Monthly Archives: September 2012

Boro seek away-day cure

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Blackburn Rovers will attempt to stretch their unbeaten run in the Championship to seven games when they entertain Middlesbrough at Ewood Park on Friday (Blackburn 8/11 draw 5/2 Middlesbrough 3/1 – 90 minutes).

Wins for the 9/2 favourites in the Championship outright betting against Hull, Leicester and Barnsley on home soil already means this represents a big ask for Tony Mowbray’s men and a poor record on the road, carried over from last season, suggests it is difficult to build a case for the away win even at a not-too-shabby price.

Boro have lost against Barnsley, Millwall and, last time out, Blackpool away from the Riverside Stadium and only won 10 out of 23 road trips in the Championship last season.

Steve Kean’s side proved they can win from behind on Tuesday when recovering from a Jacob Mellis goal to collect maximum points with efforts from marquee signing Jordan Rhodes and Nuno Gomes five minutes from the end, although the outcome could have been different had Marlon Harewood not missed a fine chance for Barnsley with the score locked at 1-1.

It means it is the club’s longest unbeaten run at the start of a campaign since they won the Premier League in 1994/95, when they went seven games without a loss.

Scotland sharp-shooter Rhodes has now scored three goals in three games for his new club and should not be ignored in the Anytime Scorer market.

Boro make the trip to Lancashire having been spanked 4-1 by Blackpool, the 7/1 second favourites in the Championship outright betting, on Tuesday and Mowbray has demanded a “reaction”.

He said: “If we can win at Blackburn then that would be better than drawing two games – which happened at times last season.”

Injuries to key players and new signings struggling to find their feet have made for a difficult start to the new season for Mowbray, although the club’s impressive home form negates this argument.

Boro, sat in 11th, are just two points off Huddersfield Town in the last play-off place and yet just four points above Charlton in the final relegation spot, such is the tight nature of the Championship, and they have scored in two out of three away games in the league.

If they can click they could easily find themselves climbing the table and the way to go here might be to take the both teams to score option.

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Eintracht aim to preserve perfect start

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Looking across Europe’s top leagues on Friday evening, there are some tasty games in France and Germany to whet the appetite for the weekend’s action.

FC Nurnburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (7.30pm)

The first Bundesliga clash of the next few days sees two sides go head-to-head who have made impressive starts this season and this could well be the game of the weekend in Germany.

Eintracht (9/4) have, in fact, begun perfectly and boast a 100 per cent record after three games so Nurnburg (EVS), who themselves have won two out of three, will know they will be in for a tough evening.

Victories over Bayer Leverkusen (2-1), a thumping 4-0 triumph at Hoffenheim and a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Hamburg mean the visitors will surely approach this clash with plenty of confidence as they sit second in the table behind Bayern Munich, who have also started with three wins from three.

Early-season results can sometimes be misleading with teams firing out of the blocks before fading badly but Eintracht appear to have plenty of talent in their squad to realistically mount a top-five Bundesliga challenge.

Goals have been not been a problem so far with Alexander Meier and Stephane Aigner, who have two apiece, particularly catching the eye.

Nurnburg, however, will be no pushovers and, with home backing, may also fancy their chances of a victory to maintain their good start.

Two impressive away wins (1-0 against Hamburg and 3-2 over Borussia Monchengladbach) have been sandwiched by a decent 1-1 draw at home against champions Borussia Dortmund.

A lack of star names means both sides focus on hard work and team spirit first and, with results going well so far for both, expect a tight contest with a draw appealing at 9/4. Goals look on the cards too and an entertaining 2-2 is tempting at 14/1 in the correct score market.

Montpellier v St Etienne (7.45pm)

The big game in Le Championnat on Friday sees out-of-form champions Montpellier (11/10) hoping to kick-start the defence of their title with a win over St Etienne (9/4, draw 2/1).

Montpellier were surprise winners of Ligue 1 last term and many people will not be surprised to see them struggling at the start of the campaign as they wrestle with higher expectations and the added burden of Champions League football.

So far, Rene Giraud’s side have managed just one win from five domestically (a 1-0 victory at Sochaux) and have been held to draws by Lyon and Toulouse while they have been beaten by Marseille and Lorient.

Clearly, all is not well, and the midweek 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in Europe, while no disgrace, shows their fallibility, especially as they threw away an early lead against the Gunners.

St Etienne, though, have not made a particularly good start themselves and sit in 10th place after five games, winning just two and losing the other three.

