Weekend Six Pack – More Bolton, Championship Crunch, Low goal Clasico

Each week our betting columnist Rob Hartnett will bring you six bets from the weekend football action.  Rob is the public face of leading In Play betting specialists 188BET.com and appears regularly on the Bolton, Wigan, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Everton websites doing betting previews.  You can follow his thoughts on Twitter @HartnettRob

We enjoyed another good weekend last week with Bolton, Real Madrid and the Bundesliga yielding a near 10 per cent profit on our seven bets.  This weekend we focus as ever on the Premier League but also take a look at the big clash in the Championship and at one of the great club games, ‘El Clasico’ when Barcelona take on Real Madrid on Monday night.

Aston Villa and Arsenal to draw @ 3.20

Both sides need to recover from reverses in recent games.  Arsenal’s away record is the best in the League and their record at Villa Park is good with no defeat in eleven games.  Against that Villa are unbeaten at home this season, the fixture has ended up all square in each of the last two seasons and both sides may be content with a point, in Villa’s case to maintain their home record, and in Arsenal’s to steady the ship after two defeats.

Bolton Vs Blackpool +3 Goals @ 2.07

Bolton’s tally of 14 goals in six games is at least three better than any other top flight side.  Blackpool have only lost one in their last five so will travel with confidence and there will be goals.  Four of seven home games at the Reebok and four of eight away games for the Tangerines have produced at least four goals and we get our stake back if there are exactly three.

QPR to beat Cardiff @ 2.20

Both sides have played great football this season and have produced a titanic struggle at the top.  Rangers are unbeaten and have conceded only five goals in nine at home.  Cardiff have great goal scorers but can be overrun by a strong midfield such as Rangers’.  QPR have twice as many points and twice as many goals in the last four games.

Everton to beat West Brom by 1-0 or 2-0 at combined odds of 3.45

The Baggies started well but have now lost four of their last five, failing to score in three of those and failing to keep a clean sheet in 12.  Only Blackpool have conceded more than West Brom this season but Everton have only scored more than twice on one occasion.

Liverpool (+0/0.5) Vs Tottenham @ 2.12

Spurs may be false favourites for this game.  Liverpool have 13 points from their last six games, five more than Sunday’s hosts, and have won twice at White Hart Lane in their last four visits.  The loss of Steven Gerrard makes the price drift for an away win but there is value in the Asian Handicap market where we win to our full stake with a Liverpool win and to half our stake with half our stake back in the event of a draw.  After their last two wins in Europe Spurs have been held by Everton and lost to Bolton.  Liverpool have had longer to prepare after last weekend’s 3-0 win over West Ham.

Barcelona Vs Real Madrid -2.5 Goals @ 2.33

On paper this looks like a goal feast with Messi and Ronaldo proving almost unstoppable.  Looking for value though, I think the odds on a lower than expected goal tally are too big.  The last three meetings at the Nou Camp have produced only four goals in total while Real Madrid have kept six clean sheets in ten away games, including three 0-0 draws.  It will still be a great game to watch but for the skill rather than the goals I feel.

Tune into my twitter account @HartnettRob for tips on next week’s full programme of Carling Cup and Europa League games.

Aston Villa, Bets Flutters Odds, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Cardiff City, English Championship, Everton, Queens Park Rangers, Weekend Six Pack