The lads are back to look ahead to our trip to Middlesbrough and value elsewhere in the weekend sporting markets.

Brian Power

The esteemed editor of this website said in his match report of the Ipswich game that he expected to see Danny Shittu as a 1st scorer selection in the betting column. Who I am to let Clive down? I love Big Dan for many reasons one being the amount of cash I made backing him to score first in the past and at 33/1 he will be my first scorer from now on even if not selected in this column on a weekly basis. In the last five games, Boro have scored four against Bristol City and three against Millwall and Swansea but also conceded four against Swansea and two against Millwall so there should be goals. You can get 5/6 on both teams to score and we will put this game in a treble with Hull/Cardiff and Wolves/Blackpool which pays just over 5/1. I will go for a 3-1 win at 25/1 with Dan to score first at 40/1 with Betfred.

The Carling Cup Final takes place on Sunday and despite Arsenals injury issues they should have too much for Birmingham but they will have to work hard for it. Lee Bowyer is a decent price for first goal and he gets my vote.

The 6 Nations returns and my pre tournament bet looks gone with France winning in Dublin but I will stick with the Irish and Luke Fitzgerald to get the first try against Scotland on Sunday.

The rest of our selections this week are the normal football acca that contains Bolton who are 5/2 to win at Newcastle which I think is generous and top weight Nacarat in the Racing Post Trophy at 7/1

Finally I have received a job offer in the local bowling alley. Its not a permanent position I am just ten pin. Enjoy the weekend.

For the Weekend:

£10 treble both teams to score

Hull/Cardiff

Wolves/Blackpool

Middlesborough/QPR

£5 QPR to win 3-1

£5 Danny Shittu first goal 40/1

£5 Carling Cup first goalscorer Lee Bowyer 20/1 Bet365

£5 Scotland v Ireland 1st tryscorer Luke Fitzgerald 14/1

£2 trebles and a £2 acca

Bolton 5/2

Bourenmouth 11/10

Lincoln 13/8

Rotherham 8/5

£10 win 3.00 Kempton Nacarat 7/1

Andy Hillman

Well, one thing’s for sure, I’m consistently inconsistent. In fact, I’m up and down more often than a WAG’s knickers at a footballer’s after party, following up the previous week’s £80 net profit with this week’s loss of about £33. The disappointing thing about last week, betting wise at least, is that my main Saturday accumulator was let down by the one result that I wasn’t sure of – Valencia beating Gijon. I ummed and arred about it, looked as Valencia’s home record, Gijon’s away record, convinced myself that Gijon couldn’t pull off successive results against Barcelona and Valencia, and went for it. Arses.

So, onto this week, and if my form is to be believed, I should win big this week. We’re away at Middlesbrough, the pre-season favourites, who will count themselves lucky to still be in this division at the end of the season. QPR for the straight win are available at 15/8 with Betfair. That’s actually quite tempting, as I doubt that QPR will score early, so in play their odds will probably drift out to 2/1 at the very least. I honestly think that QPR will win on Saturday, so I will set up an in-play trade for QPR to win at 2/1, which will then get matched as the odds begin to drift. Of course, the downside of this is that if we score in the first five minutes (unlikely as we only start playing on the 50 minute mark…) the bet won’t be matched. I’ll also go for half time draw / full time QPR, available at 6/1 with Unibet.

Onto first goal scorers, and as Clive alluded to in his Match report, welcome back Danny Shittu into the first goal scorer market! Central defenders are normally 33/1 first goal scorer, but at time of writing Shittu is a massive 40/1 first goal scorer with Betfred. I’ll have some of that thank you very much. I’ll also stick a similar amount on Helguson, as he’s 2 in 2 and leading the line magnificently at the moment. He’s available at 7/1 with Bet365, who are also doing the bore-draw refund that Paddy Power have been doing all season.

Elsewhere, Tuesday sees the rearranged Chelsea vs. Man U match, which was cancelled due to snow a clear 36 hours before the game, and definitely nothing to do with Chelsea being completely in disarray at the time and unwilling to face their biggest rivals. It’s at Stanford Bridge, and I expect to see a draw there, so I’ll stick a tenner on the draw, available at 12/5 on Betfair.

Finally, my accumulator. And in the interests of not losing on an annoying result, only four legs this week – NOT Aberdeen (vs. Hearts), Man U, Real Madrid and Porto all to win. Odds of 9/2 on Betfair.

For the Weekend:

Middlesbrough vs. QPR – QPR to win - £10 @ 2/1 on (Betfair - set up the trade in play)

Middlesbrough vs. QPR - HT Draw / FT QPR - £5 @ 6/1 (Unitbet)

Middlesbrough vs. QPR – Shittu to score first - £2.50 @ 40/1 (Betfred)

Middlesbrough vs. QPR – Helguson to score first - £2.50 @ 7/1 (Bet365)

Chelsea vs. Man Utd – Draw - £10 @ 12/5 (Betfair)

Fourfold accumulator - NOT Aberdeen, Man U, Real Madrid and Porto all to win. £10 @9/2 (Betfair)

Photo: Action Images

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