Swings and roundabouts

Weekly Review

A £23.77 profit and a free helping of a large bunch of grapes, unfortunately sour ones.

Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Liverpool (Tip: Blackburn to win both halves -£5)

Rovers looked petrified early on and after they shipped two Maxi Rodriguez goals in the opening 16 minutes this bet never looked on the cards.

However, the hosts were offered a route back in to the match on 25 minutes. Reds goalkeeper Alexander Doni, on just his second Premier League appearance, became the fifth Liverpool player to be sent off this season after he brought down Junior Hoilett in the penalty area. Only Queens Park Rangers have had more red cards this term (seven).

After Yakubu had missed the resultant spot kick but then netted a brace, 10-man Liverpool struck out of the blue and won it in stoppage time, courtesy of Andy Carroll’s first goal in 10 games.

Liverpool 2-1 Everton (Tip: Liverpool to qualify +£8)

After Tuesday’s smash and grab victory at Blackburn, the Reds relied upon a late Carroll header again to win this one. However, Kenny Dalglish’s side we well worthy of the result.

Liverpool had exactly double (18) the number of shots as their opponents (nine), and three times the corners (six to two).

The persistent Carroll’s fine header in the 86th minute was his sixth goal attempt, but his first to find the target.

Norwich City 1-6 Manchester City (Tip: Manchester City to win +£30.77)

I tipped Tevez to make the difference and he was sensational. In addition to becoming the 18th player in Premier League history to net four hat-tricks, he cutely assisted Sergio Aguero’s first and won more free kicks (four) than any other player on the field.

After winning the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium earlier 5-1 in the season, this emphatic win completed an 11-2 aggregate win over the Canaries, which is Man City‘s biggest against any side in the Premier League era.

Tottenham Hotspur 1-5 Chelsea (Tip: Spurs to win in extra time -£10)

It is difficult to view this game objectively and statistically, baring in mind that Martin Atkinson’s decision to award Chelsea a ‘ghost goal’ and a 2-0 lead early in the second half seemed to change the direction of the game immeasurably.

Despite trailing at the break, Spurs had looked the more lively team in the first half. Rafael van der Vaart had an effort cleared off the line by John Terry and struck the post before Didier Drogba gave his side the lead with a wondrous strike – his first in four FA Cup games since netting the winner in the 2010 final against Portsmouth.

I apologise, but what happened after Mata’s 49th minute goal is very much a blur.

Mata 'ghost goal'.

Roberto Di Matteo had dismissed suggestions that his team had been at all lucky of late and there were Chelsea complaints about the FA on two counts in the build-up to this game. One, that Branislav Ivanovic received a ban for violent conduct despite only punching Shaun Maloney in the stomach and, two, that kicking off 6pm was not only disruptive to the Blues’ preparation for Barcelona on Wednesday, it also risked endangering the safety of supporters.

Maybe the idiots on Match of the Day, who week-upon-week churn out the old chestnut “they all even themselves out over the course of a season”, have been proven right. Maybe…

Without prolonging my rant any further, let’s just put this down to a freak occurance. After all it has never happened before…  Oh!

April 2011: Chelsea 2-1 Spurs. Lampard almost broke the net with this 'goal'.

Too little time

Anorak’s bet – £10 on 12/1 at Blue Square

Tottenham Hotspur V Chelsea (Sunday 18.00 at Wembley) – Spurs to win in extra time

Once again there is a bit of crossover and this week’s Anorak’s bet has the odds of a very healthy longshot.

Tottenham‘s last three visits to Wembley have gone to extra time and, considering these two London rivals are as closely matched as they have ever been in the Premier League era, it is highly imaginable that this one will follow suit.

Spurs, who have not finished above Chelsea since 1996, currently hold the slenderest of two-point leads over the Blues in the Premier League table.

Recent results between these teams also reflect that there is little to separate them – three of the last four meetings have ended level.

If this one does go beyond the 90-minute mark, Harry Redknapp’s side will be much better prepared.

Spurs’ squad is a year younger per player on average. Also, Chelsea will have the added distraction of attempting to preserve their player’s fitness ahead of the biggest game of their season so far – the Champions League semi-final first-leg against world champions Barcelona.

2008: Spurs 2-1 Chelsea (after extra time).

Nice but dim

Weekly Review

It was a solid week for Pie-backers with three wins out of four, but I appreciate that the high concentration of heavily odds-on bets may have failed to capture the imagination of some. I promise bigger prices next week.

