It’s A Mug’s Game- Premier League Matchday 24

Arsenal v Blackburn – Saturday 1.00

Arsenal 3/10 (Victor Chandler), Draw 9/2 (SkyBet), Blackburn 12/1 (Bet365)

Arsenal’s last game at the Emirates in the league saw them lose late on to Man United. This season they have had some disappointing results at home it must be said. If Arsene Wenger’s side are to get into the Champions League for next season, then a run of good form is going to have to resurface soon.

Blackburn’s away form this season has kept them in touch in their battle against relegation. They’ve scored in all their away games, which helped them to a draw at Anfield and a victory at Old Trafford. They’re also on for a double over Arsenal as they defeated the Gunners 4-3 earlier in the season at Ewood Park, which was Steve Kean’s first victory of the season.

Tip:: Blackburn might be facing Arsenal at a good time. Arsenal are struggling of late, their early winter run has halted since Christmas. Both teams to score at 23/20 in Stan James is my bet for this match. Blackburn have scored goals in this venue before and have been doing so at every stadium away from Ewood Park.

Norwich v Bolton – Saturday 3.00

Norwich 21/20 (Victor Chandler), Draw 13/5 (Victor Chandler), Bolton 14/5 (Boylesports)

Norwich are off the back of a midweek loss at the Stadium of Light, and probably their tamest performance of the Paul Lambert era. Every side can have an off night so they’ll be looking to immediately bounce back at Carrow Road.

Bolton off the back of a rare draw at home against Arsenal. And with it a rare clean sheet to boot as well. They appear to have overcome their traumatic first half of the season. They’ve come through a tough period by facing Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal in their three most recent games, in that time they took four points, they’ll take a lot of encouragement from the return from those games.

Tip: Norwich won the previous meeting at the Reebok earlier in the season 2-1 at a time when Bolton’s confidence couldn’t have possibly been any lower. This time around Bolton will face a Norwich side that are every bit as confident as that day, but they’ve improved since that day too. Given Bolton’s win or lose nature you’d be inclined to go for ‘’yay’’ or ‘’nay’’- Norwich to win.

QPR v Wolves – Saturday 3.00

QPR 11/10 (Coral), Draw13/5 (Victor Chandler), Wigan 3/1 (PP)

QPR showed good signs away to Aston Villa during the week despite letting a two goal lead slip at Villa Park. Once more Djibril Cisse scored on his debut, the third successive time he has done so in the Premier League. Mark Hughes has instilled belief back into the Hoops. A win here would get them even further away from the bottom three.

Wolves are out of form at a bad time, but added Sebastian Bassong on transfer deadline day on loan from Spurs for the remainder of the season. Mick McCarthy really needs to see his side get something out of this game, they are deeply involved in the relegation battle, a defeat here could spell the end for the Wolves manager.

Tip: A relegation six-pointer, QPR won their most recent of these battles when they beat Wigan 3-1. The Hoops also won the reverse fixture earlier in the season at Molineux 3-0. Wolves simply have to get a result from this fixture. Otherwise alarm bells would ring if they aren’t already. A draw, at best, is all I can see them getting. QPR’s price of 11/10 might not last too long, and with reason.

Stoke v Sunderland- Saturday 3.00 – Live on Setanta Ireland

Stoke 5/4 (Boylesports), Draw 12/5 (Coral), Sunderland 5/2 (Victor Chandler)

Stoke are coming off the back of a loss at Old Trafford and a defeat in their most recent home game at the Brittania Stadium. They have suffered back to back home defeats earlier in the season when Newcastle and QPR both left with three goals and three points.

Sunderland are improving all the time. They’re in a season’s highest 8^th position going into this clash. The Mackems displayed a very impressive demolition job of Norwich during the week, once more Fraizer Campbell was on target for Martin O’Neill’s men. Wayne Bridge represents a good signing for them on deadline day.

Tip: Sunderland’s price is very generous going into this clash. It wouldn’t stun me to see them go into 2/1 or maybe even lower in some outlets. It’s a tough test at the Britannia though, and Stoke are bound to be motivated to gain revenge after Sunderland beat them 4-0 earlier in the season. I’ll be staying on the fence and calling it a draw at 12/5 in SkyBet and Coral.

West Brom v Swansea – Saturday 3.00

West Brom 11/10 (Coral), Draw 12/5 (Victor Chandler), Swansea 3/1 (Victor Chandler)

For West Brom to steer clear of the drop zone they need to start getting more points at home. At The Hawthorns this season they have been very disappointing. QPR in particular will begin to start closing in on them unless the Baggies’ home form improves. They made two good acquisitions on transfer deadline day in signing centre-half Liam Ridgewell and midfielder Keith Andrews.

Swansea were very unlucky not to see out the match at home to ten-man Chelsea on Tuesday night. Having a game this soon should help them get over conceding so late. They dominated the majority of the encounter. Testament to Brendan Rogers and his side that they made very little impact on the January transfer window.

