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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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Selecao seek China response

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Brazil backers will not get rich piling in on odds of 1/14 for an international friendly against China on Tuesday (2am BST) but fans will be anxious to see a marked improvement on a tepid 1-0 win against South Africa last Friday.

Antipathy about a performance which barely set the pulses racing at Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo manifested itself when Santos golden-boy Neymar was booed by home supporters.

“I felt sick because of what happened against South Africa. I am not a machine,” he was quoted as saying by Globo Esporte. “I was exhausted after Friday’s match, both physically and mentally.”

Mano Menezes is expected to make just one change, with Zenit St Petersburg new-boy Hulk rewarded for his goal with a starting place, while Paulinho has been ruled out of the clash because of injury.

The five-time world champions have not conceded in two wins since missing out on Olympic gold to South American rivals Mexico, but the mental approach will have to be right against Jose Antonio Camacho’s men.

China have not won a match against a team from outside of Asia since the 1-0 win over Jamaica in August 2011 and historically do not travel well. They have lost four out of their last five road trips – three to nil – but were not embarrassed in tight defeats by Spain and, more recently, Sweden.

Tang Miao could be in line to start at right-back for Team Dragon, with Zhao Xuri set to be the only survivor in midfield.

The last time that these two teams met was in 2003 and Selecao were held to a goalless draw in Guangzhou, but China are currently placed 78th in the Fifa rankings and are trading as big as 18/1 to win in Recife while the draw is available to back at 8/1.

The Brazil/Brazil double result is priced at 1/4, so the way to go here might be to chance the correct score markets.

Republic of Ireland (1/4 – 90 minutes) will hope to put off-field issues behind them when they play Oman (8/1, draw 4/1) at Craven Cottage in a friendly on Tuesday (7:30pm BST).

James McClean has apologised for his foul-mouthed tweet that he angrily posted after being left on the bench during the World Cup qualifier win in Kazakhstan and remains in the squad, but Robbie Keane, Darren O’Dea, John O’Shea, Jon Walters and Glenn Whelan have been released.

Elsewhere, Czech Republic held Denmark to a goalless draw in a 2014 World Cup qualifier on Saturday and can be backed at 2/5 to beat Finland (6/1, draw 16/5 – 90 minutes) in a friendly (5pm BST), but have now gone three games in all competitions without a goal.

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Selecao seek China response

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Brazil backers will not get rich piling in on odds of 1/14 for an international friendly against China on Tuesday (2am BST) but fans will be anxious to see a marked improvement on a tepid 1-0 win against South Africa last Friday.

Antipathy about a performance which barely set the pulses racing at Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paulo manifested itself when Santos golden-boy Neymar was booed by home supporters.

“I felt sick because of what happened against South Africa. I am not a machine,” he was quoted as saying by Globo Esporte. “I was exhausted after Friday’s match, both physically and mentally.”

Mano Menezes is expected to make just one change, with Zenit St Petersburg new-boy Hulk rewarded for his goal with a starting place, while Paulinho has been ruled out of the clash because of injury.

The five-time world champions have not conceded in two wins since missing out on Olympic gold to South American rivals Mexico, but the mental approach will have to be right against Jose Antonio Camacho’s men.

China have not won a match against a team from outside of Asia since the 1-0 win over Jamaica in August 2011 and historically do not travel well. They have lost four out of their last five road trips – three to nil – but were not embarrassed in tight defeats by Spain and, more recently, Sweden.

Tang Miao could be in line to start at right-back for Team Dragon, with Zhao Xuri set to be the only survivor in midfield.

The last time that these two teams met was in 2003 and Selecao were held to a goalless draw in Guangzhou, but China are currently placed 78th in the Fifa rankings and are trading as big as 18/1 to win in Recife while the draw is available to back at 8/1.

The Brazil/Brazil double result is priced at 1/4, so the way to go here might be to chance the correct score markets.

