Weekend Soccer Picks
3 Units Stoke +120 (Stan James) V West Brom Sat 10.00am EST
Stoke were promoted from the Championship last year and if they are to have any chance of staying in the Premiership they simply HAVE to win their home games, and so far they’ve been managing to do it. One of the more incredible stat anomalies of English soccer is that Stoke have gained more points at home than leaders Chelsea. When you add that stat to the fact West Brom have scored just two away goals all season and out of their last six they’ve drawn two and lost four, I rate this as a serious play and one of the better bets of the season and wouldn’t put anyone off who wanted to have a serious bet.
2 Units Middlesbrough -110 (Bet365) V Bolton Sat 10.00am EST
This game will be about as interesting as Willie Bees boxer shorts but I’ll take ugly wins to the bank. The reason Boro are as juicy a price as they are is two-fold. The first is because Bolton have somehow managed to win two of their last three road games, firstly against skittish West Ham and then against Hull, in which they should have actually lost but managed to just cling on. The second reason is because Boro have lost at home to bottom club West Brom and managed a draw with West Ham, which makes them slightly unreliable which is reflected in the unit size I’ll be betting. That said, Middlesbrough are unbeaten in five and will be well aware a win could see them break into the top six and for that reason I think they’ll win.
2 Unit Parlay, The Above Two Games.
1 Unit Manchester City +240 (Betfred) V Arsenal Sat 10.00am EST
It would be a reach to say Arsenal are in disarray but it would be fair to say their season is at a critical juncture. Having lost to Villa at home last week and losing Theo Walcott for three months to injury, the last thing Arsenal needed was internal strife but captain William Gallas didn’t see that script and pubically ripped the team, individual players and also questioned the commitment of the team as a whole when the going gets tough. With seven goals in his last seven games Brazillian maestro Robhino is definitely pulling the strings upfront for City and I think they have a great chance of knocking off Arsenal. This is another game in which the price is bigger than it should be because of the weight of money the opposition attract rather than the true chances of City winning and I’ll bet those games all day long.
1 Unit Aston Villa +400 ( Bet365) V Manchester United Sat 12.30pm EST
Last week I liked Aston Villa at +600 against Arsenal simply because I felt they were overpriced, mainly because of the sheer weight of ‘square’ money that follows the ‘big-four’ in the Premiership and I see absolutely no reason to discard that logic this week. Villa are desperate to become the fifth best team in England and if motivation is needed they need to look no further than the stat that will tell you Man Utd have won this game for the last 14 times it’s been played. Despite that stat, I’m not interested in yesterday, I’m interested in Saturday and if I was pricing this game I’d make Villa anything between +300 and +350. For that reason I see it as a small but solid play.
Stoke were promoted from the Championship last year and if they are to have any chance of staying in the Premiership they simply HAVE to win their home games, and so far they’ve been managing to do it. One of the more incredible stat anomalies of English soccer is that Stoke have gained more points at home than leaders Chelsea. When you add that stat to the fact West Brom have scored just two away goals all season and out of their last six they’ve drawn two and lost four, I rate this as a serious play and one of the better bets of the season and wouldn’t put anyone off who wanted to have a serious bet.
2 Units Middlesbrough -110 (Bet365) V Bolton Sat 10.00am EST
This game will be about as interesting as Willie Bees boxer shorts but I’ll take ugly wins to the bank. The reason Boro are as juicy a price as they are is two-fold. The first is because Bolton have somehow managed to win two of their last three road games, firstly against skittish West Ham and then against Hull, in which they should have actually lost but managed to just cling on. The second reason is because Boro have lost at home to bottom club West Brom and managed a draw with West Ham, which makes them slightly unreliable which is reflected in the unit size I’ll be betting. That said, Middlesbrough are unbeaten in five and will be well aware a win could see them break into the top six and for that reason I think they’ll win.
2 Unit Parlay, The Above Two Games.
1 Unit Manchester City +240 (Betfred) V Arsenal Sat 10.00am EST
It would be a reach to say Arsenal are in disarray but it would be fair to say their season is at a critical juncture. Having lost to Villa at home last week and losing Theo Walcott for three months to injury, the last thing Arsenal needed was internal strife but captain William Gallas didn’t see that script and pubically ripped the team, individual players and also questioned the commitment of the team as a whole when the going gets tough. With seven goals in his last seven games Brazillian maestro Robhino is definitely pulling the strings upfront for City and I think they have a great chance of knocking off Arsenal. This is another game in which the price is bigger than it should be because of the weight of money the opposition attract rather than the true chances of City winning and I’ll bet those games all day long.
1 Unit Aston Villa +400 ( Bet365) V Manchester United Sat 12.30pm EST
Last week I liked Aston Villa at +600 against Arsenal simply because I felt they were overpriced, mainly because of the sheer weight of ‘square’ money that follows the ‘big-four’ in the Premiership and I see absolutely no reason to discard that logic this week. Villa are desperate to become the fifth best team in England and if motivation is needed they need to look no further than the stat that will tell you Man Utd have won this game for the last 14 times it’s been played. Despite that stat, I’m not interested in yesterday, I’m interested in Saturday and if I was pricing this game I’d make Villa anything between +300 and +350. For that reason I see it as a small but solid play.