It doesn’t matter if the Carlings cup has less importance earlier in the season, because when It comes to Final it is always highly prestigious and almost every manager’s plays with his best possible start up line in this game no matter how he has played earlier in this cup.

I will give you my best bettingtips from all of these games. Here are all the matches that are going to play today together with the odds, all the odds are picked from bwin football odds:

Premier League:

Tottenham Hotspurs vs. FC Everton, odds: 1 2.00   draw 3.25   2 3.65

FC Liverpool vs. Blackburn Rovers, odds: 1 1.35   draw 4.25   2 9.25

Sunderland vs. Fulham, odds: 1 2.15   draw 3.25   2 3.25

Carlings Cup:

Aston Villa vs. Manchester United, odds: 1 4.50   draw 3.50   2 1.75

My best bettingtips for these games:

Tottenham Hotspurs vs. FC Everton, bettingtips: over 2,5 goals @ 1.90 in odds

Just let me remind you that there are many other odds to bet on besides 1-x-2 that I present above. These odds are just to give you all an overview of the matches and how the bookies value the different games.

If you go in to any betting company’s homepage, you will find plenty of interesting games to bet on. For example, bwin has about 57 other type of opportunities to bet on this game then just 1-x-2. Some examples of this is, as I bet here, over/under certain goals. We have when the first goal is going to be scored, how many cards (over / under) the game will have, first goal scorer, correct result of the game, haft time / full time betting and so on. In this case I find the over 2, 5 goals in the game as interesting and chose to bet on that @ 1.90 in odds.

Both Tottenham and Everton have been doing well in Premier League lately and both this teams score many goals. Everton started really badly and was near the relegation-mark in the beginning of the league. However, David Moyce has turned things the right way again and Everton has won against Chelsea and played 2 – 2 against Arsenal away not to long ago. Everton is one of the toughest teams to defend against when it comes to set pieces offensively or corners. They have lot of strong players in the head and it would not surprise me if they managed to score at least one goal with the header in this game as well.

Tottenham has J Defoe in their squad and he is scoring more then ever. Even when he doesn’t score Tottenham has lots of other players that can score, and lately even Roman Pavlyochenko has started to score. So I recommend you to bet on over 2,5 goals in this game to a valuable odds at 1.90.

Aston Villa vs Manchester United, bettingtips draw @ 3.50

Final in Carlings cup and this is always a big game. I would say that it is a bigger game for the underdogs since they do not play this type of games as the bigger team. Manchester United is used to play big Champions League games, FA-cup finals, bigger league games, World cup for club teams and so on.

In Aston Villa’s case, they play this type of games a few times every decade, if not less then that. In addition, a typical pattern that I see in this type of finals is that the underdog, in this case Aston Villa, often starts the game better, often with positions that are more offensive and with higher tempo. I would not be surprised if Aston Villa even manages to score the first goal in this game.

I am aware of that, Manchester United should be big favourites in this game and that many of you people think that they can win this game easy. However, I cannot motivate that 1.75 in odds on a bet on Manchester United is good enough. Aston Villa is a strong team and has shown that repeatedly in the league this year. Do not forget that Manchester United is playing both Champions League and is fighting in the top of the league where they cannot afford to loose any points to Chelsea and Arsenal in the top fight.

I find the odds on draw after full time more interesting to 3.50 in payback. Aston Villa is a good team and I think that even if Manchester United wins this game it will be with a late winner. So the draw feels valuable to bet on here.

The rest of the games (Liverpool vs. Blackburn and Sunderland vs. Fulham) feel unsure to bet on. Of course, I think that Liverpool will beat Blackburn, but the odds at 1.35 feels to low to invest on. Liverpool is fighting for the fourth place in the league witch means that they can qualify to Champions League. But as they have been playing this season I would not touch them for an odds at 1.35.

Sunderland vs. Fulham is a hard game to predict and my feeling is that the odds are just about where they should be.

Good Luck with your football-betting

/Amrish

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

Last week we had four matches played and one of these matches ended pretty surprisingly according to me and the odds that the betting-company’s predictions. The result I am talking about is Lyon vs. Real Madrid 1 – 0. The odds for a home win in that match was over 3.50 and even though I gave Lyon good chances to manage a draw I could not see them winning. This also means that Real Madrid has to win with a two goal margin in the re-match in Santiago Bernabeu if they want to go trough. 

