Curtis Stigers sang "I Wonder Why......."

Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through the psychological trauma of sports punting!

Previously this week I have backed two football trebles, with one out of the three coming up short by one goal both times.
Arsenal and Chelsea obliged in an over 2.5 goal treble with Real Madrid only managing to score twice against Ajax and unsuprisingly, with the Special One in charge, not conceding any.
Last night, Accrington Stanley won, Luton Town won but Doncaster Rovers could only manage a 0-0 draw at home v Leeds Utd.
A small incursion into Europa League betting this early into the campaign got all that it deserved and I shall be mainly avoiding that until the Champions League groups are decided.

After such a long absence from the blogspot, I would waste valuable study time telling you all the bets and their results I've had since the last post, but one thing I must mention is the AMAZING golf tipping provided by @bettrends on TWITTER, following the advice given by those guys kept me ticking over with 40/1 + 50/1 winners! FREE! Do yourself a favour and become a follower.

Reintroductions over, on with the weekends action.
Since leaving the bookmaking industry, I had a small hiatus from the Sport of Kings, but from Royal Ascot onwards fell in love with a weekend punt on the geegee's all over again, some cracking racing this afternoon from Newbury and Newmarket and Ayr including the massive cavalry charge that is the Ayr Gold Cup, fortunately for any of you reading this, the only horse tips I shall be dishing out are people to follow on TWITTER who are much, much ,much more informed about form and fancies than myself, I shall list a few to get you started.
@Narrowthefield @KeejayOV @wayward_lad GREAT BLOGS!!

Motorsport fans are fed by MotoGP this weekend with the 125's and upwards racing round a track I have never seen before, yet I see the main principals from previous races this season disputing the podium places Sunday lunchtime.

ARAGON 125CC GP

POL ESPAGARO E/W

Currently trading around 3rd favourite behind Marquez and Terol, he has been very quick around here in two practice sessions and represents a small value bet, he will need a good qualifying session and a good start tomorrow to make sure he keeps on the tail of the front two in the market, but another Marquez/Terol duel could play into his hands and the Derbi's are generally quicker than the Asprilla's.

ARAGON MOTOGP

JORGE LORENZO WIN

Recently Lorenzo has been happy to collect points finishing second to Dani Pedrosa, such is his huge lead in the Championship, he could finish in the places for the rest of the season and still win it. In free practice 1 + 2 he has been within half a second of the fastest time and back in his homeland for the last time this season, I feel he will want to stamp his authority on the Championship in front of an adoring Spanish crowd before 3 flyaway GP's to Asia and Australia.

SUPER LEAGUE 2010 PLAYOFF

WARRINGTON WOLVES -10.5PTS

Warrington will have been disappointed at losing to St. Helens last week but having never won at Knowlesly Road it was no great suprise, but to my eyes they showed up well for a long way and should easily cover this handicap mark against the team that finished two places beneath them in the final table. The Wolves beat the Giants twice in regular season and the latest of those by more than the handicap and I see Warrington being ultra determined to make further progress.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

STOKE CITY V WEST HAM UTD OVER 2.5 GOALS

Are West Ham too good to go down again this season? The bottom half of this seasons table is sat to be the most competitive ever and home form will be at a premium. Stoke did well to come from behind v Aston Villa on Monday night but from reports they could have been dead and buried by halftime.
West Ham have averaged 3.5 total goals per game and Stoke 2.75 per game.

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE

EVERTON + HUDDERSFIELD + CHESTERFIELD

My recent form with football treble means I put this forward with little confidence and my own stakes will be kept to a minimum. Trading at around 7/2 on Betfair multiples.

Hopefully I will be updating tomorrow having been supplied with plenty of horse winners via TWITTER, my footy bets having done the bizzo and Lorenzo and Espagaro sitting on their respective poles, leaving me plenty to punt on Man Utd v Liverpool.
And finally good luck to Warwickshire in the CB40 final at Lords today!!
C'MON!!!

A Little Look Back......

