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Weekend Footballby Ben, last updated 2006-04-27 07:52:56Gerry's PicksBy Gerry McDonnellOnly tools and horsesLooking back on it, marriage was probably a mistake. It's not the compulsory reduction in alcohol consumption that I object to, or the fact that I have to endure television programmes with the word ‘vampire' in the title, it's the awful inane football related comments that plague my very existence. "He should be wearing gloves, it looks a bit chilly," is a classic example, "Why is he getting so excited, it's only a game," is equally as annoying and the often repeated "You don't have to bet to enjoy the football," led me to invest in a shovel. As Liverpool edged out Chelsea last week, a sense of dread enveloped me as i saw her forehead wrinkle, indicating that a comment was imminent; "The Chelsea players shouldn't be so upset, they're going to win the league," was the end result of her pondering, and incredibly, I had to concur. Jose's collection of superstars just need a point against Man U to become only the 2nd team in the history of the Premiership to retain their title, but Jose will demand all three. The 11/10 on offer about a Chelsea victory should be hoovered up; their FA Cup heartache will soon be a distant memory. The formbook would suggest that Tottenham have the beating of Bolton on Saturday, but I'm not so sure. Bolton have had the Indian sign over Spurs in recent seasons and go in to the match on a high after destroying Charlton last weekend. Even Martin Jol can see that Bolton look a little bit of value at 5/1. If Spurs slip up, Arsenal will take full advantage at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland have been awful on the road, and strangely, even worse in front of their own supporters. Arsene has taken a few liberties with team selection in recent weeks, but he could play the under 11's against Sunderland and still snatch a draw. Arsenal are short at 1/4, but good things come in small packages. Like Jay Jay Okocha, Lua Lua is so good they named him twice. However, this isn't a hard and fast rule, as anyone who's seen Eric Djemba Djemba play will testify. A fit again Lua Lua holds the key to a Pompey victory at Wigan, he's 13/2 to open the scoring. Portsmouth are a confident call at 8/5 to move a step closer to safety. As West Ham have already qualified for the UEFA Cup, there's a high probability that Alan Pardew may shuffle his pack away at West Brom; let's hope it's more pleasing to the eye than the previous Pardew shuffle, that was just wrong. There's a 75% chance that the Baggies will already be relegated before the Mayday kick-off; if already down, the Albion are worth a small nibble at 6/5; if other results go their way, take a huge bite. Interestingly, there's never been a draw in five years of Premiership fixtures between Charlton and Blackburn; i use the word ‘interestingly' in its loosest possible sense. As Charlton never win a match towards the end of a season and Blackburn are crawling to the Premiership finishing line, the long overdue draw looks a little bit big at 12/5. Liverpool are the nap of the week at 4/9 at home to the Villa. The Pool are finishing the season like a train while Villa's derby day victory is masking the worst run since Jade Goody's marathon attempt. Peter Crouch, like me, should be ashamed of his misses over the last few months, but there is an unwritten law that ex Villa players always score against their former employers, Crouchy is 11/10 to prove the rule. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The weekend specials follow a TV theme; surprisingly, there's not one mention of Watchdog: "Up Pompey" - Birmingham and West Brom both to lose 6/1 "Terry springer" - John Terry to score with a header 10/1 "Stalti towers" - Paul Stalteri to score with a header 40/1 "Drop the Red donkey" - Peter Crouch not to score 4/6 "Stirred ruck from the Sun" - Jihai to be sent off 25/1 Quote of the week: "A manager picks players who he thinks are going to win the game for him, otherwise he's an idiot." Jimmy Hill adds to the debate surrounding Mourinho's FA Cup team selection. Stat, you're a liberty: Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool have all been pulverised at least once this season, there are only three teams who haven't been on the end of a beating by three or more goals: Arsenal, Man City and Tottenham. Acc of the week: Chelsea, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Arsenal and West Brom form the weekend accer, this little corker pays out at 20/1. Weekend Betting: Chelsea v Man Utd Saturday 29th April 12.30 Live on Sky Chelsea 11/10 Draw 9/4 Man Utd 2/1 Get on: Chelsea Chelsea have won their last three in the league and are unbeaten at home under Jose