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

Ten draws: Bournemouth v Wolves, Leicester v Crystal Palace, Brentford v Hull, Norwich v Bristol City, Stoke v Aston Villa, Accrington v Southend, Colchester v Carlisle, Crawley v Macclesfield, Yeovil v Cambridge, St Johnstone v Aberdeen.

Best draws: Leicester v Crystal Palace, Norwich v Bristol City, Stoke v Aston Villa, Colchester v Carlisle, Yeovil v Cambridge.

Best weekend away bets: Tottenham, Swansea, Sunderland, Doncaster, Kilmarnock, Elgin.

Best weekend home bets: Manchester United, Newcastle, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Blackpool, Burton, Portsmouth, Bury, Hearts.

Pick of the draws: Although Leicester are higher in the Premier League than Crystal Palace, having gained five more points, the visitors are in better form and can continue their move away from the relegation zone by sharing the spoils here. I expect Championship leaders Norwich to be fully tested by Bristol City, who have won nine consecutive league games and seemed a shade unlucky to go out of the FA Cup to Wolves last Sunday. Stoke v Aston Villa is a clash between two sides who have fallen short of expectations. Both teams have also clocked up an unusual number of draws and I predict another one on Saturday. Colchester are genuine promotion contenders from League Two, as are Carlisle, one place below them, and deadlock is the likeliest outcome. At the other end of the table, Yeovil are having a rotten time but they should at least take a point from fellow strugglers Cambridge, who are poor travellers.

Away days: Tottenham, third in the Premier League, are finding a way to win close matches and I believe they'll come out on top at Burnley, who still have work to do to avoid relegation. Swansea, mid-table in the Championship, have been boosted by their progress to the last eight in the FA Cup and I fancy them at Sheffield Wednesday, who have shown nothing special under Steve Bruce. Sunderland cannot afford to drop many more points if they want automatic promotion from League One and I think they'll respond positively at lowly Bristol Rovers. Now that Doncaster are out of the FA Cup, they can concentrate on trying to gain promotion and are worth a punt at Scunthorpe. Kilmarnock, fourth in the Scottish Premiership, are tipped to succeed at Livingston, who seem in free-fall, and Elgin, in League Two, should be backed at second-from-bottom Berwick.

Homes sweet homes: Manchester United were ominously good when winning at Chelsea in the FA Cup on Monday and I can see them inflicting only Liverpool's second Premier League defeat of the season on Sunday. League One Burton, who held promotion-chasing Barnsley to a goalless draw at Oakwell in midweek, can go one better when they host Fleetwood. In the same division, Portsmouth have hit the wall at the moment but I've a hunch that the visit of second-placed Barnsley will bring the best out of them.


Pools info: Three of my five best draws selections were correct last weekend: Preston v Nottingham Forest, Shrewsbury v Burton and Cambridge v Tranmere.