Football Food For Thought / James Eastham / 15 March 2009 /

James Eastham on the forthcoming action to get your betting teeth into this week.

Monday March 16

What are the chances of West Brom avoiding the drop? [1.15], according to Betfair's lay price - which is virtually nil, in layman's (pardon the pun) parlance.

Few will oppose the Baggies making an immediate return to the Championship, although plenty will be keen to get against them when they visit West Ham United on Monday night. Gianfranco Zola's side have won their last four home games against non-Big Four sides and are [1.74] to make it five in a row.


Tuesday March 17

Arsenal host Hull in their delayed FA Cup quarter-final for a place against Chelsea in the semi-finals at Wembley. The Gunners warmed up in spectacular fashion with a 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday and their run of only one defeat in 19 matches makes them strong favourites. Hull are [10.5], the draw [5.7] and the hosts [1.37].

The bigger of the two Coupe de France quarter-finals is a cracking meeting between two top-six Ligue 1 sides. Toulouse v Lille pits outstanding young managers Alain Casanova and Rudi Garcia against one another, although there is no guarantee that Toulouse's 17-goal Ligue 1 top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac will be on the pitch, because Casanova has rested him in previous cup games. TFC are [2.36], Lille [2.86] and the draw [2.9]. The night's other tie sees Ligue 2 sides Sedan and Guingamp face each other.


Wednesday March 18

French action dominates the night, as Grenoble v Monaco and Rennes v rank outsiders Rodez, of the third division, complete the Coupe de France last eight. But the biggest European game of the evening is the Uefa Cup last 16 second leg between Ajax and Marseille at the Amsterdam ArenA. Goals from Benoit Cheyrou and Mamadou Niang have given the French club a 2-1 lead from the first leg, which explains their [1.6] favouritism. Marco van Basten's underdogs are [2.6] to get through.

St Etienne are massive underdogs in their Uefa Cup tie against Werder Bremen because a goal from Naldo gave Werder a 1-0 win in Germany. Les Verts are [4.0] to qualify, with Werder trading at [1.3].


Thursday March 19

Manchester City are [5.2] favourites to win the Uefa Cup this season, and they take a commanding 2-0 lead into their second leg against Danish side AaB. Mark Hughes' side are [2.52] to win on the night and [1.09] to qualify for the last eight. Tournament second favourites CSKA Moscow won 1-0 lead at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in last week's first leg and will be confident of getting through to the quarter-finals in Ukraine.

The remaining ties are all perfectly poised, too - Galatasaray v Hamburg is 1-1 from the first leg, Dynamo Kiev have a 1-0 to take into their trip to Metallist Kharkiv and PSG are 0-0 against Braga before their trip to Portugal. Holders Zenit St Petersburg have the biggest task of all, as they lost 2-0 at Udinese last Thursday. The Serie A outfit are now as short as [1.27] to end Zenit's defence of the trophy at this stage of the competition.


Friday March 20

The Bundesliga game of the evening is a vital relegation battle between Borussia Monchengladbach and Bochum, lying 16th and 15th respectively in the 18-team top division. In the Dutch Eredivisie, De Graafschap are in similar trouble near the bottom of their particular pile, and face a tricky trip to third-placed Heerenveen.

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