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Can Blackpool survive in Premier League?

After winning yesterdays 88 Million pound match, Blackpool will now be turning their attentions to surviving in the Premier League next season.

The bookies have already wrote off their chances with most having them around the 1/3 mark to go straight back down, Sky Bet are currently offering the best odds at 4/11, while Bet365 go as short as 2/7.

Victor Chandler are already offering a selection of not very flattering Blackpool specials. You can get 6/4 on them winning less than 4 league matches next season. 11/10 on winning 4-6 matches, and 3-1 on over 6 league wins.

Chandlers also are 15/8 that Blackpool concede under 65 goals, 6/4 on conceding 65-72 goals, and 2/1 on over 72 goals.

All-in-all, it appears they don’t fancy Ian Holloway’s team to be staying up. Good luck to them, I say.

Tony Pulis and Stoke proved that it can be done, but it will be hard for Ian Holloway to repeat that feat.

At worst they can now develope their ground, with a new East Stand needed. And apparently chairman Karl Oyston has said that they would be developing new medical and media facilities. If thats the worst that happens, I’m sure all Blackpool fans will gladly take it.

Premier League Betting

Not much change in the outright winner betting after Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Tottenham today.

Chelsea are still 8/11 with Skybet and Paddy Power, while Man Utd have been eased in from 11/8 to a best price of 6/5 with Bet365 and Boylesports.

Chelsea play Stoke City live on Sky Sports tomorrow, where they will be looking to reclaim topspot.

Chelsea are 1/6 with Skybet, Paddy Power and Stan James to beat Stoke. Stoke are a 20/1 shot with Coral, Bet365, Blue Sq and 888 Sport, the draw is 13/2 with William Hill, Totesport and VC Bet.

Fingers burnt at the DW today

Wigan’s remarkable turnaround in beating Arsenal 3-2 at the DW Stadium today looks to have cost some big hitting punters a fortune on Betfair.

As you can see on the screenshot below, over £1 Million was traded on Arsenal at prices from 1.05 down to 1.01.

Thats not all, £6 was staked on Wigan at odds of 800/1, and over £100 was backed at odds of 350/1, just to list a couple.

With Arsenal leading 2-0 in the 79th minute, you wouldn’t have given Wigan a chance. The big layers just look to hoover up so-called ‘free money’ at low odds, hence the amount traded in the screen shot. The layer (layers) of 800/1 on Wigan, would have thought it was just money for old rope.

It just goes to show that there is no such thing as free money.

Magnificent Spurs

Another magnificent performance from Spurs has put them in pole position for the 4th champions league spot and has reopened the championship title race.

Their 2-1 win over Chelsea, coupled with Man City’s 1-0 defeat to Man Utd has seen Spurs go 4th with a 2 point gap to nearest rivals, Man City.

It also puts Man Utd just a point behind Chelsea and in with a chance of putting pressure on their title rivals, Alex Ferguson owes his old mate Harry Redknapp a drink or two for this one.

On these showings, if Spurs get 4th place, you’d have to say that they have well and truely earned it. After last weekend’s results when Man City thrashed Birmingham 5-1, Spurs were 4 points behind City (with a game in hand) with fixtures against Arsenal and Chelsea looming, their prospects didn’t look good.

Spurs have now proved to everyone that they are capable of mixing it with the big teams, and Saturday’s results has nicely set up the Man City V Spurs game from Eastlands on 5th May as potentially the decider for 4th place.

Chelsea are still favourites for the title at a best price of 8/11 with Sky Bet. Manchester United can be backed at 11/8 with Sky Bet, William Hill, Totesport and Bet365.

Spurs are now 8/11 for 4th with William Hill, Man City are 6/5 with the same firm.

Big Premier League Weekend

Manchester City take on Manchester United (12.45), and Spurs take on Chelsea (17.30) later, on the day that could decide the league winner and go a long way to settling who finishes 4th.

If results go United’s way, by tonight they could be back in with an outside chance of pipping Chelsea, it they go Chelsea’s way, then it will be all over.

The race for 4th place looks more likely to go down to the wire, Spurs remarkable victory over Arsenal in midweek has put them right back in the running, but their next two games (after Chelsea, they go to Old Trafford) could define their season.

