Tag: Aston Villa

Premiership Preview – April 25th

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

It’s another cracking weekend of Premiership football action including the London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea on Sunday. A win for the Blues would put them on the brink of lifting the title and I shall be previewing that game separately.

Saturday’s action kicks off at 12.45 with a really tricky fixture between Southampton and Tottenham. Both sides have taken their foot off the gas in recent weeks as the dream of a Champions League spot disappeared over the horizon. Whatever magic Ronald Koeman used in the early months of the season at St Mary’s seems to have worn off and they are struggling for goals and points. Tottenham are totally unpredictable at present and this looks like a game to swerve.

While the title battle seems to be heading to a predictable conclusion, the same cannot be said of the battle for Premiership survival. You have to admire the battling qualities of Burnley and Leicester in recent weeks and the two sides clash on Saturday afternoon at Turf Moor.

The Clarets have home advantage but they are meeting a Leicester side with an incredible never-say-die attitude. Sometimes these games can be disappointing but I just have the feeling that this could be a thriller and it may be worth looking at some ambitious score draw prices.

QPR have also won many admirers with their battling performances in recent weeks. They are at home to London rivals West Ham who have lurched into obscurity after a promising first half of the season. It’s almost as if they reached their points total too soon and did not really believe they could maintain that level of form. QPR are in their position because of their horrific away form but they have always been difficult to beat at home. Take Charlie Austin to score in a home victory.

Aston Villa did this column a massive favour last week when knocking Liverpool out of the FA Cup. Christian Benteke’s contribution helped us to a 20-point profit on the game and they now travel to Manchester City. Villa are still not safe from relegation so any thoughts of Tim Sherwood picking anything other than his best team are wide of the mark. City beat a lack-lustre West Ham to end their own miserable run but is this match really a foregone conclusion as the bookmakers suggest? Maybe we should re-invest a little of last week’s profits in the hope of another Villa upset.

Burnley 2 Leicester 2 @15-1 BetVictor

Burnley 3 Leicester 3 @80-1 BetVictor

QPR to beat West Ham @29-20 BetVictor

Charlie Austin to score and QPR win @3-1 Paddy Power

Christian Benteke to score at any time @7-2 Totesport

Christian Benteke to score and Villa win @20-1 Paddy Power

Premiership Preview April 11th – 13th

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It’s a fantastic weekend of sport with The Grand National at Aintree, The US Masters at Augusta and the Manchester derby.

The Premiership action gets under way at 12.45 with Swansea against Everton but the action hots up during the afternoon. Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood will have mixed feelings as he takes his relegation-threatened side to White Hart Lane. The former Spurs boss looked as if he had just had six rounds with Mike Tyson by the end of Villa’s 3-3 draw against QPR on Monday night and he can expect another roller-coaster ride at his old club.

Tottenham remain a bit of an enigma, capable of producing great football but just as likely to disappoint. They were pretty poor at Burnley last weekend and their motivation must be in doubt with their season effectively petering out. I cannot see Villa going down and 5-1 looks quite tempting, especially with Christian Benteke back to his best.

Burnley had chances to take all three points last week and now face a resurgent Arsenal who are now Chelsea’s closest pursuers. Having produced a great run to move into second, I don’t see Arsene Wenger’s side slipping up here.

Other relegation-threatened sides in action are Hull at Southampton, Sunderland at home to Crystal Palace and Leicester at West Brom. All three are capable of picking up points but Hull look particularly wobbly at present. They are meeting the Saints at a good time as they have also seen their season dribble away in recent weeks. I just don’t know if Hull are good enough to take advantage.

The match of the weekend is undoubtedly the Manchester derby on Sunday with City in the unusual position of trailing their rivals by a point. City did not play badly at Crystal Palace but the Eagles rode their luck for a famous victory. Manuel Pellegrini is not exactly flavour of the month but he will surely be able to motivate his players for this one. A draw may be the outcome which will suit Chelsea and Arsenal above them.

The Blues have been flirting with disaster in recent matches but have managed to creep ever closer to the title. They travel to QPR who have found a new lease of life in recent weeks and this should be a very feisty encounter. A win here would be a fantastic result for Jose Mourinho’s side and what about John Terry scoring the winner? That would not go down well with Rangers fans!

The final game is on Monday night when Liverpool play Newcastle. The Reds stopped the rot with a hard fought win over Blackburn in the Cup in midweek. Fortunately for them, Newcastle have been playing poorly and are unlikely to cause them too many problems.

