Archived Premiership Football Betting Tips (26th November 2005)

Arsenal managed to rest some players for their midweek game against Thun but were lucky to come away with a win. On the flipside they managed to get all 3 points last weekend at a difficult place to go, namely the JJB. Wigan ran them close but they have a talisman in Henry and they have a 100% record at home this season to boot. Blackburn's negative tactics didn't really work against City; they created virtually nothing and came away with a point but having scored their only away victory at Old Trafford they should feel more confident in securing away victories rather than playing for the draw. Don't doubt they will employ the same tactics at Highbury but Arsenal have the players to unlock the door. Arsenal to win comfortably.

Charlton may be dropping off after the early pace they set but they have only lost the one away fixture, in which they were routed at Blackburn. Expect this to be a minor blip and normal service to be resumed; Charlton are balanced perfectly as a counter-attacking side and Villa still look fragile despite their recent win at Sunderland. Villa's home form is woeful having lost their last three, and they will be hoping that Bakke, Phillips and Delaney are all recovered from their ailments to be available for selection. The one thing O'Leary needs to find is some real pace and the transfer window can't come quick enough. Charlton should get back to winning ways.

Double headers are rare this early in the season but this is definitely one, where bottom take on those immediately above them and 3 points will give some hope of survival to the victors. Normally home advantage would swing the result to the home side but Birmingham could well have the edge here. Sunderland have injury problems and have only earned 2 of their 5 points at home, where as Birmingham have David Dunn back and have earned 5 of their 6 points on the road. The future looks bleak for both clubs at the moment but the Blues look most likely to play their way out of it.

Arsenal came away from the JJB with nothing but admiration for their counterparts last weekend. Although Wigan may have lost they gave Arsenal as good as they got and Arsenal were hanging on at the end. Wigan are still in second place after 12 games and have traded blows on equal footing with the big boys so they deserve to be where they are. They have only lost twice at home, to Chelsea and Arsenal, and some may see Spurs getting something, but Spurs are in for a bit of a shock. They are struggling to live up to their billing of potential Champions League contenders and don't quite have the belief in themselves to go out and win games convincingly. Dropping 2 points at home to West Ham in injury time is evidence of this, and after starting with Keane it looks like Jol either doesn't know his best strike pairing or he's trying to keep everyone happy i.e. Keane and Defoe, assuming Mido is guaranteed his position. Spurs have only been beaten on the road by Bolton but they have only won twice away; expect Wigan to claim another scalp.

Perrin's days look numbered, especially since Mandaric has decided he wants points from Portsmouth's most difficult run of matches this season. At most he has a couple of games left but if the chairman's patience runs out after a heavy defeat Perrin will be ditching his clothes at a nearby cove and wading back to France. Portsmouth are yet to win at home and the side they'd least like to see at Fratton Park are the Champions. If it wasn't for the spark provided by Joe Cole, Chelsea may have struggled at home to Newcastle but in the end they've got back on track with a convincing win. Chelsea have only slipped up on the road this season with a draw at Everton and defeat at Old Trafford but they should return to the Bridge with all 3 points. The only issue for Mourinho will be replacing Makelele who is out with a knee injury.

These 2 are well matched and despite the 9 places and 11 points that separate them, they both have similar records home and away respectively with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Fulham tend to be erratic but have some good players that can turn a game; most notably Malbranque and Collins John, who netted a contender for goal of the season last weekend. The question will be whether Fulham can cope with Bolton's power play; they don't give up any lost causes and have players like Nolan who can take half chances. Hedge your bets with a share of the spoils.