NJ's Premier League Weekend - Thou shalt not dive...unless we have money on you.

All kick-offs Saturday 3pm GMT unless stated otherwise.

Bolton vs Liverpool



Reebok Stadium, KO @ 12:45pm GMT

This match features the battle of the heavyweight comic characters of the Premiership, with Manuel from Fawlty Towers taking on 'Big Ears' from Noddy. We give the slight edge to Manuel aka Rafa, considering that poor Big Ears is doubly handicapped. Lest we forget, he is ginger as well as being cursed with big ears. We will ignore the fact that he is an elderly gentleman whose life centres around the travails of a young boy.

I can't see Liverpool running away with this one in the same way that burglars would run away with Steven Gerrard's prize collection of Manchester United memorabilia, so I am plumping for the Reds on the draw/win HT/FT market. They can be slow starters away from home, and I doubt that they will relish the prospect of travelling to Bolton for an early kick-off. Bolton play an attritional style of football under Gary Megson, and can hold Liverpool with their frustrating anti-football. If the worst happens, Liverpool's moral compass and resident professor of ethics will get tripped over by a phantom foot in the 90th minute and nick another undeserved 1-0.

Arsenal vs Aston Villa 



Emirates Stadium

All is not well at Villa Park. Despite storming to fifth place in the league, they have lost their last two games against Newcastle and Middlesbrough; two teams that they should be beating with relative ease. They seem to have been lacking fluency and the spark has gone out of their game in the past few weeks. They have not beaten Arsenal in their last 19 meetings, and have only won once in London in their last 26 league visits!

Arsenal are picking up momentum and there is surely a feel-good factor surrounding the club following their last two results - a home win against Manchester United followed by an impressive Carling Cup win against Wigan, showcasing the best of Arsenal's present and future players. Arsenal look a stonking bet on the Asian Handicap, especially with Villa missing John Carew up front.


Blackburn vs Sunderland



Ewood Park

Rumours suggest that all is not well at Sunderland, and it's easy to see why. I blame Niall Quinn, and so should the fans. I can only assume that hiring Roy Keane must have been a way towards his own self-empowerment, because no sane chairman would hire a manager who hates his guts, let alone a manager who seems to be capable of spontaneous combustion when he burns his morning toast. Likewise, I can only assume that Keane took on the Sunderland job to spite Quinn, who he once described as "making out to be Mother Teresa" and could "rot in hell."

Further proof of this lies in Keane's transfer dealings - not content to throw away £9 million on Craig Gordon, he has also splashed out on a 'who's who' of Premier League sulkers, presumably in a bid to ensure dressing room disharmony. It is also no coincidence that three of Les Sulkers are French, in Malbranque, Chimbonda and Cisse. Meanwhile, the likes of El-Hadji Diouf are hardly renowned for being pillars of selflessness.

It looks like this is all potentially coming to a head after four consecutive defeats, and I would not be surprised if Keane dished out some Joe Kinnear-esque choice words in the next few days, either at his team, or at his board. Sunderland's midweek Carling Cup defeat at home to Blackburn was their fifth loss in a row to Paul Ince's side, and you've got to think that Blackburn are a good thing to dispatch of the Black Cats once more at odds-against.

Fulham vs Tottenham



Craven Cottage

Bad news for Harry Redknapp's Tottenham, as resident laughing stock Heurelho Gomes was passed fit and included in the squad to face Fulham. All this, after an eventful midweek Carling Cup match for the Brazilian, who conceded two shockers before being stretchered off the field after a nasty collision. Suffice to say, Gomes has had better nights.

Fulham are playing well under Roy Hodgson and beginning to pick up some decent results. However, Harry Redknapp has instilled a new self-belief in the Spurs players, and this will be a hard-fought match. Tottenham are on the short side but I prefer to take Fulham to score first. Spurs can often leave things late whereas Fulham have performed excellently at home, winning four out of six matches.

It is also worth remembering that Fulham are unbeaten in their last six home games against Tottenham. With the likes of Bent up front and a house of cards for their back four, it is tempting to have a cheeky punt on there being a fair few goals in this one, but given Fulham's propensity for low-scoring games this season, we'll give it a miss.

