***September end of month stats***

The month of september has came to an end and once again we are well in profit


SEPTEMBER
STAKED - 143 points
RETURNED - +165.88 points
PROFIT - +22.88 points
YIELD - +16%

JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER = +19.5% yield which is still a good rate of return but the target is still a 25% increase monthly and to get the overall yield up to 25% also.

Looking forward to October already!

30th September picks

Today is the last day in September so it’s the last chance to boost the profits for the month and two games stand out to me. When I first looked through the coupon West Brom jumped out as a good home pick and after looking at it in more detail ive more confidence in the selection

West Brom V Qpr
A win today will see the Baggies move to within 1 point off the leaders Watford at the summit of the championship. Indeed Watfords failure to win yesterday (at our expense!) gives West Brom a great chance to claw back the point’s difference and this alone will be a motivational factor for them. They are strong at home having won 3 / 3 so far scoring 8 and not conceding yet. On the other hand QPR are pretty toothless on the road failing to score away so far and having conceded 3 in two away defeats.
Tony Mowbray has installed a good attacking gameplan to West Brom and with players such as Philips and Craig Beattie up front they should have too much firepower for QPR.
Going with the much stronger home form here, everything points to a home win and I think they are good value for it. Also I don’t think they will make the same mistake as Watford made yesterday and won’t be happy with a one-goal lead and will push forward to finish the game off.
IM taking West Brom – 1 goal on the Asian handicap as a strong bet here. At worst im expecting is a one goal winning margin and a money back if West Brom fail to win by 2 or more

Everton V Middlesborough
Not much to say on this one really, I think this is the game where Everton will get their season back on track against a poor travelling Boro side. Mido and Woodgate have been declared fit for the game but I have my doubts about the truth in that. Yakubu is facing his old team today and he will probably get on the scoresheet. A narrow home win is my selection here.

PICK
West Brom – 1 goal (1.7 @ betdaq) 10 points (max bet)
Everton win (1.83 @ skybet) 2 points
Everton win 1 – 0 correct score (7 generally available) 1 point

So far the max bet selections stand at 3/3 so im confident of keeping that streak going today.

September Stats

Just a quick update, I know it a bit premature as theres still one day left in the month but so far we are up 15.22 points for the month. Im still not achieving the target id like which is a 25% bank increase each month. September stands at a 11.7% profit yield though which is still respectable enough. So thats 3 months with continuous profit. After tomorrows picks il post a full rundown on the month of september.

29th September early picks

Funnily enough theres not a whole pile that interests me at first glance this weekend, It’s a busy weekend ahead with all the rugby and football action to chose from so lets get started.


Watford V Blackpool
Watford look set for a quick return back to the premiership. They sit top of the league with a 100% home record, The strength and quality of their squad so far has been of a team of a much higher standard and playing Blackpool today shouldn’t scare them too much. Blackpool have played some very good football this season, but, like so many others in the division they are not so hot on the road and a trip to Vicarage road should be too big of an ask here. I think Watford should win today and maybe with a little to spare so il take them – 1 on the Asian handicap

Gillingham V Leeds
Leeds are on a hot streak at the moment, 7 from 7 has them installed as league favourites even taking into consideration the 15 point deduction handed to them at the start of the year. They have to lose that streak at some stage but I think they are good enough to make it 8 / 8 against a very average Gillingham side. Leeds are a class above most of the teams in this division, they have a point to prove and should get another 3 points today.

And finally

West Ham V Arsenal
The hammers have been Arsenal’s bogey side for a while now and I can see Wenger plotting revenge, especially after last years touch line bust up with Pardew. Pardew has since departed but the ill feelings will remain. They are playing excellent football at the moment, playing with supreme confidence and hitting goals for fun.
West Ham has a lot of attacking options too, but their defence is not good at all. They are allowing to their opponents many goal scoring opportunities and doing that against team like Arsenal will cost them. Goals aplenty is the call with Arsenals confidence and talent to prove too much for West Ham this time around

PICKS

Watford – 1 goal Asian handicap (2.18 @ bet365) 3 points
Leeds (1.91 @ skybet ) 2 points
Arsenal (1.83 @ skybet) 4 points
West Ham V Arsenal over 2.5 goals (1.9 @ bet365) 2 points