Southampton (-1.0) to beat Hull @13-8 Skybet

Aston Villa to beat Spurs @5-1 Bet365

Arsenal (-1.0) to beat Burnley @6-4 Paddy Power

John Terry to score first @20-1 Coral

John Terry scores and Chelsea win @7-1 Paddy Power

Man Utd v Man City DRAW @5-2 Boylesports

Liverpool (-1.0) to beat Newcastle @6-5 Skybet

Advocaat favourite to replace Poyet at Sunderland

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Sunderland have sacked coach Gus Poyet following Saturday’s embarrassing 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa. The Black Cats now have just nine games left to avoid relegation and they currently sit just one point above the relegation zone.

Former Chelsea and Tottenham star Poyet had been in charge for 17 months at the Stadium of Light and had led them to safety last season following the departure of Paolo Di Canio. He also took them to the final of the Capital One Cup but crisis talks on Monday failed to convince the board that the Uruguayan should remain in charge.

There has been increasing unrest at the club and Poyet almost came to blows with Steve Bruce during the recent match with Hull. The sight of thousands of fans heading out of the stadium before half-time on Saturday proved the final straw. Poyet joins Bruce and Martin O’Neill on the list of recent Sunderland bosses that have failed to last the test of time. Remaining fixtures include trips to Everton, Arsenal and Chelsea.

Bookmakers have installed Dick Advocaat as even money favourite to replace Poyet. The former Rangers boss left his job as coach of the Serbian national team last year. Negotiations are already under way to bring in the 67-year-old on a short-term basis.

The youth academy pair of Paul Bracewell and Kevin Ball have also been linked with a temporary appointment, although odds vary wildly on the pair. Bracewell is 8-1 with Bet365 and only 4-1 with Ladbrokes while Ball is as high as 16-1 with BetVictor.

Sam Allardyce has seen a promising season at West Ham disintegrate in recent weeks, their 3-0 defeat at Arsenal being their fifth in eight matches with three draws. Their last victory came against Bristol City in the FA Cup in January. The Hammers have slid down the table to tenth place but are still comfortably clear of relegation. It is difficult to imagine Allardyce being enticed to the north-east at this stage of the season, especially with Sunderland due to visit the London club this coming Saturday. His price varies between 5-1 on Betfair and 9-1 on Betway.

Other more speculative candidates include Michael Laudrup (16-1), Mark Warburton (20-1) and Steve McLaren (25-1). The former England boss is as short as 7-1 with Ladbrokes.

Premier League Preview 14th – 16th March

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After the midweek debacle at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League, Jose Mourinho’s Premiership leaders have a point to prove at home to Southampton on Sunday. Chelsea have been widely condemned for their approach to the second leg of their tie with PSG and Manchester City have a chance to apply extra pressure on Saturday.

City travel to Burnley who fought back so valiantly to grab a point at the Etihad earlier in the season. More recently, they snatched an unlikely point at Chelsea following the dismissal of Nemanja Matic for retaliation. Burnley have a habit of playing better when they are behind but they cannot afford to take any liberties against City.

The champions had to work hard to beat Leicester 2-0 in their last league game and will have one eye on next week’s Champions League clash with Barcelona. Very few people are expecting them to win against the Spanish giants but Schalke’s performance against Real Madrid will certainly have reminded them that anything is possible. Even a narrow victory would be enough to reduce Chelsea’s lead to three points, until Sunday at least.

Arsenal face an uphill task recovering from a 3-1 home defeat by Monaco next week but must first make sure they take three points against West Ham. The Gunners have plenty of strength in their squad so can afford to rotate while the Hammers seem to be on a slippery slope. There is also a London derby in the early kick-off with Crystal Palace hosting QPR.

Rangers’ 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham summed up their season. They fought valiantly but never really looked like getting anything out of the game. Their away form is already the stuff of legends and Alan Pardew’s side can inflict another painful blow. Tim Sherwood has already taken Aston Villa to an FA Cup semi-final and inflicted two defeats on midlands rivals West Brom.

Unfortunately their FA Cup clash was marred by a moronic crowd invasion that revived memories of the late 1970’s. They now travel to relegation rivals Sunderland who also had more trouble off the pitch than on it last week as Gus Poyet and Steve Bruce almost came to blows. It should be a tough battle and a draw may be the smartest option.

Whether or not there is any merit in Jose Mourinho’s on-going siege mentality at Stamford Bridge, it has to be said that his side were awful against PSG. They played the type of football that is the polar opposite to everything that is good about the Premier League. Southampton are no mugs and Ronald Koeman will sense an opportunity here. The Saints haven’t given up on a top four finish odds of 11-2 are tempting. Chelsea did play extra-time on Wednesday and I’ll be surprised if they don’t make a nervous start.

Man United and Louis van Gaal came in for heavy criticism following their FA Cup exit against Arsenal and now face Tottenham at Old Trafford. Spurs picked themselves up well from their Wembley disappointment and 3-1 is also quite generous against a patchy United side. Liverpool conclude the week’s fixtures at Swansea on Monday and can boost their Champions League hopes with a narrow victory.