Republic of Ireland (1/4 – 90 minutes) will hope to put off-field issues behind them when they play Oman (8/1, draw 4/1) at Craven Cottage in a friendly on Tuesday (7:30pm BST).

James McClean has apologised for his foul-mouthed tweet that he angrily posted after being left on the bench during the World Cup qualifier win in Kazakhstan and remains in the squad, but Robbie Keane, Darren O’Dea, John O’Shea, Jon Walters and Glenn Whelan have been released.

Elsewhere, Czech Republic held Denmark to a goalless draw in a 2014 World Cup qualifier on Saturday and can be backed at 2/5 to beat Finland (6/1, draw 16/5 – 90 minutes) in a friendly (5pm BST), but have now gone three games in all competitions without a goal.

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Celtic seek away-day cure

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Celtic head to Finnair Stadium on Wednesday desperate to improve on a wretched away record in the Champions League and keep their European dream alive (KO 19:00 CET 20:00 local time).

Neil Lennon’s men have won just one of 33 away matches in Europe but take on HJK Helsinki in the second-leg of a Champions League third round qualifying clash with a 2-1 lead from the first leg in Glasgow.

The Bhoys – overwhelming 1/40 favourites to win the Scottish Premier League – have only managed to score in 10 out of their last 22 European road trips and their approach to this return fixture is intriguing. The fact that Celtic do not have to win this game to progress makes it even more difficult for punters.

HJK Helsinki can be backed at 13/8 to win in 90 minutes, while a rare away win is quoted 11/8, but the evidence suggests the draw could have legs at 11/5 and this would see the visitors progress.

Backing teams who do not need to win is always a minefield and it may be that Lennon decides to pack his midfield and frustrate the home side.

Key to their hopes will be the fitness of combative midfielder Scott Brown, who has a hip injury, and whether Lennon decides to try protect his side’s advantage or go for the kill.

James Forrest is battling to recover from a groin problem, Charlie Mulgrew makes his returns from his weekend suspension and Georgios Samaras has recovered from a face knock.

The Finns returned home seething at Czech referee Miroslav Zelinka for allowing Celtic to take the corner that led to the winner while HJK were making a substitution and have their own motivation to send the Scottish champions packing.

The home side will have the edge in terms of match sharpness given that their domestic campaign is past the half-way point and can boast a proud home record of having not lost at Finnair Stadium since August 2010 in the Veikkausliga.

This time last year in the same competition the Finnish champions put 10 past Bangor City without reply and last month walloped Icelandic title winners KR Reykjavík 7-0.

The wheels have started to come off in recent weeks and it needed a goal on 82 minutes from Mika Vayrynen to salvage a 3-3 draw against VPS last time out. This followed a 1-0 defeat away to Honka in which Antti Muurinen’s men were reduced to nine men on a day to forget.

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Manchester duo seek answers

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Manchester may be the battleground for the 2011-12 Premier League title race but will either City or United overcome first-leg deficits to reach the last eight of Europe’s less glamorous competition - the Europa League.

United (6/4 in Match Betting) have it all to do in Bilbao, having been outplayed at Old Trafford by Athletic Club (13/8, Draw 5/2) last week.

The Basque club’s 3-2 win (25/1 Athletic Club 3-2 in Correct Score) makes them favourites to progress to the last eight, but coach Marcelo Bielsa is set to be without the services of Spanish international striker Fernando Llorente for the second leg.

Llorente scored in Athletic’s 2-1 defeat to Osasuna at the weekend but has not trained for the last three days and could be replaced by Gaizka Toquero (13/8 Anytime Goalscorer) in possibly the only change from the line-up that won in Manchester.

The United line-up will reveal how much Sir Alex Ferguson rates his side’s chances of rescuing the tie.

Antonio Valencia has made the trip to Spain but Phil Jones, Anderson and Nani have not while Chris Smalling is back in contention after a head injury.