Ill be back later on with some more picks and also a view on the rugby
Good luck

26th September Rugby pick

The Rugby world cup hasnt been kind to me so far from a betting perspective. Maybe i was a little too loyal to Ireland's hopes by backing them repeatedly. Whatevers gone wrong there is something serious. They have gone from genuine semi contenders to not even making it out of the group stages. Unthinkable for a team with such high (if a little bit unrealistic) hopes coming into this tournament. However all this aside the match im looking at is

Georgia V Namibia
Georgia have impressed me so far, they should have beaten Ireland and gave the Argies a good game before tiring in the second half. They have played an attractive brand of Rugby at stages and look to be very physically strong in the forwards and have some worthwhile talent in the backline.
Namibia in my opinion have been the weakest team so far in the tournament. They have been well beaten in all 3 of their matches to date (63-3 against Argentina..87-10 against France and a 32 -17 defeat to Ireland)
Hard to see them doing much against a heavy hitting Georgian pack.
These two have played once this year with the Georgians winning 26-18 but i think they have shown better form and progressed as a team in the last month. It will be a tough game, not pretty but Georgia to pull through by about 17 points is my verdict.
This is the fight not to finish last and i think it will be Namibia who are left with the wooden spoon.


PICK
Georgia - 12 (2 at stanjames) 4 points

The above bookie price is cracking value compared to most other prices available, i cant see it lasting so stanjames is the place to get on if you want to take this pick.

Sunday 23rd pick

The big clash that is Man Yoo V Chelsea aside, one game that really catches my eye is Blackburn V Portsmouth
Blackburn were pretty awful midweek going down 2- 0 to lowly Larissa in Europe.
I think Portsmouth are not being given the credit they deserve so far, sure they have a
1-3-2 record after 6 games which seems bad, but in reality they have had one of the toughest opening schedules so far and have played the big 4 teams already. Only for a missed penalty and some terrible misses in front of goal last week they should have beaten Liverpool. Blackburn are a tough dogged team but I think that general prices of about evens are far too short today. Portsmouth are well able to spread it wide and well able to score. I fancy them to get at least a point today.

Bolton V Tottenham
This is between two teams with huge pressure on their managers and both of them, Sammy Lee and Matin Jol desperately needs three points here. I cant really explain too much here, I think that Tottenham despite playing a bit poorly of late are still good at creating and scoring chances and have enough firepower to outscore Bolton. Both are weak defensively but Spurs have a much more potent attack and should have too much flair for Bolton.



PICKS
Portsmouth +0.5 (1.9 @ betfred) 2 points
Tottenham - 0 (1.8 @ bet365) 2 points

Saturday evening 22nd September

After the good day today i hope to keep things moving in the right direction tonight with Argentina V Namibia in the rugby world cup.

Argentina find themselves in a wonderful position at this moment and qualification is really in their own hands. A win tonight with a bonus point will leave them in a very strong position against Ireland in the last game and Argentina will be big favourites to progress. After their unbelievable result against the French on day 1 they were brought back to earth with a hard fought win last weekend against Georgia.
Namibia were trounced last week but were in bad situation as the french really needed a big win as they were under severe pressure from the media and fans after an opening day defeat. The french played the ball wide and controlled the rucks against the Namibians but i dont think we will see the same dominance today.
Argentina are a tough side to play against, but always seem to reserve their best form for the big teams. They are very similar in that respect to Ireland who never hammer the teams they should and dont work up big scores or winning margins against the weaker nations.
I think the Argentinians are slightly over rated coming into this match and the market has slightly over reacted to the France/Namibia result last weekend. I just cant see them scoring 7 or 8 converted tries to no score from Namibia.
Im going with Namibia to cover the spread here with medium stakes.

PICK
Namibia + 53 (1.91 @ skybet) 3 points

A few weekend picks

After the disaster area that was last weekends sporting picks I seem to have got back on track midweek with some decent winners. Once again theres plenty of games to chose from this weekend football wise. I have one eye on the rugby later on today but I think il throw up my football picks first and get them out of the way.

