Football Betting Monday &Tuesday
Monday
There’s Premier league and Championship action tonight with both games being covered by Satellite TV. Viewers can watch the Premier League clash between Newcastle and Portsmouth on Setanta, while the Norwich v Reading game is live on Sky Sports.
Even with a win tonight Newcastle can’t move out the bottom three although taking three points would lift them into third bottom and only one point from safety. Opponents Portsmouth are on 37 points and if they were to win they would be all but safe, so it’s a game of great importance for both clubs.
Since Paul Hart cam in as caretaker manager at Portsmouth they have proved extremely difficult to beat. He has made the first priority not losing and while it isn’t great to watch, it has been effective and they have only lost one of their last six matches.
Newcastle’s chances of survival may well depend on their home results and it shouldn’t be overlooked that they haven’t won in seven home games and have lost the last three. The Shearer factor seems to have come into play and the bookmakers make Newcastle 10/11 (Coral) favourites to win the match. With their last win coming back in February –their only win in 10 games- against bottom club West Brom, we don’t think odds on is great value and we won’t be touching Newcastle at that price and don’t fancy the to win at all, so we’ll be laying Newcastle.
Portsmouth’s form looks far more convincing and at 3/1 (Skybet) they look a far more likely betting proposition than Newcastle. We’re tempted to go for the under 2.5 goals in this match at 4/5 (Bet365) as it looks a safe bet. we’re selecting a 0-0 correct score bet at 10/1 (Bet365).
Norwich need to beat Reading tonight if they are to have a realistic chance of staying up. With Reading needing a point to clinch a play off spot this isn’t going to be an easy task for the “Canaries”. Having won three of their last four games at home Norwich have to be given a chance of winning this and the 9/5 (Ladbrokes) on offer for the home win looks a decent price. Reading’s away form has been really good of late though and they are currently on a run of eight away games without a loss.
In their last four home games against Reading, Norwich have only managed to score in one of the games and taking Reading to keep a clean sheet at 12/5 (Paddypower) is a bet we’d advise. The correct score bet of 1-0 15/2 (Skybet) also looks good.
Tuesday
It’s Champions league semi-finals and Barcelona play host to Chelsea in what promises to be a cracker. With home advantage Barcelona are 8/11 (Paddypower) and that’s a price we’re tempted to get pretty heavily involved in.
Both teams have only lost once in their Champions league campaigns this season, but Chelsea haven’t been winning on their travels and although they’ve managed three draws from their five away matches Barcelona’s excellent home record gives them an advantage.
Taking Barcelona to be winning at half time at odds of 11/1 (Coral) must be a bet to give some thought to, as they have scored four goals in the first half in their last two Champions league games at home. The half tome/full time result of Barcelona/Barcelona also appears to be inviting at 13/8 (Paddypower).
Chelsea have been finding the net away from home in their last couple of matches and with Barcelona always likely to score taking both teams to score at 5/6 (Ladbrokes) looks a pretty safe proposition..
At odds of 9/2 (Skybet) to get the win and 5/2 (Paddypower) to get a draw, were sure there will be quite few punters willing to back against Barcelona, but they have looked a class act and we think they could possibly put this tie beyond Chelsea’s reach tomorrow. Frank Lampard to score anytime at 7/2 (Paddypower) has to be worth a bet, while our tip to be first goalscorer is Thierry Henry 7/1 (Ladbrokes).