After picking four winners last week, our pundits are back to survey the betting markets ahead of QPR’s trip to Burnley this Saturday.

Andy Hillman

A glorious week for me last week, with no less than four winners coming in, all at significantly better than evens odds. It was one of those weeks where I could find a market I liked at good odds for almost every game. This week looks much tougher. In particular, I wouldn’t be touching Burnley vs QPR with a bargepole unless Clive forced me to (which he has...)

NAP of the Week - Crystal Palace vs Arsenal - Arsenal (-1) at Evens

Palace, as predicted, are dead men walking. I felt sorry for Ian Holloway in the end, it’s not nice seeing such a beloved and generally upbeat character so absolutely mentally destroyed like that. Unfortunately for Palace, his exit doesn’t change their key problem - they’re bloody awful. Arsenal could score for fun here, and a -1 handicap should prove no problems whatsoever.

QPR related bets - Both Teams to Score @ 10/11, Austin to score anytime @ 11/8

So from not wanting to touch this match with a bargepole, I’ve ended up with two separate bets. I don’t think this game is going to be a classic, I think you’re going to find two teams who would both take a point now if offered, and will do everything to avoid a defeat - I expect Karl Henry to be deployed as ‘spoiler’ to great effect again this week. I don’t think it will be goalless though, how can it be with both Burnley strikers bang in form, Charlie Austin returning to Burnley and Niko Kranjcar being all dreamy behind him? Both teams to score looks a pretty solid bet, and Austin is bound to score and then not celebrate. The 1-1 draw is available at 6/1, and that looks tempting as well.

El Classico - Match Drawn @ 7/2

The first El Classico of the season, meaning that they are only 12 more left until this time next year. These games usually guarantee goals, and lots of them - over 3.5 goals banks more often than not - but I think the smart money could be on the draw. Barca have laboured slightly in the last couple of weeks, and Real, whilst in good form, have not hit top gear yet - you get the impression that they are still feeling their way in attack since the upheaval of losing Ozil and acquiring Bale and Isco instead - the balance of the team is not yet ‘right’ for them.

Premiership Shorts:

Aston Villa vs Everton - Everton to Win @ 13/10

Whilst Villa are nowhere near as bad as they were last year, they are still a shambles at the back, and are setup to counter attack, meaning that they’re also god-awful at home - they win considerably more points away. Everton to win by the odd goal in three, in what critics* are billing as ‘the Battle of the brick-shit house Belgian lone front men’

*me

Man Utd vs Stoke - United to Win to Nil @ 5/4

United are a bit ropey at the moment. And my heart goes out to the poor United fans - their suffering has to stop. Luckily, they’re playing against Stoke, and it’s wonderful to see Hughes pick up where he left off with QPR - by making a limited team even worse than when he arrived. Stoke have only scored four league goals all season. They don’t even score from set pieces anymore...

Chelsea vs Man City - Aguero to score anytime @ 9/4

Aguero has scored eight goals in his last six games. With Negredo, Jovetic and Dzeko not really contributing to the goals this season he’s had the majority of the goal scoring responsibility this season. 9/4 to score anytime vs Chelsea looks big to me.

Previous winners:

Roma vs Bologna - Roma win to Nil @ 7/5 — 27/09/13

The Pro

After Leyton Orient's defeat in midweek, QPR travel to Turf Moor looking to defend the only remaining unbeaten league record in the country. They are going to have to do it against the division's other form side though. Burnley are on a hell of a run: they have won nine of their last ten games, drawing the other against local rivals Blackburn. When Burnley sold Charlie Austin to QPR, it seemed Burnley would be fighting at the other end of the table but the excellent managerial organisation of Sean Dyche has so far seen them exceed the expectations of even the most optimistic of Burnley supporters.

If you look at their team, it’s not a major surprise they are performing well. In defence, they have strength and steel in Jason Shackell and Michael Duff, playing alongside a player who is playing a division below he should be in my opinion, Kieran Trippier. The midfield has a hard-working core in Dean Marney and David Jones with pace and trickery on the flanks provided by Michael Kightly and Scott Arfield. Then to the ammunition that has propelled them to the top of the league: Danny Ings and Sam Vokes. There is no doubt the front pairing are performing out of their skins at the moment. An injury to either will put a big dent in the Burnley promotion challenge and keeping them fit will be key to the success of their season.

The one thing Burnley don't appear to have however, is strength in depth. Looking beyond the starting eleven, the bench looks ordinary at best, unlike the squad Harry Redknapp has assembled. Looking at this game in depth though, it shouldn’t be a problem with only Ross Wallace missing for the home side.

There is no getting away with the fact that these two teams have only conceded eleven goals in the twenty three games they have played. This is reflected in the betting with a quote of 4/6 for under 2.5 goals in the game. However, with it being so tight on paper, the price of 11/10 for it to be a draw at half time looks good value and this is my recommended bet for this game. I'll also be having a smaller bet on that half time score to be 0-0 at 7/4.

Recommended Bets:

Burnley V QPR - Half Time Result - DRAW @11/10 (Stan James)

Half Time Correct Score - 0-0 @7/4 (Stan James/PaddyPower/WilliamHill)

Elsewhere, my bet of the weekend is in League One where Oldham host Swindon. Swindon's away record has been poor so far this season (a trip to Loftus Road aside!!) and they travel to an Oldham side who continue to perform well without results to match. Boundary Park is a tough place to go and with Jay McEveley missing through suspension, I find it hard to understand why Swindon are favourites here Therefore my bet of the weekend is Oldham to win @ 2/1.

Bet Of Weekend: Oldham to beat Swndon - 2/1 (BetVictor)

I am also going to start including a little section for big price goalscorer bets. These are players who are overpriced, in my opinion, to net and well worth throwing a few quid on to recoup the cost of your match ticket. This week’s Big Price goalscorers are...

Brentford v Shrewsbury - Harlee Dean 12/1 Anytime(Coral)

Oldham v Swindon - (James Tarkowski 14/1 Anytime (PaddyPower)

Previous Winners:

Joey Barton to score at any time vs Middlesbrough 4/1 (William Hill, Paddy Power, Betfred, Skybet), 27/09/13

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