The other results where more predictable; AC Milan vs. Manchester United 2 – 3, Porto vs. Arsenal 2 – 1 and B Munchen vs. Fiorentina 2 – 1. Compared to the odds all the three winners, besides Lyon, where favourites.

This week it will be played two matches on Tuesday and two matches on Wednesday just as last week. In this text I will focus on Tuesday’s matches. As usual I will present the the odds for these matches and give you my best bettingtips. the odds are picked from bwin-champions-league-betting. 

Olympiakos Pireus 2.75   X  3.05   Girondins de Bordeaux 2.55 

VfB Stuttgart 5.00   X 3.90   FC Barcelona 1.60

And here is my bettingtips for these two matches and odds: 

VfB Stuttgart vs. FC Barcelona, away win @ 1.60 in odds 

The German side Stuttgart will not repeat last year’s success in the German league, Bundesliga. At the moment they are placed ninth in the league and are not close to be involved in the top. Stuttgart has whole 18 points up to Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munchen at the top of the table. 

One of the reasons why they are that far behind the league top might bee that they dropped many points earlier and their squad is not good enough to combine Champions League and at the same time perform well enough in the league.

They have better results lately, but to be honest they have had a pretty easy schedule in these games. Their home stats will not frighten Barcelona since they only have won four matches at home in twelve games. Even compared to earlier results in Champions League I think that they have been lucky. As I see it Stuttgart was drawn into an easy group with Sevilla, Unirea and Glasgow. Still they just managed to go trough in the last round and where close being knock out already in the group phase.

For example Sevilla won easy against Stuttgart away with 1 – 3. And Barcelona is way better then Sevilla as I see it. 

Barcelona is in the top of Primera division that’s impressive since Real Madrid bought some of the best players in the world before this season. In their last league match they even rested some of their key players just to spare them to this game. Barcelona impressed very much on me in their group stage and has a way better team then Stuttgart. Barcelona has every key player available for this game and I am pretty sure that their manager Pep Guardiola will play with his best team. With players like Valdes in goal, Dani Alves, Piqué, Márquez, Puyol, Maxwell, Milito as defenders, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Yaya Touré on the midfield and Zlatan, Messi, Henry, Bojan, Pedro on the attacking line I keep Barcelona as big favourites in this game. 

Even though many teams might feel satisfied with a draw away in a first knock out match I don’t see that Barcelona will play for a draw here. And without underestimation Barcelona should win this game. So my first bettingtips goes to Barcelona today and 1.60 is an okay odds on that bet. Even the bet on half time / full time 2 / 2 feels good to better odds.

Olympiakos vs. Bordeaux, bettingtips: draw @ 3.05 in odds 

I expect a tight game here and with not too many goals. Bordeaux is the better team but it is always tough to play away in Greece. All the Greek teams have fanatic crowds and that puts high pressure on the referee.

Bordeaux as one of the teams that impressed much on me in the group stage and they managed to win their group before top clubs like B Munchen and Milan. They didn’t only win the group but even played well in all the games. For example they beat B Munchen away and played 0 – 0 against Juventus away. 

The odds in this game is pretty even and the betting company’s (bwin in this case) that they think this is a hard game to predict the outcome of. I agree with that and think that if any team will win this game it will be with an odd goal. But my best bettingtips in this game is that Bordeaux will play for a draw. So I bet draw here for an odds just over 3 times the investment. 

Good Luck with your champions league betting 

/Amrish

Everton 15/4 Draw 5/2 Man Utd 7/10

Nemanja Vidic looks set to return to the defensive line-up of Man Utd and Wayne Rooney is now (correctly in my view) being considered one of the best footballers in the world. Unbeaten since mid December the second half of the season charge for the title is well underway for Man Utd. Everton are without their best player Tim Cahill which casts real doubt over their ability to defeat or even draw with Man Utd. Therefore the tip is for an away win at 7/10. Wayne Rooney to score first against his old team is 9/2.

Blackburn Rovers 9/10 Draw 9/4 Bolton 3/1

Sam Allardyce welcomes his previous club Bolton to Ewood Park having won praise from Owen Coyle for the position in which he left Bolton when exiting the club. Blackburn is without Chris Samba through injury but otherwise have a full squad to choose from in this match. Blackburn has managed to win their last three home games against teams of similar strength to Bolton in Fulham, Wigan and Hull. Bolton come into this match hopefully welcoming back Ivan Klasnic back up front, but have not won in four games. I expect Blackburn to push Bolton even further into the relegation mire by taking a home win here at 9/10.

