Jan 13

Last Weekend

Liverpool FC

King Kenny reigns, long live the king. There was not a lot happening on the pitch as far as the Premier League was concerned. Plenty of cup action though and no Liverpool did not progress under, new manager, Kenny Dalglish’s management. A penalty conceded in the 2nd minute was enough for Manchester United to take this match. A lot is being asked of Dalglish to take a shaky team out of the doldrums. I fear that the Liverpool fans will have to be happy with simply managing to stay in the Premier League this season.

Newcastle United

Newcastle are also not living the dream and they will take no further part in the FA Cup. They were summarily despatched by Stevenage by 3 goals to 1. This was the classic ideal of convincing your team that it your 11 versus another 11. There was no respect for the might of Newcastle, nor their talent. However the talent was in short supply for this game. I have seen this time and again when the big clubs show no respect for the minnows or in this case Stevenage who are sitting 15th in League Two. Let’s take bets on how far Stevenage will go in this tournament this year.

Derby County

I felt that I had to mention this other pathetic performance by Derby County. Sitting 13th in the middle of the NPower Championship, Derby should have made short work of non-league Crawley Town. However, again they pay the price for showing no respect to the non-league team. Maybe if the players of Derby County spent less time playing bingo online and more time practicing they could improve their performance! Crawley sitting second in the Blue Square Bet Premier League are in a strong position to secure promotion into the football league next season.

This weekend

Chelsea v Blackburn

Blackburn visit Chelsea on Saturday. At 13/1 Blackburn are not the fancied team. However Chelsea have not been entirely consistent of late. However there is a matter of 7 goals against Ipswich Town in last week-end’s cup game. Chelsea are 30/100 to win and no doubt bolstered by their annihilation of Ipswich. At 9/2 for a draw I would not be surprised if Blackburn pulled this off.

Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers

This is probably too much to ask from Wolves. Come on Mick think of Stevenage. Manchester City are 1/3 while Wolves are placed at 11/1 and the draw sitting at 9/2. My theme for the week-end is that it is simply 11 men versus another 11 men. Don’t measure your standards by what you perceive theirs to be. Enough of the psychology go for the draw at best.

We finish the week-end round up with a look at the top goal scorers to date

 
 
Top Goal Scorers  

 

Rank Name Team Matches Goals   
1 Berbatov, Dimitar Man Utd 17 14   
2 Tevez, Carlos Man City 19 12   
3 Carroll, Andy Newcastle 19 11   
4 Cahill, Tim Everton 19 9   
4 Drogba, Didier Chelsea 20 9   
4 Elmander, Johan Bolton 22 9   
4 Nasri, Samir Arsenal 18 9   
4 Nolan, Kevin Newcastle 17 9   
4 van der Vaart, Rafael Tottenham 15 9   
10 Bent, Darren Sunderland 19 8   
10 Malouda, Florent Chelsea 21 8   
12 Bale, Gareth Tottenham 21 7   
12 Chamakh, Marouane Arsenal 19 7   
12 Davies, Kevin Bolton 22 7   
15 Campbell, D.J. Blackpool 16 6   
15 Dempsey, Clint Fulham 21 6   
15 Gyan, Asamoah Sunderland 18 6  
15 Hernandez, Javier Man Utd 14 6
15 Kalou, Salomon Chelsea 17 6
15 Nani Man Utd 16 6
15 Odemwingie, Peter W.B.A. 16 6
15 Torres, Fernando Liverpool 19 6
15 Welbeck, Danny Sunderland 20 6  

 

 Happy punting.

written by premiershipbanter \\ tags: , , , , , , , ,

Dec 22

All the Weekend Results

Yes you read it correctly. These are the full Premier League results for last week-end. Only two games survived the extreme and unusual freezing and blizzard conditions.

Sunderland 1 – 0 Bolton Wanderers

The result sums up the positions of both teams in the Premier League with Sunderland sitting 6th and Bolton in 7th place. Danny Welbeck made a fine header in the 32nd minute to give Sunderland the points and to leap-frog Bolton from 7th to 6th place before a crowd of 35,101. Sunderland travel to Manchester for their Boxing Day match with Manchester United. Man Utd are clear favourites at 30/100 with Sunderland at 12/1. The draw could be a possibility at 5/1. Bolton Wanderers meet West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day in what should be a close fought match. Bolton are favourites at 6/5 with West Brom on 3/1. The draw at 5/2 is worth a bet.

