Tip-Ex -- Sports betting and odds comparison service for gamblers and bookmakers: Bets, odds, betting tips and best prices.

Weekend Soccer – By Chris.

The Premiership

Arsenal   -  Aston Villa         1.65  -  7.00
Maybe I am overreacting but it is quite possible that Arsenal lost the league title last week. Dropping those points at Birmingham was such an embarrassment. Why did they stop playing, when they were 2-1 up and only facing ten Birmingham players on the pitch? United certainly did not stop performing at Newcastle, did they? (5-1 win). One positive from the Birmingham game was the two Walcott goals and the fantastic Arsenal display during the first 15 minutes of the second half. With Da Silva and Van Persie sidelined Arsenal have Adebayor and Bendtner left as strikers, but also Walcott can play like a forward. Diabu could be back tomorrow, but Eboue is once again suspended.

When Villa defeated Reading at the weekend there was no room for the two internationals O Mellberg and S Petrov in their squad. Petrov has no fresh form and O Mellberg had some injury problems. Mellberg is on his way back and he could feature in this game. Villa are one of the strongest away sides in the Premiership (5-6-2) and Arsenal travel to Milano in a couple of days. Conclusion: I will not be backing this low priced home win (1.65).

Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 1

Birmingham   -   Tottenham        4.05   -   2.10
The home win looks a bit over priced, especially if you recall the first meeting between these two sides this season. At White Hart Lane the Swede, S Larsson, scored the winning goal for Birmingham with an absolute screamer. Tottenham are stronger now but at the same time Birmingham enjoy the home advantage. The home side will be without their suspended defender M Taylor and the injured O Kapo. Another defender L Ridgewell is a major injury doubt and Jaidi, Schmitz or S Kelly are waiting to replace him. My favourite, McSheffrey, will come in for Kapo.

I backed Tottenham to win the Carling Cup final but unfortunately for my bet they failed to win during normal time. The Tottenham position in the table is indifferent to tell the truth, but it does not matter much now. They will play in Europe next season and they are among the last 16 in the UEFA Cup. As a matter of fact they face the Dutch champions PSV on Thursday. L King could be rested tomorrow and his colleague Woodgate is considered an injury doubt. Birmingham should be the more motivated side tomorrow (4.05).

Birmingham 4 Tottenham 1

Derby   -  Sunderland        3.35   -   2.35
I hear the Derby boss making excuses most every week " I am sorry that we are playing so poorly" and so on. Same story last week after their 0-2 loss at Wigan. One thing is sure, the players will not improve their game with that kind of remark but maybe it does not matter as each and every one seems to have given up. Not their striker K Miller, however, he had a good game against Wigan. It looks like coach Jewell will leave out R Savage of this match. Their only interesting player, Giles Barnes, will not be involved tomorrow.

Derby are 1-3-9 at home and they face Sunderland, the worst travellers in the Premiership (0-2-11). With A Reid and Leadbitter in their starting line up I thought that Sunderland had a decent line up last week. Only a second half penalty for Portsmouth made the difference. Maybe Sunderland are getting closer to their first three pointer away from home, or to put it bluntly, if  they should fail to defeat Derby tomorrow they will probably not win any away games this season. The Sunderland defender D Collins is out suspended but Higginbotham should be back. Their winger and match winner, K Richardson, has a 50/50 chance of playing. I hate non winning sides, but here we have two of them. My choice has to be the away win (2.35).

Derby 0 Sunderland 0

Fulham   -   Manchester Utd         11.80   -   1.36
With Dempsey, Kamara and McBride from the start Fulham made it clear that they were after the three points at home to West Ham last week. Offensive ambition is one thing and actually scoring goals is something else. Fulham lost again and they could not score this time either. They have failed to score in four of their last five Premiership fixtures, that is relegation form. Simons Davies, the Fulham midfielder, will be back for tomorrow's match but Andreasen will be suspended.

United play against Lyon next week and could be that coach Ferguson will rest one or two of his key players. A slightly weakened United squad is what can be expected, but I do not think that the Fulham players will be that relieved when they see the United starting line up. Away win but I have no use at all for the odds on display (1.36).