Man City 29/20 Draw 11/5 Liverpool 7/4

This is the big match of the weekend but both teams have so far struggled to show their top form this season. Man City are dealing with internal problems including a bust-up between manager Roberto Mancini and Craig Bellamy, Patrick Vieira being given a three match suspension and Martin Petrov being sidelined with a knee injury for around one month. Any hopes of Premiership success this season are gone; they are looking good for fourth place but are well behind the top three teams. They were lucky in their last match to grab a late equaliser against Stoke away. Yossi Benayoun may feature after injury for Liverpool and despite good home form they have not won away in 2010. I think this match looks like being a draw and if you bet on this you may wish to follow my lead and place a single bet at 11/5.

Wigan Athletic 51/20 Draw 23/10 Tottenham 1/1

Wigan is fourteenth in the Premiership but with only two points separating them from the relegation places. Spurs continue to do well in the league in sixth place. Wigan last played Spurs at White Hart Lane when they were demolished 9-1! Wigan could be without key defender Titus Bramble through injury which casts real doubt over their ability to win this match or survive for a draw. At 1/1 for Tottenham this match appears to have good away team value and therefore I am satisfied this is a good bet to place into our weekend treble. My tip, therefore, is Tottenham to win away at 1/1.

My treble bet for this weekend is Tottenham at 1/1, Man Utd at 7/10 and Blackburn at 9/10. This would return a total of £64.60 for a £10 bet if successful.

Good luck with all of your football betting this weekend.

By Malcolm Clarke

The woman’s Great Britain curling team always gets great coverage since the team led by Rhodi Martin grabbed gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2002. The current skipper, Eve Muirhead is only 19 years old but she led Britain to shock opening day victory over China who were not only the pre-tournament favourites but the current World Champions. Britain still have a long way to go before emulating the Gold from 2002, but they have made a positive start to the games. They are 1/2 to beat their next opponents Russia, who have odds of 7/5 to win this match. If you enjoy handicap betting, the Great Britain team -1.5 are 17/20 to win as are Russia who has a +1.5 handicap for this bet.

In the Men’s Ice Hockey tournament Canada remained on course to be amongst the medals at the end of the competition by posting a solid 8-0 win over Norway. It was not so easy for the USA, with a 3-1 over Switzerland looking laboured at times. USA faces Norway next and their result will be an indicator whether they are matching Canada. It is really a case of how much the USA team wins by, with match odds of 1/100 for the victory.

There is a variety of special bets for this match available including a nice bet on the USA to win the match with a -5.5 handicap. Even though they struggled against the Swiss there is just too much quality in their line-up with players like Chris Drury, Ryan Callaghan and Brian Rafalski to expect the Norway team to be able to contain them in this match. At 19/20 with a -5.5 handicap I think this is a good bet for this match and this is the best I would make out of all available on bwin right now.

Canada plays Switzerland and has odds of 3/100 to win their match. Their handicap bet, which offers a better return than the single bet, is 13/10 at -5.5. My recommended bet for the Ice Hockey is a handicap double on the USA and Canada to both win their matches at -5.5 handicap. If you placed a £10 bet on that you would get odds of 19/20 and 13/10 giving you a return including your stake of £44.85. This would be a great way to enjoy the flowing Ice Hockey play of both USA and Canada.

Events including Speed Skating, the Skiing and the team events continue this week and at bwin there are many betting opportunities on many different aspects of the events including special handicap betting, first scorer and time bets on when goals are scored including various over/under betting across the winter Olympics programme.

Continue to enjoy the action and get your bets on early at bwin.com.

By Malcolm Clarke

The outright betting market has France as the heavy favourites for the championship. They beat the much improved Scottish team 18-9 and then had an excellent win against the Irish 33-10. Their odds to win after this strong start are odds-on at 9/25. Their kicker Morgan Parra looks in great form posting good numbers so far in the opening two matches. If you fancy a bet on France to win the Grand Slam, meaning they will win every match of the Six Nations they play in, the odds for that from bwin are 7/10. If you think there will be no winner of the Grand Slam the odds for that are 13/10.

To summarise the action so far England has started well in their opening two matches in the tournament but they were nearly on the end of a major upset before narrowing beating Italy 17-12. Wales won the Grand Slam in 2008 but England defeated them in their opening match. Ireland won the Grand Slam in 2009 but were sounded beaten by France. These results have opened up the competition.

