Pools tips and best bets for weekend of December 5-6

Ten draws: Swansea v Leicester, Watford v Norwich, Bristol City v Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday v Derby, Kilmarnock v Dundee United, Ross v St Johnstone, Real Sociedad v Eibar, Sporting Dijon v Las Palmas, Torino v Roma, Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund.

Best draws: Swansea v Leicester, Bristol City v Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday v Derby, Kilmarnock v Dundee United, Ross v St Johnstone.

Best weekend away bets: Liverpool, Tottenham, Wolves, Port Vale, Eastleigh, Carlisle.

Best weekend home bets: Southampton, Bolton, Brentford, Brighton, Burnley, Dundee, Hearts, Leyton Orient, Sheffield United, Peterborough.


Pick of the draws: Swansea's directors appear to have lost faith in manager Garry Monk, although his players still seem on board. There's no denying that the Welsh club are going through a dodgy spell but I won't be surprised if they check Leicester's Premier League charge. Promoted Bristol City have struggled to adjust to the higher demands of the Championship and will be hard-pushed to beat Blackburn, who are showing encouraging signs under new manager Paul Lambert. Derby's 2-0 victory at Hull last Friday was one of the best results of the weekend and strengthened their promotion claims. However, they may have to settle for a point against Sheffield Wednesday, whose confidence has been considerably boosted by that League Cup triumph over Arsenal. Dundee United's wretched season in the Scottish Premiership continued with a 2-1 home loss to Hamilton last Saturday but they could nick something at Kilmarnock, who crashed 5-2 at home to Partick and are looking increasingly fragile. St Johnstone have not drawn an away game this season but I believe that sequence will end at Ross, who have yet to draw at home.

Away days: The Klopp effect is proving beneficial to Liverpool, who should edge nearer the Premier League's top four by beating Newcastle on Sunday. If Liverpool play half as well as they did when trouncing Manchester City away it will be no contest. Newcastle's 5-1 hiding at Crystal Palace last Saturday left them in the relegation mire and manager Steve McClaren seems powerless to do anything about it. Tottenham are putting pressure on the division's front-runners and will fancy their chances of maximum points at mid-table West Bromwich Albion. Wolves' results in the Championship have been a letdown this season and they will want to make some amends by beating second from bottom Rotherham. My other three aways are in the second round of the FA Cup. I expect on-form Port Vale to be too strong for Exeter and for National League promotion contenders Eastleigh to prevail at fellow non-Leaguers Stourbridge. League Two high-flyers Carlisle look a sound bet at Welling.

Homes sweet homes: Cash-strapped Bolton, rock bottom of the Championship and with only one league win to their name this season, have a puncher's chance against Cardiff, who have won only once on the road. By all accounts Bolton had the better of their 1-1 home draw with Brentford on Monday and manager Neil Lennon will be looking for further improvement. In the Scottish Premiership, mid-table Dundee are worth a punt against Aberdeen, who although lying second, have little or no chance of catching Celtic. I sense an FA Cup upset at League Two Leyton Orient, who host League One Scunthorpe on Saturday. Orient can beat the best on their day while Scunthorpe's morale has probably been damaged by that 4-0 home defeat to Peterborough last weekend.


Pools info: Ipswich v Middlesbrough (No 17 on coupon) and Reading v Queen's Park Rangers (20) are void while Everton v Crystal Palace (3) and Espanyol v Levante (31) will be judged by the pools panel. I correctly forecast five draws last week and three of my five best draws.

Betting info: I got five out of six aways last weekend. Watford, Middlesbrough, Oxford, Accrington and Cheltenham all obliged.