Liverpool V Birmingham
I’m not sure what Benitez was thinking last weekend, resting Gerard and Torres against Portsmouth backfired badly and its very important at this early stage that Liverpool take everything possible from every game. With a little more positive attitude they could have snatched all 3 points last week but didn’t and I don’t expect them to slip up two weekends in a row. Midweek was a more respectable draw away against FC Porto in the Champions League. At home they are more potent, their only two home games this year consisted of a respectable 1 – 1 V Chelsea and a 6 – 0 drubbing of Derby.
Birmingham on the other hand play quite badly away from home despite an away win V west ham a few weeks back. Steve Bruce is set to keep the same side which started last weekend's 1-0 home win against Bolton. Birmingham have conceded an average of 2 goals away from home so far and I cannot see them scoring against Liverpool's solid defence. Games like this are key if Liverpool are to be genuine contenders this season.
I expect home advantage to be enough in a comfortable win for the pool.


Arsenal V Derby County

So much was predicted for these two pre-season and for one it’s gone according to plan. Nobody gave Derby a chance of survival and despite an excellent home win last Monday night against Newcastle its still very hard to see them staying up. Arsenal on the other hand are flying. Top of the table and playing some excellent open football it seems Henry is most surely a thing of the past. The impressive form carried on midweek where they put three past Sevilla at home to start of the champion’s league in the best of style. Arsenal's key man, Cesc Fabregas is in the form of his career and others including Adebayour are playing with huge confidence. I won’t go into much detail here, its damage limitation for Derby and they will be hoping to keep the score respectable. In games such as these they know they have little chance and will be more focused on getting results against the “lesser “ teams in the league. Even with a few injury problems Arsenal at home will record a comfortable home win.




PICKS
Liverpool -1.75 (2.1 @ bet365) 2 points
Liverpool clean sheet (1.78 @ betfair) 2 points

Arsenal – 1.75 A ( 1.8 @ bet365) 10 points


Arsenal -1.75 is a max bet for me, ive had two max bets so far on the blog and both have won so heres hoping to keeping that record intact

19th September Picks

Bit late here,

Arsenal V Sevilla
il keep it short here, i think the odds on an Arsenal win here are very appealing, Sevilla are a good side no doubt but i think they are getting too much respect and Arsenal wont take them lightly. The gunners are in smashing form and i think they are good value to record a home win. This will be a good test for them and i think there will be a few goals in it also as I think Sevilla will be able to nick one.
Gunners win and overs for me.

PICKS
Arsenal win (2.1 @ bet365) 2 points
Arsenal V Sevilla over 2.5 (2.1 @ bet365) 2 points

Back on track tonight.

Stevenage V Farsley

Stevenage done the business for us last week so hopefully more of the same tonight. They sit proudly at the top with a 22 points so far from a possible 27. Their main advantage this season has been up front where they have been banging them in for fun and have returned an impressive 17 goals from 9 games this season. More impressive is the fact that they have only conceded 3 so far(1 at home, 2 away)
They are very strong at home with a 3-1-0 record averaging 2 goals a game and only conceding 1 at home all season.
Farsley sit in 18th place with a respectable 11 points so far from 5 games. However as with most conference teams they are not so hot away from home and have conceded an average of 2 away in each game despite scoring 3 on the road.
Home odds are best priced 1.4 but i think Stevenage will win comfortably.
- 1 goal on the handicap is best priced 2.2 at blue sq and thats too good to turn down in my eyes.

Another value conference pick that stands out is
Kidderminster V Droylsden

Kidderminster have had a strange season so far and lie in 13 position, but only 5 points off the playoff places. They have certainly been scoring of late, notching 12 goals in the last 4 games. Their home record so far reads 2 - 0 - 2 which doesn't read too good but they have averaged 2 a game at home this season and tonight face Droylsden, the team with the worst defensive record in the league (-17 goals)
Away from home Droylsden have conceded a whopping 14 goals in four games and have been well whipped in a few games so far. They are without a win this season and i don't expect them to get the first tonight either. Once again, the home team is much stronger and i expect Kidderminster to cover the handicap and record a comfortable home win.


