A full complement of pundits return to LFW to preview the final home match of the season against Stoke and the rest of the weekend action.
Mark Clattenburg’s failure to spot Alan Hutton’s handball on the goalline at West Brom last weekend cost Brian a lucrative treble that would have put him back over the £200 mark for the season. Instead he’s at £101.60 while Andy is fleeing to Spain this weekend nursing a deficit of £252.82.
If you like your sport this weekend will be a treat with the football, snooker and horse racing looking to hog the headlines.
Our game on Sunday won’t be one for the faint hearted and I don’t really want to back us due to when I have done recently we have lost so I will abstain from giving an opinion but will go for Jamie Mackie to score first at 9/1.
The FA Cup final takes place on Saturday and it’s a shame the tradition of the cup and the 3pm kick off has been sold down the river for TV and its cash. What next games kicking off at midnight for the Far East market? If Liverpool win the trophy it’s a fair chance that one of their players will pick up the man of the match award. Suarez after his issues would need to score a hatrick to take it so I can see Andy Townsend or Jim Beglin getting all excited over Steven Gerrard and the 10/1 on him seems good odds.
The automatic promotion issues will be sorted this weekend and League 1 is a corker with the two Sheffield clubs slugging it out. I think both will win and will add Spurs at Villa to keep the pressure on Arsenal for the Champion’s League spot.
In Racing the 1000 and 2000 Guineas take place at Newmarket . The ground will play a big part and although the going reported by the clerk of the course on Thursday was good, several trainers are saying it is soft going and with more rain forecast will just ease the ground further.
I am going for two O’Brien horses who have acted on soft/heavy ground at good prices and will be each way value.
Good Luck and come on you R’ssss
For the weekend:
QPR v Stoke
£10 Jamie Mackie 9/1 to score first
£7.50 - Steven Gerard to win Man of the Match FA Cup 10/1
£10 treble
Spurs 10/11
Sheff Utd 8/13
Sheff Wed 1/4
£1.50 trebles and a £1.50 acca
Torquay 13/10
Shrewsbury 11/8
Dunfermline 10/3
Wigan 19/10
Horse Racing
£5 e/w 2000 Guineas Power 12/1
£2.50 e/w 1000 Guineas Homecoming Queen 33/1
Previously advised:
World Snooker £5 e/w
Stephen Maguire 14/1 ( 1/2 odds place 1-2)
Well my enforced sabbatical from betting over the last few weeks has done little to alter the pattern of win at home, lose away for QPR, so I thought I’d stick my oar back in for our final home game of the season. This is actually only the fourth game all season that I've missed, as I'm away in Spain - the only other home game I missed was the first game one against Bolton, and that didn't end very well at all...
It dawned on me whilst clinging to Clive for dear life during the Bolton vs Tottenham game, that all the hours of number crunching, permutations and goal difference working out who is going to win what and where, it all means nothing if we don’t beat Stoke, who have been on holiday for some time now. So naturally, I’m backing Stoke for the win, at 17/5 with BetVictor.
At the other end of the table, Man City travel to Newcastle in a game that could shape the title run in more than the Manchester Derby. Newcastle are massively overpriced at 4/1, so I’ll have a cheeky nibble on them to hand the title to the Salford Reds.
It’s also the FA Cup final on Saturday, and reluctantly I have to concede that our neighbours down the road, who got lucky six times last week, will probably win again here. Ladbrokes are offering a fantastically convoluted market which offers 7/2 that Chelsea win AND both teams score. I’ll throw some money at that as well...
Finally, my accumulator for the week is a fivefold, taking in Arsenal, Dortmund, Huddersfield, Man U and Real Madrid. That's a shade under 5/1.
For the Weekend:
QPR vs Stoke – Stoke win - £20 @ 17/5
FA Cup final – both teams to score AND Chelsea win - £20 @ 7/2
Newcastle to beat Man City - £10 @ 4/1
Fivefold accumulator - Arsenal, Dortmund, Huddersfield, Man U and Real Madrid - £10 @ 5/1
Professional odds compiler Owen Goulding says…
Well it doesn't get much closer than this - a win really is a must here with the daunting trip to Man City on the last day. The less said about the performance last week the better. I find it harsh to criticise the team too much - let’s face it, we played a team full of top internationals with masses of top level club and world cup appearances between them who were on an adrenalin high after recent results, although I would say Newcastle's performance last night proved how much building we have left to do IF we are to stay in this division.
I've always found supporting QPR a bit like watching Eastenders. They always leave you with just a glimmer of hope that something good might happen, but then the following week, you realise that it is all doom and gloom and all you want to do is smack Ian Beale in the bugle. Sunday's game brings the 'anti-footballing' Premier League club model to Loftus Road. Stoke have been built on a solid foundation since joining the Premier League. No-one gave them a prayer of staying up in their first season, yet they have slowly built and improved year on year. Their style isn’t everyone's cup of tea by a longshot, but it is effective. Their away record this season has been very poor by their standards, with only four victories. They have taken a couple of hammerings at Bolton and Sunderland but both of these came after Europa League matches a few days previous and more recently they only lost by a single goal at Chelsea despite playing over an hour with ten men, and gained a point at Spurs. Anyone who thinks this will be easy is kidding themselves.
My biggest fear for the Superhoops is the aerial battle. Stoke do not play pretty football through the midfield and instead continue to bombard the opposition's box however they can with crosses, throw-ins, corners etc. Our recent excellent home performances have been against teams who try and play football - letting them have possession and attacking on the counter with pace of Taarabt and Diakite from midfield – but this is not how this game will be played. It looks likely at time of writing that Jermaine Pennant will miss out which cuts off one supply, but Etherington needs dealing with. Loftus Road is small and compact and will suit Stokes style of play. We conceded soft goals at home against Chris Samba and Wes Brown aerially earlier in season and John Terry scored all too easily last week. Ferdinand is average in air at best and Hill is no Shittu. It won’t happen but Shittu is ideal for a game like this.
I just have a hideous feeling that we will get outmuscled and outfought this game. Elsewhere, thanks to the FA, I expect West Brom to put in a drab performance. I'm surprised to see Bolton at a bigger price to beat West Brom (11/10) than we are to beat Stoke (10/11). I am the prophet of doom this week. I think Bolton are too big at 11/10 (Coral and Stan James) to beat West Brom, and even more unfortunately, I think the price for the draw in the QPR Stoke game at 14/5 with Pinnacle is much too big. I truly hope I have got it completely wrong....
Weekend Picks - Bolton to beat West Brom 11/10 and QPR v Stoke to end in a draw 14/5.
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