Fulham 0 Man Utd 3

Manchester City   -   Wigan         1.80   -   5.50
Line up Everton on the other side and M City will not find the net in 100 years. That is the way it looks anyway. With Elano totally out of form City only really have one creative midfielder at their disposal and that is M Petrov. Now Petrov will be suspended for the next three games and his absence makes me wonder if City will be able to unlock the Wigan defence tomorrow. I have my doubts and I am leaning towards the away win here (5.50). City have now also lost their key defender M Richards to an injury and he will be out for a month or so. Goodbye Europe!  With Petrov absent I expect Elano to play tomorrow, maybe Corluka as well. 

For a struggling side Wigan have been doing reasonably well lately with three wins in their last six games. Marlon King and E Heskey can cause problems for most defenders in the Premiership and maybe the more direct Wigan play will work against City. I am well aware that the Wigan defence is nowhere near the standard of their Everton colleagues, but at the same time, Petrov is missing for City. Backing the away win (5.50).

Man City 0 Wigan 0

Middlesbrough   -  Reading        1.89   -   4.79
At the start of the season I suggested that both these sides risked being relegated come May.I was dead right about Reading while Boro have proven me wrong. Most people, including this myself, thought that Reading overachieved in their first Premiership season and that is why we expected a more difficult second season. Unfortunately for the club the people around the club did not realise this and faced the second season with more or less their same, rather limited squad.

Reading are on a losing run and have an awful away record this season (0-3-10). Coppell is talking about making chances in his defence this time. Out with Sonko and Cisse and in with Ingimarsson and Bikey.

Middlesbrough broke their positive sequence by losing to Liverpool, 2-3 at Anfield. They nevertheless played a strong match and their football has improved. They played an FA Cup game with S United in midweek (1-0 a.e.t)  and this involvement could possibly work in favour of Reading tomorrow. Boro will be without their suspended striker Aladiere and we will probably see A Alves from the start this time. Betting wise, I will skip this match. 

Middlesbrough 0 Reading 1

Newcastle   -   Blackburn         2.69   -   2.83
Keegan has been in charge at Newcastle for seven games and together they have yet to win a match. OK, they have faced M United and Arsenal twice. Home draws with Bolton and Middlesbrough are their so called positive results. Newcastle have lost their keeper S Given to an injury but hope to include O Martins, Emre and S Carr again, maybe also Viduka. Martins will play tomorrow, finally joining Owen up front but the other three could be missing again.

Gamst-Pedersen scored at last for his Blackburn last week in their 4-1 win vs Bolton. The three points aside, Gamst scoring again was the best that could happen to Blackburn. I have very seldom been impressed by Blackburn this season, but there is no denying that they are hard to beat. Only two league losses (vs Chelsea and Arsenal) in their last ten league matches. One injury doubt and that is D Dunn. The outcome? A score draw! (3.30).

Newcastle 0 Blackburn 1

West Ham    -   Chelsea          5.00   -   1.95
West Ham also belong to the hard to beat sides these days. D Ashton scored for the W Ham reserves this week but Curbishley seems to prefer C Cole and Boa Morte up front. Maybe Cole and Ashton do not work well together, or something like that.

Chelsea have a fully fit squad with all their star players at their disposal. Maybe Ballack, Kalou and J Cole, who all came on as substitutes in the Carling Cup final will have starting roles tomorrow. Shevchenko is also included in their big squad. Hopefully Chelsea will be more offensive in the future. Both Anelka and Drogba were actually included in their starting line up against Tottenham the Chelsea attitude was a disappointment. Quite simply too negative. Olympiakos are awaiting in a few days but at the same time Chelsea must not drop too many league points and they have to attack W Ham tomorrow.

Theory and practice are two different things, but I do hope for some offensive football from both sides. W Ham defeated Liverpool at Upton Park but they will not be winners this time. Away win! (1.95).

West Ham 0 Chelsea 4

Bolton    -   Liverpool           4.90   -   1.80
Tough last week for Bolton. Only a couple of days after their heroic display against A Madrid they had to visit Ewood Park for a league game with Blackburn. They lost the match 1-4 but the score line was a bit harsh on Bolton. No game for Bolton in midweek and I guess that we will see Megson's team making it very difficult for Liverpool on Sunday. The usual Bolton job, in other words.