West Ham vs Portsmouth



Upton Park

West Ham are in freefall, and much like Sunderland, they only have themselves to blame. I voiced my concerns about Gianfranco Zola as their manager, and it seemed a farce at the time that his 'big name' had taken him to the heights of Premiership manager, with virtually negligible experience in the field! If people were hired and fired according to how stylish and suave they were, Joe Kinnear would probably be serving hamburgers in McDonald's with Gordon Brown as his easily ruffled and eminently prankable branch manager.

Portsmouth are hardly faring better, but at least they have a relatively decent 'comfort zone' for Tony Adams to settle into, after a decent start to the season courtesy of the world's foremost expert in 'next manager markets' in Harry Redknapp. West Ham have lost five of their last six matches and are seriously struggling. They must be opposed here.

West Bromwich Albion vs Chelsea



The Hawthorns

Chelsea have hit a slight rough patch, culminating in a home defeat on penalties to Burnley in midweek. They will look to hit back with a vengeance, with WBA as the unfortunate victims. The Baggies are languishing in bottom place, and their relatively attacking style of play will do them no favours here, against a side who really should cut them open with consummate ease.

Chelsea are 6-0-0 on the road this season, conceding just one goal whilst hammering in 16. This is a remarkable achievement and while the 'win to nil' option is tempting, the Asian Handicap is even better. Chelsea to win this one comfortably.

Everton vs Middlesbrough



Goodison Park, KO @ 1:30 GMT, Sunday

Middlesbrough are an incredibly frustrating team to bet on, but they are worth opposing here. They struggle against well-organised teams and Everton are starting to hit their straps, with three consecutive wins. Cahill, Fellaini and Arteta are showcased in a midfield worthy of a Top 4 slot, and they are once again beginning to look like the formidable side of last season which saw off mid-table teams with ease.

Barclays Premier League

			| Home					| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	12	3	2	1	13	3	6	0	0	16	1	25	29
2	Liverpool	12	5	1	0	11	4	4	1	1	8	4	11	29
3	Arsenal	12	4	1	1	14	8	3	1	2	11	5	12	23
4	Man Utd	11	4	1	0	13	4	2	2	2	7	6	10	21
5	Aston Villa	12	3	2	1	10	7	3	0	3	10	9	4	20
6	Hull	12	2	1	3	5	12	4	1	1	12	7	-2	20
7	Everton	12	1	2	3	6	11	4	1	1	12	9	-2	18
8	Middlesbrough	12	3	1	2	7	9	2	1	3	6	8	-4	17
9	Portsmouth	12	3	1	2	8	6	2	1	3	5	12	-5	17
10	Fulham	11	4	1	1	8	4	0	1	4	2	6	0	14
11	Bolton	12	2	2	2	6	5	2	0	4	5	8	-2	14
12	Stoke	12	4	0	2	10	9	0	2	4	3	10	-6	14
13	Man City	12	3	0	3	16	8	1	1	4	8	12	4	13
14	West Ham	12	3	0	3	11	11	1	1	4	5	11	-6	13
15	Blackburn	12	1	2	3	3	10	2	2	2	10	12	-9	13
16	Tottenham	12	2	1	3	6	6	1	2	3	9	12	-3	12
17	Wigan	12	1	2	3	3	8	2	1	3	10	8	-3	12
18	Newcastle	12	3	1	2	9	7	0	2	4	6	13	-5	12
19	Sunderland	12	2	1	3	6	8	1	2	3	4	10	-8	12
20	West Brom	12	2	1	3	8	11	1	1	4	2	10	-11	11

NJ's Bets:

HT/FT draw/Liverpool vs Bolton - 1pt @ 4.9 (Betfair)

Arsenal to beat Aston Villa AH -1 - 4.5pts @ 1.9 (Bet365)

Blackburn to beat Sunderland - 3pts @ 2.2 (Victor Chandler)

Fulham to score first against Tottenham - 3pts @ 2.2 (Paddy Power)

Portsmouth to beat West Ham (draw no bet) 3pts @ 2.1 (Canbet)

Chelsea to beat WBA AH -1.5 - 4.5pts @ 1.95 (Bet365)

Everton to beat Middlesbrough - 3pts @ 1.99 (188Bet)

Nishant Joshi