Tip: Both had to settle for draws in midweek. Swansea aren’t great travellers but are capable of grinding out draws on the road. West Brom’s home form is patchy, putting it nicely. These two look likely to share the spoils.

Wigan v Everton – Saturday 3.00

Wigan13/5 (Victor Chandler), Draw12/5 (Coral), Everton 5/4 (BlueSquare)

Wigan are entering a vital phase in their season, they haven’t won a league game in their own backyard since August and that is not near good enough to keep them up if truth be told. They must start winning games at the DW Stadium if they are to survive this season. They are up against it.

Everton come off the back of a victory against league leaders Man City, and they had a good deadline day to boot, bringing in Nikica Jelevic from Rangers but also re-signing Steven Pienaar for the rest of the season on loan from Spurs.

Tip: Everton traditionally begin to get motoring around now, and will only have been boosted by deadline day developments. This could be about to turn into a positive end to the season for David Moyes’ side, and I fancy them to heap more misery on Wigan. 5/4 looks a good price.

Man City v Fulham- Saturday 5.30 – Live on ESPN

Man City 1/3 (Victor Chandler), Draw 23/5 (Betfair), Fulham 10/1 (Boylesports)

Fulham, believe it or not, were the last team to leave the Etihad Stadium with a result in the league after their 1-1 draw there in April of last year. That match was also then Fulham manager Mark Hughes’ first visit back to the club where he was unceremoniously bundled out of in favour of Roberto Mancini. One of the frostiest handshake’s I’ve ever seen.

Leaders Man City go into this having seen their league lead whittled down to a goal difference advantage after defeat at Goodison Park during the week. The comfort is their 100% record this season on home soil.

Tip: Everything is too short to back, City to win is 3/10 plus handicap(-1) is odds-on too. City would be expected to have too much for Fulham on home soil. I think Fulham will get a goal at the Etihad, and for both teams to score goes at evens in William Hill.

Newcastle v Aston Villa – Sunday 1.30- Live on Sky Sports 1

Newcastle 11/10 (Betfred), Draw5/2 (Bodog), Aston Villa 14/5 (Betfair)

Newcastle survived an Ewood Park barrage to get the three points there on Wednesday night, while Villa had to come back from a two goal deficit to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to QPR. I’ll presume there won’t be a repeat of the scoreline on this ground from last season, where Newcastle gave Villa a 6-0 thrashing.

Newcastle are back in the top five, and providing we have no shock winners of the two domestic cup competiton a return to European football could well be on the cards at the Sports Direct Arena for Alan Pardew’s side. The same won’t be said for Villa this season however. Mid-table looks the best they can get from the season.

Tip: Newcastle have probably been the league’s best story this season, while Villa haven’t reached any dizzy heights during this campaign. These two played out a draw at Villa Park earlier in the season but Newcastle have been good at home this year and I think they’ll do enough to win this match.

Chelsea v Man United – Sunday 4.00 – Live on Sky Sports 1

Chelsea 13/8 (Ladbrokes), Draw23/10 (StanJames) Man United 19/10 (Coral)

If anyone has noticed so far, I seem to have jinxed every Chelsea match. They now have the unexpected sight of Newcastle and Liverpool directly below them after the latest batch of league results. It leaves big pressure on Andre Villas Boas’ side to maintain their excellent record over United in this fixture. United haven’t won at Stamford Bridge in a league game since 2002.

Man United’s pressure has finally paid off for them tas they moved joint top with Man City, but they have two very tough games coming up in Sunday’s clash with Chelsea and the following weekend a clash against Liverpool. Win both and momentum could swing United’s way in the title race.

Tip: It’s a tough game to call. Chelsea have the big performance in them, and I think they need one as Liverpool and Newcastle could inch even closer to them if they slip up on Sunday. Sir Alex Ferguson will surely ram it home to his side that now isn’t the time to undo the good work of midweek. I think both managers could be disappointed. I’ll remain on the fence and go for a draw. 2-2 could be worth a bet at 14/1 in Boylesports.

Liverpool v Tottenham – Monday 8.00 – Live on Sky Sports 1

Liverpool 6/5 (PP), Draw 12/5 (Coral), Tottenham 11/4 (Victor Chandler)

Liverpool’s home form could turn out to be the factor that holds them back from finishing in the top four. Arsenal and Chelsea don’t look bulletproof by any stretch this campaign, a hige chance to finish fourth is waiting to be grasped. Despite being unbeaten at Anfield so far this season, Kenny Dalglish will know they have drawn far too many games at home and to sides that they should be capable of beating at that.

Tottenham will be looking to put even further distance between themselves and the sides below them in the table. During the week they went even further clear of fourth place Chelsea and at the same time inched a bit closer to the league leaders Man City, by beating Wigan 3-1. New signing Ryan Nelson is expected to be included in their match day squad for this clash.

Tip: Liverpool’s home form would incline you to think that 6/5 to win this game isn’t a good enough price to take them on. Spurs will know what everyone else will have done going into this game but Anfield is a difficult place to go and win. It would be a huge win if they got it, as they did at this venue last season, but I’ll go for yet another draw in Liverpool’s season.