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 6^th and Bolton in 7^th place. Danny Welbeck made a fine header in the 32^nd minute to give Sunderland the points and to leap-frog Bolton from 7^th to 6^th 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 12^th 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 78^th 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 12^th and 13^th 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 9^th and 10^th 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

Have a good week-end and happy punting.

Newcastle United 1 – 1 Chelsea

Andy Carroll scored in the 6^th 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 9^th in the Premiership saw the score levelled in the 45^th 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 83^rd 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 19^th 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.

LIVERPOOL 2 – 0 CHELSEA

A crowd of 44,238 fans watched Liverpool give the Premiership League leaders a 2-0 sting from goals by Fernando Torres in the 11th and 44th minutes. At 3/1 on the betting this was a nice one to get although no one really thought that Liverpool was ready at this stage.

Perhaps the point was made on Wednesday when Liverpool visited Wigan where they were held to a 1-1 draw. However we mustn’t cry over spilt milk. Liverpool are now in 9th position in the league. They should be in more positive frame of mind individually and as a team. It’s nice to see them getting back to where they should be.

FULHAM 1 – 1 ASTON VILLA

This proved to be a tough encounter as expected with Fulham just managing to snatch a share of the points in the 95th minute. The very late equaliser knocked the stuffing out of the Aston Villa players who thought the game was as good as done.

Coming up This Weekend

Aston Villa v Manchester United

Manchester United are the bookies favourites for this match with betting at 4/1 for an Aston Villa win, 4/5 for Manchester United and 11/4 for the draw. However the results of the most recent meetings, below don’t suggest that Man U should be the clear favourites. However the league positions at 2nd for Man U on 24 points and 10th for Aston Villa with 16 points is a more convincing argument.

Most recent meetings

28/02/2010 Aston Villa 1-2 Man Utd
10/02/2010 Aston Villa 1-1 Man Utd
12/12/2009 Man Utd 0-1 Aston Villa

Everton  v Arsenal

Everton are sitting 12th in the league with 15 points and Arsenal are 3rd with 23 points.

We did see a blip in Everton’s performance when Arsenal trounced them 1 – 6 at home for Everton. Arsenal are given the edge by the bookies at 5/4 with Everton sitting at 12/5 and 5/2 for the draw.

Most recent meetings

09/01/2010 Arsenal 2-2 Everton
15/08/2009 Everton 1-6 Arsenal
28/01/2009 Everton 1-1 Arsenal

As usual I like to keep you up to date with the leading goal scorers.

Have a nice week end.

There seems to be as much news off the pitch, if not more, than what is actually happening on it.

Before I get started I agree with the sentiments on a fans banner at Old Trafford that asked the question “Who’s the whore now Wayne?”

Much as I admire Sir Alex Ferguson I would have let poor Mr Rooney go. However, having said that, I will concede that Sir Alex knows what he doing. How much more money do you want to stuff into your pants Wayne? You’ve a lot to prove now mate. I don’t think you’re up to it. However you won’t be making a trip to the dole queue like a lot of the fans who pay your wages.

Pick of Last Weekend’s Fixtures

LIVERPOOL FC 2-1 BLACKBURN ROVERS

My faith in Liverpool was upheld at the weekend with this 2-1 victory over Blackburn. Yes it is too soon to say that the revival is under way. However the victory should help to lift the team’s spirits and confidence a bit. I had hoped that the victory would have lifted them out of the relegation zone but that will need to wait for another week or two. The goal scorers were Kyrgiakos (48) and Torres (53) for Liverpool with Carragher scoring an own goal for Blackburn (50).

Premiership Betting tip

Liverpool meet Bolton Wanderers this coming weekend. The odds are sitting at 5/2 for a Bolton win at home, 11/8 for Liverpool and 12/5 for a draw.

Here are the results for the most recent meetings between the two teams.

30/01/2010  Liverpool 2-0 Bolton

29/08/2009  Bolton 2-3 Liverpool

26/12/2008  Liverpool 3-0 Bolton

The question is, can Liverpool lift their game to reflect these recent scores? The betting suggests a close tie. I think Roy Hodgson will be able to lift his team to a close victory and get the team fired up for the rest of the season.

Elsewhere in the Premiership there were no upsets with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal winning their games, meaning that Manchester City slipped up to Arsenal.

The hot football topic is off the field as the Liverpool Wagon-Train circles the wagons against the attack by the Boston Red Sox. However this is one battle we want the Indians to win. Still hanging in there the Hicks and Gillett Jr “pardners” have high-tailed it back to Texas to highlight that this is a real cowboy outfit. A restraining order has been granted by another cowboy outfit called a Texas court.

It’s time to wake up “pardners.” The ref blew the whistle on your game a long time ago. Do us all a favour and go and crawl under your Stetson, never to be seen again.