J Carragher will be back for Liverpool and Benitez has no major problems ahead of this game. Also Skrtel and D Agger are available again. Benitez is promising less of rotation in the future. I will believe it when I see it. I am not happy with the odds on the away win (1.80). Quite some time has passed since Liverpool won away from home in the league and it was against Derby (2-1). The winner came very late. The draw then (3.60).

Bolton 1 Liverpool 3

Everton   -   Portsmouth         1.91   -   4.90
Strong game by Everton away to M City and at the moment Everton seem to be in much better form than Portsmouth. The Everton defence looked water tight against City and they could easily have scored another two or three goals. One of their most influential players, Arteta, was not fit to pla, but he should be back for this game.

Pompey managed another far from convincing 1-0 win at the weekend, this time at home to Sunderland. The week before a fortutious 1-0 cup win vs Preston. Their squad looks perfect enough but the African Cup took its toll and Pompey need more time to find the right balance again. So it seems anyway. Likely home win (1.91).

Everton 3 Portsmouth 1

Serie A

Milan   -  Lazio        1.97   -   4.50
Sensational odds on the home win (1.97). It has to do with the Milan - Arsenal second leg on Tuesday. At the same time Milan are only on 5th spot in the league and they just have to finish in the top four. Kaka will not play tomorrow but Pirlo should be back as well as Gattuso, Kaladze and Jankulowski. Nesta will be rested again.

Lazio have been terribly poor in their away games so far this season (1-6-5). I guess that the Lazio players mostly want this season to come to an end. It has been an ordeal for anyone involved with the club. For this game Behrami will be back from his suspension. The home win then (1.97).

AC Milan 1 Lazio 1

Roma   -   Parma           1.75   -   6.20
Real Madrid are awaiting Roma on Wednesday. They played the final with Inter in midweek and in between these monster games they have to face Parma tomorrow. An improved Parma side, close to winning their first away game last week (4-4 at Torino) and in fact defeating Udinese earlier this week. Obviously Roma will have motivation problems this weekend and I would not be surprised to see Spalletti resting some of his leading players, including Totti. Out for sure are  Mexes and Cassetti, but Cicinho and Panucci will be back. Antunes could earn a starting role in defence.

Gasbarroni, who scored twice against Torino, will be playing for Parma again and competiton is stiff up front at the moment. The home win is of course over priced (1.75) considering the lousy Parma away record (0-5-7) but this bet I will skip. 

Roma 4 Parma 0

Cagliari   -   Genoa         2.70   -   2.92
One of many must win games for Cagliari but I doubt their winning potential. OK, they won their last home match 1-0 vs Lazio, but it says more about the present Lazio standard. Cagliari score at most one goal and I do not think that Genoa will be score less in this match. Cagliari welcome back their midfielder Fini, but they lose Agostini to a suspension. It also looks like Jeda will be missing.

Genoa have to do without their midfielders Konko and Paro. Paro was injured after 18 minutes of the Napoli encounter and he was replaced by Juric. Rubinho returns from his suspension. The table does not lie. Genoa could reach a place in Europe next season. Probably not, but they are very much in the race. I will opt for the away win (2.92).

Cagliari 2 Genoa 1

Empoli   -   Siena       2.33   -   4.00
Tuscany derby and the stakes are extremely high this time. Influential Giovinco will be back for the home side as well as Piccolo. We can expect to see Saudati up front supported by Vannuchi and Giovinco. No Locatelli or Galloppa for Siena. Only Galloppa played in midweek when Maccarone scored their very late winner against Cagliari. Bertotto and De Ceglie could be back. Siena will not sit back and I expect a cracking derby. 1X for me but I will probably pick the draw (3.00).

Empoli 0 Siena 2

Juventus   -   Fiorentina         2.05   -   4.60
Tempting odds on the home win (2.05). Mutu is not ready to play for Fiorentina, Semioli and Liverani are also on the sidelines. Pazzini will start up front and two of Santana, M Jörgensen or Papa Waiga will join him. The home side will be without the suspended Nedved but another key player, Trezeguet, is fit again. Suspended as well are Chiellini and Zanetti. Tiago could earn a starting role on the midfield. The way I see it Fiorentina cannot defeat a team like Juventus without their ace Mutu. At best they can hope for a 0-0 or a 1-1 draw, but my pick will be the home win (2.05).

