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Three Wednesday night fixtures with plenty to play for...

Banker. Nailed on. Dead cert. Just some of the phrases punters up and down the country will doubtless utter as they back a home win for Derby's visit to Chelsea.

To be able to back any team at [36.0] in a Premiership match is incredible, and yet those are the odds available on the Rams this evening. Chelsea, unsurprisingly, are [1.12] to back with the draw at [11.5].

However, it would take a brave, brave man to go against the Blues - although at those prices, it would take a fairly wealthy one to make much out of backing them either.

Chelsea must win this game in hand to get within three points of Manchester United, and those two then have a further game in hand on leaders Arsenal. Avram Grant knows his side cannot afford to do anything other than win tonight - and coming so soon after the humiliation of losing at Barnsley in the FA Cup, a second shocker would surely have the tabloid knives out for the Chelsea boss.

It's difficult to imagine Derby contributing much other than resistance for as long as possible - they have only take three away points all season and scored a paltry five goals on the road.

With that in mind, backing a Chelsea clean sheet at [1.52] is a more tempting proposition than those match odds, while I'd be inclined to cover 2-0 and 3-0 home wins at [6.4] and [6.6] respectively.

It's been a fine season for Aston Villa, but their hopes of challenging for fourth place and Champions League football will surely be over if they fail to beat Middlesbrough at Villa Park tonight.

Victory takes them to within five points of the Merseyside clubs - a draw leaves them seven behind, a gap which will be hard to make up in the remaining few weeks.

Villa have not played in the 11 days since their 1-1 draw at Arsenal and will surely be revved up for this one, while Boro have the misery of losing at home to Cardiff in the FA Cup to overcome.

Martin O'Neill's side are unbeaten in their last five at home in the league, and have only lost one in 12 overall. Middlesbrough meanwhile just don't score goals: they have failed to net in three of their last five outings, and only Derby have hit the target fewer times in the Premiership.

Backing Villa at [1.65] is the way forward in the match odds market, and I'd also be looking to back Under 2.5 goals at [1.8].

While the weekend's FA Cup results may have left Chelsea and Middlesbrough in the doldrums, it was the opposite story for Portsmouth. They will surely be on a high after winning at Old Trafford, but they'll need to come back down to earth to see off a Birmingham side that is starting to show signs of hitting form.

The Blues are unbeaten in four, and although three of those games were draws, any team in the relegation scrap that can bundle up six points in a few weeks is likely to move upwards. However, they haven't won away in seven games, and although Pompey draw a lot of matches at Fratton Park, I think the momentum of Saturday's Cup success makes them backable at [1.91]. Birmingham will offer stout resistance though, and so Draw/Portsmouth at [5.5] is worth consideration.

So all that said, I think a home win treble is something to consider as well - it pays around [3.38] in the multiples markets.