English Soccer Weekend

As things start to get to the business end of the English football season there are still opportunities aplenty to make some good money to beat the economic downturn. Hopefully this weekend will prove to be no exception.
 
Bolton Wanderers v Manchester United



17th January 15:00 GMT

Having well and truly put Chelsea to the sword at Old Trafford last week you could be forgiven for getting the impression that United are going roll over all comers from now until the end of the season. This is unlikely to be the case in reality, and there is still a huge race yet to be run.

	Bolton wins	Draws	Man Utd wins
League	41	24	46
FA Cup	1	0	2
Total	42	24	48

Bolton will no doubt set their stall out for a typically physical approach to try and unsettle United early on in the piece and will look to set pieces as their main goal scoring threat because they don't really have pacy or skilful enough individuals within their ranks to break through in a more obvious manner.

I think the theme of the game will be that we could see a pretty tight game on the whole in which United show their class and win through but not in as convincing a manner as could be expected.

If we look from a purely statistical point of view, Bolton's home matches have produced nineteen goals in ten games at an average of 1.9 goals per game and United have produced even less goals in away matches, the average total goals produced by either side when United play away in the Premiership this season has been 1.5 per game (15 from 10). And from a betting point of view, Unders (i.e., Under 2.5 Goals) has been a winner in seven out of ten games that Bolton have played at home and eight out of ten United away matches have been winning bets in the same scenario.

Barclays Premier League : Table

			| Home					| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	21	6	4	0	16	6	7	3	1	19	7	22	46
2	Man Utd	20	9	1	0	24	4	4	4	2	9	6	23	44
3	Chelsea	21	4	4	2	17	6	8	2	1	23	6	28	42
4	Aston Villa	21	5	5	1	18	12	7	0	3	17	11	12	41
5	Arsenal	21	7	2	2	18	11	4	3	3	16	12	11	38
6	Everton	21	3	4	4	14	15	7	1	2	15	10	4	35
7	Wigan	21	6	2	3	12	10	3	2	5	13	12	3	31
8	Hull	21	3	2	5	10	20	4	4	3	18	19	-11	27
9	Fulham	19	6	3	1	16	8	0	5	4	2	6	4	26
10	West Ham	21	4	1	5	13	15	3	4	4	13	15	-4	26
11	Newcastle	21	4	4	3	18	19	1	4	5	10	15	-6	23
12	Bolton	21	3	2	5	8	11	4	0	7	14	18	-7	23
13	Sunderland	21	3	2	5	11	13	3	3	5	11	17	-8	23
14	Portsmouth	20	4	2	4	14	17	2	3	5	7	16	-12	23
15	Man City	20	5	0	5	24	11	1	4	5	14	19	8	22
16	Middlesbrough	21	3	4	4	10	15	2	2	6	8	15	-12	21
17	Stoke	21	5	3	3	12	11	0	3	7	6	22	-15	21
18	Tottenham	21	3	3	4	7	7	2	2	7	13	19	-6	20
19	Blackburn	20	2	3	5	10	17	2	3	5	12	19	-14	18
20	West Brom	21	4	2	4	13	16	1	1	9	4	21	-20	18

Instead of backing a short priced United to win this one I think the value lies more in backing them to win to nil and looking at Under 2.5 Goals as a very serious option.
 
RECOMMENDATIONS

2 Points Stake on Manchester United to win to nil @ 2.38 (Betfred )
3.5 Points Stake on Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.83 (Boylesports , Stan James)

 
Millwall v Tranmere Rovers



17th January 15:00 GMT

Having endured a pretty tough time of things in recent weeks the name of the game for the Lions will be very much to get back to winning ways, particularly at what has been their fortress home this season. Games like Tranmere at home are games that will seriously test whether Millwall are capable of staying in the hunt for an automatic promotion spot this season. Simply put, this is a must win and I'm going to stick to my guns and expect them to gain a much needed win here and stay close to the heels of the MK Dons who are currently hogging the second automatic promotion spot behind runaway leaders Leicester.

	Millwall wins	Draws	Tranmere wins
League	6	5	10
FA Cup	1	1	0
League Cup	0	0	1
Total	7	6	11

The return from a ban of Tony Craig will be very useful to Millwall's cause as will the loan signing of Izale McLeod from Charlton who will be a very handy striker to compliment Tresor Kandol.
In the previous meeting between the two sides Millwall ran out 3-1 winners in very convincing style at Prenton Park so bearing everything in mind I expect a physically dominant Millwall team to get three vital points at home today.
 
RECOMMENDATION
3 Points Stake on Millwall @ 1.91 (Bet365, Ladbrokes, Coral)

Coca-Cola Football League One : Table

			| Home					| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Leicester	24	10	2	1	25	7	6	4	1	21	12	27	54
2	MK Dons	24	8	1	4	23	12	8	1	2	26	12	25	50
3	Oldham	25	7	5	1	26	12	5	4	3	18	16	16	45
4	Scunthorpe	24	6	3	2	24	15	7	2	4	20	16	13	44
5	Millwall	23	8	3	1	17	10	5	2	4	16	16	7	44
6	Peterborough	23	7	3	1	24	11	5	4	3	21	19	15	43
7	Stockport	24	4	4	4	16	15	6	4	2	19	10	10	38
8	Tranmere	23	8	1	3	22	13	3	3	5	11	16	4	37
9	Huddersfield	25	5	4	4	19	17	5	3	4	15	19	-2	37
10	Leeds United	24	6	2	4	23	16	5	1	6	16	17	6	36
11	Colchester	24	3	3	6	11	13	6	2	4	25	24	-1	32
12	Hartlepool	25	6	4	3	28	21	3	1	8	9	19	-3	32
13	Walsall	23	6	0	5	19	18	3	4	5	14	16	-1	31
14	Northampton	25	5	6	2	17	11	2	3	7	15	22	-1	30
15	Southend	23	6	2	3	14	10	2	4	6	15	27	-8	30
16	Carlisle	24	6	1	4	22	15	2	3	8	9	21	-5	28
17	Bristol Rovers	23	5	2	4	23	16	1	6	5	17	22	2	26
18	Swindon	24	3	4	6	19	24	2	5	4	16	19	-8	24
19	Yeovil	24	2	6	4	14	17	3	3	6	9	18	-12	24
20	Brighton	23	2	4	5	15	19	3	4	5	12	15	-7	23
21	Leyton Orient	24	2	3	6	9	16	3	4	6	9	16	-14	22
22	Cheltenham	23	4	3	5	16	21	1	2	8	10	28	-23	20
23	Hereford	23	3	4	4	12	11	1	1	10	5	25	-19	17
24	Crewe	23	3	2	6	13	21	1	2	9	13	26	-21	16

Good luck to you all and have a terrific weekend. Hopefully a profitable one too!!!

Crafty Stan