Wayne Rooney (11/8 Anytime) has scored goals in spurts throughout his career and the United forward has now scored nine in his last six appearances. Red-hot Rooney should be backed to bag in Bilbao and it may well be the first strike of the match – as it has been on five of the six occasions he has scored in since Christmas (5/1 First Goalscorer).

Back in Manchester, City (2/7 in Match Betting) should be highly motivated to beat Sporting Club (10/1, Draw 9/2) convincingly after the Lisbon club celebrated like they had won the Europa League after last week’s 1-0 first-leg win.

Roberto Mancini will still be without captain and key centre-back Vincent Kompany after his calf injury in Portugal – an incident which surely contributed to City’s back-to-back defeats to Sporting and Swansea.

But Sporting will not cause City as many problems at the Etihad Stadium, where Mancini’s men are unbeaten in European competition since August 2008.

Mario Balotelli (10/11 Anytime Goalscorer) went close to equalising for City in Lisbon last week when his late header hit the bar and his ability to finish coolly could be in evidence again on Thursday night.

Former Liverpool full-back Emiliano Insua looked shaky for Sporting at the Alvalade and he could be run ragged by Adam Johnson (15/8 Anytime) at the Etihad.

The England winger should play a big role if City are to win by the minimum 2-0 scoreline that would see them into the hat for the quarter-finals (5/1 Man City 2-0 in Correct Score).

Of the other ties, expect Olympiacos (10/11 in Match Betting) to secure their passage through against Metalist Kharkiv (3/1, Draw 12/5) – who they beat 1-0 in the Ukraine last week (9/2 Olympiacos 1-0 in Correct Score).

The Greek side have one of the best defensive records in Europe since Christmas and have now kept ten consecutive clean sheets.

PSV Eindhoven (6/4 in Match Betting) have changed coach since their 4-2 first leg defeat to Valencia last Thursday night with former Dutch World Cup star Philip Cocu stepping up from assistant to take over from Fred Rutten.

The Philips Stadion side are not out of the tie with two away goals to their credit, scored late on at the Mestalla after they were 4-0 down.

A spirited display from PSV (50/1 in Europa League Outright Betting) could cause Valencia (5/1) a wobble and the Spaniards are by no means certain of their last-eight spot.

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Pearce’s men seek unbeaten run

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England Under-21’s are in UEFA Euro 2013 Group 8 qualifying action on Thursday night (England 2/13, draw 5/1, Iceland 11/1 – Match Betting), as they look to continue their 100% record against Iceland at Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Stuart Pearce’s side recorded a 3-0 win in Reykjavik a month ago thanks to a hat-trick from Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is set to be named in the starting XI again, as he looks to prove he is worthy of the £12 million Arsene Wenger spent on him.

The England Under-21 boss sees a similar situation with Oxlade-Chamberlain (9/2 First Goalscorer) that was experienced by his Arsenal team-mate Theo Walcott, and believes the 18-year-old can get “better and better” and will improve from every 90 minutes he can get under his belt.

Pearce has been forced to make a number of changes to his squad due to injury and that means six of the 24 faces in the squad are part of the Under-21 set-up for the first time.

Ryan Bennett from Peterborough, Newcastle United forward Sammy Ameobi and Manchester United’s Will Keane were called up on Monday, but Bennett reported with an injury and was sent home while Fulham full-back Matthew Briggs also missed out through injury.

The boss’ plans were further disrupted by the fact Liverpool’s Jon Flanagan and Everton’s Ross Barkley left the camp to join up with Noel Blake’s England Under-19 squad for their game with Denmark, also on Thursday night.

Both those two will be unavailable to face Iceland but will be ready for the trip to face Belgium on Monday night, where Pearce will be looking for another impressive display to boost their progression towards Israel 2013.

Nathan Delfouneso (7/2 First Goalscorer) has enjoyed a mixed time against Iceland so far in 2011, as he scored in Preston against them back in March before being taken off in Reykjavik last month with a hamstring injury.

The Aston Villa man is by far the most experienced forward available to Pearce, so will lead the line with Ameobi, Keane and Marvin Sordell of Watford all fighting to join him.