Sunday was something of a nightmare!!
The Indian Wells tennis final was settled by two tiebreaks, a point here or there and we would have been collecting.
Northampton Saints won the LV= Cup final but by just the 6 points leaving us tied with the handicap, a couple of missed penalty kicks costing us dearly there.
Man City were 2-0 up before half time killing that game with Fulham getting a late consolation and Vidic never went close, although that was a big price pick for us!!

Since then we've put a little back in the well with Tottenham collecting v Fulham in Wednesdays F.A Cup replay, things looked precarious at half time with Fulham playing some really attractive stuff and going in 1-0 up. Harry's boys came good in the second half though, equalizing early and winning cosily enough 3-1.

And a small bonus offering from La Liga Thursday night with Athletico Madrid doing the bizzo for us v Bilbao, 2-0.

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE BRISTOL ROVERS + CHESTERFIELD + SHREWSBURY TOWN
3.79 W.HILL 4.16 BETFRED 4.17 TOTESPORT (returns inc. one unit stake)

CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER READING V WEST BROMWICH ALBION OVER 2.5 GOALS
8/11 BETFRED 8/11 W.HILL

The last six meetings between these sides at the Madjeski has contained a total of 21 goals averaging at 3.5 per game.

F1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX LEWIS HAMILTON RACE WINNER
11/2 W.HILL 11/2 BETFRED 5/1 TOTESPORT (prices correct prior to 3rd free practice)

This is a track that Lewis Hamilton is fond of, he won in 2008, 3rd in 2007 and finished fourth last year after starting last on the grid, getting on early holds risk or reward depending on how he performs in free practice before qualifying and the in qualifying itself, but a front row start would see him going off around 7/4.

Keep an eye on the Facebook page for up to the minute bets over the weekend and next week, Miami tennis and more football coming up.
Follow ILOVESTEVEPALMER ON Facebook and on Twitter.

C'MON!!

Cheltenham Shockers......

Our ante post union jack produced just a couple of places but some of the prices of winners were astronomical and it was definitely a meeting for the bookies.
During the week, we posted some picks onto our Facebook page, which automatically update our Twitter posts, a mixed bunch but we'll run through them now.

Our Soccer Saturday treble went close with just Coventry letting us down after West Brom and Ipswich obliged for us, but the same lunchtime we posted Jermaine Defoe to score anytime v Blackburn Rovers which struck just before halftime leaving us an uninterested spectator the second half.

Monday we posted the rather ambitious Cheltenham bet and we ended up with just two out of the nine making the frame, Reve de Sivola and Poquelin, these results didn't get us our money back so a little disappointing.

We tried to pinch a little back from our Cheltenham outlay by backing Notts County v Bournemouth Monday night, live on Sky, excruciatingly Notts conceded an equalizer in the 93rd minute leaving us heartbroken. The footy double we posted produced a winner and a bit of a shocker, Reading crushed a 10 man Derby, who ended up with Robbie Savage in goal but Southampton, surprisingly beaten at home by improving Swindon.

The following evening we followed Leicester v Crystal Palace who obliged at odds against boosting our accounts.

And finally last night our Super League record for this season went to 2 picks, 2 winners when Crusader RL beat Catalan Dragons by 8 points covering our 4 point handicap.

This weekend will see us collect on our pre tournament 6 Nations pick.
France only need to beat England to claim the Grand Slam, which would result in us losing our pick on no one claiming that particular prize, even if they lose, the only other contenders, Ireland will need to win by an inordinate amount v Scotland to win via points difference, France currently priced up for the Championship at 1/150!!

We're starting to get a handle on this years tennis form so expect a few picks to pop up on the Facebook page with some better tournaments starting to tee off, also the golfing majors are on the horizon with the Masters coming up shortly and Tiger Woods making his reappearance after recent transgressions, a must lay.