Blackburn Rovers 1 – 1 West Ham United

Blackburn should have made a better job of this fixture given their relative positions in the Premier League. Blackburn are 12th while West Ham are at the bottom of the league. In other words this is a pretty good result for West Ham. However sitting at the bottom of the league is not a good place to be. You only get a view of everyone else’s back side. Blackburn scored first though Ryan Nelsen in 51 minutes. West Ham responded in the 78th minute through Junior Stanislas. As you might appreciate, the Blackburn fans were not best pleased. Caretaker manager Steve Kean did not improve his prospects of landing the full-time job at Ewood Park. Blackburn meet Stoke at the week-end with both team sitting 12th and 13th respectively. Blackburn are 5/4 favourites with Stoke on 12/4. The draw at 12/5 is worth consideration given Blackburn’s slip-up this week-end.

Coming Week-End Choices

The week-end fixtures if it happens will look like this for me.

Blackpool v Liverpool

As you know I have been following both of these teams and my loyalty is a bit divided for this match. Liverpool are just ahead of Blackpool at 9th and 10th place respectively. This is a close match on paper with Liverpool favourites at 4/5. Blackpool are 4/1 and the draw is forecast at 3/1. This Premier League is so up-in-the-air and Liverpool are still fragile that this game could go any way. I would go for the draw on this occasion, if it happens.

Fulham v West Ham United

This bottom of the table fixture is a must for West Ham. They need to dig in and get the points if relegation is to pass them by. We are almost at the half-way stage and it is time to think about (avoiding) relegation. Fulham are evens for this match with West Ham on 100/30 for the win. The draw is 5/2 and this would be my bet of the week-end. Go for it.

We finish the week-end round up with a look at the top goal scorers to date

Rank Name Team Matches Goals  
1 Berbatov, Dimitar Man Utd 13 11   
2 Carroll, Andy Newcastle 17 10   
2 Tevez, Carlos Man City 16 10   
4 Cahill, Tim Everton 17 9   
5 Drogba, Didier Chelsea 16 8   
5 Elmander, Johan Bolton 18 8   
5 Nasri, Samir Arsenal 14 8   
5 Nolan, Kevin Newcastle 14 8   
9 Bent, Darren Sunderland 15 7   
9 Chamakh, Marouane Arsenal 17 7   
9 Malouda, Florent Chelsea 17 7   
12 Davies, Kevin Bolton 18 6   
12 Kalou, Salomon Chelsea 13 6   
12 Odemwingie, Peter W.B.A. 12 6   
12 van der Vaart, Rafael Tottenham 11 6   
16 Bale, Gareth Tottenham 17 5   
16 Dempsey, Clint Fulham 17 5   
16 Downing, Stewart Aston Villa 17 5   
16 Gyan, Asamoah Sunderland 14 5
16 Harewood, Marlon Blackpool 11 5
16 Nani Man Utd 15 5
16 Pavlyuchenko, Roman Tottenham 15 5
16 Torres, Fernando Liverpool 16 5
16 Varney, Luke Blackpool 13 5
16 Welbeck, Danny Sunderland 17 5  

 

Have a good week-end and happy punting.

written by premiershipbanter \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dec 01

Selected betting tips from last Weekend’s Results

Newcastle United 1 – 1 Chelsea

Andy Carroll scored in the 6th minute to put Newcastle into the lead in this match which was more notable for the rumours that Roman Abramovich was about to replace Carlo Ancelotti with Pep Guardiola the Barcelona coach. If this didn’t unsettle Ancelotti then Carroll’s goal probably did. Newcastle sitting 9th in the Premiership saw the score levelled in the 45th minute from a Malouda pass which set up Kalou for the equaliser. With other events unfolding in the Premiership over the weekend this result saw Chelsea drop from the top spot for the first time this season.