Although, if these results go against Spurs, they do have a last ‘get out of jail’ card to play with an away fixture at Manchester City on the 5th May.

Manchester City probably thought they would go into the Manchester derby with clear daylight ahead of Tottenham. Spurs 2-1 victory over Arsenal will now increase the pressure on City ahead of the lunch time kick off.

Chelsea are currently unbackable to win the league, they are a best price of 1/7 with 888 Sport and Blue Sq. They are 10/11 with the majority of the bookmakers to beat Spurs, who are 10/3 with Coral, the draw is 13/5 with Bet365.

Spurs are 13/8 with William Hill to finish 4th, while Man City are 8/15 with the same bookie.

City are also 9/5 with Bet365 and Ladbrokes to win the derby. The draw is 5/2 with Bet365 and Totesport, while United are 6/4 with Hills, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, VC Bet, Stan James and Skybet.

Manchester United are also 7/1 to win the league with Ladbrokes.

Premier league weekend round-up

He will never admit it, but has Arsene Wenger’s stubborn refusal to buy a new (proper) goalkeeper has probably cost them their chance of winning this seasons Premier league title.

Almunia’s mistake on Saturday cost Arsenal 2 vital points, and with those points they would have been in prime position to move into 2nd place next weekend with Man Utd playing Chelsea.

Chelsea’s 12 goals in their last two games have put them in front on the goal difference count, but Man Utd did hit back with 4 of their own yesterday to close the gap.

Spurs have maintained their 4 point lead over Liverpool in the race for 4th place, Spurs also have a game in hand, but the respective run-ins favour Liverpool massively, Spurs have to face Arsenal (H), Chelsea (H) and Man Utd (A) in a two week spell in April.

What happened to Aston Villa yesterday? The Villa Park boo-boys have at last got a real reason to moan after that performance. At least they have a chance to put the record straight in two weeks time in their FA Cup Semi-final against Chelsea.

At the bottom of the table, Hull gave themselves a massive chance of staying up with their 2-0 win over Fulham. Hull and West Ham both lost again. While Burnley are still not totally out of it, it is hard to see where another 3 points are coming from for them.

In West Ham’s case, it looks all doom and gloom at the moment. Zola is considering his position and one of the co-owners is trying to manage the team through the media.

Despite all that I don’t think it is a foregone conclusion that they are going down. Hull are a poor side and I can’t see them picking up more than 6 more points at the most, surely West Ham can match that.

For me Sunderland are safe, while Bolton and Wolves will probably need another 3-4 points each to confirm safety. Wolves look in decent form so that shouldn’t be a problem for them. Bolton need to be careful though, as they have started leaking a lot of goals of late.

Wigan will be hoping to take something out of tomorrows game with Man City, another defeat will have them looking nervously over their shoulder.

Chelsea the big losers

As a result of Sunday’s 1-1 draw away at Blackburn, Chelsea now find themselves 3rd favourites in the Premier League Betting at a best price of 11/4. Manchester United are Even money favourites, followed by Arsenal who are 5/2.

Chelsea’s plight is still in their own hands, but only just. When they win their game in hand (away at Portsmouth on Wedensday) they will be 1 point behing United on the same amount of games played (Man Utd currently have played 31), they then visit Old Trafford on 3rd April, Arsenal are home to Wolves that day and will be looking to capitalize on their two rivals clashing.

For a side looking to win the league Chelsea didn’t really convince me against Blackburn today, I thought at times they lacked urgency and also didn’t ever look like scoring after Rovers equalised in the 70th minute. They huffed and puffed a lot, but never created a clear cut chance.

If I were a Chelsea fan, which I’m not, I wouldn’t be too convinced after that showing.

Manchester United looked more the part against Liverpool, and with Arsenal looking more solid at last, you would have to think it is more between these two at the moment.

United have the know how to finish the job from here, this is the time of the season when they have historically put their foot down and pulled away.

I can’t see them pulling away this season though, as it looks like going down to the wire. The big concern for them though, is an injury to Rooney as they don’t have the squad cover they had this time last year.

Arsenal have impressed me a lot lately, they have a more steely look to them. They are picking up the neccesary points without looking at their best, thats the impressive part, that they are finally grinding out results.