On to some picks for today:

SIX NATIONS WALES -15 v Italy (2:30p.m k.o BBC1)
10/11 W.HILL EVENS BETFRED -16 10/11 TOTESPORT

SIX NATIONS IRELAND -14 v Scotland (5:00p.m k.o BBC1)
10/11 W.HILL EVENS BETFRED EVENS TOTESPORT

SIX NATIONS FRANCE -10 v England (7:45p.m k.o BBC1)
10/11 W.HILL -9 EVENS BETFRED -11 10/11 TOTESPORT

Some differing opinions on the handicap line for the France v England game, but I would be confident of France covering all three, possibly combined. As an English man who follows his international rugby union side, despite my obvious financial interest, I want to see England lose heavily tonight, just to instigate the obvious shake up needed within the management and coaching staff. After they convincingly beat Wales in their opening fixture, hopes were raised that England would be able to score points against anyone, that has been proven to be fanciful, at the moment I think they are no better than Italy and Scotland, as the close scorelines versus those two shows.
Also if Ireland do not cover their handicap mark and more v Scotland prior to France's kick off, Les Bleus will know they're fate which may result in a free flowing, high scoring fixture.
Ireland need to beat Scotland heavily to give themselves a chance of winning the championship.
Wales have been the nearly men of this years championship, they have been very close at times of playing the scintillating rugby which won them the 6 Nations a couple of years ago and I expect them to give the Italians a bit of a kicking to send their loyal fans away with something to remember.

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE WEST BROMWICH ALBION + IPSWICH TOWN + CHARLTON ATHLETIC
3.99 W.HILL 4.32 BETFRED 3.99 TOTESPORT

CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL NEWCASTLE UNITED v Bristol City (5:20p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
10/11 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT

Newcastles away form isn't up to the standard of their home form, where they still remain unbeaten so far this season and the old adage of backing odds on away from home is the quickest way to the poor house may turn out to be true but I just can't see Bristol offering much in the way of resistance. Recently they went one down versus second placed West Brom and battled back to win 2-1 but I believe West Brom switched off and allowed City back into that game, Newcastle won't.

Become a fan of ILOVESTEVEPALMER @FACEBOOK for up to the minute sport picks from ourselves, EuroWhiz, Fast Freddie and TmsWinners.
ALL FREE!!
C'MON!!

F1 returns......

I've advised a motorsport double and posted Fast Freddies two Saturday picks on the ILOVESTEVEPALMER Facebook page, EuroWhiz will hopefully paste his weekend picks there too.

Unfortunately due to other commitments, mainly having to work because I could never live off my betting picks, I can't guarantee a full and regular blogspot, not to the degree that was possible a couple of months ago.
There will be blogspots keeping everyone up to date with any ALREADY ADVISED picks and how our Facebook posts are scoring.

If not a fan of the Facebook page already, just visit the page and click become a fan to receive updates on your news stream, picks will automatically be sent to Twitter @rudgey76.
Please feel free to comment on the wall and start any discussion points at your leisure,

BE LUCKY, C'MON!!

Following on Facebook?

Have you become a fan of the ILOVESTEVEPALMER Facebook page?
If you have then you would have picked up the advice on Bradford Bulls +6 v Wigan Warriors last night. Bradford won the tie outright therefore collecting our EVEN money pick.
Remember to become a fan and receive all the up to the minute advice from this page outside of the blogs.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE WEST HAM UNITED v Bolton Wanderers (3:00p.m k.o)
8/11 W.HILL 4/5 TOTESPORT 4/5 BETFRED

West Ham are unbeaten in their last 3 home Premier League matches, scoring 5 and conceding none. Their only reverse in their last 6 home fixtures came against Arsenal and in that run they held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw.
Bolton have travelled away 12 times since their last victory on the road. Their last five away trips have yielded 1 point, zero goals for and 11 goals against.

