Premiership Tips Betting Blog

After the sacking of Gary Megson yesterday, Peter Reid and Paul Jewell have become the front runners for the job according to the bookmakers.  Reid hasn't managed in England for nearly 5 years, although became Stoke City's assistant manager back in September.  Jewell has found himself amongst the favourites for a few jobs despite the mess he caused at Derby County.  The up-and-coming Darren Ferguson is amongst the favourites, as well as the experienced Alan Curbishley.  Mark Hughes may hold out for a bigger job and Owen Coyle has said he wants to stay on at Burnley.  Here is a list of the favourites and selected candidates:


Peter Reid 7/2 Skybet
Paul Jewell 9/2 888sport
Darren Ferguson 7/1 Stan James
Alan Curbishley 10/1 Skybet
Mark Hughes 10/1 Boylesports
Owen Coyles 12/1 Boylesports
Sven Goran Eriksson 14/1 VC Bet
Gareth Southgate 20/1 Boylesports
Steve Coppell 22/1 Stan James
Nigel Pearson 25/1 Ladbrokes
Jim Gannon 25/1 Skybet

English Premier League
Birmingham are involved in a lot of low-scoring games.  An early kickoff with Chelsea today should continue the trend.  It looks like one of those games that 1 goal will be enough to win it.  7/10 for under 2.5 goals looks good, add to an accumulator if needbe.

Sunderland and Everton have defensive problems and this should allow both teams to put a few past each other. I feel confident in both Louis Saha and Darren Bent in particular in this match and this match looks good value for over 2.5 goals at 11/10.

Aston Villa stand out to me tomorrow at 9/2. They won here last season, are on top form and Arsenal are flattering to deceive anybody at the moment. If Fabregas doesn't return, I'm laying the Gunners.

English Championship

Newcastle at 8/11 against a Sheffield Wednesday team who are out of sorts at the moment looks great price. Hopefully the Toon Army have prepared well over Christmas and continue their fine form in this one. They are 21/10 -1.5 goals and 29/5 -2 goals with the Asian Handicap.

English Football League One
Leeds United are the safest bet in League One. They are 4/11 before kickoff but are 1/1 -1 with skybet.

Labels: weekend football tips

English Premier League
I agree with our Premier League Tipster that Aston Villa are a good bet today to beat Stoke at 1/2.  Whether you want to add this to a double, treble, accumulator is up to you.  You can find these odds at bet365 where Villa are 11/8 to win to nil having kept 3 consecutive clean sheets.

Tottenham are scoring at will while they have problems at the back.  Blackburn's defence struggles to deal with pace and scored from a set piece midweek.  Tottenham at 13/10 with Totesport is a good price if they can outscore their opponents, while 19/20 for over 2.5 goals is a good selection too.

Most of West Ham's games have gone over recently, helped by their shocking defence.  Chelsea are capable of scoring at will and will be looking to bang a few in today to get back into form.  Over 2.5 goals is a must for this game.

English Championship
Queens Park Rangers form has dipped whilst Sheffield United are coming into theirs.  The R's have scored a few in their home games this season and even 4 at Pride Park, while they don't have a strong defence.  This should make for a high-scoring game today in the Championship and I'm taking over 2.5 goals at evens today.

English Football League One

Gillingham are at 4/7 with Skybet to beat struggling Stockport County at the Priestfield Stadium today.

Labels: weekend football tips

The opening knockout round of the Europa League was drawn today. With 8 teams dropping out of the Champions League to join the 24 qualifiers from the group stages there are some strong teams in this competition to make for an exciting knockout stage.

The bookmakers have Liverpool favourites because of their previous record in the Champions League. This year they look dreadful and I don't give them a chance of winning this tournament. Their odds are far too short to touch. The value is currently with reigning holders Shakhtar Donetsk, while many people are liking Benfica because of their performances over Everton in the group stage. None of the Spanish and German teams should be ignored either but I have to question how seriously Juventus and Liverpool will take this competition with pressure on them in their own domestic leagues. Here are the favourites amongst other selected teams I am not completely writing off with the best places to find the best odds:

Liverpool 13/2 Totesport
Valencia 12/1 Stan James
Juventus 14/1 VC Bet
Benfica 14/1 Bet365
Shakhtar Donetsk 14/1 Bet365
Roma 16/1 Stan James
Hamburg 16/1 Paddy Power
Werder Bremen 16/1 Bet365
Villarreal 25/1 Stan James
Marseille 22/1 Stan James
Everton 25/1 Skybet
Galatasaray 25/1 Bet365
Rubin Kazan 33/1 Ladbrokes
Atletico Madrid 33/1 Stan James
Wolfsburg 33/1 Boylesports
Athletico Bilbao 50/1 Skybet
Salzburg 661/1 Skybet

Labels: europa league odds

The defending champions whom arguably got the worse part of the deal when Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to the Nou Camp and Samuel Eto'o went the other way. They're still dangerous with the likes of Lionel Messi and despite being shocked at home to Rubin Kazan came through as group winners. They drew Stuttgart in the first knockout round today.