Now, on to the champions league action,

Shaktar Donetsk V Celtic

Celtic are very lucky to have got this far. Before i start, i expect them to get past the group stages this season but in doing so will rely on their strong home form to carry them through. Shaktar are not so dissimilar to Celtic, both play in a league where there is only two real contenders and both are traditionally strong and hard to break down at home. Tonight is the start of the battle for second place behind Milan and both will be looking to take something from the game, however while Celtic will most likely be satisfied with a point, anything other than a home win will be bad news for Shaktars hopes of getting through. Both are relatively full strength, though Shaktar have Captain Dmytro Chygrynskiy suspended and will most likely be replaced by croatian Srna who is a very good replacement.
I just have to go with the home side tonight.


My other pick tonight is in the Real Madrid V Bremen game. il keep it quite simple, overs. Both are well able to score and despite Bremen not being in the best of form at the moment, it would not surprise me to see them score. Overs is my preferred choice here with small stakes.

Last but not least, my mug acca, all 3 teams i expect to win but at such short adds i wont be lumping on any big singles. Chelsea, Madrid and AC Milan should all get off to good starts tonight and combined pays out best priced 2.23 at ladbrokes.

PICKS

Conference football
Stevenage - 1 goal handicap (2.2 @ blue sq) 4 points
Kidderminster - 1 goal handicap (2.4 @ blue sq) 4 points

Champions league
Shaktar Donetsk - 0.5 asian handicap (2.03 @ bet365) 3 points
Real Madrid V Bremen over 2.5 goals (1.7 @ bet365) 1 point

acca
Chelsea, madrid, Ac Milan all to win (2.23 @ ladbrokes) 3 points

Saturday 15th september picks

Its not often that I give my picks without an explanation of sorts but im all out of time this weekend and cant be near a pc until Sunday.

Rugby world cup picks

Australia – 10 points V Wales (2 @ bet365) 2 points
New Zealand –115 points V Portugal (2 @ bet365) 2 points
Ireland – 46 points V Georgia (1.91 @ vc bet) 3 points

Football picks

Wigan (2.3 @ pinnacle) 2 points
Leicester – 0.5 (1.88 @ pinnacle) 3points

Weekend picks

Well this will be my one and only post of the weekend as im heading away to Dublin for the All_Ireland final.
Kerry are playing Cork for those of you not into this particular sport.
Its on Sunday @ 3.30pm
Kerry are currently trading about 1.5 – 1.6 and this is a cracking price in my opinion.
Heres a few reasons why I feel kerry have the edge and will win.

Kerry have a fully fit squad to pick from. Their training sessions are going well and theres the belief and desire to put back to back titles together. They have bucketloads of experience, most of the kerry players will be playing in their 4th succesive final and some will be in their 6th or 7th final in total so the pressures of playing in front of 84,00 people wont faze them one bit.
They only have two newcomers to the team this year but both Reidy and Young have settled in really well and Killian Young in particular is a very strong candidate for Young player of the year. They really are the complete package and the hard fought semi- final victory over Dublin will be a taste of what to expect.

Cork have exceeded many peoples expectations this year. They have had their troubles though injury wise, Top scorer James Masters suffered a broken jaw and missed the semi final because of injury. He has recovered to take his starting place in the final but I have serious doubts that he is 100%. I see this as a very bad selection as Cork tend to rely heavily on him for scores, and as I don’t see his fitness being 100% I think he will come in for a litle “extra attention” from the kerry defenders. It would amaze me if he lasts the full 70 minutes. Seeing him being taken off will be a huge psychological blow for the team. Cork delayed naming their team until late last night in a hope to give star defender Anthony Lynch time to recover from a broken hand sustained last week-end in a warm-up game. This tells me that the Cork selectors are clutching at straws as realistically there was never a hope of him playing. With two of their main players injured, one of whom is playing, the chances were seriously dented. Add in the fact that this is the first final appearance for all bar one of the starting 15. Cork will surely be nervous playing Sunday as they will never have played in front of this kind of crowd or atmosphere before. They will adapt,but it will take time and I expect to see kerry do enough damage in the first 10 – 15 minutes to effectively kill the game. This is a game between two neighbouring counties, the first time ever playing each other in an All Ireland final. Tempers usually fray between the two sides and yellow and red cards are usually plentifull.
They played once already this year and Kerry won by 2 points but situations have changed and I expect Kerry to win by 3 – 4 points at the very least.

