A mixed week on the lads' return last week, but remember the healthy profit they made between them last season as we press on into week two.
With one horse coming in on Brian's Lucky 15 and three of his four football teams coming in for the treble and double combination last week he started the season with a £47.81 win minus the £40 lost elsewhere so into the black to the tune of £7.81. Andy busted out last week so he's £50 down to begin with.
Late goals cost me last Saturday and it was a repeat in midweek as the full house was denied with an injury time goal in one of the games. A lesson to be learnt in playing to the whistle and not counting your chickens. However we still had returns totalling 47.81.
We travel to Everton and it's 9/2 on us to get our first win. Everton have spent less than us but do have quality I don't think there will be many goals and will have a tenner on Bothroyd opening the scoring. And a few quid on the 1-1 correct score.
At York the ebor is the day's highlight and Sir Michael Stoute's Blissful Moment is currently 10/1 and is worth a go. In the 3.05 at York we will go for Allied Powers and double on them both. Certain bookies offer a best price guaranteed option and I would keep this in mind when selecting your horses.
The footie four fold this week is a mix of homes and aways.
For the weekend:
£7.50 Bothroyd 1st goal
£5 correct score 1-1
£5 ew win singles and 2.50 ew double
Blissful moment 3.40 York 10/1
Allied Powers 3.05 York
best price guaranteed
£2.50 trebles and a £2.50 acca
Wycombe 6/5
Sheff Utd 11/8
Crawley 13/10
Bradford 6/5
Well, as I sit here typing up the betting preview, I've got a beer in hand celebrating the Tony Fernandes takeover, having watched probably the best press conference of my life - a true If Carlsberg did press conferences...' moment. Of course, some things never change - such as my appalling first week of the season in the betting column, drawing an absolute blank, not getting anywhere close on anything.
This week we're away at Everton, and there are a lot of conflicting emotions and opinions - the drubbing at home against Bolton has lowered everyone's expectations, BUT Everton are notoriously slow starters. Tony Fernandes takeover has given the club a massive lift, BUT Everton are a top seven side, and man for man much better than us. I'm going to plump for a draw, available widely at 3/1. QPR for the win is available as high as SEVENS with some bookmakers, and QPR to Win - Draw no bet is as high as 9/2 - there really is not an awful lot of confidence in a QPR win.
For first goal scorer, I'm going to go for Tim Cahill, on the basis that our defence is suspect, and the Leighton Baines - Tim Cahill axis has the potential to murder it, and DJ Campbell whose pace could worry the Everton defence. As always, Bet365 are offering money back on goal-less draws on all goal scorer markets.
Elsewhere, Saturday lunchtime sees the first meeting of the big clubs, with Arsenal and Liverpool meeting at the Emirates. Six of the last 11 of these matches have finished 1-1, and that scoreline is available at 6/1 with Bwin, which is too good to turn down.
My first foray into horse racing of the season takes me to the featured race at York on Saturday, the 15:40 at York. I've been told good things about Lost in the Moment, available at 9's if you're lucky, and been told to go each way on Blissful Moment as well as an outsider, who has one win and two seconds in his last three outings at a similar distance. Blissful moment is currently a whopping 17/1 on Betfair at present.
Finally, my accumulator, and this week its a leggy six fold, backing Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Charlton, Huddersfield, Chelsea and Derby or the Draw. Last year one of my downfalls was backing fairly obvious results in the German leagues - despite winning the Bundesliga at a canter, Dortmund let me down on numerous occasions last season. If they let me down this week I'll probably drop them until I get some winning multiples in. This particular six fold returns £86.70 profit from a £10 stake.
For the Weekend:
Everton vs QPR - Draw - £10 @3/1 (Bet365)
Everton vs QPR - Cahill to score first - £5 @ 9/2 (Bet365)
Everton vs QPR - Campbell to score first - £5 @ 10/1 (BlueSQ)
Arsenal vs Liverpool - 1-1 Draw - £5 @ 6/1 (Bwin)
15:40 @ York - Lost in the Moment - £5 ew @ 9/1 (Betfair)
15:40 @ York - Blissful Moment - £5 ew @ 17/1 (Betfair)
Sixfold accumulator - Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Charlton, Huddersfield, Chelsea, Derby or the Draw - £10 @ 8.67 (Betfair)