England face Ireland next at Twickenham and their hopes of a Grand Slam, which is offered at 8/1 at the moment by bwin, will be under big threat in this match. If they win, they must beat the French in the last match in what may become the match for the Grand Slam and the title of six nations winner 2010. Jonny Wilkinson, now playing club rugby for Toulouse, has kicked 27 points so far and 3 conversions and is England’s main point scoring threat. If he gets injured this would be terrible for England’s Grand Slam hopes. The winner of the Ireland/England match also wins the Millennium cup.

You can also bet on the Triple Crown. This is a cup awarded within the six nation’s tournament if one of England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland beat the other three domestic international teams during the tournament. England are currently 3/2 to win the Triple Crown with Ireland 7/4. Whoever wins the match between Ireland and England will have a big chance to win the Triple Crown.

The next matches are played on the 26th and 27th February weekend and are live on terrestrial television which means following the action whilst you bet is not a problem. Wales face France whilst Scotland play Italy. England face the Irish and match betting will be available for both of these games as well as a variety of special bets relating to the match action. Don’t miss out on getting involved in the six nations and get your sports bets on early with online sports betting specialist bookmaker bwin.com.

By Malcolm Clarke

The FA-cup is always interesting from a betting-perspective since teams in lower divisions have their chance to show a bigger crowd what they can do. There are usually one or two teams from the lower divisions that surprise us all by pretty far in the tourney. It is usual that a team from Championship or maybe even league one reaches at least too the quarterfinals.

But it’s normally a bit tougher in FA-cup compared to the Carlings cup (former League cup) since most of the bigger teams often rests their key players in that tourney. FA-cup is, and have always bee, a prestigious Cup that every team sees as a big trophy to win.

Here are the odds and matches for Sunday’s FA-cup, and all the odds are from bwin-football-odds:

Bolton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspurs, odds: home win 3.40   draw 3.25  away win 2.00

Fulham vs. Notts County, odds: home win 1.40   draw 4.00   away win 7.25

Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa, odds: home win 4.50   draw 3.25   away win 1.75

Generally, I can say that I think all of the three pre-favorites have great chances to win and that I will recommend too bet on these teams for these games. Nevertheless, I am of course going to give you my analysis and thoughts over why I think that the games will end as I think and place my bet on:

Bolton Wanderers vs. Tottenham Hotspurs, bettingtips: away win @ odds 2.00

This is the only game where two Premier League clubs are standing on both sides of the ground. Tottenham is going strong in the Premier League and is normally a strong cup team as well. Tottenham has started this year’s league season very strongly, for the first time in several years, and are for real fighting to reach one of the top four places that give them a ticket to the Champions League qualification next season.

Bolton on the other side is going worse then last couple of years and have to look out if they want to avoid relegation after this season. Tottenham is, at the moment, standing on the sixth place in the table and with only one point up to Liverpool and Manchester City so they really have contact with the teams above them. Spurs has taken 43 points with 26 games played and that is a good result for them.

Bolton is on the 19^th place in the table and under the relegation mark. With only Portsmouth behind them Bolton has to start winning soon. I think that Bolton has a better squad then their position in the league table is telling, but their managers have not been able to bring home the points. Since Bolton is in such an exposed position in the table, I have a strong feeling that their manager wants to focus on the league.

Tottenham has a strong squad and even if manager, Harry Redknapp, chooses to rest some players he have the opportunity to bring in almost equally players instead. Bolton’s manager does defiantly not have that opportunity and since they have a very important match coming on Wednesday against Wigan away so I think that he might rest some players as well.

I think that the bet on Tottenham feels good here and the odds pay double the investment. That is why I choose to recommend you to bet on Tottenham as my first bettingtips here.

Fulham vs. Notts county, bettingtips: Home win @ odds 1.40

Fulham is going strong in Premier League when they play home at Craven Cottage. Even though they have had a tougher period lately and they took an important home win against Burnley with 3 to 0 in their last game.

You might find the odds a bit now on the home win here, but remember that there are four divisions’ differences between these teams and that is a lot if you ask me. I would say that the difference between Premier League and Championship is that big that if Fulham were playing home against a team from the bottom half of Championship 1.40 would be an okay odds to bet on. Now we have both Championship and league one between these two teams divisions and this is an easy pick for me.

Fulham has managed to win 8 of their 13 games home at Craven cottage while Notts co has 6 wins 3 draws and 5 looses in their 14 away games. I do not hesitate at all here and bet on Fulham immediately.

Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa, bettingtips: away win @ odds 1.75

This game is a bit harder to predict then the last one but I think that Aston Villa, from Premier League, will defeat Crystal Palace from Championship.

I like Aston Villa’s way of playing football and I like Martin O’Neill as manager very much. O’Neill has brought in his thoughts and football- philosophy in a positive way to Aston Villa and the results are big success. Aston Villa tries to play same kind of football home as away and that is a sign of big confidence.

Crystal Palace knocked out Wolves in the last round of FA-cup, but I think that their cup-story ends here. Aston Villa has many high-class in their squad players and shall win this game. I think that the odds at 1.75 is enough to be playable but would not bet on them if the odds sink.

/Best Regards

Amrish

The anticipation for the 2010 Olympics has been dampened by the tragic death of 21 year old Luge participant Nodar Kumaritashvili after an accident in the final warm-up run, but the Georgian team have pledged to participate in honour of their team-mate and the Luge event will be held. With the games being held in Canada the Ice Hockey tournament will feature prominently. Wayne Gretzky, the leading points scoring of all time in professional Ice Hockey lit the flame for the Olympics.

You can bet on both the men’s and women’s Ice Hockey at Vancouver. In the men’s event USA, Canada and Russia are the clear favourites for the medals but Germany, Slovakia and Sweden will hope to perform well and challenge the top teams. The ladies event features teams from China and Latvia showing that Ice Hockey continues to become more popular all around the world.

Alpine skiing offers sports bettors the chance to bet on the Slalom events, Giant Slalom and Downhill competitions for both men and women.

For those of you who prefer a more refined winter sport than the aggression of Ice Hockey the figure skating competition has always been popular in the UK since the days of Torvill and Dean winning Olympic gold in the early 1980’s. The current favourites for the couple’s figure skating are Shen X and Zhao H of China who have odds of 2/1 to win. The Canadian home pairing of J Dube and B Davison have odds of 23/1 and British hopefuls S Kemp and D King are rank outsiders at 100/1.

Other popular events include the Bobsleigh, a sport made famous in 1993 by the film “Cool Runnings” which documented the irony of a Jamaican Bobsleigh team that competed in the Winter Olympics and did surprisingly well in the 1980’s. The German four man team led by Andre Lange are 3/5 odds on favourites. Lange is also odds on to win the singles event and is known as the best Bobsleigh exponent in the world.

There is a selection of special bets on offer from bwin that include which betting on the country that will win the most bronze medals throughout the Olympics and the King of the Olympics which awards the athlete who wins the most Gold medals. Currently Germany are favourite to get the most bronze medals at 2/1 with second favourites Canada at 5/2 and USA at 5/1. The favourite to win the title of King of the Olympics is Petter Northug of Norway at 7/4. Northug is very strong in the cross country skiing events and also participates in the springs and relays and will expect a good haul of medals if all goes to plan.

Coming around once every four years the Winter Olympics gives you the chance to put bets on sports you only see on Television getting good coverage every so often and it is a fun and different way of engaging in sports betting. Can you beat the bookmaker at Vancouver?

By Malcolm Clarke

Chelsea 3/20 Draw 11/2 Cardiff 12/1

A Chelsea home win is the only bet to have here. Chelsea to score over 3.5 goals is 6/5 and this may be attractive, particularly if they get an early start. Missing Ashley Cole should not matter too much here where attack is the order of the day. Chelsea to win half time/full time is 21/50.

Southampton 17/10 Draw 21/10 Portsmouth 29/20

Although they are away and in dire financial straights Portsmouth should beat Southampton I feel. This is more like a derby so expect passionate support from fans of both teams. I like Portsmouth to win this match although you could not be surprised at the upset. They really need the prize money and the players will be fighting to earn it so they are paid. This should be a good old-fashioned derby match with the cup element adding further spice to it.

Derby County 2/1 Draw 11/5 Birmingham City 6/5

I am tipping the draw here. Derby won against Newcastle in the league recently and Nigel Clough is developing a good side. Christian Benitez returns for Birmingham from injury but a recent loss to West Ham who are struggling leaves me thinking they may be upon to an upset, but it is close and could well be a stalemate. Because of the uncertainty I think this game may be drawn.

