Pools tips for this weekend January 15-16

Treble chance (home teams): Birmingham, Liverpool, Stoke, West Bromwich, Burnley, Rochdale, Swindon, Cheltenham, Dundee United, Dunfermline. 


Best draws: Liverpool, West Bromwich, Burnley, Rochdale, Swindon. 


Aways: Manchester United, Arsenal, Fulham, Reading, Leicester. Homes: Manchester City, Sunderland, Coventry, Leeds, Norwich, Watford, Hartlepool, MK Dons, Crewe. 


Pick of the draws: The Premier League looks the best place for draws this weekend and one of the more confident bets is the Merseyside derby. Liverpool have been boosted by Kenny Dalglish being installed as caretaker manager, but Everton are at least their equals based on this season’s results, and they won at second-placed Manchester City last month. West Brom are in a terrible run and will be stretched to get more than a point off Blackpool, who are better away from home. Championship leaders Queens Park Rangers have lost their striker, Jamie Mackie, for the rest of the season to a double leg fracture. Burnley can take advantage of their misfortune in the match at Turf Moor. I predict that Leyton Orient’s terrific victory over Norwich in the FA Cup third round on Saturday will enable them to share the spoils with in-form Rochdale in League One. Yeovil are making a spirited attempt to avoid relegation and can hold Swindon. 


Away days: Premier League leaders Manchester United to extend their unbeaten run to 21 matches at Tottenham, who continually come up short against them. Third-placed Arsenal are a confident selection to prevail at bottom club West Ham, who undid their recent good work by losing 5-0 against Newcastle. Fulham laid their away bogey by beating Stoke and will fancy their chances against next-to-bottom Wigan. In the Championship, take a chance on Reading, who eliminated West Brom from the FA Cup, to follow that up by winning at Doncaster while Leicester are expected to increase Preston’s anxiety at the foot of the table. 


Homes sweet homes: Despite their shock FA Cup defeat by Notts County, Sunderland are determined to avenge a 6-1 loss against fierce north-east rivals Newcastle in October. Meanwhile, Newcastle are reeling from their own Cup exit at the hands of League Two Stevenage. Norwich, who host fellow Championship promotion contenders Cardiff, are resilient enough to recover from their surprising loss to Leyton Orient in the FA Cup third round. Go with Watford to strengthen their promotion challenge against out-of-sorts Derby and free-scoring Crewe to do likewise against Port Vale in League Two.