West Ham

The prize for the winners of the Championship play-off semi-final is not just a spot in the Premier League but also an estimated cash windfall of around £60million.

Both these clubs know all about the riches on offer in England’s top flight having suffered the agony of relegation last season. Both will be equally desperate to make an instant return with victory at Wembley.

Ian Holloway’s men will be able to draw on the memory of their recent play-off victory over Cardiff in 2010. West Ham, meanwhile, have mixed memories of the play-offs, having lost to Crystal Palace in 2004 but then beating Preston a year later.

For West Ham, a spot in the play-offs was a consolation prize after missing out on automatic promotion.

Sam Allardyce’s men were widely tipped to go up automatically at the start of the season, but despite consistently flirting with the top two a failure to convert draws into wins saw them fall behind Reading and Southampton.

Blackpool boss Holloway admitted he found relegation on the final day of last season hard to take, but despite losing the likes of Charlie Adam and David Vaughan, the astute purchases of Barry Ferguson and Kevin Phillips allowed them to rebuild and mount a sustained play-off challenge.

The Hammers begin the game as 20/21 favourites to win in 90 minutes, with Blackpool priced at 11/4. Given play-off finals are often tight and tense affairs, do not rule out the prospect of extra time, with the draw after 90 minutes priced at 13/5.

West Ham’s favouritism appears justified, given they are unbeaten in their last eight matches, winning six of those. In the play-off semi-final they breezed past Cardiff 5-0 on aggregate.

But Blackpool are hardly out-of-form, without defeat in nine games, though four of those are draws. However, in their two league encounters with Blackpool the Londoners have triumphed handsomely, winning 4-0 at Upton Park in October and 4-1 at Bloomfield Road in February.

If the play-offs are all about peaking at the right moment, West Ham have timed things perfectly. With 160 goals scored between the two sides in the regular season, penalty-box action should also be guaranteed at Wembley.

Blackpool in particular are known for their swashbuckling brand of attacking football, but West Ham have plenty of firepower themselves and will look to exploit any gaps at the back.

Backing over 2.5 goals at 5/6 should produce a return while brave punters could get hefty odds of 11/1 for six goals or more.

Carlton Cole is West Ham’s top scorer this season with 14 goals and his odds of 11/2 to score first here shouldn’t be ignored, nor should Kevin Nolan’s odds of 7/1 given the former Bolton man has hit 13 already from midfield this campaign.

For Blackpool it’s all about Kevin Phillips. The 38-year-old just keeps on going and his odds of 8/1 to score first, adding to his 17 goals already this season, should also be considered.

It has been 41 years, though, since Blackpool last beat West Ham and all the signs here suggest that wait will go on. A goal-filled 3-2 victory for the Hammers will leave their supporters blowing bubbles down Wembley Way and should send punters home happy too given that scorecast is priced at a tasty 25/1.

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Barca were the last side to win the tournament in its old guise of the European Cup, with their 1992 win over Sampdoria at Wembley coming thanks to a Ronald Koeman free-kick in extra time at London’s Wembley Stadium.

However, far from heralding the start of years of glory in Europe for the Blaugrana, they then had to wait for 14 painful years before ruling the continent again – with arch-rivals Real Madrid securing three Champions League crowns while Barca were forced to bide their time.

The last six years have been more successful for the Catalans, though, with glory coming in 2006, 2009 and 2011 – and who would bet against them making it to the top again in 2012 in Munich?

Pep Guardiola’s side do, admittedly, look set to relinquish their La Liga title to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid to end their three-year domestic domination – the capital club hold a six-point advantage with eight games to play, but all that will do is spur Barca on in Europe.

Chelsea (9/1 – Champions League Outright) stand in Barca’s way in the semi-finals of the Champions League with the Blues’ run standing in stark contrast to their problems in the Premier League where a top-four finish is looking to be a tall order.

And while this Chelsea squad looks to be past its sell-by date and an overhaul badly needed, the Stamford Bridge outfit will be hoping to make one last stand in Europe after losing the 2008 final on penalties to Manchester United.

Chelsea will be no pushovers, but if Lionel Messi – the best player on the planet – is firing on all cylinders the Argentine has enough to make sure Barcelona prevail over two legs to set up a final against either Bayern Munich (9/2 – Champions League Outright) or Real Madrid (5/2 – Champions League Outright).

Either opponent throws up a unique challenge to Barca as they will either be playing the Bavarians on their own Allianz Arena patch, or facing the side which is set to steal their Spanish crown.

Both scenarios have the makings of a classic Champions League final, but Barca are good enough going forward to turn the tables to their own advantage by either making Bayern the underdogs in their own ground, or having the last word on the season by seeing off Real to gloss over their imminent La Liga glory.

The Champions League final takes place on Saturday 19th May with a 7:45pm kick off.

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Barca were the last side to win the tournament in its old guise of the European Cup, with their 1992 win over Sampdoria at Wembley coming thanks to a Ronald Koeman free-kick in extra time at London’s Wembley Stadium.

However, far from heralding the start of years of glory in Europe for the Blaugrana, they then had to wait for 14 painful years before ruling the continent again – with arch-rivals Real Madrid securing three Champions League crowns while Barca were forced to bide their time.

The last six years have been more successful for the Catalans, though, with glory coming in 2006, 2009 and 2011 – and who would bet against them making it to the top again in 2012 in Munich?

