Yet again, my weekend has been dominated by The X Factor. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but when Laura was eliminated the show sunk to new depths. To keep it relevant, there was some money to be made in X Factor betting. Prior to Saturday, Laura was the bookies second favourite to win the whole thing (you could of got 66-1 from Hills and Pagebet on Laura being eliminated). Daniel seems to dodge bullets from all angles, and I reckon he’ll be alright next week. If you want anywhere to stick your money, I’d put in on Rachel to be eliminated next. Sadly, the bookies seem to agree with yours truly, putting her second favourite to go - best you can do is 3/1 with Coral.

Anyway, back to business. Not the greatest weekend tips wise, although I did plump for the Liverpool correct score rather than the outright. A £1 unit stake on each of last weeks selections returned £14.74 for a £10 stake with a strike rate of 40%. More Importantly, Mark “BBC Sport Football Expert” Lawrenson also scored four correct results - a draw for this week.

I’ll tell you something for free: it’s never boring as a West Ham fan. After Collison put them ahead with 27 minutes to go against Everton, they must have thought they were looking at their first win in six attempts. Imagine their surprise when the game fell apart quicker than a Kerry Katona interview; three goals in four minutes sent West Ham fans home blowing more fuses than bubbles.

Arsenal v Aston Villa

I continue to be amazed by the speed at which fans call for the heads of their managers. The Arsenal fans who called for Wenger’s head prior to the Man Utd game are probably hiding under a very large blanket with the words “Warning: May Contain Idiots” written on it. Arsenal will be re-energised by the victory at Utd, and considering that their home form is good (excepting the defeat by Hull), it might be difficult for Villa to find a way in at the Emirates. Villa are quite erratic away from home so far and the last time Villa beat Arsenal in the Premier League was 10 years ago. All seems pretty self-explanatory. Did someone shout Hull? Prediction: Arsenal Home Win @ 1/2 (price is a bit short here if you ask me, so I’d get on the score - Arsenal 2-0 Villa @ 5/1)

Blackburn v Sunderland

Oh, how I look forward to this game. Blackburn’s home record is fantastically abysmal. Overall, they’ve taken three points from their last six games. Three must be lucky for Monsieur Ince and Co., because it’s also the number of goals they’ve scored at home in last six games in the Premier League. In the midweek cup game, Sunderland dominated for large periods but didn’t get anything out of the game after Blackburn scored two in five minutes. This game could go either way, so I’m going to meet in the middle. Prediction: Draw @ 12/5

Bolton v Liverpool

Lots of people who know people reckon this year is Liverpool’s year in terms of the Premier League. It’s not difficult to see why either. Liverpool crept above Chelsea on Saturday while they weren’t looking, and many are tipping Liverpool to sit themselves there permanently after Christmas. With the Liverpool defence looking solid this season, I doubt Bolton have it in them to turn over a Liverpool team which is normally pretty good on the road (midweek permitting). Out of interest, investment bankers have recently issued a stark warning about the profitability of Liverpool in the current economic crisis (insert joke about Benitez selling shellsuits at a Car Boot). Prediction: Liverpool Away Win @ 4/6

Fulham v Tottenham

Fair play to Fulham last week, who soundly shut me up by beating Newcastle 2-1. That said, had Michael Owen aimed for the goal and not the International Space Station from six yards out, things could have been very different. But I’m not bitter.  Spurs did well for themselves on Sunday - while outplayed for a fair share of the game, they went home with three points, mainly thanks to Darren Bent. If you’d of asked me before the midweek Cup game, I’d of said that the Spurs run of good form had to come to an end soon. After watching them midweek, and their discovery that playing down the line is allowed, I reckon they’ll sail past Fulham away from home. Prediction: Tottenham Away Win @ 13/10

Manchester Utd v Stoke

Alex Ferguson will have been feeling somewhat hard done by to leave with nothing from the Emirates. For the independent, it was good to watch. Fergie’s side very rarely underperform against the minnows of the league, so you can expect Stoke to get a bit of a bashing on Saturday. With some quite evident scrapping during the game against Wigan on the weekend, they’ll probably be too busy beating each other up to notice Utd putting three/four goals past them. Prediction: Home Win @ 1/7 (the price here is shorter than Paul Daniel’s trousers. For value, get on Man Utd 3-0 @  11/2).

Newcastle v Wigan

Wigan go to St. James Park looking for some well needed points. Newcastle are looking better at home, and Wigan have aren’t exactly wallowing in success; away from home they’ve won one in six. Newcastle come off the back of an excellent win at home to Villa, and they should shaft Wigan this weekend. Interestingly, all six of the meetings between these sides in the Premier League have been won by the team at home. Newcastle all the way. Prediction: Newcastle Home Win @ 21/20

West Brom v Chelsea

“Ho Ho Ho” or “Ha Ha Ha”. Either one of these would have sufficed for the Chelsea v Burnley game on Wednesday. Some West Brom fans might think this represents a chance for them to take some points from Chelsea on the weekend. The level of delusion required to come to this conclusion is, quite frankly, incredible. Chelsea will see the Carling Cup exit as water off a very successful duck’s back. Expect them to score two or three goals here past West Brom. The Baggies must be feeling it at the bottom of the table. Prediction: Chelsea Away Win @ 3/10 (again, the price here is shocking. Go for the correct score, 0-3, at 6/1).

West Ham v Portsmouth

LLLLDL - not some kind of secret language, but the results from West Ham’s last six games. Unsurprisingly, this is the worst form in the Premiership. Big Tone was manning the Happy Ship Portsmouth as they bagged an important win against Sunderland. It’s a tight call, but I think Portsmouth will edge it. For those who care, King o’ Stats (BBC) tells us that that Portsmouth are due a win sequentially, as their last five Premier League visits to London have alternated between a loss and a win. How exciting. Prediction: Portsmouth Away Win @ 15/8

Everton v Middlesborough

Both teams have been in pretty reasonable form this season, with both coming into this weekend on the back of a four game unbeaten run. These two currently sit neatly next to each other in the table, and I can see it being reasonably tight at Goodison on Saturday. That said, I think Everton have the edge - Arteta is looking well so far, and gives me all the confidence I need to bet on my homeboys. No diggity. Prediction: Everton Home Win @ 5/6

Hull v Man City

A lot of people are suggesting that the Hull bubble will soon burst. It’s an interesting one for Mark Hughes. After receiving the magic vote of confidence, he’ll want his boys to assert themselves and effectively force the doubters to shut up. Oddly, Hull’s home form is much worse than their away form, and I can see that trend continuing on Sunday. Prediction: Man City Away Win @ 7/5

Treble: Blackburn Draw; Liverpool Win; Newcastle Win

This entry was posted on Friday, November 14th, 2008 by Dean Kavanagh and is filed under Football Texpertise. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.