Ten draws: Aston Villa v Crystal Palace, Leeds v Brighton, Aberdeen v St Mirren, Altrincham v Yeovil, Boreham Wood v Solihull Moors, Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna, Bologna v Sassuolo, Mainz v Entracht Frankfurt, Bordeaux v Lorient, Lyon v Nantes.
Best draws: Aston Villa v Crystal Palace, Aberdeen v St Mirren, Boreham Wood v Solihull Moors, Bologna v Sassuolo, Bordeaux v Lorient.
Weekend's best bets: Six aways: Leicester, Manchester City, Liverpool, Wrexham, Grimsby, Rangers.
Weekend's best bets: Ten homes: Everton, Tottenham, Wolves, Barnet, Chesterfield, Dover, Stockport, Celtic, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund.
Pick of the draws: Crystal Palace, with consecutive victories over Southampton (2-1 away) and Watford (1-0 at home), have a good chance of finishing in the top half of the Premier League. They have no need to fear a trip to Aston Villa, who have lost more at home than they have won. Aberdeen have disappointed in the Scottish Premiership and won't feel confident of beating St Mirren. Boreham Wood's recovery from their startling slump has come too late for them to make the National League play-offs but they can take a point from Solihull Moors, who have booked their play-off place. Bologna lost 4-3 at Venezia, who are bottom of the Italian League, last weekend, so cannot be guaranteed to beat the better-placed Sassuolo. Bordeaux, bottom of the French League, crashed 4-1 at Angers last weekend and play Lorient, who are only seven points better off.
Away days: Although Leicester have underperformed this season, they should be too strong for Watford, whose relegation to the Championship has been confirmed. Title-chasing Manchester City could have had easier opponents than West Ham on Sunday but I believe this is another hurdle they will overcome. I'm tipping Liverpool to add the FA Cup to their League Cup trophy when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday. Chelsea made Liverpool work hard for their League Cup final victory but off-the-field issues have unsettled them. Wrexham, seeking automatic promotion from the National League, know that nothing less than three points will do at Dagenham & Redbridge and I think they will get them. Grimsby, who are in the play-offs, have had a better second half to the season and are recommended at lowly Eastleigh. Rangers may have one eye on next Wednesday's Europa League final but I still rate their chances at Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
Homes sweet homes: Goodison Park looks like being Everton's saviour in their struggle to avoid relegation from the Premier League. Recent 1-0 home wins over Newcastle, Manchester United and Chelsea have boosted their hopes of staying up and I'm tipping them to defeat Brentford on Sunday. Barnet, of the National League, are eager to end a depressing season on a positive note and they are worth a punt against Bromley, who are ending the campaign with a whimper. Two relegated clubs, Dover and Weymouth, face each other. Dover have been in better form lately and I reckon they'll come out on top.
0 comments:
Post a Comment