However, on closer inspection, their defeats have all been by just the single goal whereas the two wins were a fine 3-0 triumph over Bastia and a 4-0 hammering of Stade Brest.

Gabon star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is someone Montpellier will have to keep a close eye on with the striker proving a real handful to opposing defences so far as he has managed three goals and generally caused havoc up front.

There’s a case to be made for both sides to come out on top in this, too, but we think the visitors can snatch it, to therefore continue the champions’ poor start. Go for 2-1 to St Etienne at 11/1.

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Ставки на матч «Удинезе» – «Анжи»!

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Футбол. Лига Европы

Удинезе – Анжи. Потихоньку, полегоньку, но проект Сулеймана Керимова доехал до Европы. И надо сказать, чтоGB Anzhi Zhirkov 11 300x188 Ставки на матч Удинезе Анжи! даже попав в групповой этап из последней корзины, «Анжи» не будет в группе с «Ливерпулем» и «Удинезе» 2.85 «чужим на этом празднике жизни».

Последние два дня не принесли нашим командам не то что побед, а даже ничьей в Лиге Чемпионов, но если поражения «Спартака» прогнозировалось, то вот разгром «Зенита» стал неожиданностью. И я хочу заметить, что дело не в самом поражении питерского клуба, а именно в том, как оно произошло. Потому, как «Зенит» передвигался по полю, можно предположить, что подопечные Лучано Спаллетти попали в функциональную яму.

Но вернемся к матчу сегодняшнему, а в нем «Анжи» 2.40 впервые в своей истории дебютирует в групповом этапе Лиги Европы. Гус Хиддинк начисто отметает досужие мнения журналистов, которые норовят провозгласить клуб из Махачкалы никак не меньше чем фаворитом группы. И надо признать, что доля правды в словах мудрого голландца есть, так как «Анжи» одновременно обладает, как опытными футболистами, у которых за плечами не один десяток еврокубковых матчей, так и совсем молодыми игроками, у которых такого опыта нет вовсе. Плюс, в стартовом составе не сможет сыграть основной голкипер махачкалинцев Владимир Габулов, вместо него выступит его сменщик Евгений Помозан.

В принципе для махачкалинцев стартовая игра с «Удинезе» на его поле не является ключевым поединком, так как даже поражение не станет трагедией, тем более что вопрос выхода, или невыхода из группы решится в 3-м и 4-м туре, когда «Анжи» будет встречать с «Ливерпулем».

При этом надо учитывать, что «Удинезе» сейчас крайне плохо стартовал в чемпионате Италии, и матчи в Лиге Европы могут, как помочь набрать форму итальянцам, так и окончательно усложнить им жизнь. Ди Натале точно не сможет начать игру в стартовом составе, но главный тренер Франческо Гвидалин пообещал играть исключительно на победу, так что нам гарантирован интересный матч, но как мне кажется «Анжи», как минимум сегодня не проиграет.

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Easy does it for English clubs

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The Europa League group stages get underway on Thursday with a number of enticing matches involving English clubs, as Liverpool travel to Switzerland to face Young Boys, Newcastle meet Maritimo and Tottenham (14/1 third favourite Europa League outright) take on Lazio.

All three sides have been mentioned as possible winners of the tournament and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how they get on following fairly mediocre starts to their league campaigns.

In one of the early kick-offs, out-of-form Liverpool face perhaps the toughest test of the three sides when they take on Young Boys in Bern (Match Betting – Young Boys 2/1, draw 9/4, Liverpool 11/8).

Much has been made of Brendan Rodgers men’s poor form at the start of the season and the Northern Irish boss still has plenty of questions to answer before proving he’s the right man for the job.

Rodgers will see the Europa League as a chance to relax and will be urging his players to relax during the match at the Stade de Suisse.

However, they definitely won’t have it all their own way and despite their diminishing fortunes at home, the Reds are still seen as a massive draw in Europe and Young Boys will certainly be up for the game.

They also have plenty of experience, having beaten Tottenham on home turf in 2010, and will fancy their chances of getting the campaign off to a winning start.

Despite this Liverpool do still have a lot of class in their ranks and should just sneak it, possibly by a single goal.

The other six o’clock kick-off involving an English side sees Newcastle face Maritimo in Funchal (Match Betting – Maritimo 5/4, draw 11/5, Newcastle 9/4).

This is the first time the Magpies have appeared in Europe for the best part of a decade and it’ll be interesting to see how their relatively small squad can deal with the demands of competing both at home and abroad.