There is a lack of real Premier League experience throughout the squad and the likes of Jordan Henderson, Josh McEachran and Martin Kelly will have to shoulder a lot of the responsibility.

As for Iceland, they have won one game so far in Euro 2013 qualifying and that was thanks to two goals from Lillestrom striker Björn Sigurdarson, to see of Belgium in September. They are the only two goals they have scored in three games and Iceland should not pose too much threat to England.

Despite the limited experience, there remains a lot of exciting young potential throughout the team and they should have enough to beat Iceland with ease, to set them up for the trip to face Belgium in their final game of 2011.

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England seek home comforts

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There will be those who believe that England have already secured their place in next year’s European Championships but there is still work to be done when local rivals Wales travel to Wembley on Tuesday night (England v Wales – totesport).

Fabio Capello’s men had been locked on 13 points at the top of Group G going into Friday night’s matches with England able to open up a lead after cruising to a 3-0 win, while Montenegro suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat in Cardiff.

The Three Lions are now three points clear of Montenegro with two games to go but they will not be able to confirm their place at Euro 2012, regardless of whether they win or not on Tuesday.

There are one or two injury concerns for Capello but only amongst the squad players as Leighton Baines has picked up a problem and has been ruled out, following on from Sunday’s withdrawals of Darren Bent and Micah Richards.

No replacements have been called up so Capello could well stick with the side that triumphed in Sofia, although there will be a question mark in midfield.

England stalwart Frank Lampard was surprisingly left on the bench against Bulgaria but may be recalled given the fact that Gareth Barry and Scott Parker are both one yellow card away from being suspended for next month’s crunch clash against Montenegro.

England would need a point in that game if they were to match the feat in Cardiff and beat Wales (England 1/7, Draw 7/1, Wales 16/1 Match Betting) after goals from Lampard and Bent secured a 2-0 win (11/2 Repeat Scoreline).

There was plenty on show on Friday to suggest that England will create enough chances to claim the three points, albeit against a poor Bulgaria side, and Wayne Rooney may well prove hard to stop after ending his year-long drought in the national jersey with two goals (Rooney 11/2 to score two or more).

The attacking trio of Ashley Young (3/2 Anytime Scorer), Theo Walcott (3/2) and Stewart Downing (9/4) also carried plenty of threat for the Three Lions and it is sure to be tough going for Gary Speed’s men when they have not got the ball.

The Dragons have endured a difficult time under his leadership but the 2-1 win over Montenegro can only boost the squad’s confidence ahead of the derby clash, and they would love nothing more than springing a 16/1 surprise.

Craig Bellamy and David Vaughan are both missing through suspension but Gareth Bale (9/2 Anytime Scorer), who was sidelined for the earlier fixture in Cardiff, was sensational against Montenegro and will be a real thorn in England’s side.

Whether that is enough is open to question but England have endured some difficulties at Wembley, since an opening 4-0 over Bulgaria last September.

In four games since then, they have been held by Montenegro and Switzerland in the group, as well as Ghana in a friendly, while France took the spoils last November.

The home side should have the ammunition and the tools to pick up the three points but with England, anything is possible.

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Patched up Gunners seek response

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Saturday Premier League match predictions……
There will be an old face awaiting Arsene Wenger at Villa Park on Saturday, in the shape of Robert Pires, but an injury-hit Arsenal (11/10 to win the game) will be in determined mood to end a terrible run, that has seen his side lose four of their last six games in all competitions.

The Gunners are without their inspirational captain Cesc Fabregas, after he was hit with a hamstring injury during the Champions League defeat to Braga in midweek.

They face a tough challenge of their title credentials against an Aston Villa side who are unbeaten on home turf so far this season.

But goals have been hard to come by for Villa and the loss of three-goal midfielder Marc Albrighton will be a big miss, against a Gunners side that still have huge quality in the final third.