Pep Guardiola’s side do, admittedly, look set to relinquish their La Liga title to Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid to end their three-year domestic domination – the capital club hold a six-point advantage with eight games to play, but all that will do is spur Barca on in Europe.

Chelsea (9/1 – Champions League Outright) stand in Barca’s way in the semi-finals of the Champions League with the Blues’ run standing in stark contrast to their problems in the Premier League where a top-four finish is looking to be a tall order.

And while this Chelsea squad looks to be past its sell-by date and an overhaul badly needed, the Stamford Bridge outfit will be hoping to make one last stand in Europe after losing the 2008 final on penalties to Manchester United.

Chelsea will be no pushovers, but if Lionel Messi – the best player on the planet – is firing on all cylinders the Argentine has enough to make sure Barcelona prevail over two legs to set up a final against either Bayern Munich (9/2 – Champions League Outright) or Real Madrid (5/2 – Champions League Outright).

Either opponent throws up a unique challenge to Barca as they will either be playing the Bavarians on their own Allianz Arena patch, or facing the side which is set to steal their Spanish crown.

Both scenarios have the makings of a classic Champions League final, but Barca are good enough going forward to turn the tables to their own advantage by either making Bayern the underdogs in their own ground, or having the last word on the season by seeing off Real to gloss over their imminent La Liga glory.

The Champions League final takes place on Saturday 19th May with a 7:45pm kick off.

Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.

The Portuguese boss has been on the losing side in three of his last four Premier League outings with the Blues, who now find themselves 12 points off the pace from frontrunners Manchester City.

A 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge to Liverpool has heightened pressure on the 34-year-old but his side have a chance to get back to winning ways against their Bundesliga opponents.

Chelsea travel to the BayArena with an unbeaten record in the Champions League this term and a victory over Bayer Leverkusen would put them in a strong position at the top of Group E.

The Blues ran out comfortable 2-0 winners in the game at Stamford Bridge between these two sides and the German outfit never really looked like causing Chelsea too many problems.

It will be a different challenge to take on Leverkusen in their own back-yard but despite their poor form, AVB’s side is still packed with quality and have plenty of experience of playing on the continent.

Striker Daniel Sturridge (11/2 first goalscorer) bagged himself another Premier League goal on the weekend and it will be interesting to see if he has done enough to earn himself a starting role on Wednesday night.

Fernando Torres continues to struggle for goals, whilst Didier Drogba has not looked like the same player that has lit up the competition in the past.

Chelsea are struggling for goals and one of these players will need to take their chances if the Premier League outfit are to get a result at the BayArena.

Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last three games in the Bundesliga and Blues old boy Michael Ballack has been knocking the goals in for them in recent weeks, and will be keen to get one over on his former employers.

However, judging by their first encounter, Chelsea should have enough to win this game and all but seal their place in the knockout stages of the competition and relieve the pressure on AVB.

Arsenal also continue their journey in Europe as they host German opponents of their own in the form of Borussia Dortmund (Arsenal Evs, draw 13/5, Dortmund 11/4).

The Gunners would also take great strides towards reaching the latter stages of the Champions League if they can pick up three points at the Emirates.

Arsenal managed to squeeze out a 1-1 draw in the previous meeting between these two sides, when they were denied all three points by a late equaliser.

The north London side were dominated for much of the game but at home they should be able to keep hold of the ball more and create more chances.

Skipper Robin Van Persie (7/2 first goalscorer) has scored 10 goals in his last five outings in the Premier League but has only bagged one goal in the Champions League group. The Dutch international is carrying the team at the moment and he will have to have another big game for Arsenal to win this one.

Dortmund will more than likely look to attack Arsenal on the break, which is where manager Arsene Wenger’s side look vulnerable.

This is set to be another close encounter between to fairly matched teams but Arsenal might have the edge to win this one and continue their decent run.

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Much like the title race in Spain, Italy’s Serie A season has gone down to the last game of the season before producing the league winners. Inter Milan are two points ahead of Roma at the top of the league and a win against Siena on Sunday night will see Mourinho’s men retain the Scudetto for another year.

Although Mourinho’s future is in doubt as reports linking him with the hot seat at Real Madrid grow ever stronger, one thing that isn’t in doubt is the result of this match. Siena has already been guaranteed relegation to Serie B after conceding the most goals (66) this season. A huge ten points from safety, the Bianconeri have only won once in their last 11 matches.
Inter Milan are on the cusp of wrapping up an historic treble winning season with the Coppa d’Italia already wrapped up, a win on Sunday seals Serie A, then next Saturday they can claim the Champions League with victory over Bayern Munich in Madrid.

Roma are now clutching at straws. Earlier this week Mourinho stirred things up when he commented that Roma would pay Siena to see off his side and give them the title. In an interview he said: “If it’s true that the president of Siena is happy to beat us and has promised the same prize to his players that he would have given them if they had stayed up, they’ll have extra motivation. And who knows, Roma… might offer some extra money.”

All the money in the world couldn’t buy a Siena win on Sunday and even if Inter don’t have playmaker Sneijder available, they will still have enough options available to pick apart Siena. Bad boy Mario Balotelli is 3.50 to score the first goal.

Back Inter Milan to secure another Scudetto victory with a comprehensive 3-0 win against Siena available at 6.50 with PartyBets.com.

Related posts:

1. Inter Milan’s Great Form Set To Continue
2. Mourinho’s Unsettled But Inter Look Unstoppable
3. Inter Look To Stretch Their Lead In Serie A

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