Wednesday 20 May 2015

Pools tips and best bets for weekend of May 23-24

Ten draws: Crystal Palace v Swansea, Manchester City v Southampton, Malaga v Sevilla, Cesena v Cagliari, Genoa v Inter Milan, Udinese v Sassuolo, Eintracht Frankfurt v Bayer Leverkusen, Paderborn v VfB Stuttgart, Rennes v Lyon, Toulouse v Nice.

Best draws: Crystal Palace v Swansea, Manchester City v Southampton, Genoa v Inter Milan, Paderborn v VfB Stuttgart, Toulouse v Nice.

Best weekend away bets: Manchester United, Dundee, Valencia, Sampdoria, Verona, Monaco.

Best weekend home bets: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Leicester, Stoke, Hamilton, Preston, Aberdeen, Marseille, St Etienne.


Pick of the draws: Crystal Palace have lost their last three home games and will be anxious to avoid four consecutive Premier League defeats at Selhurst Park. Winning 3-1 at Anfield last Saturday gave them a huge boost and I believe they will at least share the spoils with an impressive Swansea team. Manchester City have woken up too late to stop Chelsea running away with the title. Southampton, fresh from thrashing Aston Villa 6-1 last weekend, are still in contention for a Europa League place and a draw at the Etihad is not beyond them. Inter Milan have had a mediocre season and will probably be denied victory at Genoa, who won well at Atalanta last weekend. Paderborn are bottom of the German League and I expect their relegation to be confirmed with a draw against third-from-bottom VfB Stuttgart, who could also go down. Toulouse should celebrate avoiding relegation in the French League with a point against mid-table Nice.

Away days: A win for Manchester United on Sunday will see Hull drop out of the Premier League. United are far from perfect but they should be good enough to end the season with three points. I fear Hull sealed their own fate when they lost at home to relegated Burnley two weeks ago. Dundee are better away than at home in the Scottish Premiership and are well worth a punt against their fierce rivals Dundee United on Sunday. United have gone right off the boil and last Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Inverness Caledonian Thistle reflected that. Valencia are fancied to finish their Spanish League season in style against relegation-threatened Almeria and Sampdoria, seventh in the Italian League, should be too strong for lowly Empoli. Mid-table Verona look a banker at relegated Parma while Monaco, Arsenal's conquerors in the Champions League, are a confident selection at Lorient.

Homes sweet homes: Everton, deserved 2-1 winners at West Ham last Saturday, are aiming for a top-half finish in the Premier League and I believe they will achieve it by defeating sixth-placed Tottenham, who seem to have switched off recently. Stoke have improved under manager Mark Hughes and maximum points against disappointing Liverpool will round off their season nicely. Preston have a terrible record in play-offs but I'm taking them to end their jinx at Wembley on Sunday when they face Swindon in the League One final. 

Pools info: Lazio v Roma (match No 27 on coupon) is being played on Monday and will be judged by the pools panel.

That's it for now: I'll be back with my pools tips and best bets when the new football season starts in early August. Until then, have a happy and prosperous summer.

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Pools tips and best bets for weekend of May 16-17

Ten draws: Manchester United v Arsenal, Southampton v Aston Villa, Swansea v Manchester City, Tottenham v Hull, Villarreal v Malaga, Verona v Empoli, Hertha Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart v Hamburg, Lille v Marseille, Nantes v Lorient.

Best draws: Manchester United v Arsenal, Swansea v Manchester City, Tottenham v Hull, Verona v Empoli, Nantes v Lorient.

Best weekend away bets: Stoke, Newcastle, Leicester, Hamilton, Motherwell, St Etienne.

Best weekend home bets: Liverpool, West Ham, Norwich, Dundee, Partick, Stenhousemuir, Bristol Rovers, Rangers, Real Sociedad, Roma.

Pick of the draws: Arsenal will want to bounce back quickly from their unexpected home defeat by Swansea on Monday. A draw against Manchester United will put them in pole position to finish third in the Premier League and I believe that's what they'll get at Old Trafford. Arsenal's FA Cup sixth-round victory at United this season has removed some of the fear factor while United are still not wholly convincing. What Swansea did to Arsenal, they are capable of doing to second-placed Manchester City, although City have regained some of their swagger recently, beating Tottenham away and thrashing relegated Queens Park Rangers 6-0 at home. However, the Swans look good for at least a point. Hull, who have slipped into the relegation zone, are desperate for a good result at Tottenham. Luckily for them, Spurs seem to have switched off completely after failing to reach the Champions League places, so it wouldn't surprise me if they stumble against Hull.

Away days: Stoke are on course to end the season in the top half of the Premier League and must rate their chances at already-relegated Burnley. Newcastle, just one place away from the drop zone, have a heaven-sent opportunity to record a rare victory. They travel to bottom club Queens Park Rangers, whose relegation was confirmed when they lost 6-0 at Manchester City last weekend. Leicester, with six wins from their past seven matches, are poised to complete a remarkable escape from relegation. They will travel to Sunderland's Stadium of Light full of optimism and boosted by the fact that Sunderland have won only four matches at home all season - the joint lowest number in the Premier League. In the Scottish Premiership, Hamilton will be confident of taking all three points from lowly Ross and I expect Motherwell to have too much for relegated St Mirren. 

Homes sweet homes: West Ham have found it hard going since Christmas but they will want to end their home programme on a high. I believe they will do so against Everton, who have taken one step forward and two back this season. I expect Norwich to reach the Championship play-off final by overcoming their fierce rivals Ipswich in the semi-final second leg at Carrow Road on Saturday. In the Scottish Premiership, Dundee, who were unlucky to lose to Inverness Caledonian Thistle last weekend, are worth a punt against runners-up Aberdeen, as are Partick against Kilmarnock. Bristol Rovers play Grimsby in the Conference play-off final at Wembley on Sunday. My money's on Rovers.

Pools info: West Bromwich v Chelsea (No 9 on coupon), Fiorentina v Parma (23) and Napoli v Cesena (25) will be judged by the pools panel. 

Betting info: I scored eight out of 10 with my home selections last weekend. Aston Villa, Manchester City, Stoke, Queen's Park, Brora, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Bordeaux all obliged.

Wednesday 6 May 2015

Pools tips and best bets for weekend of May 9-10

Ten draws: Leicester v Southampton, Celta Vigo v Sevilla, AC Milan v Roma, Genoa v Torino, Lazio v Inter Milan, Udinese v Sampdoria, Eintracht Frankfurt v Hoffenheim, Cologne v Schalke, Marseille v Monaco, Toulouse v Lille.

Best draws: Leicester v Southampton, Genoa v Torino, Lazio v Inter Milan, Marseille v Monaco, Toulouse v Lille.

Best weekend away bets: Manchester United, West Bromwich, Norwich, Partick, Rangers, Celtic.

Best weekend home bets: Aston Villa, Everton, Manchester City, Stoke, Alloa, Queen's Park, Brora, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Bordeaux.


Pools info: Arsenal v Swansea (No 1 on coupon) has been moved to Monday and will be a pools panel judgment. Einar v Espanyol (15), Hamburg v Freiburg (36) and PSG v Guingamp (46) are being played on Friday and are therefore void.