Manchester United (1/4 to beat Rovers) can go top of the Premier League if they beat Blackburn and Wayne Rooney is set to play the full 90 minutes at Old Trafford.

With Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both set to return, Blackburn are likely to sit back against United and look to him them on the break. If United get ahead though, there is only going to be one outcome as Rovers do not score many goals on their travels.

Bolton were very impressive last weekend and ripped Newcastle’s defence to shreds at times. The form of Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies upfront is likely to give a torrid time to a Blackpool defence that has leaked goals on their travels. All the form and statistics around this game suggest a win for Bolton at 4/7, but Blackpool have shown more than once this season they can spring a real surprise – beware!

Roberto Di Matteo needs to turn things around at West Brom….and quickly. They have lost four out of their last five Premier League matches and could now even drop into the relegation places if they lose at Goodison Park and Wigan beat rock-bottom West Ham. Everton (4/7 to win, WBA 9/2, draw 11/4 – Match Betting) have been drawing too many games, seven out of their 14 so far, but you would expect David Moyes’ side to be too strong in this one.

Fulham have won only two of their 14 matches all season, while Birmingham City are coming into the game on the back of a draw with Manchester City and their surprise win over Chelsea last weekend. Alex McLeish’s men are in good form and have lost only one of their last six matches in all competitions, so the form definitely favours the visitors (Birmingham 13/5 to win at Craven Cottage).

West Ham are really struggling, they have won only one Premier League game all season and were very poor in the defeat to Liverpool last time out. The axe could come down on Avram Grant if they lose this six-pointer and although Wigan’s form has been patchy, they are not terrible and Latics (5/2 to take all three points) have looked capable of getting wins in recent weeks.

Wolves are on a run of four games without a win, while Sunderland are unbeaten in their last four and have drawn four of their last six games on the road. Asamoah Gyan is back for the Black Cats and Steve Bruce is missing key defenders Titus Bramble and Michael Turner. This game screams a draw at 23/10 – a result that would probably suit both teams.

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Juve seek to protect Balotelli

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Juventus have promised to clamp down on any fans who racially abuse Mario Balotelli when they meet Manchester City in the Europa League (City 11/2 – Europa League outright).

The 20-year-old striker joined the Eastlands club from Inter Milan this summer for a fee thought to be in the region of £24m, as City continue to build a squad capable of breaking the duopoly at the top of the Premier League.

They now have a squad that appears, on paper, to be the match of the majority of the top European teams, and will hope to progress to the latter stages of the Europa league this term.

Racism in English football seems to be, by and large, a thing of the past, with the days when bananas were thrown onto the pitch and ‘monkey chants’ heard in the stands resigned to history, but a few European teams still have a problem with a minority of supporters.

Balotelli was subjected to racist chants when Inter played Juventus at the Olympic Stadium last season and the club’s chief executive, Jean-Claude Blanc, hopes that there will be no repeat performance this time around.

“This will be the chance for the supporters to demonstrate that the standard has been raised,” he said. “Hopefully fans will behave the way they should be behaving and supporting the team and only this.

“Supporting your team is to support your team, and not to make remarks of a racist nature toward other players. We will be extremely demanding and intransigent about this.”

City will be confident of progressing to the knock-out stage of Europe’s second tier competition as they have been grouped with Austrian outfit Salzburg and Polish side Lech Poznan, as well as Juve, who will provide the toughest challenge for Roberto Manicin’s men.

City fans are desperate for some silverware and would love to win the Europa League but reports suggest that Mancini’s number one priority this season is to get the club into next year’s Champions League with a top-four finish in the Premier League (Barcelona 13/5 – Champions League outright).

They signalled their intent with a crushing 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Monday night and have amassed enough quality players over the past two years to cover injuries that are bound to occur throughout the long season.

With Liverpool under new management and Arsenal looking in good form, the race for the Premier League could be as open as it has been for years, with the new ‘top five’ likely to take points off each other throughout the campaign (City 13/2 – Premier League outright).

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