Scotland

We had another round of Euro 2012 Qualifiers and it was Scotland who almost upset the world and European champions Spain. The Scottish fans as ever roared their loyalty for their team in a game which ended 3-2 for Spain. Hailed as coming from “zeroes to heroes” by one Scottish newspaper, the team must take some hope from the game and their prospects of qualification for Euro 2012.

Portsmouth

Another club with a financial headache is Portsmouth who are still looking £900,000 from Inter Milan who have ignored the club’s demands for the money which was part of the transfer deal for Sulley Muntari. The club, who are already in administration, will run out of money next week and player may be asked to defer some of their wages until the situation with Inter Milan is resolved.

Weekend Football.

As ever we have a number of interesting games coming up over the weekend.

My picks are Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City, Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion, and Newcastle v Wigan.

The Manchester game is tantalising in that I am waiting to see if Man Utd will slip up again. However the bookies are not taking the bait. At 10/1 for a WBA away win it could put some cash in your pocket for the night in the pub.

The Bolton Wanderers / Stoke game is too close to call at 11/10 for a home win, 9/4 for a draw and 9/4 for an away win.

My Bet of the Week

On balance I think that I am going to go for the Newcastle / Wigan game. At 4/5 for a home win, 23/10 for a draw and 10/3 for an away win. This is my bet of the week. Don’t mention Chelsea by the way.

Leading goal scorers to date are:

6 Berbatov (Manchester United)

6 Drogba (Chelsea)

6 Malouda (Chelsea)

5 Bent (Sunderland)

4 Elmander (Bolton Wanderers)

4 Tevez (Manchester City)

4 Carroll (Newcastle United)

4 Walcott Arsenal)

4 Kalou (Chelsea)

However it seems yet again that no one will touch Chelsea this season with a satisfying 2 – 0 win over Arsenal…

Drogba did the business as usual hitting the back of the net in 39 minutes. Arsenal tried hard to find an equaliser but were not up to the task before Alex put the game beyond Arsenal’s reach with a strike in the 85th minute.

To sum up, this simply meant that there were no upsets for the Bookies.

What is interesting of course is that Liverpool appears to have been to sold New England Sports Ventures a group that owns the Boston Red Sox. However will this change Liverpool’s fortunes as the club drop into the relegation zone for the first time in 46 years?

As ever we have a number of interesting games coming up over the weekend.

My picks are Bolton Wanderers v Stoke City, Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion, and Newcastle v Wigan.

The Manchester game is tantalising in that I am waiting to see if Man Utd will slip up again. However the bookies are not taking the bait. At 10/1 for a WBA away win it could put some cash in your pocket for the night in the pub.

The Bolton Wanderers / Stoke game is too close to call at 11/10 for a home win, 9/4 for a draw and 9/4 for an away win.

On balance I think that I am going to go for the Newcastle / Wigan game. At 4/5 for a home win, 23/10 for a draw and 10/3 for an away win. This is my bet of the week. Don’t mention Chelsea by the way.

Leading goal scorers to date are;

6 Berbatov (Manchester United)

6 Drogba (Chelsea)

6 Malouda (Chelsea)

5 Bent (Sunderland)

4 Elmander (Bolton Wanderers)

4 Tevez (Manchester City)

4 Carroll (Newcastle United)

4 Walcott (Arsenal)

It’s been a season of so many twists and turns, where each title rival have done their best to hand the title to each other, it seems like no one wants to win it this season.  The title is still in Chelsea’s hands, but PremiershipBettingBanter still believes Manchester United can win it, winning the key games against Arsenal and City have been important and if they win the two games against Spurs & Liverpool, a fourth successive title could be making its way to Old Trafford.

So who’ll win it you ask? Well PremiershipBettingBanter will stick its neck on the line and say, go with Man Utd…Chelsea…or maybe Arsenal!!!

If you fancy a small flutter on the upcoming premiership games, then why not take a look at the offers available from one of the free bets uk based websites on the Internet?

Premiership Betting tips: Everton v Liverpool- It’s the Merseyside derby and both teams go into this game with injury problems and poor form.  This Premiership game has seen 17 red cards, a record number for any Premiership game.  So that’s why we’ll concentrate on betting on the ‘Shown a card’ market instead of predicting a winner.  Lets back repeat offender Mascherano to pick up a yellow, you can get odds of 2.94 on Betfair or check out Partybets.  Also back the two Lucas players playing on both sides (Lucas Neil and Liverpool Lucas -what’s his other name???) at odds of 2.0 and 3.6.

Premiership Betting tip- In derby games you are never sure what’s going to happen as form goes out the window, although saying that both team’s form has been pretty good (United 1 defeat,City undefeated in the Premiership).  One thing that we can almost guarantee is that there will be passion and passion usually means fouls and yellow cards! Lets look at players who are likely to play and pick up yellows, Scholes is suspended for this game so lets back Fletcher & Evra for United and Nigel de Jong for City, back them all on Betfair (prices no available at present).  Lets all hope for some tasty challenges!