Maritimo should provide the perfect opposition to ease them into the tournament, as although it won’t be easy for Alan Pardew’s men, they should come through with the win.

Expect this one to be cagey affair early doors but for Newcastle’s extra class to eventually shine through and see them claim the three points.

The final English side in action on Thursday is Tottenham who take on Italian side Lazio (Match Betting – Spurs 5/6, draw 5/2, Lazio 10/3).

Despite only being in charge for a few months, Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas is already under pressure but having won this tournament with Porto in 2010, the young coach knows exactly what it takes.

His side will also be full of confidence after claiming their first league win of the campaign against Reading on Sunday and although AVB may opt to rest some of his stars, they will still field a strong team to lift the trophy.

After a few barren seasons, their opponents Lazio are currently enjoying somewhat of a resurgence and finished an impressive fourth in Serie A last term.

They currently have a number of top players in their squad, most notably striker Miroslav Klose, who was recently linked with a move to White Hart Lane and will be looking to prove he can still perform at the top level, despite his advancing years.

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Ставки на матч «Барселона» – «Спартак»!

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Футбол. Лига Чемпионов

Барселона – Спартак. В первую очередь, хочу вернуться в день вчерашний, так как там произошли оченьMessi and Villa 1 300x245 Ставки на матч Барселона Спартак! запоминающиеся события. И это даже не разгром «Зенита» в Малаге, а матч «Реала» против «Манчесетр Сити», именно ради таких матчей мы и смотрим эту игру, под названием футбол. Но вернемся в день сегодняшний.

Я даже не знаю с чего начать превью к такому матчу, так как много раз приходилось слышать, что «спартаковский» футбол похож на «барселонский». Сегодня вечером, мы рискуем увидеть, что эти соображения имели общего примерно столько же, как сравнение «жигулей» и «мерседеса». Никто же не будет отрицать, что это два автомобиля?

Валерий Карпин заявил, что его совершенно не покоробит, если его команда поставит так называемый «автобус в штрафной», но при этом одержит победу. Я честно могу себе представить что угодно, но только не победу «Спартака» над «Барселоной», да еще и на Камп Ноу!

Единственным положительным фактором для «Спартака» 23.00 является их тренер. Унаи Эмери, работая в Испании Эмери, и руководя «Валенсией» всегда создавал большие проблемы «сине-гранатовым», но одно дело играть с «Барсой» в чемпионате и совсем другое в Лиге Чемпионов. Да и будем честны, «красно-белые» – это не «Валенсия».

Я уже предвижу недовольные реплики после последнего абзаца, что мол, третья команда Испании – это как минимум ровня нынешнему «Спартаку», но, как мне кажется, вчера команда из Малаги точно показала, в  чем отличие испанского футбола от российского.

Унаи Эмери  на пресс-конференции честно признал, что для победы над «Барселоной» потребуется сыграть свой лучший матч и при этом надеяться на помощь высших сил. Надо сказать, я с тренером «Спартака» согласен на 110%! Но я даже не ставлю вопрос так широко – победить. Если «Спартак» сыграет хотя бы вничью – это уже будет чудо!

У «Барселоны» в основной состав, спустя 9 месяцев, вернется Давид Вилья, а такие изменения явно уменьшают шансы на спартаковское чудо…

Коэффициент на победу «Барселоны» равен 1.09! Я оцениваю такую ставку практически, как депозит в банке. Только там, чтобы получить такую прибыл вам предстоит ждать минимум год, а тут всего 90 минут…

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Foxes to prove potential

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Leicester City were once again touted as one of the favourites to earn promotion to the Premier League over the summer but after a slow start to the season the Foxes will be looking to get back on track with three points against Burnley on Wednesday (Leicester 4/5, draw 5/2, Burnley 7/2 Match Betting).

Manager Nigel Pearson will have been frustrated by his side’s performances at the start of the campaign, which has not been easy for the East Midlands outfit. Defeats to Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers have shown that this Leicester side is going to struggle to compete for the title, but a win over high-flying Blackpool will give them hope of finishing in the playoff places.

With the likes of Jamie Vardy, Andy King and Ben Marshall in their ranks, Leicester (9/1 Championship outright) have some promising young players who will cause Burnley problems at the King Power Stadium.