One interesting “special bet” is Ladbrokes - Paul Galvin and Noel O'Leary both to receive red cards- priced at 3.
I just have to take a piece of this, they will be marking each other and both have serious disciplinery problems (often with each other when they play) O Leary was banned for a month earlier this year for kicking Galvin on the ground. Both players are the “short fuse” players of their respective teams, the opposition will be out to wind these two players up and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if either or both were sent off. I just have to back it

PICKS
Kerry win (1.58 @ betfair) 10 points

Ladbrokes special (- Paul Galvin and Noel O'Leary both to receive red cards) (3 @ ladbrokes) 3 points

D O Sullivan (Kerry) anytime goalscorer (5 @ paddypower) 1 point
D O Sullivan (Kerry) Man of the match (12 @ paddpower) 1 point

Il have a few football picks to follow.

12th September

Theres another good selection of games to chose from tonight in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. Looking through them though, most are either very one-sided or too tight to call.

Spain host Latvia tonight. The current odds for the Spain win are somewhere in the region of 1.1 which is far too low for me. They will win though and with Torres and Villa leading the line I expect them to win quite comfortably. Spain – 2.5 goals is available at 1.98 and that’s what im recommending.

In the other games, I just cant see Ireland taking anything from the Czech Republic tonight but cant bring myself to bet against them.
England V Russia is another tight game and I suspect it may be level after 90 minutes

PICKS
Spain – 2.5 goals (1.98 @ bet365) 2 points

10 September Pick

Conference football tonight

Stevenage V Stafford

Stevenage are in right good form at the moment, despite being down to 10 men against Droylsden, they ran out convincing 3 – 0 winners. They are pushing hard for automatic promotion this year and currently lie in third place, 2 points behind the leaders but with a game in hand. To date they are unbeaten, with a 5-1-1 + 9 goals overall record, and 2-1-0 +4 goals at home.
Stafford are second from bottom with a poor 1 point return from the opening 7 games. It’s a poor return because so far they have faced some of the lower ranked teams such as Farsley, Woking and Halifax and came away pointless.
Last years results read

(2007-02-20) Stafford R. 1-3 Stevenage

(2006-09-09) Stevenage 6-0 Stafford R.

Theres a clear gulf in class here and anything other than a solid home win will be a big surprise. Stevenage are generally available at about 1.3 or so but I think they will cover the handicap so il go for a Stevenage – 1.5 at bet365

PICK
Stevenage –1.5 (1.85 @ bet365) 5 points

Sunday 9th september

Rugby world cup

Scotland V Portugal

A mismatch of the highest order, the question here is how many points will the Scots rack up. Portugals main problem coming into this world cup is their slender physical build. The scots have a big strong pack and I expect them to brush the portugese aside without any difficulty. Scotland need to get a bit of confidence up and on their day are a great battling side. Scoring a bucketload today will be a prority for them. A 60 point win minimum is how I see this one going.
Over 79 points is evens at bet365 and that’s the bet I like for this one, stakes will be kept low though as im unsure to how Scotland will drive home in the second half


Ireland V Namibia
As with the Scotland game this is another mismatch, despite some pre tournament troubles, Ireland have set their sights firmly on the early games to get a good points total and confidence up for the all important clashes against France and Argentina. Not much else to add here, Ireland have named a full strength team and will crush Namibia.
Ireland by about about 80 points is how I see this one going.
Ireland – 70 points is evens at Stan james, a very good price but im slightly cautious as to whether Ireland can get a big score up or not. Small stake again till i see them play.