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER NOTTM FOREST V SWANSEA OVER 2.5 GOALS (3:00p.m k.o)
13/8 W.HILL 5/4 BETFRED

Everything about both these sides recent form points to this being a tight affair won by a single piece of brilliance or a blunder.
13 goals against is the figure both teams have conceded, at home and away respectively.
Swansea have only scored 15 goals away from home in 16 games.
This is one of those picks where everything points to under, but it's just a hunch that maybe as early as halftime this will have gone over!??!
(Take or leave this one)

ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE SOCCER HUDDERSFIELD TOWN v Gillingham (3:00p.m k.o)
6/5 W.HILL 13/10 BETFRED 13/10 TOTESPORT

Huddersfield have a poor record at the Priestfield Stadium.
Gillingham have picked up 8 points in their last 9 League One matches.
Huddersfield have picked up 10 points in their last 5 away games.

Playing it safe with the treble this weekend,

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE NEWCASTLE + LEEDS + NORWICH
2.67 W.HILL 2.85 BETFRED 2.85 TOTESPORT (returns inc. one unit stake)

Fast Freddie is holding back for Cheltenham in two weeks time and EuroWhiz was last spotted in a curry house coiffing Tiger lager and eating a Rogan Josh.
Remember to check for late picks from both these on ILOVESTEVEPALMER page on Facebook.

Sunday needed supplements......

Rubbish weekend, only Man United collecting for us from our picks.

Midweek coupon selections up early.....

FOOTBALL LEAGUE ONE SOCCER BRISTOL ROVERS V STOCKPORT OVER 2.5 GOALS (TUESDAY 7:45p.m k.o)
7/10 W.HILL 8/11 BETFRED

4 of the last 6 meetings at the Memorial Stadium have gone over 2.5.
Bristol's last 5 home games have featured a total of 16 goals averaging at 3.2
Stockports last 5 games have featured 21 goals averaging 4.2

FOOTBALL LEAGUE TWO ROCHDALE V ROTHERHAM UNDER 2.5 GOALS (TUESDAY 7:45p.m k.o)
10/11 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED

The last 6 meetings at Spotland between these two have produced 10 goals averaging 1.66 goals.
Rochdale have scored 7 goals in their last 5 matches averaging 1.4
Rotherham have an identical record.
Prior to their last two meetings, the previous four encounters yielded just two goals.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE ONE SOUTHAMPTON v HUDDERSFIELD TOWN OVER 2.5 GOALS (7:45p.m k.o)
10/11 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED

Huddersfield's last 5 games have featured 15 goals averaging 3
Southamptons last 5 games have featured 17 goals averaging 3.4
The last 6 meetings at Saints between these two have featured 17 goals.

Remember to keep track of any late picks @ILOVESTEVEPALMER on Facebook and @rudgey76 on TWITTER.
C'MON!!!

Been a long time, been a long time.......

A period of consolidation took place last week.
Not only was our strike rate suffering from over elaboration but also personal lifestyle changes impacted upon the production of our blogspot.
These changes will impact how many are produced a week and also the depth into which we will be explaining our picks. It is imperative that followers stay tuned to ILOVESTEVEPALMER @FACEBOOK and @RUDGEY76 on TWITTER for up to the minute picks., links are available at the top of this page.

ALREADY ADVISED

6 NATIONS OUTRIGHT FRANCE

France remain the only unbeaten side in this years contest after 3 rounds of matches which puts them and us in an extremely strong position, our 7/4 now stands at 1/14 W.HILL, 1/25 BETFRED, 1/33 TOTESPORT and trading out looks absolutely unnecessary.

6 NATIONS NO GRAND SLAM WINNER

This is looking more unlikely with our ante post picks looking strong and everyone else beating each other.

WINTER OLYMPICS 2010 USA MEDAL TABLE WINNERS

Although Canada have won 5 more gold medals and are shown at the top of some tables, the USA are 11 overall medals clear and cannot be caught, we did not recommend topping the gold medal table but the overall so you can go collect on our 4/1 pick.

Midweek, on our Facebook page we stuck up Inter Milan to beat Chelsea (WON) and a F.A Cup replay double ASTON VILLA + W.B.A (West Brom went to E.T,) but at 13/8 for Inter we finished more than half a point up.

