Archived Premiership Football Betting Tips (17th December 2005)

Villa have only 2 wins from 7 games at home and will be missing key defender Mellberg through injury. They only average a single goal per game in front of their own fans and their strikers need to start putting away some chances; the alleged reports of Baros claiming he wants a move away from the club after seeing no signs of new players being brought to the club will not have helped matters. Their opponents, United, have been in the news of late for all the wrong reasons but they are fresh from giving Wigan a 4-0 pasting and with Rooney in good form should give Villa some problems. United are by no means certainties to win but they should start favourites.

As soon as Everton look like things are falling back into place they lose to a side they're expected to beat i.e. West Ham. Not to say that West Ham didn't play well but Everton are still struggling to find any level of consistency and are not finding it easy to stop their opponents from scoring. They have lost 4 from 7 games at home and will not find the going easy against a Bolton side who will want to pick up as many points as possible before their African players depart in January for the Africa Nations Cup. Bolton have unexpectedly dropped points of late but have won more games away than Everton have at home, and should prove too strong for the blue half of Merseyside.

Harry has already shown in his first game back in charge against Spurs that he now has his charges playing with a passion and desire. They may have been unlucky to lose out to a dubious penalty but the evidence shows that he has already got them playing as a team. In his first spell in charge Fratton Park was a fortress and this will be his primary objective; to return the promise of home victories to the fans. West Brom have good home form but are yet to win on the road having taken only 3 points from 7 away games. Robson is gradually making improvements and even though they are only 1 place above the relegation spots they won't be bottom at Christmas. Unfortunately they will probably fall to the renewed Portsmouth onslaught.

The Hammers came fom behind to win at Everton midweek and are sitting proudly in 7th place. They've only lost twice at home and played some of their best football this season in the last 20 minutes at Goodison. Zamora is in good form and even scored a contender for goal of the season last weekend after a good solo effort. Newcastle still have injury problems but despite these managed to turn over a full strength Arsenal side last weekend at St. James Park. The Magpies have some very good players when attacking but lack the same quality defensively and this has been their undoing; 5 losses from 8 away games tells the story. West Ham should take all 3 points.

Wigan have now suffered their 5th consecutive loss but have played Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United. To be honest they probably didn't expect to get anything from those games at the start of the season and were only well beaten by United. The visit of Charlton provides them with the chance to get their season back on track and although Charlton managed to beat bottom side, Sunderland, 2-0 at the weekend they are far from convincing. They have just experienced one of their worst runs recently and winning against the weakest side in the Premiership does not disguise the fact that Charlton need to improve. Wigan to get back to winning ways.

City have only lost 2 from 8 at home and must start favourites against a Birmingham side struggling to put points on the board whilst contending with recurring injuries to key players. City did lose unexpectedly at the Hawthorns last weekend and Andy Cole's petulant sending off did not go down well with Stuart Pearce; needless to say that Cole will be unavailable for selection this weekend. Birmingham finally won their first game at home this season after narrowly edging out Fulham and maybe the gloom has lifted from around St. Andrews but the fact remains that they are still in the relegation places and have only won 2 games away. City should make it another home win.

Boro are currently making great progress in the UEFA Cup but have been fairly inconsistent in the Premiership this season. Typically they have not performed well after European games and it is this that explains why they are currently sitting in the bottom half of the table. Boro have beaten both Arsenal and Man United at home this season but despite this have only won a total of 3 home games; McLaren should be concerned by their inconsistent league form. Spurs are having their best season for years and while 4th place may seem a heady position, on the whole they deserve it. Spurs have a good record on the road with just a single defeat against Bolton and they have shown a degree of resilience, epitomised by Davids, in not laying down against teams when they go behind. This is a close call; expect the points to be shared.