Wednesday, 12 February 2025

Pools tips and best football bets for weekend of February 15-16

 Ten draws: Manchester City v Newcastle, Tottenham v Manchester United, West Ham v Brentford, Blackburn v Plymouth, Millwall v West Bromwich, Stoke v Swansea, Barnsley v Huddersfield, Crawley v Wycombe, Newport v Bradford City, Dundee v Aberdeen.

Best five draws: Manchester City v Newcastle, West Ham v Brentford, Barnsley v Huddersfield, Crawley v Wycombe, Newport v Bradford City.

Weekend's best football bets: Six aways: Arsenal, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Wrexham, Swindon, York. Ten homes: Aston Villa, Cardiff, Hull, Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Leyton Orient, Reading, East Fife, Peterhead, Barnet.

Pick of the draws: Manchester City are much more vulnerable than they used to be and Newcastle, their visitors, are thinking positively right now. Don't be surprised if the League Cup finalists pick up a point or better. Graham Potter has yet to make an impact as manager at West Ham and mid-table Brentford will be doing all they can to frustrate him again. Barnsley and Huddersfield are faltering in their attempts to be promoted from League One and this fixture looks a probable stalemate. Crawley, 3-1 home winners over Stevenage in midweek, have not given up hope of escaping relegation and could deny second-placed Wycombe, who may be fading. Newport, with four League Two wins in a row, entertain Bradford City, who have also hit form and moved into the automatic promotion places. 

Away days: With Arsenal's injuries piling up, their Premier League fixture at relegation-fearing Leicester looks harder than it did a few weeks ago. However, I believe their short break in Dubai will benefit them, just as it did last season, and they will strengthen their hold on second place after Saturday's early match. Bournemouth are one of the teams of the season and cannot be ignored at Southampton, who are virtually doomed to drop. Portsmouth are playing better than their lowly Championship position indicates. They were very unlucky to lose at Sheffield United last weekend and I've a feeling they will take it out on Oxford. Wrexham, third in League One, should have enough in the tank to beat Northampton and Swindon, improving by the week, cannot be discounted at Harrogate in League Two. High-flying York, of the National League, look an away banker at rock bottom Ebbsfleet.

Homes sweet homes: Struggling Cardiff gave a gutsy display to knock Stoke out of the FA Cup last Saturday. A repeat of that spirit will see them defeat Bristol City in the Championship. Hull, like Cardiff, are among the Championship also-rans but they are worth backing against Norwich, who seem capable of losing to anybody. Middlesbrough, although inconsistent, are in better nick than their visitors Watford, who crashed 4-0 at home to Leeds in midweek and continue to slide down the Championship table.

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