Pools tips for this weekend December 18-19

Treble chance (home teams):  Birmingham, Blackpool, Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Accrington, Gillingham, Oxford, Hearts. 


Best draws: Birmingham, Blackpool, Nottingham Forest, Gillingham, Hearts. 


Aways: Swansea, Sheffield Wednesday, Oldham, Southampton, Lincoln. 


Homes: Arsenal, Liverpool, West Bromwich, Leeds, Watford, Hartlepool, Swindon, Bury, Cheltenham.  


Pick of the draws: Apart from Fulham, no team has drawn more matches in the Premier League this season than Birmingham, and I can see them sharing the spoils again this weekend when inconsistent Newcastle visit St Andrew’s. Blackpool’s fine victory at Stoke last Saturday should inspire them to hold Tottenham, who have not kept a clean sheet in the league since the opening day of the season. Crystal Palace have an awful away record, but they are fighting hard to avoid relegation from the Championship and capable of taking a point off Nottingham Forest, who are underachieving. Gillingham are charging up the League Two table and I expect them to deny leaders Chesterfield at Priestfield Stadium. In the Scottish Premier League, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, who deservedly held Rangers last weekend, can maintain their unbeaten away record against in-form Hearts. 


Away days: Sheffield United are in turmoil, having lost their manager Gary Speed to the Wales job, and Championship promotion contenders Swansea are tipped to take advantage. Sheffield Wednesday, thriving under new ownership, have surged into the automatic League One promotion places and are a confident selection to win at Exeter. It’s worth backing Oldham to gain maximum points against an ailing MK Dons while Southampton can make amends for their surprising home defeat last Saturday by winning at lowly Walsall. Aldershot’s slump in League Two looks set to continue as Lincoln, perking up under new manager Steve Tillson, are the visitors. 


Homes sweet homes: Leeds are on a roll, having soared into the Championship play-off positions. After their comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Burnley last Saturday, they must fancy their chances of toppling leaders Queens Park Rangers, who lost their unbeaten record to Watford last weekend. Hartlepool regularly punch above their weight in League One and could hand promotion-chasing Charlton their second consecutive league defeat. Swindon, who are still feeling sore about their FA Cup exit at the hands of non-League Crawley, will probably take it out on Tranmere. In League Two, third-placed Bury are fancied to end their run of home reverses against the League newcomers Stevenage.