Friday’s

The two sides cannot be split in terms of the outright betting for promotion with both on offer at 11/4 to make it back to the big time, although West Ham, who were the other side relegated last season, are the favourites at 13/8 with Cardiff the outsiders at 4/1.

Birmingham beat champions Reading 2-0 on the final day of the Championship season to climb above Blackpool, who were held 2-2 at Millwall, and seal the advantage of playing the second leg at St Andrew’s next Wednesday.

Both sides go into Friday’s clash in decent form with Blackpool enjoying a seven-match unbeaten streak, since a 3-1 loss at Reading, while the Blues have now gone nine matches without defeat following a surprising 4-1 reverse at Portsmouth.

Ian Holloway had suggested that not many, including himself, would have expected the Tangerines to make the play-offs this year but they have been installed as the 11/8 favourites in the match betting for the first-leg clash, with the Blues priced at 21/10 and the draw on offer at 9/4.

It is perhaps no surprise given the fact that Blackpool have made Bloomfield Road something of a fortress this season, suffering just three defeats and none since a 4-1 hammering against the Hammers in February.

Chris Hughton has done wonders with the cash-strapped Blues, who had a Europa League campaign to contend with following their Carling Cup success, and they should be full of confidence going into the first-leg clash.

Their away form has been patchy though this season with seven wins, seven draws and nine defeats on the road – the worst record of the top six clubs – although there is good news in the sense that Blackpool’s away record is only one draw better.

The game promises to be a cracker with City boasting the highest number of away goals scored in the division, while the Tangerines’ home tally is second only to Southampton so Over 2.5 Goals at 5/6 looks the way to go.

Backing that up is the fact that the two played out a 2-2 draw in the regular season fixture last November, with Birmingham going on to win at St Andrew’s in comfortable fashion, 3-0.

Hughton’s men have struggled defensively on the road as they have conceded a huge 37 goals, with only five teams with a worse record, and they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 11 games.

As it is a two-legged affair, more good news for Birmingham is the fact that Blackpool are one of the teams that have conceded more.

Blackpool will be desperate to get the lead going into the return leg but Birmingham should have enough nous and organisation to at least take something from the game ahead of the return leg.

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Manchester City v Liverpool 8pm

As normal folk get back to the humdrum of regular life after the festive period, City fans may be more donwhearted than most after seeing their club’s star wane a little following a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland – in a game which they should not have lost.

Roberto Mancini’s men remain 8/11 favourites to land their first Premier League title despite suffering their second Premier League defeat of the season but they will be hugely disappointed after failing to capitalise on three of their rivals all failing to win over the weekend.

Both those recent defeats have come away from home and the Blues will be back on home territory for what is a massive clash against Liverpool, and they boast a 100 percent record at the Etihad Stadium having banged in 28 goals and conceding just four in nine games there.

That record and their early season form is reflected in the match betting as they are installed as 4/5 favourites, with the draw available at 13/5 and Liverpool at 7/2.

City though have a poor record against the Reds and a 3-0 victory in this fixture last year is their only success in 13 games, while the goals have suddenly dried up for the previously free-scoring league leaders – failing to score in their last two against West Brom and Sunderland.

Liverpool go into the fixture on the back of a confidence-boosting 3-1 win over Newcastle at Anfield on Friday in which talisman Steven Gerrard enjoyed a cameo that was enough to win the man of the match award.

The England midfielder marked only his second appearance since his return with the third goal and has to be worth a look in the goalscoring markets (10/1 First/Last Goalscorer, 11/4 Anytime), particularly having struck winners three times against City.

Luis Suarez is also available again after missing the win over Newcastle due to suspension and, with a good defensive record this season, it would be no surprise to see Liverpool – who held City to a 1-1 draw at Anfield earlier this season – become the first team to take something away from Eastlands.

Tottenham v West Brom 7.45pm

Spurs go into this match looking to make amends for a disappointing showing on Saturday at Swansea in a 1-1 draw, which failed to take advantage of the top two both losing over the weekend.

Harry Redknapp’s men are back on home territory where they have lost only once this season (5-1 to City) and are unsurprisingly 2/5 favourites to secure their seventh win at White Hart Lane, with the draw at 7/2 and West Brom at 15/2.

Scott Parker will be big miss though after he suffered a knee injury against the Swans to join Tom Huddlestone, Ledley King and Aaron Lennon on the sidelines, although the Baggies have injury problems of their own with Chris Brunt and Jonas Olsson set to miss the clash.

West Brom have been better on the road this season, picking up four wins away from the Hawthorns, but goals have been a problem and Spurs should have enough firepower to land the spoils.

Wigan v Sunderland 7.45pm

Wigan have picked up some impressive results of late, holding Chelsea and Liverpool to draws as well as coming from behind to take a share of the spoils against Stoke, despite being reduced to 10 men at the Britannia Stadium.

However, they still remain in the bottom three and take on a resurgent Sunderland side who appear to have turned a corner under the stewardship of Martin O’Neill, and have now pulled six points clear of the drop zone.

Recent form appears to have made this one tough to call with Latics on offer at 7/4, the draw at 9/4 and the Black Cats marginal favourites at 13/8.

Sunday’s shock win over City should instil the belief in Sunderland though that they can rise up the table and are fancied to take the points against a team which has just one home victory to its name.

O’Neill has shown the magic touch since his arrival, picking up three wins and a draw from five matches in charge – and he can improve that record against Wigan on Tuesday.

