Profit and decent tips all round last week, can the lads maintain that form ahead of this weekend’s clash with Fulham?
From small acorns mighty oaks do grow and all that. Andy, who made a measly £1 a week ago, cranked it up a notch with a £43 win last weekend. His losses are now down to £97.50.Brian was AWOL so remains £53.80 in arrears while our pro, professional odds compiler Owen Goulding, made it two successful predictions from two attempts with a 0-0 halftime score bet in the QPR game.
Well, a cracking week for me at last, with a clear profit to the tune of £43, based on my accumulator coming in and QPR drawing with Villa. it could have been more, as at the last minute I changed my mind on whether to include Man U not winning at Stoke (which would have won) in exchange for Spurs to win to nil at Wigan(which didn't...)
This week sees the first London derby of the season, as QPR travel to Fulham. Fulham are much better at home than away, and QPR are much better away than at home. for this reason I'm going to err on the side of caution and predict another draw, available at 13/5 with Paddy Power, who will refund losing bets if Zamora or DJ score the last goal. i'm going to keep my anytime goal scorer bet of Wright-Phillips alive until he does actually score, still at 4/1, with Paddy Power for the same reasons listed above.
Elsewhere, Bolton host Chelsea on Sunday, having not scored against them at the Reebok since November 2002. A Chelsea win to nil is available at a generous 8/5, so I’ll take some of that.
There are three derbies this weekend, at Everton, Fulham and Spurs. I'm going to have three doubles and a treble at £2.50 a leg that they're all draws.
Finally, my accumulator, and I'm going for a fivefold this week, backing Man City, Man Utd, Crawley, Rangers and Bayern Munich all to win, at odds of 9/2 with Betfair.
For the Weekend:
Fulham vs QPR - Draw - £10 @13/5 (Paddy Power)
Fulham vs QPR - SWP to score anytime - £5 @ 4/1 (Paddy Power)
Bolton vs Chelsea - Chelsea win to nil - £10 @ 8/5 (William Hill)
Everton vs Liverpool, Spurs vs Arsenal, Fulham vs QPR - all draws - 3 doubles and a treble £10 @ various odds.
Fivefold accumulator - Man City, Man Utd, Crawley, Rangers and Bayern Munich all to win £10 @ 9/2 (Betfair)
Previously Advised:
Rugby World Cup:
New Zealand to not win - £15 @ 6/4 (Various)
The Big 4 to all win their group - £10 @ 11/8 (Various)
As regular readers to this column (Hello to you both) would have noticed last week I failed to submit a column. I didn’t do a Tevez and refuse to participate I just forgot to send then item in on time. However if Clive doesn’t believe my story I might be suspended for a couple of weeks.
The short trip to Craven Cottage on Sunday gives us our first derby of the season against Fulham. Martin Jol’s men have drawn all 3 home games so far and are yet to win a league game. With Fulham having to play Europa league on Thursday I think our fresher legs could come into play and I fancy us to win at 16/5. I will stick with SWP at 12/1 for first scorer at Victor Chandler with their special offer of double the odds if they score again. I also fancy the 2-1 win at 14/1 with Boyles.
The Merseyside and North London derbies take place this weekend and draws in both games looks the bet at 23/10 and 13/5 I will add in another couple of games to make up the football acca this week.
The last group games of the Rugby World Cup take place and Tommy Bowe is 8/1 to score the first try for Ireland against Italy. Back this with Ladbrokes and if he does not get the first but scores the second you get your money back.
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe takes place at Longchamp on Sunday and Snow Fairy can land the spoils backed in from 20/1 to 14/1 this week. Ed Dunlop’s horse is ridden by Frankie Dettori and will shorten in price by the day and can add this to English and Irish Oaks success of last she. She comes up against So You think who has beaten her twice but is unproven over this distance and with our selections turn of foot and her liking for the ground makes 14/1 good value.
Finally as we have an International break next week I am going to select Aidan O’Brien horse Power for the Dewhurst Stakes on the October 8. Available at 10/3 it has a good record and with a name like that it is sure to be a winner.
For the weekend:
£5 SWP first goal 12/1
£5 Correct Score Fulham 1 QPR 2 14/1
£7.50 Tommy Bowe 1st try Ireland V Italy 8/1
£5 ew Prix de l’Arc de triomphe Snow Fairy 14/1
£12.50 win Power10/3 Dewhurst Stakes 08/10/2011
£2 trebles and £2 acca
Draw Liverpool/Everton 23/10
Draw Spurs/Arsenal 13/5
Rotherham 2/1
Previously Advised:
£15 Australia to win Rugby World Cup 7/2
£5 O'Connor top tryscorer 16/1
Another solid performance from QPR against Aston Villa, and but for some extremely 'dubious' refereeing decisions, they could of been taking their first maximum haul at home this season. But alas, it was not to be, so it’s back on the road in search of three points in the first of many London derbies for the Hoops this season. From an odds compiler’s point of view, these games are a minefield. What sort of team will Fulham play? How many of their players will pick up injuries on their trip to Denmark? In Fulham's favour, it isn't the longest trip they could be making- and as such, I can’t see it having a massive bearing on team selection. I would expect Fulham to be near on full strength barring any injuries come Sunday. QPR on the other hand will have to have a little shuffle at the back following Traore's sending off with Connolly the likely replacement. This will have an impact on the counter attacking abilities of the R's - especially considering how potent Traore was in the win at Wolves. It’s incredibly hard to call this one. Fulham are currently a shade of odds-on with QPR around the 3/1 mark. However, I am finding it hard to separate these teams for this match and am advising a very small bet on the draw at 13/5 (Stan James).
For my bet of the weekend, I am tipping Southend at 13/8 (Betfair) on Friday night to continue their fine recent form with a victory over Shrewsbury. The Shrews have lost the influential Reuben Hazell following injury last week, and already have both Sharps and Candall-Sheriff unlikely to play, leaving a void at the back that the Shrimpers could well exploit.
Bet of Weekend - Southend to beat Shrewsbury (13/8 - Betfair) Tweet @loftforwords, @andy_hillman