Fortunately, I posted no picks yesterday, because what I had in mind went up in smoke, Scotland losing in Rome and England sloppily losing at Twickenham and soccer picks probably wouldn't have gone much better, but let's put our necks back on the chopping block today.

CARLING CUP FINAL MANCHESTER UNITED v Aston Villa (3:00p.m k.o BBC1)
5/6 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 20/23 TOTESPORT

This pick will either carry a lot more confidence or a lot less confidence after hearing Sir Alex Fergusons team selection.
If Rooney, Valencia, Berbatov all start and a strong midfield containing Carrick, Scholes and Fletcher dominate, I can only see Man U winning the lions share of the possesion and eventually the game, quite cosily. Villa have good players, but there record against top four clubs is not great and although their League Cup record stands up to scrutiny, I believe a runners up medal is all that will be available to Young, Agbonlahor and co.

SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE CELTIC v Rangers (12:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
11/5 W.HILL 11/5 BETFRED 7/2 TOTESPORT

SCOTTISH football, SCOTTISH football I hear you cry.
Despite my lack of interest or respect for the level of scottish soccer, these games are well worth a watch just for the atmosphere generated by those loonies north of the border. Throw into the mix Robbie Keane's first appearance in a Glasgow derby, you just know he is gonna get the winner (6/4 anytime W.HILL, 7/4 TOTESPORT worth a small interest)

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE EVERTON v Tottenham Hotspur (1:00p.m k.o ESPN)
14/5 W.HILL 11/4 BETFRED 11/4 TOTESPORT

Everton have won 3 of their last four visits to White Hart Lane and their current form after a very slow start to the Premier League campaign has easily been on a par with Tottenhams and Villa's and Man City's and the price just looks a little dismissive.

RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE LEEDS RHINOS v Melbourne Storm (6:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
23/20 W.HILL 5/4 BETFRED 13/10 TOTESPORT

Leeds have won this game twice in recent years, beating the Storm in one of those and will be looking to reclaim the trophy after last years windswept loss to Manly Sea Eagles. The NRL sides that travel half the world to play these games are always in close season and Leeds should be well into their stride after 4 weekends of Super League action. The biggest worry is the fact that so far in this seasons domestic competition, the Rhino's top the table for penalties conceded. but if they keep those to a minimum we'll have a good run for our money.

Remeber to keep track of picks on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER pages, links available at top of page.

More soon, C'MON!!!

Not a great week so far.....

Struggled to get our noses in front this week, so we may chuck in a few shorties to shore up the leaking accounts.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER ARSENAL V SUNDERLAND OVER 2.5 GOALS (3:00p.m k.o)
8/15 BETFRED 1/2 W.HILL 1/2 TOTESPORT

Arsenal will be disappointed with their midweek pantomime in Portugal. I'll just chip in that I think that referee is a joke! After every Champions League fixture this season, win or lose, Arsenal's next Premier League fixture has always featured 3 or more goals, win or lose. Unbackable at 1/5, but Sunderland may score one with Arsenal getting two or three.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER CHELSEA -1 v Wolverhampton Wanderers (3:00p.m k.o)
20/23 TOTESPORT 10/11 W.HILL 4/5 BETFRED

Mick McCarthy will probably make 11 changes to his precious, pretty footballing but ultimately doomed to relegation side this afternoon, just to prove a point.
They have faced Chelsea and Man Utd once so far this season, losing 4-0 and 3-0.
Fans may take heart from performances against Spurs and Liverpool, but these are a different breed and This could be a couple each for Anelka and Drogba and maybe one for Lampard.

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE CARDIFF CITY + CHARLTON ATHLETIC + ROCHDALE
4.38 BETFRED 4.57 W.HILL 4.27 TOTESPORT (returns inc. one unit stake)

Minimum stakes only for the following pick, maybe even half of your minimum.

