Sooty4444

The Premier league is back…..and after a disappointing and unsuccessful international break, I for one am looking forward to getting back to routine.

The pick of the games this weekend is obviously Liverpool v Utd. If you have watched Utd so far this season surely you can assume that there will only be one winner…….they have been playing some of the best football I have seen and they just seem to be so ruthless in front of goal. When you combine this with Liverpool’s inability to string together results and the fact that King Kenny doesn’t seem to know what his best team is yet, all the arrows point to a Utd win. However, there are a number of things that go against this. Firstly, Liverpool always seem to raise their game against Utd and they often manage to grind out the results by upping their performance. Secondly, it is at Anfield. If there ever was evidence to the statement that “the crowd are the extra man” then surely the Kop are the perfect example of this. Thirdly, those who have watched utd closely this season and have been able to see past the exhilarating football that they play would have recognized that they are very very very frail at the back. Yes they have been winning….but they have been letting other teams have a lot of chances, and more importantly they have been shipping goals. Suarez will eventually put one of these chances away. I think Liverpool are a very good price at 3.1 at home but this isn’t where my money will be going. I think a safer bet would be to take the odds of evens for over 2.5 goals….basically a license to print money. Liverpool/Draw (17.0) and Liverpool/Utd (28.0) also catches my eye given the fact that Utd always seem to be able to find that late goal and are the masters of the art of coming from behind.

Away from the headliner….there are some massive games this weekend that really could give us a clue as to how the table is going to shape up come the end of the season. 3 games in particular could be dubbed relegation play-offs given that both teams involved could be in danger of going down come the end of the season. Norwich Swansea is the first game and it would take a brave men to bet on the outcome of this one. My money would be on a draw and with few goals given both teams apparent inability to score goals. Unfortunately Grant Holt, Steve Morrison and Danny Graham don’t seem to be Premier League strikers and this could lead to both teams struggling for goals throughout the season. Due to the goalscoring difficulties and in my search for value I am tempted towards a 1-1 scoreline, which is currently trading at 7.2. The next game is Wigan v Bolton and I think this is a very very close one to call. If im honest, I am surprised that Bolton are the side propping up the rest of the Premier League table as I rate Owen Coyle as a manager, however losing Daniel Sturridge and Johan Elmander was a huge blow to them and is one that they haven’t yet been able to recover from. I tell you what though…..David Ngog can be a big player for them if he ever gets a run in the team. He was very unlucky at Liverpool in the sense that he was there during a very turbulent period and he was never going to get a look in in a team that played a lone front man, especially when that front man was Fernando Torres who at the time was one of the best strikers in the world. However, when he did get the chance…..mainly in the Europa league….he did manage to score goals and he strikes me as a “shift and shoot” striker, a bit like Daniel Sturridge.I am going to stick my neck out and back Bolton to start to turn their season around and avoid the drop, and I think they will grab a draw in this game to start their revival. The final of these “relegation play-offs” is QPR v Blackburn. I refuse to bet on any QPR games since they are perhaps the most unpredictable team I have ever seen……..I know I know, I have bottled it. For a bit of value put the Norwhich v Swansea and Wigan v Boltons in a double at 10.68 

My “lucky long-shot” (yes I am trying to create a brand) of the weekend is Arsenal to beat Sunderland 2-0 and Man City to beat Villa 2-0 @ 54.2

Now onto the Rugby……and now we are into the last 4 things should become much harder to call. I don’t think this is the case this time…..I expect NZ and France to both come away with the wins they need to get into the final. Wales have made a valiant effort so far throughout the world cup…….but lets face it….they are not one of the big names in World Rugby. France are a great price at 2.4 and I think that you would be a fool to not take that price. They showed against England that they are able to turn it on whenever they need to and in the first half against the old rose they did just that. Wales have some exciting young players but I think that the occasion will get to them and the pressure from home, even in a country as small as Wales, will be too much for them to concentrate on avoiding giving away those vital penalties that France and Yashvilli will exploit. I also expect New Zealand to comfortably beat Australia. South Africa were by far the better team against Australia and although they battled hard and were good defensively, I don’t think they deserved to win the game. I can see NZ running away with this one as they have the greater quality but also and perhaps more importantly they have leaders all over the pitch. As I think NZ will walk away with this one, I am attracted to the margin bets and NZ to win with a margin between 11 and 15 points takes my fancy at 6.8.

Summary of bets
Liverpool v Utd over 2.5 goals at evens
LiverpoolHT/DrawFT @ 17.0
Norwhich v Swansea 1-1 @ 7.2
NorwhichvSwansea draw and Wigan v Bolton draw (double) @ 10.68
LLS= Arsenal to beat Sunderland 2-0 and Man City to beat Villa 2-0 @54.2


France to beat wales @ 2.4
NZ to beat Australia by margin 11 to 15 points @ 6.8

Hope you enjoyed the review and happy betting for what should be another great weekend of sport 

Sooty4444 x