The LFW pundits look ahead to QPR's visit to Preston on Saturday and hunt for value elsewhere in the weekend coupons.
A big win for Brian last week as his football accumulator came up to the tune of £276.86, leaving him with a £356.86 profit for the season. With only six columns to go that means he will definitely finish in the black this year after crashing and burning in his first season - something for Lewis to cling to as his debt spirals down to £419.78 after last weekend's blank.
Brian Power
A nice return of 276.86 on the football bet and a £5 back on Hogan to get the first goal means it was a better week for me than it was for any West Ham fan.
This week's game at Preston will be difficult and they have a decent home record of late. We seem to be going along the route of a point a game but I am going to plump for us to get an away win- remember them? I will also have a few quid on Gorkss to get the first goal.
After the Cheltenham clean up by the bookies they have another chance to fleece us in the William Hill Lincoln on Saturday. The favourite is Willie Haggas’s Penitent but I am going for 14/1 shot Doctor Crane. An absence of 10 months for John Gosden’s animal shouldn’t put you off. I will also have a tenner on Red Desire in the Dubai World Cup.
This week sees dress rehearsals of the two cup semi finals and it is Stamford Bridge where I will go for my next bet. Villa are a massive 13/2 to beat that mob and although they won on midweek it was only against Pompey. After the Juventus defeat and the draw at Blackburn the natives had turned restless and on Monday morning I passed the bridge and there were 3 season tickets nailed up against the main door. I thought that’s handy so I took them- well you can never have enough nails. Boom Boom Good Luck for the weekend.
For the weekend:
£5 QPR to beat Preston 3-1 28/1
£5 1st scorer K Gorkss 33/1
£7.50 Doctor Crane 14/1 William Hill Lincoln
£10 win Red Desire Dubai World Cup 8/1
£10 Villa to beat Chelsea 13/2
£2.50 trebles and £2.50 acca
Stoke 12/5
Blackpool 8/5
Walsall 13/8
Inverness 13/10
Lewis Jones
I'm developing a passionate dislike of people called Gary. Rhodes, Barlow, and Lineker lead a contingent of Garys that all have the ability to ruin a good night’s TV. Despite not being the biggest fan of the three aforementioned celebs, I have had no serious vendetta against them before this weekend as Gary was just another run of the mill first name which had no effect on my life. But now anyone called Gary can expect a rough ride, thanks to the past few days. On to that in a bit.
QPR travel to Preston still needed points to sustain their Championship status but on the evidence of Tuesday’s night performance it will be a long journey with a zero points return. QPR, bar the first ten minutes, looked out of ideas. When the side get the ball down we can compete with anyone, but with a lack of a physical presence up front we struggle when going direct. I can see a narrow home win this weekend and will spread my kitty on a low scoring Preston win.
As were on the subject of betting, I’m prone to the odd bet now and again did you know – not on a daily basis – only days which have a ‘y’ in them. Last Sunday football bets were going incredibly well; actually it couldn’t have been going any better. A £5 accumulator on Draw/Manchester United, Manchester City to beat Fulham, Cardiff to see off Watford and Leicester City to win against Coventry – returned over £150, and would have gone a long way to numbing my Cheltenham Festival pain. This is where Gary comes into it. Leicester were cruising at half time, 2-0 to the good with Coventry looking dead and buried. United’s 2-1 win to secure the first part of my acca has been successful, added to Cardiff and Man City securing two-goal leads, all that was needed was the Foxes to stay strong. The rest they say is history. Coventry rallied in the second half and came back to draw the game 2-2 with Gary Deegan scoring the equalizer. It wouldn’t surprise me if BBC commentator Mark Bright has Gary as his middle name, as his constant shocked tone about how Leicester drew the match when being so comfortable in the first period left me teetering on the brink of writing a firm letter to the BBC. I still am with the belief that Coventry are a poor side and will come unstuck against relegation threatened Sheffield Wednesday (3/1 Skybet.com), as long as Gary Deegan doesn’t decide to turn into a hero again.
The next chapter of my Gary nightmare involved Dancing on Ice star Gary Lucy, a dead cert to be voted off in the quarter-final stage so my reality TV expert, my sister to you and me, told me. She is normally spot on with her predictions, including tipping up Alex Reid to win celebrity Big Brother, I got on the cross dressing cage fighter (behave yourselves) at 26.0. Lucy was trading around the 4.5. mark to be voted off, and his performance on the night left me pretty confident of securing a return. He finished bottom of the viewers vote but sneaked through the judge’s vote by one into next week’s final, he’s about as good at skating as I am at picking a winner. Stay clear of him in this week’s final and expect a Haley/Kieren straight forecast (11/10 Skybet.com).
How did I decide to clear my mind of this Garyfied nonsense? A kick about for my mate’s six-a-side team. The standard is poor, and without being of the class of Gary Deegan, my ability usually bags me a couple of goals, gaining legendary status within the ranks. After the worst 20 minutes of centre forward play you are ever likely to see, the chance to redeem myself with a last-minute penalty to secure the 4-3 victory surely would sustain me as the fans favourite. The pathetically scuffed shot was clawed away by the somewhat obese goalkeeper, and as if things couldn’t get any worse, three words echoed around the floodlight pitch - “great save Gary”.
For the weekend:
£10 on Preston to win 1-0 (15/2 Sportingbet)
£15 on Preston to win 2-1 (17/2 Paddypower)
£15 on a Hayley/Kieren Forecast in Dancing on Ice (11/10 Skybet)
£10 Acc on Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United, Norwich and Colchester.