The Sunday Mail’s Odds Fellow aka betrescue’s Chris Hutcheon previews Sunday’s Premier League matches and forecasts wins for Villa, Newcastle and Liverpool.
Two derby clashes dominate Sunday’s programme and first up at midday Aston Villa and Birmingham compete for the bragging rights in the second city for the next few months. In the general context of the Premiership, with Aston Villa and Birmingham lying tenth and twelfth respectively, the clash isn’t hugely significant at this stage but that will make this contest no less competitive.
However, the bad news for City supporters is that the best way to pocket a profit could be to side with the hosts at 17/20 with William Hill. Gerard Houllier’s men have looked solid since the Frenchman took over and they were unfortunate to go down 1-0 at Sunderland last weekend in a game they dominated for long periods. They also grabbed a point in their last home match against Chelsea and are a tasty 13/5 at 888Sport to shade this showdown by a one-goal margin.
Villa have conceded only once at home this term and their defensive resilience on their own patch not only points to a match total of fewer than 2.5 goals (4/5, Totesport), it also suggests they can prevail without conceding, outcomes that combine at 9/4 with Ladbrokes.
More specifically, Betfred price a repeat of Villa’s 1-0 home win in the pair’s meeting six months ago at an enticing 6/1 but arguably the best bet is Gamebookers’ 19/10 for Villa to triumph and a total of under 2.5 goals to be scored, a wager made more attractive by the likelihood that this one will be frenetic, scrappy and low on goalmouth action.
A slender home win is also on the cards at St James’ Park, where Newcastle and Sunderland renew hostilities. The Magpies were impressive in coming from a goal down to beat West Ham and although their home form hasn’t really been up to scratch, they come up against a Black Cats side that have yet to convince and were fortunate to register both of their victories this season.
Chris Hughton’s side are 5/4 with Stan James to collect all three points and 3/1 (bet365) to do so by a solitary goal while Andy Carroll could make all the difference for the hosts. The towering striker bagged the winner at Upton Park and is 6/1 courtesy of 888Sport to break the derby deadlock, although a safer bet is Coral’s 15/8 for him to strike at any stage.
Finally, at the Reebok Stadium Liverpool look set to make it back-to-back wins at the expense of Bolton. The Reds showed considerable improvement last weekend as they saw off Blackburn and Fernando Torres’ winner should also instil some confidence in their star striker. Roy Hodgson’s rejuvenated side look the pick then at 13/10 (William Hill) although they won’t find life easy against the dogged Trotters.
Recommended Bets:
Aston Villa to win and under 2.5 combined goals scored in the game – 19/10 (Gamebookers)
Newcastle to beat Sunderland – 5/4 (Stan James)
Liverpool to beat Bolton – 13/10 (William Hill)
