Weekend Six Pack – 6 solid reasons for 1-1 at St Andrews, Christmas goals galore

17 Dec, 2010 Rob Hartnett Fan Culture

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

Fulham and Sunderland producing their combined 18^th draw in 33 games and Man United making history count against a poor Arsenal side were our winners last weekend but not enough to keep our run of profits going. We could have hedged our bet on Stoke after they went in at the break level which would have done the trick, while the two games on Sunday that we left out of the six pack both went as we thought, but such is life. It’s back to the books ahead of this weekend, and another six to make the cost of Christmas a little easier.

Sunderland and Bolton to draw @ 3.30

Sunderland stayed true to form with a draw against Fulham last weekend and we can benefit from their meeting this Saturday with the third team for whom one point is very much the order of the day. These two have drawn 18 of 34 games so far. Bolton have lost only twice away from home and a draw will lift them into 5th place. Sunderland need a win to do the same but with Ferdinand added to Turner and Bramble in the treatment room that is a tall order.

Birmingham and Newcastle to draw 1-1 @ 6.50

Birmingham and Newcastle have drawn their last five at St Andrews. The Blues have lost one in 23, have drawn ten of their last 17, have conceded 14 goals in that run and scored 27 in their last 27. Newcastle have scored exactly one goal in six of their last seven away games.

West Brom Vs Wolves +2.5/3 goals @ 2.13.

West Brom have won 6 of the last nine meetings to Wolves’ one. The pair have only kept one clean sheet in their last 30 games combined so there are sure to be plenty of chances. I can see a 3-1 win for the baggies but the safe bet is in the Asian Handicap goals market where we win to our full stake if their are four goals and to half our stake with half our stake back if there are three.

Liverpool HT/FT Vs Fulham @ 2.30

Fulham’s away run now stretches to 26 without a win and Liverpool remain strong at home with comfortable wins in their last three. The last two visits of Fulham have both been scoreless but with Liverpool having scored seven of their last eight home goals before the break and Fulham having conceded 66 per cent of their goal in the first half as well the double result of Liverpool at half time and full time is attractive.

Chelsea to beat Man United @ 2.15

I maintain United have been very ordinary on the road with only one win and six draws. This will be the weekend that Chelsea’s poor run and United’s unbeaten come to an end. Ancelotti has won five of the six games in which he has come up against Fergie while United only have two points and two goals to show from their last seven games at Stamford Bridge. It will be tight and 1-0 is a fair shout at 7.50.

Real Madrid and Sevilla +3.5/4 goals @ 2.22

This fixture has produced 24 goals in the last four meetings in Madrid. Sevilla played a dramatic Europa League draw to knock out Dortmund on Wednesday and with injury and suspension affecting a number of starting defenders the recent history of this looks to be repeated. Again we win to our full stake if there are five goals, and to half with half our stake back if there are four.

Tune into my twitter account @HartnettRob for tips on the big games all over the Christmas period

87 POINTS STAKED OVER FIRST 14 WEEKS, 88.24 POINTS WON