Today’s featured game is the Premier League game between Wigan Athletic and Hull City. This game is a redundant encounter with Wigan already assured of a place in the Premier League next season and Hull City’s fate already sealed with their ticket to the Championship having already been purchased.

However, I’m going to back hosts Wigan Athletic today. I’ve been very impressed with Roberto Martinez this season and the job he’s done at Wigan Athletic, which might sound a bit bizarre considering how many goals they’ve conceded etc. but I just like what he’s done there. He’s got a bunch of well-organised players that try to play good football and he’s got some good individuals. I honestly feel he’ll do a damn good job next year given the correct resources this summer.

Wigan were a bit unlucky to lose against West Ham United in their last Premier League game. They managed to score two goals but unfortunately a spectacular strike from Scott Parker secured a much-needed win for The Hammers to guarantee them Premier League football next season. Prior to that encounter, Wigan heroically came from two goals down to overcome Arsenal in an epic 3-2 encounter. Suffice to say that Wigan are scoring a lot of goals at the moment and with strikers like Rodallega and Moreno spear-heading the attack and wingers like N’Zogbia supporting them, it’s easy to see that there’s the potential there for more to come. They need to sort their defence out but I just don’t expect their defence to be tested excessively by a meager Hull City attack tonight. My comments may be a tad harsh, however, as Wigan have been good defensively at home this season with just twenty-two goals conceded in eighteen home games – it’s their defensive record on the road which requires drastic improvement. Wigan are unbeaten in their last three home games, winning twice and drawing once, so they do bring some momentum into this game as well as an increased level of potency so I fancy Wigan to do well tonight.

Hull City showed how much their bottle had gone last match by losing 1-0 at home to a Sunderland side that don’t travel well without scoring a goal and also by having American prodigy Jozy Altidore dismissed for a stupid foul. Hull have now only managed to score just once in their past five games, losing four times, and drawing once. I don’t think I could ever label an Iain Dowie side as “lazy” or as “not working hard enough” because he motivates his sides well but they’re simply not good enough to be in the division whereas hosts Wigan Athletic certainly are. Hull have already lost thirteen out of eighteen away games this season and average conceding over two goals per away game so it’s easy to see why they’re the only side in the division yet to win an away game and it looks likely that the record mentioned above will be one that they carry into the Championship next season if trends continue. Hull have lost six out of their last seven away games and have only scored in two of those games so to say that they look vulnerable ahead of this game today is a massive understatement.

I basicaly feel that Wigan have too much quality for Hull. They’re playing better football, they’re scoring goals for fun at the moment, and they’re composed defensively when playing at home. Hull are leaky at the back, don’t score goals, and are playing badly with no reason to improve their level of performance. I feel odds for the home win should be 4/6 so backing Wigan at 4/5 should be good value tonight.

Verdict: Wigan Athletic to win at 4/5.

Monday’s Picks

My tips:

As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:

Empoli vs Brescia – home win at 13/10.

Hosts Empoli are the only remaining side in Serie B that are yet to lose a home game. They’ve won thirteen out of eighteen home games in Serie B, and have drawn five, thus making them a damn good side on their own turf! They average scoring well over two goals per home game and don’t even concede a goal per home game on average. No side comes close to the number of goals that Empoli have notched up at home this season and only Cittadella have conceded less at home so any side travelling to Empoli has a nightmare task on their hands. Empoli still have a good chance of making the play-offs for promotion to Serie A if they maintain their excellent run of form so motivaton is strong currently. They’ve won their last three games consecutively whilst scoring a mighty haul of twelve goals – an average of four per game, in fact. They’re unbeaten in their last five games and have won three out of their last four home games with the only side to puncture that record being league leaders Lecce, who claimed a 2-2 draw here. To be blunt, however – Empoli are absolutely on-fire at the moment, particularly with goalscoring, so it’d take a braver man than me to go against them.

Visitors Brescia are no mugs themselves with their eyes firmly fixed upon promotion too. They have the advantage over Empoli in that sense as their current league placing is already in the play-offs. However, Brescia don’t tend to travel well so that record may be in jeopardy if they’re not careful. They’ve lost seven out of eighteen away games in Serie B this season because they barely average scoring more than a goal per away game so Brescia could struggle tonight with Empoli in such fine goalscoring form. Brescia are unbeaten in five games but have drawn their last two games consecutively as their run gradually comes to an end. They’ve done well on the road of late, Brescia, but they’ve got a mammoth task to continue that form against an Empoli side in such dominant form at the moment and it’s a task I feel is frankly beyond them currently.