On paper Arsenal’s last four results look routine. But if you look at them more closely they struggled to finish off West Ham and Burnley at home, needing late goals in both games to finally finish the matches off.

They were awful at Hull, playing against 10 men for the whole of the 2nd half, they needed an injury time winner from Bendtner to complete a lucky 2-1 win.

The result which might have gave them the most belief must have been the 3-1 win over Stoke, again with two 90 mins plus goals. With the injury to Aaron Ramsey occcuring in this game, Arsenal really had to dig deep to finish it off, and I believe if they go on to win the title they will look back at this game and say that is where we turned it in our favour.

Premier League Winner Betting

The Premier League winner betting market was blown open with results at the weekend, and it would appear that the bookies now have it down to a two horse race.

Chelsea won 2-1 away at Burnley and find themselves cut from 5/6 into a best price of 8/13 with William Hill, Paddy Power, Blue Square and 888Sport.

After their remarkable win over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, Manchester United find themselves cut from 11/4 to 11/5 with Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Stan James. While Arsenal have drifted out to a massive 12/1 with VC Bet and Betfred.

For the time being I am going to keep Manchester City in the betting, they are 40/1 with Bet365, VC Bet and Betfred after their regulation home win over Portsmouth.

Tuesday Match Betting – Hull V Chelsea, 7.45pm

Chelsea have the chance to put further daylight between themselves and the chasing pack on Tuesday night when they travel to Hull City.

Chelsea can be backed at a short 2/7 with Bet365, 888Sport, Betfred, Blue Square, Boylesports, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Totesport.
The Draw is 9/2 with VC Bet and Hull are 14/1 with VC Bet and Stan James.

Wednesday Premier League Match Betting

Match Betting with Best Odds

7.45pm, ASTON VILLA V ARSENAL

Arsenal are the slight favourites at 13/10 with Totesport.

Villa are 5/2 with VC Bet, with the Draw 12/5 with VC Bet again, Paddy Power, Sky Bet,
Boylesports and Betfred.

Arsene Wenger will be welcoming back his first choice back four for tonights trip to Villa, rather strangely he didn’t rest Fabregas for the FA Cup defeat to Stoke on Sunday.

It was Fabregas who took Villa apart during a brief substitute appearence when the two sides met in late December. Since that defeat Villa have only picked up four points from their last three league games.

7.45pm, CHELSEA V BIRMINGHAM

Chelsea are 1/4 with Blue Square, 888Sport, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and William Hill.

The Draw is 5/1 with Coral, Sky Bet and Stan James.

Birmingham are 14/1 with VC Bet, Totesport and Bet365. This seems a massive price on McLeish’s men given that they are unbeaten in 15 games, obviously the bookies don’t see that run continuing tonight.

Chelsea have hit 14 goals in their three games played so far in 2010, with half of them coming against Sunderland. The other seven came in more difficult fixtures, with two games against lower league opposition.

8pm, BLACKBURN V WIGAN

Big Sam’s Blackburn are Evens with Totesport and Paddy Power.

The Draw is 12/5 with Coral, Bet365, Ladbrokes, Sky Bet, Stan James, Totesport, VC Bet and William Hill.

Wigan can be backed at 10/3 with Betfred.

These two sides have both recently recorded big wins with Blackburn beating Fulham and Wigan winning away at Wolves. Blackburn have put a bit of daylight between themselves and the bottom three and will be looking at this fixture as a great chance to pull further clear.

Wigan have been one of the leagues most unpredictable teams and the fact that they won last time out probably means they are due a defeat. Basically don’t go near Wigan on your fixed odds coupon.

8pm, EVERTON V SUNDERLAND

Everton are 4/6 with Betfred, Boylesports, Coral, Ladbrokes,
Sky Bet, Totesport, VC Bet and William Hill.

Sunderland are 5/1 with Stan James, Paddy Power, Blue Square, Bet365 and 888Sport.

The Draw is 11/4 with Bet365 and VC Bet.

Live on Sky Sports 2 (programme starts at 7.30pm), Everton take on Steve Bruce’s struggling Sunderland. Although there seems to be quite a few teams between the Black Cats and the bottom three, they are only 3 points clear.

They have won only one of their last 12 games since the beachball goal back in October.