Manchester United 7 – 1 Blackburn

Only Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, and Jermain Defoe have scored five goals in a Premier League match until Dimitar Berbatov seemingly woke up from his ten game hibernation to join them with five goals against Blackburn in the 2, 27, 47, 62 and 70 minutes. Park (23) and Nani (48) picked up the other two goals. Christopher Samba got Blackburn’s consolation goal in the 83rd minute. Looking a bit like a tight rugby union score Blackburn withered under this blitz with their fans chanting that they wanted a refund of their ticket money. This result put Manchester United 2 points ahead of Chelsea at the top of the Premiership.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 – 2 Sunderland

Mick McCarthy saw his team take victory at Molineux which on paper should have been Sunderland’s for the taking Wolves sitting 19th in the relegation zone. McCarthy’s players are 100% behind him saying that the win was as much for him as anyone else.

Coming Weekend Betting Choices

Birmingham v Tottenham

Spurs have the clear advantage away to Birmingham and there is no doubt that Alec McLeish’s men will have to be playing above themselves for this tie. Birmingham are 11/4 to win with Spurs 6/5 favourites. The draw is forecast at 5/2. My prediction is Birmingham 1 – 2 Spurs.

West Brom v Newcastle

This will be a tough encounter with West Brom sitting at 11/8 to win and Newcastle on 12/5. The draw is the same at 12/5. This is too close to call and I am going for a 1 – 1 draw.

Blackburn v Wolverhampton

Can Wolves repeat their success of last week-end against Sunderland? Will Blackburn have recovered from their hammering at the hands of Manchester United last week-end? One team with their tails up another with their tails between their legs. Blackburn are fancied at 5/6 to win with Wolves coming in at 4/1. A draw will get you 11/4. I’m going to stick my neck out on this one with a result for Wolves – 1-2.

written by JoeMcLaughlin \\ tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Nov 04

Pick of Last Weekend’s Fixtures

BOLTON WANDERERS 0 – 1 LIVERPOOL FC

I had to stick with Liverpool to see if they could get themselves out of the relegation zone.
This they did achieve lifting themselves to a more respectable 12th in the Barclays Premier League, with the same points tally as Bolton who are in 10th place.

The Liverpool performance left a lot to be desired but the gods looked kindly on them to give them the 86th minute winner from Rodriguez.

I am not keen on the defensive 4-4-1-1 formation that Roy Hodgson is sending the team out.  It simply leaves strikers in hope of getting a crack at goal because they are isolated when the ball eventually lands at their feet.

Liverpool (3/1) face a big test on Sunday when they meet Chelsea (11/10). Draw (12/5)

Come on Roy let’s get this team firing on all cylinders.

Newcastle United 5 – 1 Sunderland

Sunderland suffered their biggest defeat on Tyneside since 1956 when they were trashed 6 – 2. The young Sunderland team having played their last seven games without defeat were no match for a Newcastle team who were on fire. The goal scorers were Nolan (26, 34, 75), Ameobi in the 4 minute of additional time in the first half and a penalty in the 70th minute.
Bent for Sunderland managed a consolation goal in the 90th minute.

Coming up This Weekend

BLACKBURN V WIGAN

This should be an interesting game as both teams hold 17th and 18th position in the league. Both are also sitting on 10 points with Wigan having the goal difference advantage.

The odds are 10/11 for a Blackburn home win, 4/1 for a Wigan win and 11/4 for the draw. I think Wigan could be good for this one.

FULHAM V ASTON VILLA

This match has the hallmark of a tough encounter with the odds standing at 7/5 for a Fulham win, 9/4 for Aston Villa and 12/5 for the draw. Both teams are on 12 points with Fulham sitting 9th in the league and Aston Villa sitting at 13th.

Fulham may enjoy the home advantage.

This would be my game of the weekend and I think that Fulham will pull it off.

Most recent meetings

30/01/2010 Fulham
0-2 Aston Villa
30/08/2009 Aston Villa 2-0 Fulham
09/05/2009 Fulham
3-1 Aston Villa

written by premiershipbanter \\ tags: , , , , , ,