Mourinho. United haven't scored at the Bridge on their last three visits and their goalless draw with Sunderland remains fresh in the memory. Match Special: Chelsea to score three or more goals 4/1 Birmingham v Newcastle Saturday 29th April 15.00 Birmingham 11/8 Draw 12/5 Newcastle 6/4 Get on: Draw Birmingham have earned seven points out of a possible nine at home in recent weeks; Newcastle have won their last five and are fighting for a European spot. Match Special: Match to finish 1-1 6/1 Liverpool v Aston Villa Saturday 29th April 15.00 Liverpool 4/9 Draw 13/5 Aston Villa 6/1 Get on: Liverpool It's nine consecutive wins for Liverpool; Villa's record of one win in nine won't be giving anyone in red a sleepless night. Match Special: Liverpool to win and keep a clean sheet 10/11 Man City v Fulham Saturday 29th April 15.00 Man City 10/11 Draw 9/4 Fulham 5/2 Get on: Draw Man City have only won one of their last seven; Fulham can not win away from home. Four of the last five matches between Man City and Fulham have ended up deadlocked. Match Special: Match to finish 2-2 14/1 Middlesbrough v Everton Saturday 29th April 15.00 Middlesbrough 6/5 Draw 9/4 Everton 9/5 Get on: Draw This fixture has a history of being tight, there have been two goals or less in the last eight matches between them. Everton haven't scored in four, this will not be a goalfest. Match Special: No Goalscorer in the match 8/1 Wigan v Portsmouth Saturday 29th April 15.00 Wigan 5/4 Draw 5/2 Portsmouth 8/5 Get on: Portsmouth Wigan have only won one of their last six; Pompey have taken all three points in five of their last eight. Match Special: Lua Lua to score at any time 7/4 Charlton v Blackburn Saturday 29th April 17.15 Live on Premiership Plus Charlton 6/4 Draw 12/5 Blackburn 11/8 Get on: Draw It's just one win from their last six games for the Addicks; Blackburn are winless in four. Match Special: Bellamy to score in a 1-1 draw 14/1 Tottenham v Bolton Sunday 30th April 16.00 Live on Sky Tottenham 8/15 Draw 12/5 Bolton 5/1 Get on: Bolton Spurs have dropped five points from their last two games; Bolton look to be back to their best after destroying Charlton last time out. Bolton have won their last six league meetings against Tottenham. Match Special: Borgetti to score at any time 5/2 Sunderland v Arsenal Monday 1st May 17.15 Live on Sky Sunderland 8/1 Draw 4/1 Arsenal 1/4 Get on: Arsenal No home wins all season says it all for Sunderland; Arsenal are simply in a different class. The Gunners have scored three goals or more in their last four league meetings with Sunderland. Match Special: Arsenal to win 3-0 13/2 West Brom v West Ham Monday 1st May 20.00 Live on Sky West Brom 6/5 Draw 12/5 West Ham 7/4 Get on: West Brom The FA Cup chasing Hammers have only won one of their last six in the league; the Baggies can go out with a bang. Match Special: Gera to score at any time 3/1 Nigels Picksby Nigel RidgewayUNITED TO SPOIL BLUES' PARTY AT 13/5...Chelsea v Man United Sa Apr 29 (SS1) - LIVE BETTING AVAILABLE Chelsea (11/10) need just one more point to seal the title, and they're strong favourites to get it against Manchester United (13/5) on Saturday (kick off 12.30pm), but I wouldn't bet on it. As far as the title is concerned, it looks mission impossible for United now with Chelsea having to lose this game and their final two games against Newcastle and Blackburn. Instead, United will be content to go to Stamford Bridge and lay down a marker for next season and, with bet365, they look terrific value at 13/5 (11/10 Chelsea, Draw 21/10). Over the past two seasons, United have raised their game when facing major opponents who want something badly, in particular, ending the long unbeaten runs of both Chelsea and Arsenal. Plus, United might be the more determined to win this game and spoil the Blues' party, and they're likely to come out all guns blazing, which makes bet365's 6/1 for the double result also worth taking. If United take the early lead, Chelsea will of course push for the equalizer, but they won't need any more than that, so we'll a saver on the 1-1 draw at 5/1. As for the First Goalscorer market, the price on Rooney is longer than usual at 13/2 due to the presence of the likes of the mis-firing Hernan Crespo (9/2) and Didier Drogba (5/1), and he's even greater value when you consider that they'll give your money back if he scores the last goal in the game instead. Once the game goes live, don't forget to check out bet365's Live In-Play Console, where you'll find up to 14 dynamic markets on the match. Chelsea v Man United Picks: Man United to beat Chelsea @ 13/5 United / United @ 11/2 (saver on 1-1 @ 5/1) Wayne Rooney to score first @ 13/2 ← 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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