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A sluggish start to the season has been quickly forgotten about and a run of five wins in all competitions means it is something of a surprise to see Blues trading at favourable odds to pick up maximum points against Simon Grayson’s fellow Premier League promotion hopefuls (16/1 Leeds – Championship Outright).

Chris Hughton’s side showed guts when coming from behind to beat Maribor before collecting back-to-back Championship wins against Nottingham Forest and Leicester City.

Again, they turned defeat around when beating FC Bruges in their own back yard and a double from the in-form Chris Burke yielded another three points from an awkward assignment against basement dwellers Bristol City at the weekend.

Blues have only conceded one goal at St Andrew’s in the Championship in four games so far but will be given a stern test by the potent attacking threat of Leeds.

The West Yorkshire side have scored 13 goals in six Championship away games so far this season but needed a 96th-minute winner to see off 10-man Peterborough at the weekend.

The burning issue for Grayson has to be tightening up his defence on the road – the Whites have conceded 12 goals – because any shortcomings could be exposed by a Birmingham side seemingly adept at retaining possession.

Blues have won all four previous meeting between these two sides at St Andrew’s since the turn of the century – the most recent 2-0 – and should not be dismissed lightly to make it six consecutive wins in all competitions.

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Blackpool

When the sides met in September, the Blues ran out 4-0 victors with Seasiders’ boss Ian Holloway describing the difference between the two sides as ‘light years’.

However, Blackpool kicked on from the disappointment and had a solid first half to the season and looked comfortable in the top half of the table.

Unfortunately though, they have started to slide down the standings but after a superb 3-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur, they looked to have stopped the rot after only picking up one point from a possible eighteen in their previous six matches.

Despite this, Holloway’s side followed the Spurs result with a crushing 4-0 away defeat to fellow strugglers Wolves and this plunged them firmly into the relegation dogfight once again (Blackpool 11/10 to be relegated).

The Tangerines’ cause is also further damaged by the absence of their skipper and talisman Charlie Adam who is suspended along with top scorer DJ Campbell. However, they may be able to call upon the experience of former Celtic left-back Stephen Crainey to steady the defence.

Chelsea have also struggled this season, despite making a superb start which made it look like the league was theirs to lose. Despite winning their first four league games, they then went on a disappointing run that saw them pick up only nine points in November and December.

This run coincided with injuries to key players such as Alex and Frank Lampard and the England midfielder’s return to the side seems to have reignited the Blues’ title challenge. They will be looking to kick on after their victory against table toppers Manchester United last Tuesday (Chelsea 2/7 to beat Blackpool).

Chelsea will be hoping their £50million British record signing Fernando Torres will be in the mood as he looks to notch his first goal in a Chelsea shirt. He is likely to be partnered up-front by a recalled Didier Drogba (Torres 3/1 favourite to score first).

Chelsea go into the game with history on their side having won at Bloomfield Road on each of their last six visits, with Blackpool’s last home victory against the Blues coming in 1965. However, Chelsea’s form on the road has been shaky this term, having only won two of their last nine games away from home and this will give the Seasiders confidence (Blackpool 17/2 to beat Chelsea).

Whatever the outcome, it’s sure to be an exciting match with both teams looking to play exciting, expansive football  and the result is bound to have a profound effect on the outcome of the final Premier League standings.

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Paraguay’s

Kevin Doyle and Liam Lawrence were on target for the Irish, before Lucas Barrios reduced the arrears 13 minutes into the second half.

Ireland would have been going to the World Cup themselves, but for France’s controversial goal in their qualification play-off.

And they showed that they were worthy of making it to South Africa with an assured performance which left the Paraguayans with plenty to think about before they board the plane to South Africa. The World Cup betting suggests they should make it out of their group, but they could be in for a tough time.

The South Americans had plenty of the ball in the first half but could not break down their hosts until the final seconds of the half.

Midfielder Cristian Riveros, who has signed for Sunderland, was instrumental in much of Paraguay’s best moves but they rarely managed to get sight of goal.

Ireland had Roque Santa Cruz (100/1 – World Cup 2010 Top Goalscorer) to thank for their opening goal after seven minutes.

Damien Duff and Lawrence worked a free-kick move before Duff delivered the ball into the box, where defender Paul McShane attempted and failed to execute an overhead kick.

But the ball reared up off the turf and Santa Cruz instinctively headed it on to his own crossbar, allowing Doyle to pounce on the rebound and score.

Paraguay might have hit back within two minutes but midfielder Jonathan Santana’s rising shot sailed over Keiren Westwood’s crossbar.

Ireland went 2-0 up when Doyle chested down Stephen Kelly’s cross to Lawrence, who thumped it past goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla with the help of a deflection off defender Denis Caniza.

Westwood was called on for the first time in injury time when he tipped Antolin Alcaraz’s speculative effort around the post, but he was otherwise untroubled.

Ireland might have killed the game off within minutes of the restart after creating two good chances in quick succession. Doyle saw his left foot shot on the turn test Bobadilla, then the keeper blocked a shot from Duff.

The South Americans halved the deficit when Gamarra and Claudio Morel played their way around McShane for Gamarra to slide a pass to Barrios, who sent it right-footed past Westwood.

Both managers made changes as Trapattoni handed senior international debuts to Cillian Sheridan, Paul Green and Keith Fahey, while opposite number Gerardo Martino dispensed with three-quarters of his starting midfield.

In the meantime, Westwood was grateful to see Gamarra’s teasing 70th-minute cross run harmlessly out of play and Lawrence intercept substitute Aureliano Torres’ superb pass to Gamarra with the visitors making a late push.

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