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Last day of the season picksby Ben, last updated 2006-05-04 23:46:57Gerry's PicksBy Gerry McDonnellA nappy endingI've never really understood the fascination with babies; they're small, they're ugly and they make absolutely no effort to participate in a coherent conversation. My antipathy towards the little monsters probably began when the wife gave birth to little Goliath, she had the audacity to stay in hospital for a full two days after dropping the little cash magnet, the front room looked like a bomb had landed within a matter of hours; there's just no excuse for her laziness. For fans of Sunderland, the last day of the season is a lot like childbirth; after nine months of anguish, the end result makes you question whether all the effort was worthwhile. The worst team in the history of the Premiership will end their season of woe at Villa Park, back the Villans to take all three points at 8/13; it's a little bundle of joy. Fans of the Albion will also be glad to see the season come to a close; the locals of West Bromwich haven't been this embarrassed since the Frank Skinner show first aired. The Baggies travel to Goodison Park where they have lost on their five previous visits; Everton are the nap of the week at 8/13. Lady luck is not just smiling on Tottenham, she's flashing a little bit of cleavage. West Ham are understandably concentrating on the FA Cup final, Spurs look an outstanding bet at even money to leave Upton Park with three points and a 4th place finish. Arsenal's fixation with this season's Champions League has potentially cost them a direct route through to next season's competition, which is like a vegetarian eating a burger to save a lamb. Arsenal have to win to keep their fading 4th place dreams alive, at 2/9 they can't be opposed. It's tough to like Craig Bellamy, if he was your little brother, you'd probably feel the need to give him a little straightener. Dislike him or loathe him, you can't argue with the fact that he's the reason why Blackburn will be competing in Europe next season. The Rovers are 8/13 to see off Man City at Ewood; the Bell's an 11/10 shot to end the season on the goal sheet. Middlesbrough's 2nd leg performance against Steaua Bucharest was possibly the greatest comeback since Glenn McGrath's question of "Why are you so fat?" was countered with "Because every time I sleep with your wife she gives me a biscuit." The Boro travel to Fulham and the Cottagers are the call at 8/11. It's not all bad news for Boro fans though; Steve McClaren is the new England manager. Chelsea should be backed at 5/4 to win at St James' Park in a match that could have potentially disastrous repercussions. This could be the last game in charge for Newcastle's caretaker manager, which will mean that I may never get to use the ‘I Roeder' line which I had tucked away for a rainy day. Freddie Shepherd probably hasn't taken that into consideration; typical selfish behaviour. The weekend specials: "Juan for the road" - Angel to score at any time 11/8 "Shaka can" - West Ham to keep a clean sheet 5/2 "Robben reliant" - Arjen Robben to score at any time 9/4 "Cross Doriva" - Doriva to be booked 11/4 "A Hoyte advantage" - Justin Hoyte to score with a header 33/1 Quote of the week: "At times football is not just, and I guess God wanted Arsenal to go through." Villarreal striker Guillermo Franco with the quote, Jose Mourinho has denied favouring the Gunners. Stat, you're a liberty: Forget Joey Barton, move aside Robbie Savage. The Premiership's most outrageous bad boy is...Phil Neville. The lesser of two evils has been booked 11 times this season and has saw red twice. Acc of the week: The accer of the week has been a goldmine this season, Aston Villa, Everton, Fulham, Chelsea and Tottenham shall come together to finish the season with a bang. This little cracker pays out at 19/1. Weekend Betting: Arsenal v Wigan Sunday 7th May 15.00 Arsenal 2/9 Draw 4/1 Wigan 9/1 Get on: Arsenal The Gunners are firing and have to win; Wigan have only won one in seven. Match Special: Arsenal to win 3-0 13/2 Aston Villa v Sunderland Sunday 7th May 15.00 Aston Villa 8/13 Draw 12/5 Sunderland 4/1 Get on: Aston Villa The Villa have only lost one of their last six matches in front of their own supporters; Sunderland haven't won at Villa Park since the 80's. Match Special: Aston Villa to win and keep a clean sheet 11/8 Blackburn v Man City Sunday 7th May 15.00 Blackburn 8/13 Draw 12/5 Man City 4/1 Get on: Blackburn Blackburn's recent home form is exceptional; they've only been defeated once in their last 13 matches. Man City have lost eight of their last nine. Match Special: Craig Bellamy to score two or more goals 5/1 Bolton v Birmingham Sunday 7th May 15.00 Bolton 4/7 Draw 12/5 Birmingham 9/2 Get on: Bolton Bolton have won four of their last seven at the Reebok; Birmingham have not won on the road all year. The Blues have scored against Bolton on every occasion that they've met in the Premiership. Match Special: Bolton to win 2-1 7/1 Everton v West Brom Sunday 7th May 15.00 Everton 8/13 Draw 12/5 West Brom 4/1 Get on: Everton Tottenham are the only visiting team to have left Goodison Park with three points this year; the Baggies have gone 12 games without a win and have only found the net once in their last six. Match Special: Beattie to score and Everton to win 1-0 25/1 Fulham v Middlesbrough Sunday 7th May 15.00 Fulham 8/11 Draw 5/2 Middlesbrough 3/1 Get on: Fulham Fulham have won three of their last four; the Boro are winless in four domestically. Match Special: Malbranque to score at any time 9/4 Man Utd v Charlton Sunday 7th May 15.00 Man Utd 2/9 Draw 4/1 Charlton 9/1 Get on: Man Utd Man U have won 9 of their last 12 matches; Charlton have only won one in seven and that was a fortuitous victory over Pompey. United have won their last seven matches against the Addicks. Match Special: Van Nistelrooy to score two or more goals 3/1 Newcastle v Chelsea Sunday 7th May 15.00 Newcastle 13/8 Draw 12/5 Chelsea 5/4 Get on: Chelsea Newcastle can beat up on the little boys at home, but Liverpool and Man U both won comfortably at St James' Park. Whenever Chelsea have lost in the league this season, they've gone on to win their next game. Match Special: Chelsea to score three or more goals 9/2 Portsmouth v Liverpool Sunday 7th May 15.00 Portsmouth 4/1 Draw 13/5 Liverpool 4/7 Get on: Liverpool Both teams are in excellent form, but while Pompey are in party mode the Pool have an outside chance of finishing runners-up. Liverpool have won their last ten matches and are unbeaten in their last five against Pompey, winning four of them. Match Special: Steven Gerrard to score at any time 9/4 West Ham v Tottenham Sunday 7th May 15.00 West Ham 2/1 Draw 5/2 Tottenham Evs Get on: Tottenham The Hammers have won only two of their last seven league matches and last week's win at The Hawthorns was a trifle fortunate. Take Man U and Arsenal out of Tottenham's recent run of form and they've won six out of seven. Tottenham's whole season comes down to this game, they have to win, they will win. Match Special: Robbie Keane to score at any time 11/8 ← 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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