Wednesday – Arsenal vs. Barcelona

Wednesday – AS Roma vs. Shakhtar Donetsk

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Chelsea has not been perfect to start 2010/11, but they’ve been close, their only blemish being a 1-0 away loss to Manchester City. In fact, it’s Man City who sit closest to the Blues, four points down. Just a point below them is perennial contender Manchester United, followed two more points behind by Arsenal and Spurs. West Brom is also on 11 points, but no one is giving them a realistic shot at the title – they’re just happy to be well above their relegation rivals.

Man City has a number of things going for them, first and not least that they are the one side to handle Chelsea so far. Arsenal has already lost to the Blues, 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the last match before the international break. United can’t be discounted, especially so early, and there’s a reason that the betting houses have them above City in second position – they’ve gotten where they are this season so far essentially without the services of one Wayne Rooney. When he gets back to form, that’s a different team.

This weekend provides a serious test for Chelsea, as they head out for a tough road trip to Villa Park. It might even be a good time to put down some money on a draw or some result for Aston Villa. Chelsea faces the trip with both Didier Drogba and Lampard out injured. Yossi Benayoun is also out, reportedly for six months or more. Very few other teams could absorb the loss of three high-powered offensive players like that, but so far this season, Florent Malouda has been just as deadly as Drogba, and Salomon Kalou isn’t far behind. Still, especially with a Champions League match coming mid-week, this could be a let-down weekend for the Blues. It’s a hard one to call.

If they survive the congested schedule ahead of them over the next month, Chelsea should be fairly comfortable. They have more than a game lead over all of their rivals, who know that they will have to stay perfect and wait for the Blues to make mistakes. Mistakes, though, have been few and far between so far this season at Stamford Bridge.

anyways added two plays for today just before kickoff

Juventus (ITA-A) +134

Aston Villa (ENG-P) +175

both risking 50.

goog luck

Happy to hit Tours FC yesterday with a 2-0 win, anyways I have locked two plays overnight

Arsenal (ENG-P) -1 +122
50.00 to win 61.00

Blackburn on the road will be tough, but Arsenal are coming off an impressive win over Blackpool and with Chelsea running over teams and Man City and Man U hovering behind, they’ll want to make sure they get three points on the road each time they play a mid table team.

Lyon (FRA-1) +134
50.00 to win 67.00

Lyon just signed pretty boy above Gourcuff and seem to be getting their form back after last week’s win. Win or lose, you won’t see Lyon at this value too often, even on the road

For an in depth look check out John’s Lyon Lorrient match preview

later on I may add one more play from the following

Fullham +138
St Et +110
Valenciennes +124
Helsingborg (SWE-A) +185
Nurnberg (GER-1) +102
Hoffenheim (GER-1) +130

cheers and best of lucks with your bets

* odds taken from willhill

Why Fullham will win +500

Whenever Manchester United come to the Cottage, Fullham bring their A game having won 2-0, and 3-0 in their last two visits. Ex Man U striker and new Fullham manager Mark Hughes will ensure his team is motivated for this match especially after a mediocre 0-0 performance against Bolton.

Why Man Utd will win -175

Man U had a league high 11 wins on the road last year and are in good form despite having Wayne Rooney in a funk. Also the threat of a 3 game losing streak at Craven Cottage in the balance should have the squad extra motivated. There is trouble at keeper as well for their opponents, Schwarzer is doubtful as of post time and there is added distraction of his rumored transfer to
Arsenal.

Why the game will draw (+275)

Don’t expect ball possession to be as lopsided as it was in the Man U / Newcastle game. Man U obviously has the edge in class, but Fullham won’t play defensively, which should reduce the chance of a blowout. Draw backers too can take some solace with Rooney still in a slump.

Top 3 Props
Correct Score Draw 1-1 +700
Total Match Goals u 2.5 -110
Rooney or Berbatov to score first +135

Full list of props

Probable Lineups

Fullham: 4-4-1-1 Schwarzer(doubtful); Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky; Davies, Etuhu, Murphy, Duff; Gera; Zamora.

Manchester United: 4-4-2 Van der Sar; O’Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Valencia, Scholes, Fletcher, Nani; Rooney, Berbatov.

Popular Opinion

Fullham 10.2%
Manchester United 86.6%
Draw 3.3%

My Pick

feature game record 1-2 -100

be sure to check out the Offside’s Fullham and Manchester United sections for the latest info.

What’s your take

Why West Ham will win (+125)

If there were any bright spots in West Ham’s 3-0 loss to Villa last week, it was the play of Pablo Barrera and Frederic Piquionne off the bench. Should the two start on Saturday they could provide a spark for West Ham in their home opener.

Why Bolton will win (+230)

The last six league and cup meetings have resulted in a Bolton win. Striker Kevin Davies has also had a bit of success against the Hammers scoring 8 goals in 10 games against West Ham.