Top of the Premier League and deserved 2nd favourites in my opinion. While they have been exposed at set pieces defensively and sometimes their positioning in open play, they are fierce going forward and capable of outscoring teams if needbe. Their away performances weren't convincing but cruised through their group. They face Jose Mourinho's Inter in round 2 in the ultimate Premier League v Serie A battle.

With the additional talent bought in over the summer it's fair to say even more has been expected of Real Madrid. Behind Barcelona in La Liga, they are still favourites in many peoples minds to win their domestic league and the Champions League. With Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and co should anyone right them off?

Comfortable group winners and with Michael Owen performing better in Europe than domestically perhaps United have more chance of winning this competition. So experienced at this level, if they can get their attack sorted out by February their odds will shrink. AC Milan in round 2 concludes the Premier League-Serie A battle with both these sides currently placed 2nd in their respective leagues.
Their pace makes them strong contenders against a lot of European sides. Their attacking nature always makes them strong contenders. They've been eliminated by English sides in the last 2 seasons, so avoiding Chelsea and Manchester United is key for them again, as well as the big 2 from Spain. It's Porto in round 2 for the Gunners.
The lack of pace and influx of foreign players could be a reason why the Premier League seems to be of a higher talent than Serie A. The reigning champions and leaders don't look good on paper against Chelsea in the second round, but in Samuel Eto'o they have one of the world's best. Can the Italians get the better of the English? If so these odds are worth taking, but I wouldn't touch them before they meet Chelsea.
A regular team in this stage of the Champions League, Bayern Munich cannot be ignored because of their record. If they hold onto Franck Ribery in January they'll have their mighty wing partnership in tact. Luca Toni needs to be able to perform against the favourites if Bayern are to go all the way. As for now, I don't fancy their chances. Fiorentina in round 2...

AC Milan appear to be in a higher position in Serie A than their abilities have shown. However they made it out of a group ahead of Marseille and FC Zurich and make it to the knockout stages. Manchester United will be a test for them in round 2 and even if they were to come through it I wouldn't fancy their chances of going all the way.

It's been 17 years since a French side won this competition. Whilst Lyon have been knocking on the door in recent seasons, Bordeaux have come through in 2009. Keeping a hold of Marouane Chamakh is key. They have some good attacking players and are playing well under Laurent Blanc. It would take an FC Porto-like effort to win it but they can cause an upset or two at least. Olympiakos in round 2 for them.

Labels: champions league odds

Despite being outside of the relegation zone, Hull City are still favourites to go down.  Their odds are unlikely to get any better from here.  Without Jimmy Bullard they don't look like winning and it seems like a matter of time before they return to the Championship.
Portsmouth have financial problems and are already 5 points adrift with a tough Christmas schedule.  Deserving to be amongst the favourites and are relying on Avram Grant to have brought luck with him to Fratton Park.

Wolves have never avoided relegation previously and manager Mick McCarthy has a history of taking teams down from the Premier League.  They don't give up, but there is little Premier League talent in their squad.  Even still I think their isn't great value on their odds at the moment.

Burnley only seem capable of picking up points from half of their games at most with shocking away performances.  Currently on a drought, this is a real test for Owen Coyle and his side.  Attacking football was West Brom's undoing last season and Burnley could follow them this season.  Though these odds offer little value with Burnley being 13th.  They can only get worse however.

West Ham are relegation contenders.  They're 19th, losing to their fellow strugglers and could be forced to sell players in January.  A takeover is on the cards however and for that reason I would hold back on betting on these to face relegation.

It takes just a couple of good results to boost your chances of survival in the Premier League and that's the kind of form Bolton Wanderers are on, now unbeaten in 3.  They have 1 or 2 players capable of keeping them up, some experience and might benefit from the lesser experienced sides and managers down there.
An inexperienced manager who thinks his side are better off attacking, Wigan aren't to be ruled out of relegation.  Since their star players were sold last January, they've found no consistency.

Labels: premier league odds

Chelsea's odds shrink again this weekend after extending their lead to 3 points ahead of Manchester United.  Arsenal aren't quite out of it yet and are at respectable odds.  Over the next few weeks, Manchester United's odds to be cut with Chelsea facing some tricky away games at West Ham and Birmingham.  Here are the best odds you can find for the 3 Premier League title contenders:

Chelsea 4/6


Manchester United 12/5


Arsenal 8/1

Labels: premier league odds