Bayern Munich 2-0 Marseille (Tip: HT/FT: Bayern/Bayern +7.27)

Ivica Olic opened the scoring after 13 minutes and doubled his tally eight minutes before half time. This bet never looked in doubt.

The goals were the Croatian’s first in the Champions League since he struck a second-leg hat-trick in the 2010 semi-final with Lyon.

Barcelona 3-1 AC Milan (Tip: Barca to win +14.29)

Although Barcelona showed their brilliance in flashes, they were aided by some clumsy and naive defending.

Luca Antonini played the role of clumsy, awkwardly chopping down Lionel Messi for the penalty which put the Catalan side back ahead after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had levelled Andres Iniesta’s opener.

Then, experienced World Cup winner Alessandro Nesta was downright stupid, as he tugged down Sergio Busquets in an off-the-ball incident to give away the second spot kick of the night.

Messi converted both and, in the process, broke his own previous record for the highest number of goals scored in a single Champions League campaign (14).

Sunderland 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Tip: Cattermole to receive the first booking -£5)

God loves a trier. And Lee Cattermole tried his hardest to win this bet for me, but referee Chris Foy had other ideas. The tough-tackling midfielder looked certain to win the quick-caution prize when he crunched into Sandro midway through the first half. However, Foy decided a waggle of the head and a shake of the finger was punishment enough. The Brazilian eventually retaliated and took the honours.

Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City (Tip: Arsenal to beat Man City [draw-no-bet] +7.78)

Despite not claiming the winning goal until three minutes before the end, Arsenal thoroughly deserved their victory. City failed to muster a single shot on target and Mario Balotelli’s fourth red card in two seasons added insult to injury in stoppage time. Game set and match Manchester United, surely.

Beware of the Catt

Longshot – £5 on 7/1 at Blue Square

Sunderland V Tottenham Hotspur (Saturday 12.45) – Lee Cattermole to receive the first booking.

This has all the attributes of a cracking anorak’s bet, but with the price of a meaty longshot. Heavenly!

Spurs are squeaky clean in terms of their discipline. Only Swansea City (35) have received fewer yellow cards than Harry Redknapp’s team (37) in this season’s Premier League. Therefore, the likelihood is that it will be a Sunderland (50) player that referee Chris Foy cautions first.

Sunderland captain Cattermole has been shown six yellow cards in his last eight appearances and is odds-on to be booked at some point.

The 24-year-old beacon of aggression will be extra grouchy and likely to show frustration early on, because he is set to play through the pain-barrier with a knee ligament strain.

Furthermore, the visitors’ quick passing and slick movement will tick the Stockton-born midfielder right off and he may well decide to make his presence felt in the opening exchanges.

Respect…

Must do better

Weekly Review

Following the modest £6.25 win on the 3-3 goal-fest between Blackpool and Leciester in midweek, my weekend bets landed me with a hefty £65 loss.

Ridiculous as it may sound, I enjoyed all three matches.

Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur (Tip: Chelsea to win -£10)

I had expected my beloved Spurs to struggle again at Stamford Bridge and I’m sure they would have if the Blues had struck early on.

But they didn’t and Harry Redknapp’s men looked the more likely side to win the game, bossing possession with 55 percent, rattling the woodwork twice and being accountable for 19 of the game’s 30 shots.

Liverpool 1-2 Wigan Athletic (Tip: Liverpool to win -£50)

Kenny Dalglish’s Reds were awful and made me look rather silly. Liverpool were the more dominant side but it seemed they were almost of the mindset: ‘Ok, we’re a lot better than this lot, let’s make it interesting.’

The Latics could not even muster a single corner in the game so Martin Skrtel decided to donate them a penalty kick.

However, Gary Caldwell’s second-half winner was sublimely taken and, by that point, I was simply caught up in the fairytale of it all and had totally forgotten I was losing a small fortune.

West Bromwich Albion 1-3 Newcastle United (Tip: over 4.5 goals -£5)

I like watching Newcastle because, with my broad northern accent, I fit it when I shout. Whereas, at Spurs games people can’t understand me and think I’m a jolly-come-lately and a ‘dirty norvan monkey’.

After my financially horrific Saturday, I just wanted to watch a good open game with lots of goals, which is exactly what I got. Unfortunately, I was one goal short of winning my bet and recouping some of my weekend deficit. Nevertheless, I felt my prediction was proved a noble one.

Rallying call

My own personal amusement aside, I am starkly aware that my tips serve a wider audience and I am therefore very disappointed with the way events panned out.

However, I think my recent form justifies your patience and I will strive to steer the ship back on course immediately, starting with tomorrow’s Champions League tips.

Stay now