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER PRESTON N.E v Newcastle (3:00p.m k.o)
5/1 TOTESPORT 13/2 W.HILL 6/1 BETFRED

Fair enough if you think stuff that, but I don't think Newcastle will finish the season unbeaten at home and in a 3 runner race, 6/1 is too big.
IT'S A FUNNY OLD GAME!!

Bit of oval ball action in the high octane Super League, two games played each and both sides are unbeaten.

ENGAGE SUPER LEAGUE WIGAN WARRIORS v Warrington Wolves (5:30p.m k.o)
5/4 TOTESPORT 7/5 W.HILL 11/8 BETFRED

When punting in Super League, the big ties such as this one, can go either way and a stat I like to use to split teams is penalties conceded and although there isn't much between these teams on that front in this fledgling stage of the season, Warrington have given away more ground than the Warriors and the team that concedes the most penalties this evening, I bet, will lose the game.

Finally a small word on our ante post investments,

ALREADY ADVISED
6 NATIONS OUTRIGHT FRANCE
6 NATIONS NO GRAND SLAM WINNER
WINTER OLYMPICS 2010 USA TO TOP MEDAL TABLE.

France are now strong, odds on favourites to win the tournament outright, so our investment could be guaranteed with one more win, they'll shorten up further and we can lock in the profit with a bit of laying.
Having seen the French twice, they are putting our other 6 Nations bet under pressure, because I cannot see them slipping up against England unless they have already sewn up the championship before England travel to Park de Prince.
U.S.A, U.S.A, U.S.A.
The yanks currently sit 10 clear at the top of the medals table and are 1/14 on BETFAIR to finish top, BETFRED are only offering gold medal betting, so thats looking tidy.

Become a fan of ILOVESTEVEPALMER on FACEBOOK to keep up to date with any late picks and selections from our European soccer selector EuroWhiz, winners on the geegee's with Fast Freddie's picks and all your U.S sports selections courtesy of TmsWinners.
Follow @rudgey76 on TWITTER for picks direct to your mobile.
More tomorrow, C'MON!!!

3/4's of a point down.....

Tuesday was a funny one.
Quite a few selections went west but with two winning picks we finished less than one unit down, so not a complete disaster.

There are some absolute corkers lined up tonight in the Europa League, so rather than wait for EuroWhiz, we'll have a dip at a couple ourselves.

A couple of European giants clash at the Amsterdam Arena, where Juventus are Ajax' visitors.
Ajax are unbeaten in their last 6 league games and are unbeaten at home all season in the domestic championship.
Juve have won one of their last 6 league games and their Champions League exploits, although a higher level, was not convincing.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE AJAX v Juventus (6:00p.m k.o)
6/4 W.HILL 6/4 BETFRED 8/5 TOTESPORT

Another early kickoff in the Netherlands sees Werder Bremen travel from land of the Bundesliga to the Grolsch Veste, home of FC Twente.
Twente flying high in the Eredivisie, one of the top three to remain unbeaten at home domestically.
Werder Bremen always seem full of goals and are unbeaten in this competition so far.
I'm of the impression that FC Twente aren't quite up to this level of European competition.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE WERDER BREMEN v FC Twente (6:00p.m k.o)
5/4 W.HILL 11/8 BETFRED 11/8 TOTESPORT

One more single,
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE SHAKTAR DONETSK v Fulham (8:05p.m k.o ITV4)
13/8 W.HILL 7/4 BETFRED 13/8 TOTESPORT

Last season's winners of this trophy beat Tottenham Hotspur at the same stage last year, after their mid season break, winning the 2 legs by an aggregate score of 3-1, drawing the game in England 1-1, but with Fulhams small squad and lengthy injury list, I believe the Ukranians will be too strong for the Cottagers.

