Premiership Football Betting Tips (2nd April 2005)
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| Premiership football betting
tips are given one of the following three ratings: |
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Banker,
large stake, predicted outcome is more than likely. |
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Likely
outcome, medium stake, worth a gamble. |
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Worth a flutter,
small stake, be prudent with these and stick to matches where you
can spot the value. |
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| Below
were the predicted outcomes for the weekend fixtures Sat 2nd
and Sun 3rd April 2005. |
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| Archived
Premiership football betting tips (2nd & 3rd April 2005) |
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| Sat 12:45 |
Charlton v Man City |
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Charlton followed up a good home victory
against Spurs with an awful home battering against West Brom who
beat them 1-4. Every year they face the promise of European football
only to see their season tail off into disappointment and under
achievement. They face a City side who recently lost a great motivator
when the going was good in Keegan, but now have a manager (Stuart
Pearce) determined to prove he is worth his salt and has the rest
of the season to prove that. City will be without Wright-Phillips
but Pearce will be scenting Charlton are ready to roll over and
City's inconsistent form could spring a surprise.
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Away Win 1-2 |
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| Sat 3:00 |
Arsenal v Norwich |
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If any
of the fixtures this weekend look a formality this one certainly does.
Norwich are the only side without an away win but they could welcome
back Brennan, Bentley and Svensson. Not all will play but Bentley
will be most eager to impress the man who loaned him to Norwich; Monsieur
Wenger. Norwich will need to tighten up at the back and concentrate
for the full 90 if they are to get anything out of this one. Arsenal
have had 16 players away on international duty so Wenger will be keen
to see them return unscathed although they may well look jaded. Campbell
and Henry could possibly return from injury but Bergkamp remains doubtful.
Arsenal will be hoping United slip up as second place is still up
for grabs and they should be guaranteed to win here. |
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Home Win 3-0 |
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Birmingham v Tottenham |
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Birmingham's season has been fairly disappointing because of injuries
to key players but they should still finish mid table even though
they are not quite safe yet. Somewhat surprisingly Spurs are safe
and if they feel so inclined could make a push for a European place
as long as the end of season malaise does not kick in. They have
a wealth of options in attack but sometimes find the opposition
difficult to break down especially when the opposition tends to
be more competitive in midfield and able to absorb the pressure,
as is the case with Birmingham. The facts that tell the story are
that Birmingham have won their last 3 home games whilst Spurs have
lost their last 4 away; added to this Birmingham tend to be a bit
of a bogey side for Spurs and have done well against them in recent
seasons.
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Home
Win 1-0 |
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Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough |
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If Palace can win this and Southampton lose against Chelsea, Palace
will escape the bottom three, though how long that may stay the
case is uncertain. What may prove the key to this game could be
the fitness of Andy Johnson who recently sustained an ankle injury
meaning his withdrawal from the England squad, but my initial thoughts
are that he would make all efforts for this vital fixture. Dowie
may well be confident of beating Boro who have been on the slide
ever since their European campaign seriously kicked in, and now
that they are out of Europe their season has diminished into nothing
with Europe only a distant possibility next season, although key
injuries at the Riverside have played an important part in their
poor form. Boro have not won any of their recent 6 away games whilst
Palace have taken 3 victories from their last 6 home matches; Palace
should just have the edge.
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Home Win 2-1 |
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Liverpool
v Bolton |
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One
point separates these two in the chase with Everton for 4th and a
Champions League qualifying spot. Liverpool now have Morientes injured
and the only option up front is Baros who has been rather wasteful
this season, especially after finishing top scorer in Euro 2004. Liverpool
may also find Bolton a handful if Hamann has not recovered from a
knee injury as they are a powerful side who can mix things up. The
only stat that favours Liverpool is their home form; winning 10 from
15 puts them behind only Chelsea and United. However Bolton will have
a say in the proceedings and play well against the big teams having
taken points off of all of them so far this season. Bolton are enjoying
another good run of form and could turn Liverpool over if Liverpool's
injury problems persist. |
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Away Win 0-1 |
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Man Utd v
Blackburn |
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United
have not lost in the Premiership since October and have kept up the
pressure on Chelsea although they still trail by 11 points and have
no realistic chance of overtaking them; they are however ahead of
Arsenal and will have no greater incentive to keep winning games and
claim the other Champions League automatic qualifying spot. Blackburn
have not won at Old Trafford in 43 years and will need all of their
battling qualities to stand a chance of claiming anything at the final
whistle; the absence of Dickov and possibly Savage may leave United
unharried and free to express themselves. Blackburn have done well
to climb out of the drop zone but they are still not safe and will
take anything but United are also under pressure and have the better
talents to produce a result. |
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Home
Win 2-0 |
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Newcastle v Aston Villa |
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Newcastle's winning
run finally came to an end after a draw away at Fratton Park and some
of those victories may have been fortunate but it all points to a
turnaround in fortunes for Souness. Both Newcastle and Villa have
38 points and have near identical records with Newcastle having played
a game less. The most noteworthy stat is that both have only won away
twice and this should spell Villa's downfall. Shearer should be fired
up to try and close the gap on Milburn's club record and his will
to win will spread to his team mates. Villa have problems up front
with injuries and Hitzlsperger rumoured to be interested in moving
to Germany; Djemba Djemba will also be missing from the middle. |
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Home
Win 2-0 |
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| Sat 5:15 |
Southampton
v Chelsea |
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50 points
separate these two but that somewhat belies Southampton's recent improvement
and their justified surge out of the bottom three. Though Southampton
have not lost recently at home they host near certain champions Chelsea
who have won their last 6 away games. Southampton now have a core
nucleus of players such as Crouch, Redknapp and Niemi/Smith who can
ensure their competitive edge in games but Chelsea's array of talent
should prove too strong. Chelsea will be without the once again injured
Robben but the player who is finally mixing his talent with some discipline,
Joe Cole, should stand in. |
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Away
Win 1-3 |
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| Sun 1:30 |
Fulham v Portsmouth |
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This fixture
is a must win match for both sides; they're both sitting just above
the relegation zone with just one point between them. Defeat would
be disastrous especially if other results went against them; Fulham
should use home advantage to leave Portsmouth in a perilous position
especially considering they have a game in hand. Fulham's home form
hasn't been great but they haven't lost in 4 home games where as Portsmouth
have lost their last 5 away, added to which Zajec's record has been
particularly awful since he took over from Harry Redknapp. Fulham
should take the crucial 3 points. |
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Home
Win 2-1 |
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| Sun 4:05 |
West Brom v
Everton |
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West Brom have not lost at home for 5 games and although they remain
in the penultimate relegation spot they are still only 3 points
short of Southampton and short-term safety. Robson has finally brought
a more solid look to his side and with a substitute hat trick from
Earnshaw away at Charlton, the Welsh international may well start.
Everton however are experiencing a serious blip in form and the
sale of Gravesen tells most of the story; McFadden and Arteta could
also miss out leaving Everton short of that vital ingredient, creativity.
They are familiar however with the rough and tumble of the Premiership
and will fall back to this tactic if necessary but Robson should
have his side drilled on how to cope with them. West Brom should
get something out of this one but I think it will only be a single
point.
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Draw
1-1 |
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