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[u]Chelsea v Stoke[/u] Four games in - is that too early to think of Chelsea as top-six finishers? Probably not. And that's bad news for the visitors: the Potters have lost 18/23 on the road to such exalted sides. Roberto Di Matteo's lot have won their first two at Stamford Bridge by a couple of goals and lead Stoke 12-1 in meetings there over the last four seasons. This weekend's ride should be as smooth as Patrick Swayze in that scene from Ghost, so it's all about crafting ways to turn a short price on the home win into something a little longer. Well, Stoke have been behind at half-time in 15 of those 18 losses we mentioned earlier. The Chelsea/Chelsea double-result is on offer at 2.12. The final margin in 12 of the 18 was a couple of goals or more, so Chelsea -1.5 ...

Reading will be delighted after salvaging a point from their opening fixture with Stoke, but a midweek trip to Chelsea will be an altogether more daunting experience. A lot was made in pre-season about how Chelsea's new wealth of attacking talent would migrate into the side, however Eden Hazard in particular proved that he could walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Hazard was involved in both goals against Wigan and already the Belgian looks like becoming one of those players with the ability to win games on his own. With such encouraging debuts for new stars Hazard and Oscar, you would expect Chelsea to overwhelm the Royals in defence as they did in the early stages at the DW Stadium. If Roman Abramovich wanted attacking football then he also must have cracked a smile when...

[b]These two are leading the charge to the top flight and Friday night's meeting should see Southampton take a giant stride towards being crowned champions...[/b] [i]Southampton v Reading, Friday 19:45, Sky Sports 1, Match odds: Southampton 2.36, Reading 3.35, The Draw 3.45[/i] The Saints have long been involved in a two-horse race for the title, with the subtle difference that it is now Reading rather than West Ham who are mounting the challenge. The pair are tied on 82 points and though automatic promotion is undoubtedly the main prize, both will be gunning to finish top of the pile. The Saints, who have led for much of the way, are 1.87 to go up as champions, while Reading are currently 2.18 to overhaul them. A spectacular run of 13 wins in 15 fixtures has seen the Royals...

[u]Hull v Coventry[/u] I still think, given their home form and the games they have left at the Ricoh Arena, that Coventry can be laid for relegation at 1.91. And a point or three is well within their reach in this game to aid their cause. I've made plenty of the fact that the Sky Blues have not won on the road all season, and I'm certainly not confident enough to go all out for an away win. But Andy Thorn's side have drawn their last two away games, most notably a fine 2-2 result at Cardiff. That has helped them go five without a defeat - they appear to have found a way to make themselves hard to beat at just the right time. Hull, on the other hand, are on the slide. They were fifth at the end of January, but a run of one win in 10 has seen them drop to ninth. They have not won...

[u]Reading v Leicester[/u] Let's jump on the Reading train! The Royals are flying - how else do you describe seven successive league wins with only one goal conceded? Suddenly, what appeared a two-team love-in for automatic promotion between Southampton and West Ham has evolved into a three-way tussle. Reading are only two points behind the leading pair now and, as a club that has traditionally ended the season well, they must surely be seen as capable of avoiding the need of a risk of last season's Play Off agony and going straight up. Brian McDermott's side have actually won 12 of their last 14 league games and at the Madejski their recent record is eight wins out of nine: they have conceded just one goal in their last 12 hours of league football at home. Leicester really are...

[u]Reading v Hull[/u] It seems a bit late in the day to be thinking that Nicky Barmby is going to be having a big effect on Hull - he recently got the manager's job full-time but he's been in charge of the team for a dozen games now and their form was actually better when he first became caretaker than it has been lately. So, it was a surprise to see Reading available to back at odds bigger than even money in this one. The Royals are the form team in the Championship, with five wins in their last six and the single defeat was hardly shameful, given it came at fellow promotion chasers Cardiff. Brian McDermott's side have also won their last four at the Madejski. Hull's 1-0 home win over Peterborough last weekend ended a run of three straight league defeats, but they have lost three...