Saturday Premier League betting preview
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur 5.30pm
All eyes will be on Jermain Defoe, whose five-goal salvo against Wigan was achieved within the space of 37 minutes. The Spurs striker will want to continue impressing Fabio Capello and he’s 11/2 (Paddy Power) to open the scoring on Saturday evening. Coral are brave enough to offer 15/8 that he scores at any stage, while 888sport make Defoe a 66/1 chance that he grabs a hat-trick at Villa Park.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp would clearly take a scrappy 1-0 win and his team are 2/1 (Sky Bet) to win this fixture as they did last season. Although the team will arrive in the Midlands with plenty of confidence, Villa haven’t lost at home since the opening day of the season, ironically against Wigan. Victory over Chelsea was especially impressive and Martin O’Neill’s team are 7/5 (Victor Chandler) to move level on points with their opponents by landing the spoils in this game.
Perhaps the draw (12/5 Boylesports) is the most likely outcome, with both teams playing to a similar standard. The Villans scored five goals in their last home outing and Over 2.5 Goals (17/20 bet365) looks to be the order of the day. This has happened the last five times that these teams have met, with the game finishing 2-1 on four occasions. Tottenham are 10/1 (Stan James) to win by this scoreline and it’s a tempting wager.
Portsmouth v Manchester United 3pm
Will Pompey have a new manager by the time this match is played? The odds currently suggest that Avram Grant will be in charge and the home team are 9/1 (Sky Bet) to win the game after seeing Paul Hart leave on Tuesday. It’s hard to see how they are going to manage victory, despite Manchester United playing Besiktas on Wednesday night. Sir Alex Ferguson wisely rested most of his players for that match and will urge his team to be professional at Fratton Park. Ladbrokes are one of several firms that offer 4/11 about a Red Devils victory and it will be a popular coupon filler.
Wayne Rooney (7/2 Blue Square) wasn’t able to score against former team Everton on Saturday, although chances will surely come his way against a leaky defence. Dimitar Berbatov (5/1 Paddy Power) should have recovered in time for this game, while Darren Fletcher (16/1 Sky Bet) is in fine form for the champions. The defence will have to keep tabs on the lively Aruna Dindane (11/1 Blue Square), although it’s easy to back United to lead at half-time and full-time (11/10 betfair).
Manchester City v Hull City 3pm
A tale of two City’s at Eastlands, with Mark Hughes’ team looking to end a run of six consecutive Premier League draws. They surely won’t have a better chance and the bookies go a best price 3/10 (Boylesports) that Manchester City are victorious. At half-time during this fixture last season, Hull manager Phil Brown gave his team a dressing down on the pitch, although it’s easy to see a repeat of their 5-1 drubbing that day (40/1 Blue Square). It’s surely a matter of time before the home side dish out a thrashing and the 4/5 (betfair) about a half-time and full-time lead looks the ticket.
Emmanuel Adebayor returned to scoring ways last Saturday and the Togolese striker makes appeal at 10/11 (Coral) to score at any stage of this game. If you do think the Tigers can nick a point, bet365 go 9/2 that they subject Man City to their seventh consecutive draw, while Hull are 12/1 (Stan James) to follow up Wednesday’s home win over Everton with another victory against north-west rivals. In Jimmy Bullard (18/1 Paddy Power), they have someone who can produce a moment of magic.
Blackburn v Stoke City 3pm
A 3-0 defeat at Fulham on Wednesday has not stopped the bookies from making Rovers odds-on favourites (19/20 Boylesports) to win on Saturday. Indeed, while they have been shabby on the road for the most part, they have only lost once at Ewood Park and have a player in David Dunn that’s been finding the net regularly from midfield. He’s 8/1 (Bet Fred) to open the scoring against Stoke. Last season, Blackburn raced into an early 3-0 lead against the same opponents and Stan James go 11/5 that Sam Allardyce’s team lead at half-time and full-time.
Stoke just about scrambled home against Portsmouth last Sunday, although they have managed just one away win this season and that was a fluky one at White Hart Lane. If you think Tony Pulis’ team can take advantage of some potentially tired legs in the Rovers camp, Coral go 10/3 that this game results in an away win, although City will once again set out not to concede and go from there. On the basis that this has worked a treat at Everton and Tottenham this season, the Under 2.5 Goals quote makes appeal at 17/20 (Ladbrokes).
Fulham v Bolton 3pm
Some of us backed Fulham to win this game before they put Blackburn to the sword, thinking that the even money would disappear ahead of Saturday. However, William Hill are still offering this price, despite the Cottagers winning four of their six matches on home soil. Only Arsenal and Chelsea have beaten them in front of their own supporters and another 3-0 victory for Roy Hodgson’s team can’t be underestimated at 16/1 (Victor Chandler). Midfielder Clint Dempsey has managed five goals in the last six games and looks big at 7/1 (Blue Square) to open the scoring against a lacklustre Bolton team.
Wanderers are 10/3 (Stan James) to win this match, although this is a team that have lost their last four matches and conceded fifteen goals in the process. Gary Megson will be ordering his team to go back to basics and defend for their lives, although that thought process simply prompts one to check the odds on Fulham winning to nil (9/4 Paddy Power) as they did on Wednesday.