Reading 8/5 Draw 9/4 West Bromwich Albion 29/20

This all championship affair guarantees a none Premiership side in the last eight. West Brom has only lost one league game away this season and are top of the Championship. Reading is fighting a relegation battle. Look for WBA to take their excellent away form to the bank and win this match. 29/20 is good odds for the away win given their superb away form this season.

Man City 9/20 Draw 11/4 Stoke 6/1

Man City to win at home. Could this be their year? I hope that in May we will see a Man City / Chelsea final. Skipper Kolo Toure should return for this match and they will field a strong side as they are hungry for success to repay their promise. The home win is my tip at 9/20.

Bolton 43/20 Draw 9/4 Tottenham 11/10

Aaron Lennon is returning from injury and Spurs have had a drop in form since he got injured. Spurs are a good Cup side and I see their run continuing with a win here. 11/10 is good odds given their cup form and superiority in terms of squad strength over Bolton. The draw is possible, but I feel an away win is likely.

Fulham 9/20 Draw 11/4 Notts County 6/1

The dreams are on ice for Notts County fans and Sven has left the club after the promise of massive foreign investment failed to materialise. Look for Fulham to rub salt in their wounds and win here. The players of Notts County will be demoralised and their momentum affected. The belief will be gone, but hopefully they put in a good show against Premiership opposition, but I can see only one victor in this match and that if Fulham at 9/20.

Crystal Palace 7/2 Draw 9/4 Aston Villa 3/4

Palace defenders Matt Lawrence and Claude Davis face a late fitness test for this match and Palace will need both players present and on top form to stop a flying Villa side from progressing. Unfortunately I see the Villa going through and at decent odds of 3/4. Palace lost their last match in the league at home to Swansea 1-0 and this is a different class of team visiting. Villa may be without Petrov and Agbonlahor but should still have enough class to defeat Palace, who are currently in 19th place in the Championship.

Enjoy your FA Cup last sixteen football betting this weekend.

By Malcolm Clarke

Tottenham 11/10 Draw 23/10 Aston Villa 23/10

Harry Redknapp is likely to include Eidur Gudjohnsen in the team for his debut in this match after giving him time to settle in following him signing for the club. The renewed form of David Bentley is also a plus for this match as well as some recent stable performances by goalkeeper Gomes. Aston Villa welcomes back forward John Carew from a knee injury, and will be looking to build on a 2-0 away victory against Fulham where Agbonlahor scored twice. I favour Tottenham to win this match with an improved team post transfer window. 11/10 is good odds; but you may prefer the draw which is also a good bet at 23/10.

Sunderland 1/1 Draw 9/4 Wigan Athletic 53/20

Sunderland have had a dreadful run of form recently after their best start to the season in thirty years. Alan Hutton is likely to make his first start for Sunderland joining Matthew Kilgallon in defence. They are 13th in the league and must win against Wigan one place below them to consolidate what could become a freefall into relegation trouble if they continue to under perform. For Wigan, Victor Moses will make his debut but I think he will need more time to grow into the demands of the Premiership. Wigan are on a two game losing streak and I think Sunderland will finally win a game here; it is certainly a good chance for them. Again betting on the draw is a viable option if you do not have faith in Sunderland’s ability to turn this bad run around.

Liverpool 7/10 Draw 5/2 Everton 15/4

Players from both sides have been urging the fans not to get carried away with the derby, one of the fiercest in footballs rich history. Everton has a fully fit squad to choose from this match and they have won four out of their last five games and are unbeaten in nine matches. Liverpool should welcome back Fabio Aurelio but are without Glen Johnson, Yossi Benayoun and Fernando Torres which are key injuries. I think Everton have a real chance to win this game but my single bet would be to back the draw at 5/2.

Sunday – Chelsea 7/10 Draw 5/2 Arsenal 15/4

This top of the table clash is a match not to be missed this weekend. How will Terry respond to losing the captaincy of England? How will the team respond? Manager Ancelotti has always stated in the press that Terry will lead Chelsea in this match. Their transfer embargo has been lifted and they are looking to pursue their title challenge. Diaby will return from injury for Arsenal but they will be without Eduardo up front. If Arsenal loses this match they will be effectively out of the title race. The pressure to perform away from home and combined with the likely backlash from Chelsea to respond from the bad press this week leads me to back Chelsea to win this match. Arsenal have shown vulnerability against top sides this season and away from home in a derby situation with everything surrounding this match may be too much for their young team.

Good luck with all of your football betting this weekend.

By Malcolm Clarke