01.01.2011. (Saturday)
16:00 Manchester City - Blackpool
Manchester City are on fire and even without talisman Carlos Tevez last time out showed they are increasingly prolific up front with 4 goals in front of the City faithful, who had only witnessed nine goals scored in nine home games prior to the drubbing of Aston Villa.
Ian Holloway’s amiable Blackpool side keep on impressing as the away victories continued with another over Sunderland. Man City will be a much tougher challenge for the Tangerines. When Blackpool travelled to Arsenal and Chelsea at the beginning of the season six and four goals were shipped respectively without reply. Since then Blackpool make it much tighter and there has only been a one goal difference in all of their matches bar one since that 4-0 Chelsea victory.
Manchester City -1 on the handicap is tempting, particularly if Silva begins to chip in with some goals and the enigmatic Mario Balotelli is paired with Carlos Tevez in the starting 11. But all four of Manchester City’s last games have gone over 2.5 goals and even the reverse; a 3-2 win at Bloomfield Road went over this mark and I fancy this encounter to finish the same.
Match Odds: Man City 1.30, Draw 5.0, Blackpool 11.0
Tip: Over 2.5 goals (Manchester City v Blackpool) @ 1.50
16:00 Hull City - Leicester City
The Tigers meet the Foxes on the first day of 2011, and the odds look a bit weird. For starters, Hull are in 15th place, one point ahead of Leicester in 17th and with a game in hand, but that is hardly convincing.
A bit more important is a simple fact that Hull’s squad is at least equal in strength to that of Leicester. While both were supposed to fight of a playoff place at the very least when the season started, both are underperforming, but Hull enjoy a good run of form lately.
They are unbeaten in eight games, took seven points from their last three fixtures, and Jimmy Bullard’s return to action is a very important bonus. On the other hand, Leicester are terrible on their travels, losing nine of their 12 away fixtures, including four in a row, with the league worst away defensive record (30 goals conceded). They took just one point from their last three games, and backing the Tigers looks like a good bet.
Match Odds: Hull 2.75, Draw 3.10, Leicester 2.62
Tip: Hull to win @ 2.75
16:00 Stoke City - Everton
The match with the biggest draw bias this week is Stoke v Everton
Record of teams of Stoke's grade when playing at home to teams of Everton's grade reads H6 D7 A5. Stoke's recent home record against teams of Everton's grading is W1 D2 L2.
Everton's recent away record against teams of Stokes grading is W3 D5 L2. Head to Head recent record at Stoke reads Stoke 1 Draw 2 Everton 2.
Stoke have drawn 1 of their last 5 home matches. Everton have drawn four of their last five away matches.
Tip: Stoke v Everton draw @ 3.10Bet Now
The other draws I will be backing this weekend are Birmingham v Arsenal (3.75) and Wigan v Newcastle (3.10)
02.01.2011. (Sunday)
13:45 Rangers - Celtic
On Sunday the two Glasgow giants meet in the first Old Firm clash of 2011. This time the game is to be played at Ibrox and could well be a title decider! Should Rangers win it, Celtic would have to hope that other teams can beat Rangers. Rangers have won the last three derby games at Ibrox, Celtic’s last win there was in 2008.
These games are seldom goalless, often filled with incidents and normally close run affairs. A great way to start 2011.
Match Odds: Rangers 2.05, Draw 3.40, Celtic 3.50
Tips: Draw match @ 3.40/ Correct score 1-1 @ 7.0
