High scoring draw backed as QPR head to Bournemouth - betting

Our resident pundits Andy Hillman and Owen Goulding are back to look ahead to QPR's weekend trip to Bournemouth and value elsewhere on the footballing and racing coupon.

Andy Hillman

Bit of a mixed week for me last time out, with QPR (or Harry Redknapp?) putting in one of the performances we sort of expect after winning a couple of games in a row. Happy with the 17/10 that I got on Roma to win to nil though, if you’d backed that every time I told you to you’d have made somewhere around 25 times your stake back so far this season. Quick shout out as well to those on the forum bashing the bookies at Aintree at the moment — Hunter Hoop in particular.

NAP of the Week: Newcastle vs Man U - Man U to win @ Evens

Sit Down whilst you read this - Man Utd have the best away record in the Premier League. Seriously, I’m not making that up, go check Statto.com. Man Utd have won seven of their last ten trips to St James Park. Newcastle have failed to score in ten of their last 14 Premier League Games, and have been fighting for towel space with Southampton since Christmas. On top of this, Newcastle have an injury crisis, and crucially for them Loic Remy is still not fit, and he’s 90% of their attacking force in one big police-bothering, that’ll be £20 million pounds please, lump. United are not over their crisis yet, but show signs of pulling in the right direction.

QPR related bet: Bournemouth vs QPR - Score draw @ 9/2
Charlie, Charlie Charlie, Charlie Charlie, Charlie, Charlie Austin! The bearded wonder is back in the squad. Probably rushed back too early, definitely better than anything else we have upfront. Austin and Morrison in tandem are going to overhaul that nine point Burnley lead and see us off into the sunset. Maybe. Ridiculously, Austin is not much better than evens to score anytime for us, so there really is not much value in that. Bournemouth are timing their run to the playoffs perfectly, and have won six of their last eight. We’re still a fairly obstinate, and Redknapp will probably settle for a draw (read: nine men behind the ball and Morrison doing whatever he likes...) Score draw looks the safest bet here...

Roma again: Cagliari vs Roma - Roma win to Nil @ 13/8

Another week, another win to nil for Roma last time out. Always better than evens, normally approaching 2/1 for a team that wins without conceding more frequently than Loic Remy gets arrested. Cagliari have lost three of their last four, Roma have won their last five on the spin, and crucially, they are slowly reeling Juve in, which is giving them added impetus. Routine Roma win to nil.

Grand National: TeaforThree @ 20/1 with Winner.com

I don’t claim to be much of a horse racing enthusiast, or have any inside knowledge, but the Grand National is the one event where everyone has a punt regardless. There are literally hundreds of offers around so make sure you shop around for the best offers. Most of the respected pundits seem to think that teaforthree is the favourite, and you can get double the listed odds of 10/1 with winner.com at the moment, so get 20/1 for the nose, and go each way with Paddy Power, who offer five places.

Previous winners:
Battle of Mid Table - Southampton to Beat Newcastle @ 3/4, 28/03/14
Weekly Roma win to Nil - Roma Win to Nil (vs Sassulo) @ 17/10, 28/03/14

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

The Pro

Well my decision making on last week’s selection was on a par with Harry's team selection. I have read (albeit only a few) defences of his choices last week on various forums but for me it was inexcusable. It was a completely unnecessary unbalancing of the team and I just can’t fathom his thought process. Yet again it resulted in wholesale changes to make us look more threatening against a very poor side but Rangers got what they deserved overall.

I’ve said it before but it needs saying again, I’m hesitant to predict anything with regards QPR a few days before kick off as team selections have been, and continue to be, bizarre at best since McLaren left. That said, the price on QPR currently available looks interesting. Yes they aren’t playing great, and yes Bournemouth are in a decent vein of form as they chase an unlikely play-off place, but as the game at Loftus Road showed, there is a bit of a gulf between the sides if both are on their game. I wouldn’t put anyone off backing QPR at 9/4 to win the match, especially with Charlie Austin an outside chance of a cameo in the last ten minutes. Bournemouth have won their last three, scoring nine goals in the process, but they have been against crisis clubs Birmingham, Leeds and Barnsley.
This game should be open with Bournemouth needing to go for it and QPR still with a slim chance of taking advantage of Burnley's current injury crisis.

Recommended bet: Over 2.5 goals at 6/5 with Paddy Power.

Elsewhere, my bet of the weekend, although not one to go mad on, comes in League Two where Plymouth head to Burton for a play-off contenders clash. The current price of 3/1 (general) on Plymouth seems very generous for a team who have won five of their last seven away games.

Bet of the Weekend: Plymouth to beat Burton 3/1 (widely available)

Big price Goalscorers:

Sean O Hanlon - Carlisle 12/1 Anytime (General)

Krystian Pearce - Torquay 20/1 Anytime (PP)

Previous Winners:

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

The Twitter @loftforwords, @andy_hillman

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