PICKS

Scotland V Portugal over 79 points (2 @ bet365) 1 point

Ireland – 70 points (2 @ stan James) 1 point

9th September

Hopefully today will be the day i take two steps forward and zero back


Peterborough V Mansfield

Peterborough host Manfield today and are in decent form. They tend to blow hot and cold but wont be caught out at hoem as they were against Chesterfield a few weeks back.
3 points for them today is a must so early in the season to keep the pace as they will be a club looking for promotion this season, They are pretty much at full strength minus long term injuries Mackail-Smith and midfielder Peter Gain.
Mansfield are minus Lee Bell (suspended) and Dawson (hamstring) and are not the best of travelling teams.
Anything other than a resounding home win will be a big surprise for me.

PICKS
Peterborough -1 goal asian handicap (2.06 @ betdaq) 4 points


I have some rugby picks for the Scotland and Ireland games, they will be up soon

****A Financial update****

So, ive been doing a bit of number crunching to see where ive been doing well and where ive been losing money. I feel recently as though im constantly taking 2 steps forward and one step back, doing enough to stay in front but not quite enough to push as far forward as id like. In a sense ive been lucky, hitting a 22/1, a 10/1 and a 6/1 winner along the way. Ive also had much better results with my selections in the 1.9 - 2.1 odds bracket and less succesful with my selections that are priced below 1.9.

Anyway, here are the important facts

JULY
STAKED - 45 points
RETURNED - +65.36 points
PROFIT - +20.36 points
YIELD - +45%


AUGUST
STAKED - 63 points
RETURNED - +68.57 points
PROFIT - +5.57 points
YIELD - +8.8%

JULY/AUGUST = +24% yield which is very respectable


As we are only early in september i will leave the september stats go until the end of the month.
As you can see we're still way ahead with about 26 or so points to the good from July/August. Depending on what you money you put on per point i am relatively satisfied with that despite the slow month in August.

7th September

Theres not a whole pile that interests me tonight, I was going to back unders in the Ireland and England games but instead think il leave it and take them in running.

One bet that stands out for me is Sweden V Denmark. I watched Denmark being humiliated a few weeks ago by Ireland. I cant see the being that bad again and they have to get a result tonight against the Swedes. I think both teams will score and the overs has every chance. So that’s it, short and sweet. Denmark need a result so they will attack from the start, Sweden wont like to be beaten at home by their near neighbours.

PICKS

Sweden V Denmark over 2.5 goals (2.1 @ bet365) 2 points

The weekend ahead, 7th september

Due to a few bad in running selections ive been keeping a low profile lately. Due to work commitments ive also been pc restricted and missed the opening game of the RWC tonight between France and Argentina, what a surprise too with the French crumbling in front of the home fans losing 17 - 12 .

The weekend itself is a busy one, with a selection of European qualifying matches to chose from.
For now though il stick with the rugby before making a selection on the football matches.

Hot favourites New Zealand start off their campaign with match against Italy. This WILL be a walkover, no question about it, most bookies aren’t even taking bets on the All Blacks. The real question is, how will Italy attack the game? They know that the tie against Scotland is their “final” and despite naming a strong staring 15, they still wont come close. New Zealand have a history of cruising through the group stages and struggling later on. After the mini shock result tonight, the All Blacks will take nothing for granted and come roaring out of the traps. Its very hard to see Italy scoring too much so it all depends on how many points New Zealand can rack up. Given the competition for places expect New Zealand to get a respectably high score against the Italians and win by 55 or so points
New Zealand – 40.5 points is the call

PICKS
New Zealand –40.5 points (1.98 @ betfair) 4 points
Dan Carter anytime try scorer (2.5 @ ladbrokes) 2 points


More picks to follow tomorrow

3rd September pick

A few interesting ties on tonight, Sevilla are away to AEK in the delayed CL qualifiers. Its hard to know what way players will react to the recent tragedy though and especially with a 2 - 0 lead for Sevilla, they will concentrate on keeping a clean sheet and shutting AEK out. A game to leave alone in my opinion.

The game I will concentrate on though is Irish, Drogheda at home to UCD.
Drogheda are top of the league and have an impressive home record (DWWWW for the last 5 homes)
They were comprehensively beaten 3 - 0 last week in Sweden to Helsingborg to end all European dreams for this season. They are pretty much full strength for tonight’s game.
UCD are hovering above the drop zone, their recent form has been patchy but they have been picking up the odd draw to keep them slightly out of danger. Last 5 aways read ( DLLWL) However they are up against a very strong home team in good form tonight. UCD will try to keep it tight at the back in the hope of taking a point, a result which they would be more than happy with.
Another stat of interest is that Drogheda have taken 24 points at home this year from a possible 33 compared to UCD's 9 away points from a possible 30.