Why the game will draw (+220)

Bolton dominated their last game but still failed the score in their 0-0 draw with Fullham. With West Ham still trying to get some chemistry going, they will look to play a bit more defensively against Bolton

Top 3 Props

Correct Score Draw 1-1 +600
Kevin Davies to score +225
1st Half Goals Under 0.5 +175

Probable Lineups

West Ham: Green, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert, Reid, Parker, Noble, Barrera, Cole, Piquionne.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Robinson, Knight, Steinsson, Cahill, Muamba, Holden, Lee, K Davies, Elmander, Petrov.

Popular Opinion

West Ham 59.7%
Bolton 34.2 %
Draw 6.2%

My Pick:

What’s your take?

Degenerate gamblers unite, the Sky Sports feature game on Monday provides our gambling fix with Manchester United playing hosts to newly promoted Newcastle.

Man U sits as the obvious heavy favorite at -450 (bet 450 win 100) while a Newcastle upset would provide backers with a decent payout at +1100 (bet 100 win 1100) the Draw sits at +500.

With such lopsided odds here is your punting/gambling cheat sheet with the Match Handicap in mind.

*odds provided by willhill

Why Man U will win by more than 2 goals (+170)

With Chelsea winning their opener 6-0, one has to think that Man U will be aiming for a similar result. Sir Alex Ferguson understands the importance of every goal as this year’s Premiership title could come down to goal differential.

Their previous two matches against the MLS All Stars and Chelsea in the Community Shield indicate that Man U won’t sit on the lead either, having scored 4 of their 8 goals in the final 20 minutes.

Why Newcastle won’t lose by 2 goals or more (+110)

In their last two encounters, the Magpies have given Man U a tough challenge having drawn Man U at Old Trafford back in August of 2008 and only losing to them 2-1 in their last Premiership encounter.

Man U will come out gunning this time around, but Newcastle backers can take solace in keeper Steven Harper’s 80% save-to-shots ratio which was the highest in the Championship last season.

Kevin Nolan could put in a strong performance as well. He was recently named captain and was arguably one of the best non-Premiership players last season.

Top 3 Props

Kevin Nolan to score +550
Total Match Goals over 3.5 +175
Man U to score both halves -125

Full set of prop bets found here

Probable Lineups

Manchester United: Van der Sar, O’Shea, Vidic, Evans, Fabio, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Rooney,

Newcastle: Harper; Taylor,Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique; Gutiérrez, Smith, Nolan, Barton; Løvenkrands, Carroll.

Popular Opinion

Man U 87%
Newcastle 4%
Draw 9%

My Take

Man Utd -1 goal -167

Bet is a bit pricey but it is on the safe side. Man U should come out with the three points but its tough to tell what type of effort last year’s Championship winners will bring, especially this early in the season.

I don’t see Newcastle having the same fate as the other two newly promoted squads, Blackpool who had a huge win and West Brom who got blown out

Feature game record 0-1 -100

Whats your take?

For additional info, be sure to check the Offside’s Manchester United and Newcastle sections.

willhill

Chelsea v West Brom – 90 Minutes
1. Chelsea
@ -600

Wigan v Blackpool – 90 Minutes
2. Wigan
@ -133

Blackburn v Everton – 90 Minutes
3. Everton
@ +130

Aston Villa v West Ham – 90 Minutes
4. Aston Villa
@ -110

Man Utd v Newcastle – 90 Minutes
5. Man Utd
@ -400

With Chelsea at -600 (bet 600 win 100) being the most popular, I’m glad to see nothing has changed with the betting public.

*odds provided by willhill

Why Tottenham will win (+140)

Tottenham should come out strong, carrying momentum from last year’s 4th place finish in the table, which put them in the Champions League. Spurs were solid at home last year winning 14 of 19 at White Hart Lane.

They have also won the last 6 at home against Manchester City. Chemistry is slightly in their favor with no serious changes from last year’s squad.

Why Manchester City will win (+200)

A busy offseason which saw the likes of Jerome Boateng, David Silva and Mario Balotelli sign on, proved that Man City is serious about the Premiership title. Super Mario won’t play yet, but several other newcomers like Silva will be looking to make a strong first impression.

There is also a bit of a revenge factor with Tottenham clinching that final Champions League spot in the final week by beating Man City 1-0.

Why the game will draw (+220)

Just three points separated these two last year making these clubs fairly even on paper. 9 of Manchester City’s 13 draws in 2009/10 came on the road.

With City still working on their chemistry look for them to not take too many risk late in the game if it is tied.

Top 3 Props

David Silva 1st to score +800
1st Half Draw 1-1 Draw +650
Jermaine Defoe to score anytime +120

Probable Lineups

Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Palacios, Modric, Kranjcar, Keane, Defoe.

Manchester City: Given, Boateng, K Toure, Lescott, Kolarov, Johnson, Y Toure, De Jong, Silva, Tevez, Adebayor.

Popular Opinion

Man City 43.8%
Spurs 40.6%
Draw 15.6%

My Pick:

Man City to win +200

What’s your take?