Andy's Saturday tips - Liverpool to edge it
Manchester United's draw at White Hart Lane last week has given the other title challengers a glimmer of hope in the title chase. At the other end of the table, West Brom's thrilling win over Blackpool put breathing space between them and the relegation zone while putting the likes of West Ham, Wolves, Wigan and even Aston Villa under serious pressure. There are plenty more big games going on this week, let's see what if we can try and predict what will happen in them...
Wolves v Liverpool
Liverpool's defeat at home to Wolves just after Christmas will be remembered by fans as one of the great disappointments of Roy Hodgson's time in charge. And that's saying something because there really were plenty of disappointments during his tenure. The scent of revenge will certainly be in the air.
Kenny Dalglish's time in charge of Liverpool so far has hardly been a roaring success, though in fairness to the former Scotland striker, they weren't exactly the easiest of fixtures. The promising signs for Liverpool fans though are that the players appear to have a greater desire to play for Kenny and that extra little bit of motivation and commitment makes a huge difference at this level.
Wolves will be confident that having done the business at Anfield, lightning can strike twice. They gave Manchester City a huge scare last weekend, beat Chelsea a couple of weeks ago and look a pretty close-knit bunch but they're not second from bottom for nothing and the truth is that if they don't start winning more matches at home, they won't be in this division next season.
Liverpool are very much still work in progress and we won't see them at their best until Steven Gerrard returns but Fernando Torres appears to be in good physical shape and is looking confident even though the goals haven't been coming for him. I fancy them to pick up their first win under Kenny, albeit in a pretty tight match.
Recommended Bets:
Back Liverpool to win at [2.42]
Back Liverpool to win 1-0 at [10.0]
Back under 1.5 goals at [3.3]
Aston Villa v Manchester City
This is my pick as the best match of the weekend. Manchester City continue to do things the hard way as we saw in their 4-3 win over Wolves last Saturday and they even made a bit of meal of their 4-2 win over Leicester in the FA Cup.
But the truth is they're still winning most of their matches in all competitions, though the amount of goals they're shipping in at the moment will be a concern for Roberto Mancini, for whom clean sheets are the holy grail of football.
The interesting thing about Manchester City's league campaign this season is how they appear to be more comfortable playing away from home. You see this happen with a few teams - Blackpool are another example - and with the Citizens I think it's that when they've been at home the opposition has been quite negative in their approach, not giving them much space and not committing too many men forward.
It's all well and good for Manchester City if they score an early goal, but when it hasn't come they get frustrated and lose their cool; their matches against Birmingham and Everton being good examples of that. Away from home, teams give them more space and we all know how dangerous that can be when you're playing against the likes of Carlos Tevez, David Silva and Adam Johnson.
The signing of Darren Bent is a huge boost for an Aston Villa team that needed a breath of fresh air and I'm pretty confident he'll do really well at Villa Park. He'll get goals there just as he has everywhere else he's been and I wouldn't be surprised if the first comes as early as Saturday teatime. As for the result, I think they'll share the points.
Recommended Bets:
Back the draw at [3.5]
Back the 1-1 draw at [7.4]
Back Darren Bent to score at anytime at [3.0]
Andy's predictions for Saturday's 3pm kick-offs...
Arsenal v Wigan
The Gunners are gunning for goals and the Gunners will get goals against a Wigan side who won't be able to live with their passing and quick movement.
Recommended Bets: Back Arsenal to win at [1.25]; 3-0 at [9.0]
Blackpool v Sunderland
Life after Darren Bent starts for Sunderland with a trip to Blackpool where I think they'll do enough to get a point.
Recommended Bets: Back the draw at [3.4]; 1-1 at [7.4]
Everton v West Ham
The Toffees played well enough against Liverpool to make me think they should beat West Ham relatively comfortably.
Recommended Bets: Back Everton to win at [1.6]; 2-0 at [8.0]
Fulham v Stoke
Fulham fans haven't had much to cheer about this season but they may have some rare joy on Saturday.
Recommended Bets: Back Fulham to win at [2.3]; 2-1 at [11.0]
Newcastle v Tottenham
In the past, I wouldn't have fancied Spurs to win a match like this but they're playing well enough right now to make me think they'll get another three points.
Recommended Bets: Back Tottenham to win at [2.4]; 0-1 at [10.0]
Manchester United v Birmingham
The leaders have had their troubles on the road but they're still the real deal at home and this should be comfortable.
Recommended Bets: Back Manchester United to win at [1.26]; 3-0 at [8.0]
Andy Gray is now on Twitter so follow him for his exclusive tips and his take on the biggest stories in football each week.
Published: 21 Jan 2011
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