Crystal Palace to beat QPR @5-6 Bet365

Arsenal (-1.0) to beat West Ham @11-10 Sportingbet

Sunderland v Aston Villa DRAW @23-10 Sportingbet

Man City to beat Burnley by 1 goal @13-5 Bet365

Southampton to beat Chelsea @11-2 Bet365

Tottenham to beat Man United @10-3 Coral

FA Cup Quarter-Final Preview

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The FA Cup dominates the weekend football with only one Premiership match taking place. The powers-that-be have saved the best until last with Manchester United’s clash with reigning champions Arsenal on Monday.

The action gets under way at lunchtime on Saturday with the un-inspiring game between Bradford and Reading. Bradford are still euphoric from their 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge and saw off Sunderland in the last round. Having claimed two Premiership scalps, they will be bitterly disappointed if they cannot beat Reading but this could be a tight contest. Reading have won their last three matches in the competition away from home. There have been red cards in recent meetings between these two so stand by for a stormy encounter.

Aston Villa and West Brom will be sick of the sight of each other if they cannot get a result inside 90 minutes. The two slugged it out on Tuesday night with Tim Sherwood delighting the home fans with his pitch-side antics. Quite where the FA Cup fits in with their battle to stay in the Premier League I am not so sure but this looks ominously like draw material.

Liverpool became tournament favourites after the draw gave them a home tie with Blackburn. They are not playing the same fast-flowing football that nearly won them the league last season but they are grinding out results. A 2-1 win over champions Man City was backed up by a midweek victory over Burnley to keep them in the chase for a Champions League place next season. They should have too many guns for Rovers, particularly with Daniel Sturridge gradually returning to form.

Man United have worked their way into the top four but you wouldn’t know it from the press reports. We keep reading about “long-ball football” and the miserable form of Di Maria and Falcao and yet United are fourth in the table. They have not exactly worked teams over this season but fortune seems to be on their side. Tim Krul’s brainstorm gave them a 1-0 win in midweek at Newcastle and they will be relishing the clash with Arsenal.

The Gunners are a bit of a puzzle with solid league performances either side of that horror show in the Champions League against Monaco. They are defending their precious silverware and odds of 2-1 look generous.

Bradford to beat Reading @13-8 Betfred

Aston Villa v West Brom DRAW @11-5 Matchbook

Liverpool (-1.0) to beat Blackburn Rovers @10-11 Sportingbet

Arsenal to beat Man United @2-1 Bet365

Premier League Preview 3rd March

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Manchester City’s defeat at Liverpool on Sunday has shifted the balance firmly in favour of Chelsea in the Premier League title race. Bookmakers have pushed City out to 7-1 to retain the title but there is plenty of time for further twists and turns along the way.

The top teams are in action on Wednesday night with City having the much easier task at home to Leicester while the Blues travel to West Ham. Tuesday night’s action largely concerns the other end of the table with two relegation scraps at Aston Villa and Hull. If Tim Sherwood had any doubt about the task he faces at Villa Park, their seventh successive defeat at the weekend will have brought the message home.

There have been some remarkable stats in the Premier League this season, one of which is the incredible lack of goals from Villa. They have scored a miserly 13 goals all season which is less than half of the total managed by QPR, ahead of them on goal difference at present. Christian Benteke has looked a pale shadow of his former self since returning from injury and they desperately need to find a goal from somewhere.

They face a West Brom side that are on a great run of form since Tony Pulis took over. A 1-0 win over Southampton on Saturday hoisted them eight points clear of the drop zone. They may be without Saido Berahino on Tuesday but could still be good enough to take all three points. If you fancy a long shot to open the scoring, defender Joleon Lescott has scored more goals against Villa than any other side in his career.

The Hull v Sunderland game does not exactly scream goals either with Gus Poyet’s side having failed to hit the target in four matches. Hull grabbed vital points against Villa and QPR and could have enough quality to do the same to the Black Cats.

The wheels have come off a bit at Southampton in recent weeks and a top four finish is starting to look like a pipedream. It was very entertaining while it lasted but they too are struggling to hit the back of the net, Graziano Pelle in particular. They are at home to Crystal Palace who have been transformed since the arrival of Alan Pardew. Most worrying for Saints, Palace seem far better away than at home at present. They look overpriced at around 4-1.

West Brom to beat Aston Villa @21-10 Bet365

Joleon Lescott to score first @33-1 Bet365

Aston Villa 0 West Brom 1 @7-1 BetVictor

Hull to beat Sunderland @23-20 Ladbrokes

Hull 1 Sunderland 0 @6-1 BetVictor

Crystal Palace to beat Southampton @19-4 BetVictor

Southampton 0 Crystal Palace 1 @13-1 BetVictor