Weekend Football Preview 27th February 2010

It has been a sad week for Premiership football as Portsmouth became the first club from the league to go into administration. The nine point penalty they have accepted as a consequence of administration virtually guarantees they will be relegated this season. A full programme of Premiership matches gives football betting fans plenty to choose from and here are my best picks from the bwin football betting odds and my selected bet for this weekends action.

Chelsea 2/5 Draw 31/10 Man City 7/1

Man City should be doing a lot better and the fact they are as high as 7/1 away to Chelsea shows only gradual improvement which should be far better considering the quality of their playing squad. All the focus is on the John Terry/Wayne Bridge situation but this will not decide the match. Hilario will be in goal for Chelsea due to Cech’s injury, but as part of a team that has scored freely and won their last four matches I expect this will not be a problem. Man City has Carlos Tevez back after compassionate leave and they will be ready for this match with a team full of big game players. Personally I think the 2/5 is a little low and for that reason, with many of the top teams slipping in recent weeks, a small bet on the draw at 31/10 might be my tip, but this match will not be part of my accumulator bets.

Birmingham City 9/10 Draw 23/10 Wigan 59/20

Birmingham is eleven points ahead of Wigan in the league and welcome back midfielder Barry Ferguson from injury. They won their last home game but have since lost two matches away. This home game represents a chance to get back on track. Birmingham did manage to beat Wigan 3-2 earlier in the season. Wigan may be without Titus Bramble whose defence will be weaker as a result. They have only scored three goals in their last six matches so I fear this match will be hard for them against Birmingham who has been very strong at home this season. 9/10 is good enough odds for me to back the home win here.

Stoke City 17/4 Draw 5/2 Arsenal 13/20

Arsenal announced increased profits for last year and is one of the most financially healthy clubs in the Premiership. A good week off the pitch will be helped on the pitch by news that Eduardo is back from injury. Stokes biggest threat will come from Rory Delap’s throw-ins and they are unbeaten in seven matches and have had a fantastic season so far well above expectations. Unfortunately despite this good form playing the third best team in the league according to current standings should be too much and I have a lot of faith in the young guns of Arsenal to have just too much quality on the day for Stoke to contain. 13/20 for Arsenal is my tip for this match.

Tottenham 9/10 Draw 12/5 Everton 57/20

Everton did marvellously well to beat Man Utd and will be full of confidence for this match. With Tottenham being hit by a virus and unable to confirm that Wilson Palacios and Vedran Corluka will feature in the match until closer to kick-off they are not as prepared as they could be. The draw seems the obvious result here as Spurs are solidly fourth in the league and Everton are back to full strength with long term absentee Phil Jaglieka back from ten months out with injury and Sylvain Distin and John Heitinga are also back after missing the midweek European matches. My tip here is the draw at 12/5.

My bet for this week will be the treble between the draw at Tottenham and Everton at 12/5, Arsenal to win at 13/20 and Birmingham to beat Wigan at 9/10. A £10 bet on this treble would return a total of £106.59 including your stake.

Enjoy all of the football betting action and your betting for this weekend.

By Malcolm Clarke