The Golden Nuggets

By Sports Magician

2009/10-41
PICKS IN PLAY: 21
WINS: 69
LOSSES: 68
VOIDS: 4
STAKED: 481.50
TALLY: -10.37
ROI: -2.15

PICK IN PLAY SETTLEMENT
. LEAGUE TWO – NOTTS COUNTY (EACH-WAY). Notts County went through three managers and two sets of owners this season. The result was a championship. 13.75 points gained.
. LIGUE 1 – BORDEAUX. Last season’s champions fell apart after their Champions League exit. 4.00 points lost.
. LA LIGA & CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – BARCELONA. No team has ever defended the Champions League trophy and even a side as stunning as Barcelona’s were not able to change that fact. 2.00 points lost.
. EUROPA LEAGUE – HAMBURG (EACH-WAY). Hamburg’s dream of playing the final in their own stadium ended at Craven Cottage. 7.00 points lost.
. BUNDESLIGA RELEGATION – HERTHA BERLIN. Hertha’s relegation was confirmed after a 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen. 2.00 points gained.
. CHAMPIONSHIP RELEGATION – CRYSTAL PALACE. Perhaps a rare dose of football justice as Crystal Palace survived thanks to a 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday. 4.00 points lost.

LAST WEEK RECAP
. CRYSTAL PALACE v WEST BROMWICH ALBION – WEST BROMWICH ALBION (DRAW NO BET). How did Palace escape with a point in this one? Mainly due to some poor finishing from the visitors. Void bet.
. DARLINGTON v NOTTS COUNTY – NOTTS COUNTY. County won the title in fine style with a crushing 5-0 win. 2.50 points gained.
. BARCELONA v INTER MILAN – BARCELONA (HALF-TIME/FULL-TIME). Barcelona couldn’t break down Inter until late in the match. 3.00 points lost.
. BARCELONA v INTER MILAN – BARCELONA (QUALIFY). A 1-0 win wasn’t enough as Zlatan Ibrahimovic once again failed to deliver in a big match. 3.00 points lost.

THIS WEEK’S NUGGETS

Real Zaragoza v Espanyol



Wednesday May 5th 19.00 (GMT)

One more win should be enough to secure Real Zaragoza’s survival in La Liga and they can obtain those crucial three points at La Romareda in midweek. Zaragoza won their first match in five at the weekend thanks to a 1-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna after a tough stretch of fixtures. Zaragoza are a vastly improved side since the January window closed, during which they made a number of shrewd additions, namely Chilean forward Humberto Suazo. Espanyol sit in mid-table obscurity, far enough away from the drop zone to no longer fear the worst. However, they don’t have any hopes of a European place either and their performances have reflected that.

PICK: 2*REAL ZARAGOZA BEAT ESPANYOL @ 1.85 (188BET)


Manchester City v Tottenham



Wednesday May 5th 20.00 (GMT)
Sky Sports 2 (19:30-22:30), Sky Sports HD2 (19:30-22:30)

It has long been expected that this fixture would decide which side would claim that coveted fourth Champions League spot and the waiting is almost over. Home advantage can help Manchester City achieve the top four spot that should be the minimum requirement for the investment made in the squad last summer. Both sides will expect to take maximum points from their final fixtures as City visit West Ham and Tottenham travel to Burnley. And so Wednesday’s match will effectively decide who will claim fourth spot. Tottenham’s away record against sides in the top 10 is quite appalling. Harry Redknapp’s team have taken just three points on the road against sides in the top half of the league and that spells trouble for the White Hart Lane outfit.

PICK: 2*MANCHESTER CITY BEAT TOTTENHAM @ 2.05 (EXPEKT)


Hertha Berlin v Bayern Munich



Saturday May 8th 14.30 (GMT)

Bayern Munich are Bundesliga champions in all but name and it will require a catastrophe never before seen for the Bavarians to be overtaken by Schalke. Despite the fact Bayern are likely to not even need a point in this match to secure the title, the odds are too appealing to pass up against a side that suffered relegation last week. Hertha have scored only nine goals at home this season in sixteen matches and have suffered a home loss on nine occasions. The Golden Nuggets don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be ten losses by Saturday night as even a slightly under strength Bayern should be able to cruise to victory.

PICK: 3*BAYERN MUNICH BEAT HERTHA BERLIN @ 1.83 (VCBET / BODOG)

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

This week’s POW is American socialite Kim Kardashian. Kim has been a favourite of mine for a long time, long before she became mainstream. It doesn’t matter to me that she effectively became famous for nothing (which my fiancée reminds me of each and every time I suggest we should watch ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’). However, reports that she has been ‘seeing’ Cristiano Ronaldo are disappointing. It’s not that I’m envious of Ronaldo, since he is a top professional footballer who also reportedly dated another Golden Nuggets favourite - Gemma Atkinson - it’s just that I think he’s a bit of a prick. Oh well.



Sports Magician