Juventus 2 Fiorentina 3

Livorno   -   Catania        2.20   -  4.05
They have played their last three games without their injured striker Tavano and they have lost them all. I am talking about Livorno of course, now in the relegation zone. Tavano is back for this match. Maybe the return of Tavano will lift the spirits of his colleagues but I cannot really see his physical presence making that much of a difference.

Both Colucci and Baiocco are out suspended for Catania, but Spinesi will probably be back.With Spinesi playing Catania will revert to their favoured 4-3-3 formation again. Izco and Bigianti are in contention for starting roles. I rank Catania higher than Livorno and I prefer the way they go about their football. Still they have yet to win an away game and this fact lets me down. OK, another draw (3.00).

Livorno 1 Catania 0

Napoli   -   Inter        4.00   -   2.25
Questionable Napoli form but they come with a strengthened side for this match. Lavezzi is ready to play again, Zalayeta, Santacroce and Cannavaro as well. Their defender Domizzi is out suspended.

Inter lost Maxwell to an injury in midweek. Another defender Burdisso is out suspended and a third defender Cordoba is on their injury list. That leaves Maicon, Materazzi, Chivu and N Rivas. It is fortunate to have big squads. The Inter coach Mancini will not use Ibrahimovic or J Cruz this time either and Cambiasso will start on the bench. Pele or Maniche will play from the start instead of Cambiasso.

Napoli will have a fantastic crowd for this match and maybe they are facing Inter at the right time, just a couple of days after their mega fixture against Roma. I have to oppose Inter again (4.00). 

Napoli 1 Inter 0

Reggina   -   Palermo        2.63   -   3.15
A rather poor Lazio side was too strong for Reggina earlier this week. Not much stronger however as a Lazio penalty was all that separated the two sides. Before that Reggina won their home game with Juventus and it is probably fair to say that they must win this derby game. They will be strengthened by the return of Amoruso and Lanzaro, but Modesto risks missing another game.

Palermo will miss the suspended Migliaccio. Guana will probably play on his position. A fully motivated Palermo side would not return home empty handed from this match but I prefer Palermo against the better sides in Serie A. Where do I end up? 1X, I guess.

Reggina 0 Palermo 0

Sampdoria   -   Torino         2.06   -   4.75
Cassano will be back for the home side while Accardi and Bellucci only have outside chances of recovering. Sala and Zenoni are on the injury list. Sampdoria, without Cassano, lost big time to Atalanta in midweek. Away from home and no Cassano - a tricky combination for Sampdoria. This weekend at home (7-4-1) and with Cassano playing is a much better combination.

Surprisingly Recoba played from the start in the Turin derby with both Rosina and Di Michele on the bench. Sounds as if Di Michele will start up front this time,joining Stellone. Rosina a bit behind and Recoba on the bench.  P Zanetti is out, suspended and both Diana and Natali are major injury doubts.

Sampdoria have lost 10 league games this season and Torino only six. Still Samp are 8 points ahead in the table. Why? Torino are the draw champions (4-15-6). Difficult round in Serie A this time. 1X again.

Sampdoria 2 Torino 2

Udinese  -   Atalanta         2.15   -   4.05
Four losses in their last five games and if Udinese go on like this they will not reach Europe next season. Their defence is constantly leaking but they usually produce goals. Not even that in midweek, when they lost to Parma, 0-2. First choice keeper Handanovic will be back for this match but Zapata remains sidelined.

Not for the first time Doni was the shining light when Atalanta defeated Sampdoria, 4-1. Expect Atalanta to be unchanged on Sunday and I take if for granted that they will find the goal again. They usually do. The outcome? 3-2 for Udinese (2.15).

Udinese 2 Atalanta 0

La Liga

Valladolid   -   Racing Santander          2.40  -   3.33
My intention is to back the home win (2.40) as I just cannot see Racing playing a strong match on Sunday. They visited Madrid for the first leg of the cup semi final last night and they were well beaten by Getafe, 1-3. It is a two legged affair and Racing can still reach the final, but surely the 1-3 loss was a huge disappointment for the club. Copa del Rey is their big thing this season. Munitis was back against Getafe, only as a second half substitute, but he will probably have more playing time on Sunday.