As for Burnley, they will be buoyed by their 5-2 victory over Championship struggles Peterborough United on Saturday and will head to the midlands looking for their first points away from home. Striker Charlie Austin will be the main threat for the Lancashire outfit, having scored six goals this season so far, but on home soil Leicester should come out on top and climb up closer to the playoff places.

Wednesday will also see Ipswich Town host a Wolverhampton side who are starting to get into their stride in the Championship (Ipswich 11/8, draw 12/5, Wolves 15/8 Match Betting). Having suffered an opening day defeat to Leeds United and losing to Cardiff City before the international break, Wolves (11/1 Championship outright) have come back strongly with that 2-1 victory over Leicester.

Excluding the loss of Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis, Wolves have been able to keep many of their players from their Premier League campaign last term and they should be challenging for the Championship title this term.

Ipswich find themselves second from bottom in the table and manager Paul Jewell certainly has his work cut out for him if the Tractor Boys are to enjoy a successful season. Town have been guilty of leaking 11 goals in their first five games in the Championship and they look set to concede a few more, with Wolves likely to pick up the three points at Portman Road.

Wednesday also presents a Yorkshire derby as Sheffield Wednesday prepare to host Huddersfield Town at Hillsborough (Wednesday Evs, draw 5/2, Huddersfield 11/4 Match Betting).

Having made a fine start to the season, the Owls are running the risk of stalling after a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace and a 3-0 drubbing by Brighton in their last outing.

Huddersfield, who were promoted with Wednesday from League One last season, are still looking to adapt to life without star striker Jordan Rhodes, who completed an £8m move to Blackburn Rovers last month. A 1-0 win over Derby in their last outing will have pleased manager Simon Grayson, whose side look set to share the points with the Owls in what should be an exciting Yorkshire derby clash between two evenly matched sides.

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Tricky ties await Brit trio

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Manchester United, Chelsea and Celtic get their Champions League group campaigns underway on Wednesday and, despite all three being at home, it could be a tricky evening for the British sides.

Manchester United v Galatasaray

United look to have the easiest task of the British sides on Wednesday as they welcome Turkish champions Gala to Old Trafford. Not that Sir Alex Ferguson will be taking anything for granted following last season’s disappointing group stage exit (United 2/7, Galatasaray 11/1, draw 9/2).

The Premier League runners-up were uncharacteristically sloppy in front of their own fans in this competition last term, drawing 3-3 at home to Benfica and 2-2 with Basel as well as just about seeing off minnows Otelul Galati 2-0.

Fergie has warned he will not tolerate those sort of below-par performances and results this season and, with that in mind, back United to kick off with a fairly convincing home win.

Saturday’s 4-0 success over Wigan was more like it from the Red Devils after a rusty start to the campaign which had seen them lose to Everton and then scramble wins over Fulham and Southampton. They have added firepower this year in the shape of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa so Wayne Rooney’s continued absence should not be much of a problem.

Gala will approach the game determined to claim a point but the Turkish side are notoriously poor travellers and will not relish the trip, as their huge odds of 11/1 to win on the night prove.

Go for 2-0 to United in the correct score market at 5/1.

Chelsea v Juventus

The Blues appear to have a much-more daunting opener with the visit of Italian champions Juve a tougher one to call (Chelsea 11/10. Juve 11/4, draw 23/10).

Roberto Di Matteo’s side surprised many with their Champions League triumph last season and they will not want to give up their crown easily. At least progressing through the group should be fairly straightforward, with minnows FC Nordsjaelland in Group E along with Shakhtar Donetsk and Juve.

The European champions come into Wednesday’s clash in good early-season form, too, and they are unbeaten so far with the hard-fought 0-0 draw at QPR on Saturday the only blip domestically.

However, the 5-1 thumping at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the Super Cup is a reminder of how vulnerable they can still be and Di Matteo’s side, who finished last season sixth in the Premier Leauge, are very much a work in progress with several new arrivals bedding in.

Eden Hazard has looked a class act already, though, and will relish this test against one of Europe’s heavyweights so the Belgian is well worth backing in the score anytime market at 9/4.

Overall, Di Matteo’s men may well view a point as a decent outcome considering what lies ahead and a cagey 0-0 (11/2) could well be on the cards.

Celtic v Benfica

It has been a very strange start to the season in Scotland as Celtic have stumbled their way through their opening SPL games, not quite sure what to do with themselves now arch-rivals Rangers have left the top flight.

The Bhoys will surely come good in the league after a start that has seen them draw twice, scrape two narrow wins and then lose to St Johnstone at the weekend.