And I thought it was Liverpool that it was suppossed to have affected.

Everton looked to have turned the corner recently with a good performance away at Arsenal which resulted in a draw after a late Gunnersl equaliser. This was followed with a home demolition of Man City with a 2-0 win, flattering to City. Then they lost their home FA tie to Birmingham last Saturday, although no disgrace given the run Birmingham are currently on.

One thing is for certain and that is that Steve Bruce could badly do with a win.

Tuesday Premier League Betting

Tuesday night sees four Premier League fixtures with Spurs against Fulham the live game on Sky Sports 2, with the programme starting at 7.30pm.

Tottenham need a win to retain their hold on 4th place, they have struggled a bit at home over the last couple of weeks, with draws against Hull and then Leeds in Saturday’s FA Cup fixture. On both occasions they dominated the game, but on both occasions they failed to put their opponents away.

Don’t expect Jermain Defoe to take any penalties that might come Spurs’ way, Harry Rednapp seems set to change his taker after admitting that the situation needs looking at. In truth, his penalty on Saturday was bloody awful.

Fulham haven’t been brilliant lately either, losing their last two Premier League fixtures away at Stoke (3-2) and Blackburn (2-0). The reverse fixture ended in a 0-0 draw in late December.

Relegation is the main theme of the nights other matches with Bolton at home to Burnley, and Portsmouth at home to West Ham.

Burnley should be fired up and looking to show Owen Coyle that he made a mistake leaving them, their awful away form may well have been a factor in Coyle’s decision to move.

A home win for Bolton would see them overtake Burnley and move out of the bottom three. At this stage of the season that may well have a psychological effect on both teams with Burnley, possibly feeling they are where they expected to be by now.

Portsmouth already look doomed on the pitch, their outlook seems to sound worse everyday off the pitch as well. With payday again looming, how many players might have that in the back of their minds?

West Ham seem to be starting to move in the opposite direction, the recent takeover has virtually secured the financial future of the club. On the pitch the players all seem to want to play for Zola, and they got a good point with a battling draw away to Villa in their last outing.

Carlton Cole could return in a further boost, and they are now in a position where they don’t have to accept any miserly offers for any of their other star players.

The nights other match sees Wolves take on Rafa Benitez’s, Liverpool side. Despite all the ‘media’ negativity around Liverpool at the moment, their league form isn’t actually that bad.

They have won three of their last four leagues games, including victories over top four finish rivals, Aston Villa and Tottenham, they only narrowly avoided making it four wins out of four but for a last minute equaliser against Stoke.

Who knows what to expect with Wolves or Mick McCarthy. Their recent home defeat to those away day specialists Wigan must have been a major blow to their confidence.

With a Saturday fixture away to Hull looming, will McCarthy dare do it again and change the team? Surely he wouldn’t get away with it at home to Liverpool?

McCarthy certainly looks and sounds stupid enough to try it again. But with his track record as a manager in the Premier League, surely he can’t afford to chuck any possible wins away.

And if thats not bad enough for McCarthy, Steven Gerrard is in contention to make his comeback.

Match Betting with Best Odds

7.45pm, Portsmouth V West Ham – Portsmouth are a best of 8/5 with Boylesports.

West Ham are 15/8 with Blue Square, 888Sport, Bet365, Stan James and VC Bet. The Draw is 12/5 with Sky Bet.

7.45pm, Wolves V Liverpool – Liverpool are favourites at 8/11 with Totesport, Boylesports and Betfred.

Wolves are 5/1 with VC Bet, while the Draw is 13/5 with Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Bet365.

8pm, Bolton V Burnley – Bolton are 4/5 with Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and Stan James.

Burnley are 4/1 with Totesport and the Draw is 11/4 with VC Bet.

8pm, Tottenham V Fulham – Spurs are 8/13 with VC Bet, Totesport, Paddy Power and Bet365.

Fulham are 11/2 with Stan James and VC Bet. The Draw is 14/5 with Betfred.

Nothing jumps out at me from this lot. West Ham look too short, while Spurs have looked anything but solid at home lately.

At a push I would go for Liverpool and Bolton. I can’t see Wolves doing much to trouble Liverpool, and Bolton don’t look bad value at 4/5 at home to one of the worst travellers in the league.

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