Verdict

The league is what Drogheda will concentrate on fully now after being knocked out of Europe, a win tonight will see them 10 points clear at the top and in a commanding position. Home advantage should be good enough to ensure 3 points. However UCD will come to defend and take a point which is why I see 4.5 on the HT draw FT home win as a good pick, as it may take Drogs a while to break down the UCD defence.
Anything other than a home win tonight will be viewed as a big surprise.


PICK
Drogheda win (1.5 @ coral) 5 points
Drogheda HT draw FT win (4.5 @ ladbrokes) 1 point

2nd September evening pick

Final pick of the weekend is Real Betis to win at home to Espanyol. Espanyol have key players missing, including Tamudo and De La Pena. Hector Cuper has done a decent job at Betis so far and they will be well up for 3 points tonight

PICK
Betis (2.1 @ paddy power) 2 points
Betis clean sheet (2.4 @ paddy power) 1 point

2nd September picks

GAA

Kilkenny take on Limerick today in the All-Ireland hurling final, Limerick have probably exceeded their own expectations by reaching the final whereas its no surprise to see Kilkenny back again competing in their 8th final in the last 10 years. They have bucketloads of experience and while 99% of neutrals want Limerick to win the fact is simple, Kilkenny don’t do fairytales or sympathy. They are very well motivated and driven and anything other than a comfortable Kilkenny win today will be a major shock. Limerick had their day in the sun in the semi against Waterford and a final has probably come a little too early for them as they are a team for the future. Kilkenny's experience to shine through for me.


PICK
Kilkenny –5 points (1.9 @ ladbrokes) 4 points
Man of the match – Henry Shefflin (8 @ ladbrokes) 1 point

2nd September picks

Blackburn V Man City

Two similar, defensive minded teams come up against each other today, as with yesterday I find it hard to separate the two teams so il go for the draw. Blackburn were very poor midweek against Mypa, whether they were over confident or what I’m not sure but they offered very little in attack and It will be much harder to break down City’s defence today. In my humble opinion this has a draw written all over it.

PICK
Blackburn V Man City draw (3.4 @ bet365) 2 points

1st September some more weekend picks

Reading V West Ham

Reading seem to have some king of voodoo over West Ham, be it home or away, in the last 6 meetings Reading have won with the other two finishing in draws. This fixture last season finished 6 – 0 to Reading and while we wont see the same again, I think a win for Reading is on the cards. Usually very strong at home, Reading will be confident of taking 3 points. Shane Long is Readings only worry while West Ham will have to do without Dyer(long term) Ljungberg and Parker are also doubts
Reading win is the pick (2.2 @ bet365)

Theres plenty of teams today that will win but all at short odds, so instead of lumping on any singles il stick them all together in an acca. I know accas are risky stuff but its hard to look past anything but wins this weekend for Man U, Liverpool, Feyenoord and Rangers. Acca pays out at 1.99 at boylesports and il give it a whack.

Theres a lot of games this weekend that will be close and are very tight to call so ive a few games in mind where I fancy draws.

Fulham V Tottenham, Tottenham looked lively against Man U last weekend but are up against a decent home side at the Craven cottage. I still expect Spurs to take a point here though.

Blackburn V Man City, il leave till tomorrow but two very defence minded teams will play each other here, a 0 – 0 is not out of the question.

Bolton V Everton, another game where I cant pick a winner, Bolton at the reebok is a tough venue to visit but with Everton playing some decent stuff and Yakubu on board I think they will take at least a point. The best value may be in the draw though and that’s what il go with


PICKS
Reading win (2.2 @ bet365) 2 points

My mug acca of Man U, Liverpool, Rangers and Feyenoord (1.99 @ boylesports) 2 points

Fulham V Tottenham draw (3.7 @ betfair) 1 point
Bolton V Everton draw (3.3 @ VC) 1 point