That last result may just have given away the fact that Celtic’s focus was on this tie rather than their early SPL struggles as they look to see off the Portuguese giants (Celtic 11/4, Benfica 11/10, draw 23/10).

Expect a passionate home support to lift Neil Lennon’s side and a home win is not out of the question, especially when you consider Benfica’s record away from home. They have also lost their two Champions League trips to Celtic to date, conceding four goals and failing to score a single one in the process, while they have only won four of their 26 Champions League away games in total.

Despite those stats, this remains a big test for the Hoops and another draw is predicted in what looks like being a tight encounter. 1-1 at 5/1 appeals to ensure a solid, if unspectacular start to Celtic’s European Cup campaign proper.

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«Реал» Мадрид – «Манчестер Сити» – первый матч в «группе смерти»! Ставки на матч «Малага» – «Зенит»!

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Футбол. Лига Чемпионов

Малага – Зенит. Поездка в солнечную Испанию должна поднять настроение бразильскому вингеру Халку, так какKerzhakov reacts 1 300x200 Реал Мадрид Манчестер Сити первый матч в группе смерти! Ставки на матч Малага Зенит! по приезду в Санкт-Петербург солнце несильно баловало его своим вниманием. Впрочем, при его новой заработной плате он не должен на это пенять. Но вернемся к старту Лиги Чемпионов – это сейчас более интересный вопрос, нежели настроение самого дорогого футболиста в истории российского чемпионата.

Встречу с «Малагой» некоторые «рисуют», как легкую прогулку для питерского клуба, но я бы не был так оптимистичен. Да, финансовые проблемы, которые постигли андалусийский клуб были очень серьезными, им пришлось расстаться с Санти Касорла, расстаться не забесплатно, а за 19 миллионов евро, но все равно. Просто если вспомнить, как был анонсирован приход новых владельцев в «Малагу» всем казалось, что это будет новый «Манчестер Сити», но в итоге финансовый пузырь лопнул и теперь главной звездой клуба является Хавьер Савиола.

У «Зенита» другие беды… В первом матче, после покупок на 100 миллионов евро, они умудрились проиграть «Тереку», а это как не крутите показатель для клуба, который громил всех на старте чемпионата. Не исключено, что «Зенит» был блестяще подготовлен к старту национального первенства, а сейчас на 2-3 недели в его игре произойдет спад. Это будет очень пагубно для старта в Лиге Чемпионов, но что поделать…

В ближайшей встрече не сможет принять участие Витцель, так, как по словам Лучано Спаллетти он получил травму еще в игре за сборную, тогда правда возникает резонный вопрос, зачем тренер выставлял его во встрече с «Тереком»? Для меня этот матч таит много загадок, так как его результат совсем не однозначен, но от этого его будет еще более интересно смотреть!

Реал Мадрид – Манчестер Сити. Вот уж кому не везет с группами в Лиге Чемпионов, так это «Манчестер Сити», хотя чему здесь удивляться почему два года подряд «МС» 5.00 попадает в группы смерти не стоит, так как у англичан очень низкий рейтинг УЕФА. Причина весьма прозаична, они не имеют высокого рейтинга, да и откуда ему взяться, если попадать в еврокубки они стали совсем недавно.

«Реал» 1.62 ужасно стартовал в национальном чемпионате, так что Лига Чемпионов может стать его «отдушиной». После поражения в Севилье, они наверняка захотят порадовать своих болельщиков победой на Сантьяго Бернабеу. И давайте не будем забывать, что помимо Криштиану Роналду, на Лигу Чемпионов в составе «сливочных» заявлен и россиянин Денис Черышев. Победит «Реал», еще и потому, что английские клубы неблестяще играют на выезде.

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City ready for big Euro test

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The serious business in the Champions League gets underway with a real humdinger of a tie on the very first night as two of the tournament fancies go head to head when Real Madrid host Manchester City at the Bernabeu (Real 4/1, City 10/1 – Tournament Outright).

City were done no favours by the draw for the group stages last season in their first foray into the Champions League but fate has been arguably crueler this time around.

If ever there was a ‘Group of Death’, Group D certainly appears to be it as Borussia Dortmund and Ajax are also involved to pit the champions of England, Spain, Germany and Holland against each other (Real 4/5, City 15/8, Dortmund 5/1, Ajax 20/1 – Group D Winners).

There will be no excuses about complacency in this fixture – which has arguably been used in the past – with both sides having genuine aspirations of going the distance in Europe’s elite competition.

