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Today’s secondary featured game is the English Premier League game between Bolton Wanderers and Arsenal.
On one hand, we have Bolton with their Championship defence hosting Arsenal with their inconsistent attack. I do expect goals to come here, though. It may be a tad naive of Owen Coyle to tell his sides to attack in games like these but that’s what he’ll do. Attacking is Bolton’s only strength right now and they do have the players to hurt Arsenal, although Wenger isn’t daft – he won’t allow the superb Miyachi to play against Arsenal tonight!
New defender Ream is a doubt for Bolton which leaves their defence looking…shocking, really. They’re especially vulnerable at left-back and given the lack of faith that Coyle has in any of his goalkeepers, it’s hard to see Bolton keeping a clean sheet for the remainder of this season.
We all know Arsenal can’t defend so them conceding here would surprise nobody. They are the better side, however, and should really make it count against an inferior Bolton side today. Arsenal needed a couple of penalties to get past Aston Villa in the FA Cup recently but that’s enforced van Persie’s return to the goalscoring charts so I expect a bit of a rousing display from Arsenal, even with the absence of playmaker Arteta.
Given that Arsenal can’t defend, I can’t take them to win this game despite being the better side – the odds just look short. However, both sides struggle to defend and both score goals so for me, going over 3 goals is well worth a flutter at 11/10.
Verdict: Over 3 goals at 11/10.
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Wednesday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, please find my value tips listed below in no particular order:
Fulham vs West Bromwich Albion – home win at 9/10.
Fulham may have sold Zamora to Queens Park Rangers last night but they should welcome back Dembele for this game so I expect the “proper” Fulham to return. I’ll almost always given Fulham the nod when playing at Craven Cottage because they work hard, they’re confident, and they’re tenacious, far moreso at home than away. They’ve won four out of their last five home games in the Premier League with only Manchester United denting that record. They’ve been scoring goals for fun too with the likes of Dempsey, Duff, Dembele, and Ruiz all linking up very well and being rather hard to mark because of it. I still think Fulham could do with a good striker but I rate them highly right now and I think they’ll do enough to win here.
West Brom have done well on the road this season, which is a stark contast to how they’ve played at home. They’re a good side that I have a lot of respect for and they won’t be easy to beat in this game. However, the trip to Fulham is a difficult one for all Premier League sides and I think West Brom might just feel that now as the cold weather settles in with West Brom still lacking a lot of depth. They’ve found a good finisher in Long but he does look isolated far too often, in my view. Worryingly, WBA look suspect at the back at the moment and if they fall behind in this game then they’ll have to play better than they have done this season to get a result here.
All in all, I fancy Fulham to win this one.
Verdict: Fulham to win at 9/10.
SSC Napoli vs Cesena – home win with -1.5 handicap at evens.
There’s not much I can add here that the league table doesn’t say already, really. Napoli are a very good side and Cesena offer little in front of goal. What credit I will give Cesena is that they’re hard to score against but when they fall behind they generally lose and it’s somewhat inevitable that they’ll fall behind in this game, in my view. Lavezzi is out for Napoli but with Hamsik, Cavani, and Vargas in their ranks, I’m not concerned. Napoli have occasionally been a shade lazy at home this season and defensively stupid but given that I expect them to score at least two or three goals in this game, I think evens on them beating the -1.5 handicap is a bet worth taking here.
Verdict: SSC Napoli to beat the -1.5 handicap at evens.
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
African Nations:
Botswana vs Mali (5) 1-1
Ghana vs Guinea (6) 1-0
Copa Libertadores:
Flamengo vs Real Potosi (9) -1.5 handicap
Once Caldas Manizales vs Internacional (6) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Australian A-League:
Melbourne Victory vs Gold Coast United (6) 1-0
English Premier League:
Aston Villa vs Queens Park Rangers (4) 1-1
Bolton Wanderers vs Arsenal (7) over 2.5 goals
Sunderland vs Norwich City (5) 1-1
Fulham vs West Bromwich Albion (7) 1-0
Blackburn Rovers vs Newcastle United (5) 2-1
English Championship:
Leicester City vs Middlesbrough (6)
Italian Serie A:
Atalanta Bergamo vs Genoa (5) 2-2
Siena vs Catania (6) 0-0
SSC Napoli vs Cesena (8) 2-0
Bologna vs Fiorentina (6) 1-0
Udinese vs Lecce (8) 2-1
Lazio vs AC Milan (5) 1-2
Internazionale vs Palermo (8) 2-0
Cagliari vs AS Roma (6) 1-1
Turkish Super Lig:
Orduspor vs Ankaragucu (8) 2-0
Genclerbirligi vs Gaziantepspor (5) 1-1
Istanbul BB vs Karabukspor (7) 1-0
Galatasaray vs Antalyaspor (8) 2-1
Trabzonspor vs Bursaspor (5) 1-0
Enjoy your free betting tips!