Weekend Preview

So here we are again with another weekend of football ahead. Remember what I told you last week about not betting on all the big four to win? Well I was right last week with Arsenal slipping up at Stoke, but it seems a friend of mine who also has a blog called Sportboys didn't take my advice. OK, his midweek champions league betting didn't say back all of the big for to win but did say back any three of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United plus Inter and Barcelona. Needless to say none of those team managed to win their respective games and to make matters worse for the SportsBoys not ONE of his midweek bets cam of. Now I love their stuff and I recommend you check them out, but avoid their betting tips like you would a Shakespearean drama staring Keanu Reeves and The Rock.

On to the games

Wigan v Stoke

Now this has all the making of a craps shoot game and as Wigan are one of the founding members I'd steer clear. You can never tell with craps shoot teams as Wigan proved last week beating Pompy away yet they will lose to Fulham and Middlebrough. Tony Pulis Has been moaning all week about Arsene Wenger moaning all week so it might have thrown them out of rhythm and we might see a Rory Delap  throw in fly over the crossbar in to row 32 at the JJB. Despite that I'm going to say home win. Take Wigan @ 5/6 and maybe throw in a Zaki anytime goal @ 13/10 as Wigan can't seem to score any point without him scoring.

Hull v Bolton

My good friend Michael Turner who is now a whooping £5m in Fantasy Football managed to score 0pts in hios last two game since me warning you of him. He and hull mihgt fair a little better this week as they are not playing one of the title contenders but a Bolton team who could very well go down this year. Bolton managed a win against another of the craps shoot hall of fame (Manchester City) last week. It will be interesting to see how these last to games have affected Hull. I'm going to say not much and back Hull win @ 11/10

Sunderland v Portsmouth

Sunderland received a good old fashioned beat down at the hand of Chelsea last week. Pompy on the other hand remained win less under Tony Adams, yes they were unlucky against Wigan but screw it, I'm still blaming Adams and I think they will stay win less for this game as well. Go with Draw @ 9/4. Side note - I think Sunderland on the whole have looked pretty poor this season dispite spending quite a bit of cash in the summer. When will Roy Keane have some serious questions put to him about the amount of crap he has bought for good money?

West Ham v Everton

Two teams not scoring much. Two teams with no fantasy players I like (other than Arteta but he has done jack for a couple of games) Two team which I have very little intrestest in their match this week. Don't bet on this game, it will only upset you. If you must take 0-0 @ 17-2 and hope that it will be the snooze fest you thought it would be.

Liverpool v WBA

Liverpool are now win less in two games and probably should have had back to back defeats if not for Stevie G and his well won penalty LOL. Liverpool need to bounce back and with the run of games they have coming up their should be very few slip ups. There is not much value in this game betting outright so take Liverpool to win by 2 goals @ 11/4. This game should also see the return of Fernando Torres from injury, I was tempted to say back him to score but thought against it as I doubt Rafa will give him the whole game.

Blackburn v Chelsea

Blackburn, as I have told you before, can't defend to save their life (most conceded in the league). They make Arsenals defense look like their famous back four of old. Now Chelsea had a back midweek, but one thing you can count on Chelsea doing this season is dispatching these middle of the road teams very easily. Go with Chelsea to score 3+ goals @ 11/4. Worked last week and should work again this week. Fantasy Football - If you have not got Lampard in your team ask yourself why? Maybe you already have C-Ron in there and can't afford him, well make space! He worth it and he is only going to get more expensive. Also have a look at Drogba, especially if you have Adebayor who is out for 3 weeks. Drogba could be just the man to fill in for the Adesaurus.

Aston Villa v Middlesbrough

I was silly last week forgetting that I had praised Newcastle for improving their game over the last couple of weeks and wish I could have a do over on backing Aston Villa to beat them. Borough, craps shoot specialist are about and knowing them they will spoil the show here in a game they are not expected to get a result from. Villa have been pretty good at home and I expect that to continue. So take Villa win @ 8/11 and I also fancy a John Carew goal so back Carew anytime goal @ 5/4

Manchester City v Tottenham

Spurs!!! Best team in the league over the last 2 weeks. 3 wins and a draw (including UEFA cup) has seen Spurs fans faces resemble that of a child on Xmas eve, all for of joy and expectation at the wonders ahead. City on the other hand are the best of the craps shoot teams. I've been having constant arguments with my dad (lets call him Football Dad) about where Manchester City will finish. Football Dad seems to think they will push hard for a Champions League spot due to who they will bring in in January (who being the right word). I say they will be too far back come January making it irrelevant "who" they bring in in January. It's become as polarizing as the great debate we had all F1 season about whether Felipe Massa is a loser or not (note Hamilton is a bottler, different to loser). I say despite Massa being good he is a loser and things just go wrong for him. Anyway Manchester City will be interesting to watch how their season unfolds. For this game I don't like either defense and will say we are in for some goals. Take over 3.5 goals @ 7/4 and enjoy the fireworks.

Fulham v Newcastle

As mentioned earlier, Newcastle have been playing a lot better of late and I think will start to pull themselves out of the relegation zone. Saying that I still don't trust them on the road and think this will be a draw, take Draw @ 23/10 and watch something else. Fantasy Football note - Did you know that Mark Schwarzer is the most selected GK in fantasy premier league? In fact he is the second most selected player behind Zaki (Zaki 39% - Schwarzer 35%) who would have guessed that?

Arsenal v Manchester United

Now despite this being the first game if the weekend I decided to write about it last as its probably the biggest game. I also decided to consult the Oracle! Those who read the Monday Hangover column this week will know that I have discovered an AMAZING thing about FIFA09 a.k.a. The Oracle. It can predict the future as seen with its powers of predicting that Liverpool would lose 2-1 to spurs last week. So I asked it very nicely and it showed be what the future held................... and boy was it BORING.... 0-0. A right stinker of a game. Arsenal started the brightest with Bendtner testing Van der Sar early on but after that United took control and never looked back yet failed to create any real chance of note. Now that's a bunch of BULL, noway Arsenal stop United scoring in this match with their two bob defense. But maybe the Oracle was on to something with the result, draw could be good and because of the Oracle I changed my mind from United win to draw. Take Draw @ 9/4 and take C-Ron anytime goal @ 9/5 and you should be good for you Saturday beer money.

If you have time this weekend do check out the Calzaghe v Roy jones Jr fight on Saturday night. I really hope Calzaghe whoops him even though it wont change the way Americans view him which it that of someone who never fought "their" top fighters when they were in their prime. Well Yanks, the reason he never did is because they DODGED HIM FOR YEARS!!!!!!! None of you top fighters wanted any piece of him and now you say that its his fault. Screw you and your economy.

Football Guy