Real have made the Bernabeu a stronghold and recorded six straight home victories in last season’s competition, scoring 24 goals in the process, and are unsurprisingly installed as 8/13 favourites in the match betting to kick off with a win.

Los Blancos have made a slow start to the season, already suffering two league defeats albeit both on the road, but motivation could be a factor – as they showed no lack of it in the Spanish Super Cup and managed to get the better of Barcelona over two legs on the away goals rule.

City look a big price at 4/1 in the match betting considering the talent at their disposal but they have also made a slow start to the season, being held on both away trips in the Premier League so far.

Roberto Mancini’s men lost three of their five games on the road in Europe last season, although they did win in Spain when beating Villarreal – their first in the country at the fourth attempt.

The recent form of the two sides does make this tougher to call, but City have enough strength in depth and will have learned from their experiences last term to come away with something (Draw 11/4).

The other game in the group gives Borussia Dortmund home advantage and, although their record in last season’s competition was poor, they should have the tools in Robert Lewandowski et al to see off Ajax at the Signal-Iduna-Park (Dortmund 4/9, Draw 3/1, Ajax 6/1 in the match betting).

Arsenal, meanwhile, kick their Champions League campaign off at last year’s surprise French champions Montpellier and look good value at 6/5 to open up with a win.

Montpellier, of course, lost star striker Olivier Giroud to the Gunners over the summer and although he has yet to score for the north Londoners, his absence does leave a big hole up front for Rene Girard’s outfit.

La Paillade have won just one of their opening five fixtures in Le Championnat and although three of them have been on the road, it is difficult to see them upsetting the odds at 11/5 (Draw also 11/5) when a confident Gunners’ side rides into town.

The weekend form does not read too well for Zenit Saint-Petersburg following a 2-0 home defeat to Terek Grozny but, with Hulk and Axel Witsel starting on the bench, it is clear they had one eye on Tuesday’s encounter in Spain.

Malaga looked impressive in beating Levante 3-1 at home but the Granotes are hardly a powerhouse, particularly on the road, and Zenit can avoid defeat at La Rosaleda (Malaga 6/4, Draw 11/5, Zenit 7/4 – Match Betting).

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Toffees can manage Magpies

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Having been guilty of making slow starts to their Premier League campaigns in the past, Everton have looked far more promising this time around and will be looking for another three points when they host Newcastle United on Monday (Everton 4/5, draw 12/5, Newcastle 4/1 Match Betting).

Manager David Moyes will have been disappointed with his side’s last outing, as they were beaten 2-0 at the Hawthorns by West Brom at the start of the month, but that followed wins over Manchester United and Aston Villa in the top flight.

Two players who have been key for the Toffees have been Darren Gibson and Marouane Fellaini and they could both be set for an absence from the starting line-up for two very different reasons.

Gibson, who has featured in all three of Everton’s games in the Premier League so far, is out with a thigh injury which looks set to keep the former United midfielder out for five weeks.

Belgian international Fellaini (6/1 first goalscorer) on the other hand has caused a stir at Goodison Park with the news he might be set to leave the club in the January transfer window.

The midfielder’s recent comments are believed to have angered Moyes, who has admitted he will be able to do little to stop the player leaving next year if a big offer comes in.

However if Fellaini is given the chance to do his talking on the pitch he will form a strong partnership with Nikica Jelavic (11/8 Anytime goalscorer) in a supporting role behind the Croatian marksman.

This game will be about the clinical finishers and Newcastle, who will make the trip to Merseyside looking to secure their first away win of the Premier League campaign, certainly have players who know where the back of the net is.

Papiss Cisse (6/1 first goalscorer) and Demba Ba form one of the most dangerous strike partnerships in the English top flight and they will be causing the Everton defence plenty of problems, in a game which should see goals at either end.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has an ace in the pack with French midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, who has been an inspiration so far this season and has earned the praise of the Magpies manager this week.

There will be an injury concern for Pardew with Fabricio Coloccini picking up a knock on international duty with Argentina and he will be a loss for the visitors on Monday night.

Both these teams will have similar goals for the end of the Premier League campaign, as they hope to push for an outside chance of finishing in the top four.

This should be an exciting encounter at Goodison Park and with the attacking talent on the field there should be a few goals.

Both these teams would probably settle for a draw on Monday night and they appear to be evenly matched, so it would be no surprise if the points were shared on Merseyside (14/1 2-2 Draw).

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