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.