Weekend Football Tips for April 24th 2010

There are three games to go in the Premiership with the top teams completely focused on the Premiership title as their European interests in the Champions league were all cut short this season. Chelsea are one point ahead of Manchester United and will hope to increase their lead with a home win against Stoke and a helping hand from Tottenham who face Man Utd at Old Trafford. Whilst the title battle rages I have picked out three matches for my weekly betting tips where I believe the odds offer an opportunity for profit this weekend. As always the betting odds are from https://www.bwin.com.

Man Utd 1/2 Draw 16/5 Tottenham 19/4

Spurs are enjoying the form of Gareth Bale from left-back who I think may become one of the best left wingers around in the near future if allowed to focus on attacking. Against Gary Neville we could see a great battle between these two players in one of the key battles on the pitch. 34 goals from Wayne Rooney is a remarkable return for this season and Man Utd will hope he can get a few more before the season finishes.

Tottenham come into the game with two wins other Arsenal and Chelsea, a remarkable hat-trick if they manage to win today. I believe that despite Tottenham’s good form recently Man Utd are too strong at this point in the season for me to be tipping their demise. I could see this match being drawn, but I will tip the home win in a tight and entertaining match.

As a fun bet Bale is 14/1 to score first as he continues his rich vein of form.

Aston Villa 11/20 Draw 29/10 Birmingham City 9/2

Villa have an outside chance of champion’s league qualification but the reality is both sides are playing for pride this afternoon. Birmingham welcomes back Cameron Jerome and James McFadden to the squad after injury but have not managed to win a game since March 9th.

Villa have home advantage although in a derby this is not as big a factor as there will be plenty of support for both teams. Stiliyan Petrov, Richard Dunne and Stephen Warnock are all fit to play and Gabriel Agbonlahor will also play. I fancy Villa to take advantage of Birmingham’s stuttering league form and grab the win in this match.

Arsenal 19/20 Draw 51/20 Man City 49/20

It will be interesting to see how both teams approach the summer transfer window but for now we must consider this clash between to two teams that promised so much this season but just failed to break the status quo at the top of the table. Adebayor has promised no repeat of the shameful actions that marred their early season contest last year but tension will be high with Van Persie, Adebayor, Gallas and Kolo Toure on the same pitch.

Three big wins before the late loss to Man Utd gives me confidence in Man City’s ability against everyone but the very best teams, but Arsenal are one of the best teams and that must be remembered before getting carried away by Mancini’s squad. Arsenal, however, lost to Wigan in their last match and this is when you wonder whether they should have a more balanced squad in terms of experience. I am going to back the draw in this match.

I would back the Aston Villa at 11/20 and Man Utd at 1/2 in a £10 double bet this weekend. This would return a total of £23.25 and backing the draw between Arsenal and Man City will return, for another £10 bet, a total of £35.50.

My general thoughts for this weekend are that Man Utd will have a hard match against Spurs but they should come through. Chelsea should soundly beat Stoke at home at this point of the season and their odds of 3/25 to win the match reflect the markets confidence in this result. It should be the same situation in terms of the title race with one point separating the two sides with only two matches remaining. It is very exciting.

Enjoy all of your Premier League football betting this weekend.

By Malcolm Clarke