After a nice international break in the domestic football calendar, things are very much back to business for all concerned. As ever, on a full weekend card of matches you will nearly always find some nice bets, or at least you hope that you can!

The matches that I will be making selections on are Liverpool v Manchester United and Manchester City v Chelsea in the Premiership, Coventry City v Preston North End in the Championship and Huddersfield Town v Tranmere Rovers in League One.
 
Liverpool v Manchester United
September 13th - 12:45 GMT Live on Sky Sports 1

In recent times Manchester United have regularly had the edge over Liverpool.. The merseyside outfit have not beaten United in the Premiership since 2004 and quite frankly, I do not expect this to change just yet.
In their opening three Premier League matches, Liverpool have lived a charmed life I think it is fair to say. They had to wait until the last couple of minutes for Torres to get the winner at Sunderland on the opening day, absolutely mugging Middlesbrough in the fourth minute of injury time and then finally they had a torrid time in keeping Villa at bay for a priceless point a fortnight ago.
Manchester United are hardly coming into this game with what you would call terrific form. They ran out of steam on the opening weekend, drawing with Newcastle and then ground out a valuable away victory at Fratton Park the subsequent week. A break of sorts from Premiership Football has occured because it will be nearly three weeks since the Portsmouth game thanks to both the international break and the Super Cup, where they were beaten by UEFA Cup champions Zenit St Petersburg.
Ronaldo will be missing from the United line up, and this rules me out from predicting an outright victory. The signing of Dimitar Berbatov adds some much needed bite to the United attack in the Portugese dynamo's absence and whilst I will not be recommending an outright play on the Reds of Manchester, I still consider that they are certainly more likely to win that Liverpool. Draw no bet may be the play for the match in order to safeguard against a rearguard effort from Liverpool.
 
RECOMMENDATION - 3 Points Manchester United DRAW NO BET @ 1.8 (Ladbrokes)
 
Manchester City v Chelsea
September 13th - 17:30 GMT Live on Setanta

All of this money fever flying around the blue half of Manchester is quite nauseating to be frank. Anyone making any bold predictions for the City season should hold their fire somewhat and realise that these things take time. Money doesn't always buy you success, ask any Newcastle or Leeds fan.
If we forget what is going on off the field we should consider the respective qualities of the two teams playing here. Chelsea hold a considerable edge in terms of personnel which is pretty much a given. World class players like Terry, Lampard, Cech, Carvalho, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Deco and Anelka to name but a few of the available names gives you an idea of what City are up against. The signings of Robinho and Shaun Wright Phillips (re-signed from Chelsea, ironically) should prove to be very good in the long run but there is still a gulf in class.
Mark Hughes would probably consider finish fifth this season to be somewhat of a successful campaign and I am in compliance with that. Any points against the top four teams in the current climate should be viewed as a bonus for this season at least.
It is unlikely that Didier Drogba will start this match but he could play some part in the encounter. Although Drogba is a terrific striker, Chelsea still have the quality to win at Eastlands.
In my opinion the odds are a little clouded by this wave of euphoria running through City at present. Expect the better team to more than justify a generous price.
 
RECOMMENDATION - 3.5 Points on Chelsea @ 1.91 (Bet365, Totesport, VCbet, Stan James, Coral)
 
Coventry City v Preston North End
September 13th - 15:00 GMT
Preston have surprised everyone this season by getting off to a flier. The north west outfit are joint top with Wolves and have really excelled themselves in the early throws of this season. Coventry have had a mixed start really having won their opening two games, they have since stalled in losing their last two.
Coventry were one of my 'dark horse' teams for this season because I thought they recruited extremely well during the summer in getting two prolific lower league strikers in Clinton Morrison and Freddie Eastwood to the club. Goals will certainly not be at a premium for fans at the Ricoh Arena this season!
With a big home crowd on their side and higher hopes in mind, I expect Coventry to defeat a Preston side and start to put the league table into a more orderly fashion! Coventry won this fixture 2-1 last year and 2.5 about another home victory in the contest is cracking value. The price is inflated by Preston's high league placing at a very infantile stage of the season.
On a separate note, there could be a plenty of goals if the West Midlands team are allowed to play a free flowing style.
 
RECOMMENDATION - 2.5 Points on Coventry @ 2.5 (Ladbrokes)
1 Point on Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.23 (Betdaq)
 
Huddersfield Town v Tranmere Rovers
13th September - 15:00 GMT
There has been plenty of talk about the poor start that the Terrier have made to this season. Having read plenty of pre-season previews of the League One season this year, it is clear that many tipsters favoured Huddersfield as being a great chance for promotion. I didn't necessarily agree with that assertion, but I was always willing to accept that they should have a decent season.
Having got a win against their name for the first time this season last weekend at Cheltenham, the Yorkshire side should finally be settled into the new season. The bad start has inflated the price on the home team nicely for this one!
Tranmere Rovers are a poor side in my opinion and should be fighting off relegation for much of the season. The home form of Rovers may just be enough to keep them in the division, but their at times, quite pathetic defence should be expected to fold on the majority of away days.
Huddersfield at even money is an absolute no brainer for me.
 
RECOMMENDATION - 3 Points on Huddersfield @ 2 (Sportingbet, Bluesq , Skybet, Coral)
 
Have a great weekend and punt sharply!
 
Crafty Stan