I expect a tight game between two sides that are well-matched here. However, you have to favour Empoli in such a rich vein of goalscoring form, particularly when they’re so dominant at home and the odds of 13/10 certainly make it good value so it has to be worth a punt tonight!

Verdict: Empoli to win at 13/10.

GAIS Goteborg vs Helsingborgs – away win at 11/10.

Hosts GAIS Goteborg have made an unspectacular start to the Allsvenskan this season but have atypically managed to cause problems when they should have no chance of taking any points from a game, which makes them dangerous opponents tonight as they’re clear underdogs. They’re unbeaten at home in the four Allsvenskan games that GAIS have played so they have some good momentum to bring into their game with Helsingborgs. They’re not as good as the visitors but that doesn’t mean too much in division where the gulf in class is not large. However, GAIS have started to struggle a bit of late despite a driven run as they were battered 3-0 by Halmstad, drew 2-2 with out-of-form Kalmar, before winning at the descending BK Hacken Goteborg. GAIS are not a bad side and I doubt that they’ll be anywhere but mid-tabe by the end of the season but they should be out of their depth against a superior Helsingsborgs side, particularly with tonight’s visitors having won all of their four trips here since GAIS’ promotion back in 2006 whilst also beating the -1.75 handicap in each game.

Visitors Helsingborgs have never looked so assured and in control! I’ve not seen this level of maturity from them for some time. I half-thought they may spoil my bet and buckle in the hom game with AIK Solna but they remained composed yet again and won yet again! If they continue this excellent run of form with such composed attacking and defending then it’s hard to envision anyone finishing above them this season. They’ve won five consecutive games leading into this match and have won three out of their four away games already this season without even conceding a goal. They’ve beaten most of their title rivals already this season so it’s hard to find a fault with Helsingborgs currently. I think they’ll lose their clean sheet record against GAIS Goteborg tonight because the hosts have a habit of being a pain in the backside but Helsingborgs have such a good record here that it’s hard to see anything but an away win occurring.

I can’t quite fathom why the bookies have put Helsingborgs at such long odds but I’ll welcome those odds with open arms. Helsingborgs are looking very much the real deal currently so the away win at 11/10 looks a good bet to me tonight!

Verdict: Helsingborgs to win at 11/10.

Accumulator fodder:

Inter Turku, Bohemians.

Recommended bets:

Inter Turku, Wigan Athletic, and Empoli at 7/1.

As ever, if there any questions/explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the complete picks listing, see below!

Danish Superligaen:

SonderjyskE vs OB Odense (6) 0-1

English Premier League:

Wigan Athletic vs Hull City (7) 2-1
Blackburn Rovers vs Arsenal (6) 1-1

Faroese Meistaradeildin:

B68 vs Vikingur Gotu (5) 2-2

Finnish Veikkausliiga:

Inter Turku vs FC Lahti (7) under 2.5 goals
Tampere United vs MyPa Anjalankoski (5) draw no bet, under 2.5 goals

Finnish Ykkonen:

KooTeePee Kotka vs Jippo Joensuu (6) under 2.5 goals

French Ligue 2:

Metz vs Angers SCO (5)

Irish Premier League:

Bohemians vs Drogheda United (8) 2-1
Dundalk vs Shamrock Rovers (5) 1-2
UCD vs St.Patrick’s Athletic (6) 0-1

Italian Serie B:

Empoli vs Brescia (6) under 2.5 goals

Norwegian Eliteserien:

Aalesunds vs Start Kristiansand (6) 2-2

Singaporean S-League:

Albirex Niigata vs Geylang United (5) 1-1
Armed Forces vs Wellington Woodlands (8) 2-0

Spanish Segunda Liga:

Gimnastic de Tarragona vs Real Union Club de Irun (6)

Swedish Allsvenskan:

GAIS Goteborg vs Helsingborgs (7) 1-2
Mjallby Solvesborg vs IFK Goteborg (5) 1-1

Swiss Challenge League:

Yverdon Sport vs Thun (6)

Enjoy your free betting tips!