Valladolid were going through a bad patch accentuated in their 0-7 loss to Real Madrid. They have recovered their spirits and are unbeaten since their visit to Madrid. Last week they won deservedly at Murcia with their special goal scorer Llorente finding the net again. Garcia Calvo should be OK come Sunday, but his defensive colleague A Marcos is an injury doubt. Kome is back in training again. Opposing Racing this time (2.40).

Valladolid 0 Racing Santander 1

Atletico Madrid   -   Barcelona        3.90  -   2.00
Backing the league winners (2.00). Barcelona are only two points behind Real in the league table and the way I see it the Barcelona season has just started. I have seen some awesome offensive football lately from the Catalans and I expect this to go on .Their cup draw with Valencia was a bit of a disappointment, but winning La Liga and the Champions League is what it is all about for Barca. All their big guns will ba available tomorrow, including Ronaldinho. Sylvinho, Gudjohnsen and Giovanni have joined the squad while YaYa Toure and Bojan have been left out.

Kun Aguero has been an injury doubt for Atletico Madrid this week but according to reports he will line up alongside Forlan for this match. Young Camacho will make his debut in their midfield, joining R Garcia, Maxi and Simao. Atletico have done nothing right these last couple of weeks and I cannot say that their line up tomorrow impresses me,   apart form their two strikers. But these two, Aguero and Forlan, have been over worked this season and it has shown lately. I have asked myself more than once, how come that they start in all matches, cup and league games? Backing Barcelona! (2.00).

Atletico Madrid 4 Barcelona

French League

Marseille   -  Auxerre        1.70  -  5.20
The French fixture list fails to excite me this week, but I have picked two favourites. First Marseille at home to Auxerre (1.70). Lousy odds, I know. Auxerre played and lost their cup semi final to PSG earlier this week. Their squad has taken it easy since and they will most likely come with the same group of players tomorrow. No game for Marseille in midweek which means that coach Gerets will pick his best players for this match. Last week he rested three of his aces Niang, Cisse and Valbuena at Toulouse (0-0). This rotation policy cost Marseille two points no doubt. Zubar is back to fitness. Home win for Marseille (1.70).

Marseille 2 Auxerre 1

Monaco  -  Valenciennes       1.91   -  4.75
Opposing Valenciennes (1.91). They miss all those injured players and tomorrow both Doumeng and W Martinez are out suspended. Make shift defence again and the negative Valenciennes will probably continue. Bernardi is at last fit to play for Monaco again and D Perez returns from his suspension. Almiron and Menez however are major injury doubts. Likely home win (1.91).

Monaco 0 Valenciennes 0

The Championship

Preston   -  Crystal Palace        2.30  -  3.10
In mid week I backed Preston at home to league leaders Stoke. They won the match 2-0 and the  odds were 2.80! This time we will have 2.30 on their home win against a much changed Crystal Palace  squad. As a precaution R Chaplow left the Stoke encounter after about an hour. He had scored both the Preston goals and then he was replaced by D Carter. Coach Irvine is expecting Chaplow to be fit.  N Trotman and L Neal both hope for some playing time tomorrow but C Davidson is out suspended.

C P have lost all their good form. They are winless in six games and tomorrow they have to do without the suspended Scowcroft, Soares and C Hill. N Danns, P Ifill and S Scannell all risk missing the match and coach Warnock has lost interest in his  striker Kuqi. C P looks quite toothless at the moment. Home win for a motivated Preston side (2.30).

Preston 0 Crystal Palace 1

Q P R    -  Stoke      2.60   -  2.60
You get no favours in the Championship whether you are topping the league or not. Stoke were beaten by Preston in midweek and they will have major problems again on Sunday at Loftus Road (2.60). Some time ago WBA were the greatest side in the Championship, but they have lost their way. Now Stoke will probably drop in the table as well. WBA will recover but I have my doubts about this Stoke side. Too average for my liking. R Delap will be missing for Stoke, but L Cort will probably be fit to play. They say that P Gallagher will play from the start and he could cause problems for the QPR defenders, at least he once could. Buzsaky will be back for the home side and maybe D Stewart and Ainsworth will be involved as well. Backing QPR! (2.60).

QPR 0 Stoke 0

Chris.