Following the international action, the Premier League is back this weekend but any chance of a repeat of the crazy goalscoring we saw last weekend looks slim. However, there are plenty of betting opportunities, as ever, and here we take a look at some possible shocks and value bets to earn you some money.
The Manchester derby is the early game but, as is often the case with local showdowns, it’s best to steer clear of this one with pretty much anything able to happen at Old Trafford in what could be an early pointer as to who could end up winning the title come May.
Looking at the weekend coupon, though, there are plenty of other value bets to be had in another intriguing set of fixtures in the top flight.
Birmingham host Stoke at St Andrew’s looking to build on the 1-0 win at West Ham while the Potters are fresh from the late, late win over Sunderland so this one looks tight as well. However, at 2/1 the visitors – no doubt backed by a loud and large away following – seem attractively-priced to pull off a victory in the West Midlands.
With still only nine points separating bottom and eighth in the table, there are plenty of teams sweating over their top-flight status and Blackpool, despite all their early-season coupon-busting, are now very much in the relegation fight everyone expected them to be in all along. They entertain Aston Villa, who are the slight favourites at 11/10 for this one, but we fancy the Seasiders to secure a much-needed Bloomfield Rd win at 23/10.
Apart from the late capitulation at Stoke, Sunderland have been fairly solid home and away all season, so expect Spurs to find it tough going at the Stadium of Light this weekend. A 1-0 success for Steve Bruce’s men looks tasty here at 7/1.
West Brom versus West Ham at the Hawthorns has all the makings of a scrappy but full-blooded relegation six-pointer on Saturday and the Hammers, despite being bottom, are not as bad as all that. In Victor Obinna, Freddie Piquionne and now Robbie Keane, they have players to cause any defence problems so we see another away win here. Get on the Hammers, who some thought could be challenging for a European spot by now, at 13/5.
Finally, the west London derby on Monday evening at Craven Cottage sees Chelsea hoping to bounce back from the defeat against Liverpool with a win over Mark Hughes’ Fulham. But we see more misery for £50million man Fernando Torres and co with the home side worth a punt at 19/5 to achieve the three points here.
So, with a few derbies and relegation scraps to look forward to there will be no repeat of last week’s goal-fest – just plenty of shocks to keep us entertained. Or that’s how we see it anyway.
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