Sun, Sport, Tweed and Trophies – All the ingredients for a great bank holiday weekend!
With a gorgeous weekend forecast and the Sports Leviathan off to an epic non-league clash today it really does illustrate the joys of a packed sporting weekend. Subsequently it sparked me into putting forward a few things to follow from a betting perspective.
Football – Blackpool have been involved in 22 games this season where both teams have scored. Add to this the fact no team has kept a clean sheet in 16 Premier league matches at Bloomfield road this year 4/7 with Sky Bet, William Hill and Victor Chandler seems an excellent price. Essentially they are laying 4/7 on a bet which has come in 16 times in a row this season. Being on this bet has been very profitable and with Newcastle in decent form it looks set to continue. Of other bets after commenting on Wolves’ poor form against teams in the bottom half of the table I fancy Fulham to get a result at Molineux – I was thinking a Fulham win at 2/1 however on closer inspection Fulham have only won 1 away game all season! (They have the worst away record of any club – in terms of wins, 2nd worst in points accumulated). Then I looked at their last 6 results – Fulham and Wolves sit joint 8th on 8 points from 6 matches, so they are in simialr form. Add to that 3 of Fulhams last 6 away games have been draws and the draw is 23/10 with Victor Chandler, Bet Fred and Totesport I think this represents some value.
Seeing as there is a big lunchtime kick off too I will put a selection forward for the Man Utd vs Everton match. Everton look depleted and Man Utd have a phenomenal hme record. Man Utd at 1/2 seems very fair. Everton haven’t beaten United at Old Trafford since Peter Beardsley scored in a 3-1 win in 1992. However Everton are on a good run (14 points out of last 18) and they sit second in the form table over the last six games. I am putting forward Leighton Baines as a long shot for an Everton goalscorer. Baines is Everton’s penalty taker and is 10/1 to score any time with Bet365. Also back him to score first each way at 28/1 with Bet 365 and Blue Square. I still think United will win but Everton may start brightly and cause an early shock.
Golf – Despite not putting forward a selection I wanted to comment on my favourite golfer Luke Donald. He leads at Hilton Head on a course which suits him down to the ground. Donald leads by a shot at 10 under on a course where you need an excellent short game. He has a fantastic record at Hilton Head and was well fancied by many people. I hope he wins and claims the world number one shot. The other englishman who could become number one this week is Lee Westwood. He is the only player in the top 80! playing in Indonesia and whilst it can rarely be said about a golf tournament – He really should win. He is making a good crack at it and at the time of writing leads by 4 shots at 16 under. It is weird that with most of the worlds top players competing in South Carolina why Westwood flew over to Indonesia to take on a lot of players he has probably never heard of. Sadly I think it is down to a huge pay cheque but none the less hopefully he can win and gain some needed confidence with his putting ahead of the US Open.
Cricket – I strongly fancied Durham this week to defeat sussex and with the weather set fair 4/9 seemed a great price. However over 100 runs in both innings from Chris Nash and a stubborn 74 by newcomer Luke Wells means Sussex may pull off an unlikely victory. Sussex have struggled with the bat without Mike Yardy and Luke Wright in their batting order. Sussex play Lancashire next but crucially have the two England boys back. If Sussex do lose they will be 0 from 2 and Lancs 2 from 2. This could make Sussex an attractive price, especially as their bowling with Rana Naved and Monty Panesar seems to be clicking well. We will watch closely and assess the situation when its priced up next week.
Horse Racing – Aimigayle (15/2 Sportingbet) is todays NAP in the 3.10 at Sandown. He is well supported and is fancied to follow up on an unlucky second at the Cheltenham festival. He is taking on an unknown quantity in Baby Run whose Hunter Chase form is difficult to relate to Handicap company but Aimigayle looks likely to love the Good to Firm ground on Sandowns chase course and at 15/2 with sportingbet he looks worth backing either to win or each way.
Cycling – The Liege-Bastogne-Liege concludes the Belgian Ardennes classic series. Phillipe Gilbert has been unstoppable in the 2 previous races blowing away his rivals with outsanding power. His price has been slashed from 8/1 to 5/4 and to be honest it is difficult to predict any beating. So I won’t try too hard. Back Gilbert to complete the treble at 5/4 with Sky Bet. Gilbert has come out this week saying “the best rider always wins in Liege”. Confidence indeed. However it is this quote which has seen me explore some each way value. Prices are good becuase Gibert is so well fancied so also back Andy Schleck e/w at 16/1 with Sporting Bet- He is one of the strongest riders in the field, has a very strong team and his climbing will be crucial on the last grueling hill. As a third selection Alexander Kolobnev is fancied to better his team leader Rodriguez and at 25/1 also with Sporting Bet he looks great e/w value considering his past form and how strong he looks. A Gilbert – Kolbnev – Schleck 123 is certainly not out of the question.
And so now the bets are on, the Sports Leviathan can sit back relax and hope that Claphams biggest Project since William Wiilberforce sought about Abolishing slavery can complete an historic league and cup double.
