Chelsea

Chelsea vs Manchester United 4pm

Roberto Di Matteo’s men have got off to a flyer this season, and with the midfield trio of Juan Mata, Oscar and Eden Hazard lighting up the Premier League, it is no surprise.

A four-point lead at the top of the table is everything they deserve.

Mata is 8/1 to score the first goal, while his Spain team-mate Fernando Torres can be backed at 40/1 to get a hat-trick. Worth a punt when you consider the fragilities of Sir Alex Ferguson’s back four.

Chris Smalling is set to make his return, but Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans and company have looked woeful this season.

The former champions shipped three goals at home to Tottenham – almost unheard of – and are struggling in midfield against the league’s better sides.

Only the form of front men Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney can give the Old Trafford outfit anything to smile about at the moment.

With Cheslea’s John Terry suspended, a van Persie double is well worth a gamble at 15/2.

Everton vs Liverpool 1.30pm

Liverpool head to Goodison Park for the first Merseyside derby of the season in the Premier League’s early kick-off on Sunday and the Toffees are surely favourites for this one.

Everton always have an ability to up their game for visits of their closest rivals, but not only that, they have simply been the better team so far this term.

David Moyes’ side have been so strong thanks to their Belgian star Marouane Fellaini – who they hope can recover from a knee problem for Sunday.

If so, Fellaini is a great bet at 8/1 to be the Toffees’ first goalscorer on the day.

But despite Everton’s fantastic start to the season, over confidence could see them unhinged.

Brendan Rodgers has got Liverpool starting to pick up victories, with their last two outings resulting in 1-0 victories. A 1-0 win at Goodison is well worth a punt at 7/1.

Everton have only managed one victory in their last 11 Premier League meetings with Liverpool.

Southampton vs Tottenham 3pm

Southampton will be without record signing Gaston Rarmirez for the visit of Tottenham on Sunday.

The south-coast side have rapidly come bouncing back down to earth following their opening salvo after promotion. Nothing but a Spurs victory – 5/6 – is worth backing.

Andre Villas-Boas’ men will hope that they can score some goals to get their confidence up and are 12/1 for a 3-0 victory.

Gareth Bale returns to Spurs’ line-up following the birth of his child and is well worth a gamble to score first against his old club.

Newcastle vs West Brom 3pm

Newcastle will hope to get back to winning ways after their Wear-Tyne draw last Sunday.

Alan Pardew’s men should be able to achieve just that, as they are evens to pick up a home win.

The strike duo of Demba Ba – 4/1 to score first – and Papiss Cisse – 9/2 to score first – should be too much for the Baggies, who have yet to win away from home this season.

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Bayern Munich v Chelsea 7:45pm

To say the Blues’ journey to reach the Champions League has been a roller-coaster would be an understatement. Having scrambled out of their group the west London outfit appeared to be on the verge of elimination when they lost the first leg of their last-16 tie against Napoli 3-1. However, out went Andre Villas-Boas and in came Roberto Di Matteo as the new manager, after which everything changed.

After turning around their tie with Napoli in the second leg Chelsea then dumped Benfica out before their semi-final with Barcelona. No one gave the Blues a chance, yet somehow they managed to defeat the defending European champions following a dramatic second leg.

For the final Chelsea are once again underdogs, with Bayern 4/9 to win the Champions League, while the Premier League club are 7/4.

The main factor for Bayern being given the edge seems to be their home advantage, with the game being staged at the Allianz Arena in Munich. The four-time European champions’ record at home is mightily impressive this season, winning all but three of their 25 matches on their own patch.

Bayern’s last defeat at home was against Borussia Dortmund on November 19, the team that eventually beat them to the Bundesliga title and the German Cup. While Chelsea were winning their domestic cup final against Liverpool, Jupp Heynckes’ men were being soundly beaten 5-2 by Borussia in the German equivalent.

What Dortmund proved in that game is that Bayern do have a soft underbelly, especially when you consider Luiz Gustavo, David Alaba and Holger Badstuber will all be unavailable for Saturday#s final. Bayern’s main strength is going forward, with the trio of Mario Gomes, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben the biggest threats to Chelsea’s dream.

All three players are in double figures for goals and will provide Chelsea’s defence with a different kind of test than the one they were given by Barcelona. Di Matteo has admitted Chelsea will need to keep it tight but it seems unlikely they will manage to keep a clean sheet. As a result go for over 2.5 goals at 5/6.

For Chelsea’s old guard Saturday’s game is going to be the last hoorah you’d think, with Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba desperate to enhance their legacy at the club. All three are expected to start against Bayern and having scored in the last European final they appeared in you can get Lampard to repeat that trick at 11/4 to score anytime, with Drogba 15/8.

Given Bayern’s attacking threat Chelsea’s team news will be critical as we wait to see whether David Luiz and Gary Cahill have overcome their hamstring injuries. The reports coming out of Munich indicate they will be fit but if they aren’t then Di Matteo will be without a recognised centre-half as John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic are suspended.

Barring Chelsea having no fit centre-backs the biggest loss for them will be Ramires, who has been magnificent in the second half of the campaign.

To win the Champions League will take another super-human effort by Chelsea and you wonder whether the semi-final with Barcelona was their final.

It’s going to be close and could go all the way to penalties again. At least John Terry isn’t around to take one this time as far as Chelsea are concerned. The match markets have priced a Bayern win in 90 minutes at 4/5, with the draw 11/4 and the draw 10/3.

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Dean Saunders still appears confident that Rovers can escape the drop to League One, despite the fact that they are stuck in a poor run of results of three draws and three defeats which has ultimately seen them fall to the foot of the table.

The Welsh coach has targeted three successive wins from the game against the Blues at the Keepmoat Stadium, a trip to Leicester and the Easter Monday visit of Burnley to claw back the four-point deficit to the final position of safety.

Looking to the Birmingham game and Rovers will have to end a nine-game sequence without a win in front of their own fans if they are to pick up three points, while they have only managed 15 goals on home soil so far this season – the worst record in the Championship.

Shelton Martis and Pascal Chimbonda could be set to miss out for Rovers which will not help their need to come out on top in this one.

Chris Hughton’s Birmingham have also hit a sticky patch at just the wrong time as they look to seal a place in the end-of-season play-off places in order to keep alive their bid for an immediate return to the Premier League.

Just two wins in the last eight outings have left the Blues in sixth position, but only on goal difference ahead of Blackpool and Cardiff, while Hull and Leeds are also within striking distance should there be a slip-up in south Yorkshire.

Hughton will be boosted by having David Murphy back from suspension and he will return on the left side of defence, while Peter Ramage is set to stay on the right in the absence of Jonathan Spector and Stephen Carr.

Nikola Zigic is pressing for a recall, possibly at the expense of Erik Huseklepp, in the forward line as he bids to add to his goals tally, while there is a chance that both Pablo Ibanez and Keith Fahey could shake off injury problems in time to be available.

The two sides have only faced each other eight times competitively with the previous meeting at the Keepmoat Stadium seeing Birmingham come out on top 2-0 during the 2008/09 season thanks to first-half goals from Cameron Jerome and Hameur Bouazza.

Marlon King’s brace helped the Blues come from a goal down to seal a 2-1 win in the corresponding fixture at St Andrew’s in December and they will be looking to secure a similar result on Friday evening.

It is being billed as a must-win encounter for both sides and, despite Doncaster being unfortunate not to pick up more points than they have of late, Birmingham should have too much in attack in their quest for play-off points.

Prediction: Away Win 90 Minutes @ Evens

Value Bet: Birmingham To Win 2-0 Correct Score @ 8/1

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