crystal Palace host Leeds in a potential cracker and the Eagles are the selection at 5/4 to maintain their 100% record. Leeds were denied a win in midweek when Shahbaz scored a 90th minute equaliser for QPR; if a little camp Scotsman can breach your defence, Macken and Morrison could literally run riot.
Leicester and Ipswich are both as pointless as voting on a big brother eviction, so an ‘O' must go when they meet at the Walkers. Ipswich can take comfort from their performances in narrow defeats to Palace and Wolves while embarrassing defeats to Luton and Burnley will do little for the goalless Foxes. You can't touch the crisp nibblers at odds on; you must accept the tractor factor; back Ipswich at a humongous 11/4.
Top marks to Billy Sharp for his superb goal celebration in midweek, Scunthorpe's sharpshooter delighted all with a superb impression of our very own Monty. (That's England's latest spin sensation, not the large-breasted golfing choker.) On a related note, Saturday sees the last episode of Cricket AM, I enjoyed it immensely; it was like Soccer AM, only funny. Scunthorpe should be backed at 6/4 to see off a Crewe side in terminal decline.
Norwich, Southampton, Crystal Palace and Gretna form the accer of the week, it pays out at a whopping 17/1. Get on now, or forever hold your piece.
bet365 site
← 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 →
|
|
| ↑ Top of page |
|