ALREADY ADVISED
6 NATIONS OUTRIGHT FRANCE
6 NATIONS NO GRAND SLAM WINNER
WINTER OLYMPICS 2010 USA MEDA TABLE WINNERS

If you were on at the earliest opportunity with France for the 6 nations, some 7/4 was available, after two victories with three to play, they're now 4/9 with W.HILL and 2/5 BETFRED.
With the U.S four medals clear at the top of the Vancouver medals table, our 4/1 now looks massive, current odds are 4/7 with BETFRED.
Sit back and watch the royalties stack up!!
Remember to check our Facebook page @ILOVESTEVEPALMER and @rudgey76 on TWITTER for late picks from us and EuroWhiz, TmsWinners and Fast Freddie.
C'MON!!

Not the greatest....

This blogspot is looking forward to England going to Paris and getting thoroughly smashed up, because a performance even resembling the one in Rome on Sunday will result in a humiliating scoreline.
Tottenham aren't scoring as many goals as they were earlier in the season and Aston Villa are the bane of my life.

Lots of soccer action tonight, I'm gonna try not to sPread myself too thin.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AC MILAN V MANCHESTER UTD UNDER 2.5 GOALS (7:45p.m k.o)
8/15 W.HILL 4/7 BETFRED 8/15 TOTESPORT

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LYON V REAL MADRID OVER 2.5 GOALS (7:45p.m k.o)
21/20 W.HILL 10/11 BETFRED 10/11 TOTESPORT

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE EVERTON v Sporting Lisbon (5:45p.m k.o)
4/6 W.HILL 8/13 BETFRED 8/13 TOTESPORT

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP MIDDLESBOROUGH v Blackpool (7:45p.m k.o)
19/10 W.HILL 7/4 BETFRED 15/8 TOTESPORT

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER SCUNTHORPE v Barnsley (7:45p.m k.o)
13/8 W.HILL 8/5 BETFRED 6/4 TOTESPORT

TUESDAY TREBLE NOTTM FOREST + SHEFF WEDS + LEEDS UTD
5.18 W.HILL 5.30 BETFRED 5.40 TOTESPORT (returns inc. unit stake)

More tomorrow, C'MON!!!

Lazy Sunday......

The treble was disappointing and even though Wales let us down by four points, it was a stunning game to watch.
Coventry City won what was described as a very poor game, we don't care how, just that they did.
Southampton v Pompey went over the 2.5 goals, leaving it late to get started but cosily by the 90.
Les Bleus gave the Irish a proper going over at the Parc de Prince, winning our match pick and shortening up the odds on our outright pick, almost time to look at laying off.
So from our five played picks, to a one unit stake, we would just about be one unit up.
With our England pick running tomorrow, we will add a couple of F.A Cup picks to fill up the afternoon.

ENGLISH F.A CUP BOLTON WANDERERS V TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR OVER 2.5 GOALS (1:30p.m k.o ITV1)
10/11 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT

The last two runnings of this fixture have finished 2-2 and 3-2.
This should be a good, entertaining match.

ENGLISH F.A CUP ASTON VILLA v Crystal Palace (3:45p.m k.o ITV1)
5/6 W.HILL 4/5 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT

Shocked at the value on offer with Villa. They will beat Palace comfortably despite not beating them since 1980, this is a different Villa side to one's of previous years and Martin o'Neill will not let this side lose to a side with lesser quality.

That's it for now, updates tomorrow on Fast Freddie's picks and Euro Whizz.
Remember to follow ILOVESTEVEPALMER on Facebook and @rudgey76 on Twitter.
C'MON!!

Get 'em on early!!

Late pick sent out to Facebook and Twitter followers last night, though the same price may still be available this morning if interested.

ALREADY ADVISED
SIX NATIONS OUTRIGHT FRANCE
SIX NATIONS NO GRAND SLAM WINNER
WINTER OLYMPICS USA TO TOP MEDAL TABLE

Let's try and better our 3 out of 4 winning picks on last weekends 6 Nations matches.

SIX NATIONS MATCHES ENGLAND -14 v Italy (2:30p.m k.o Sun 14th Feb BBC1) -14 W.HILL 10/11 -15 TOTESPORT 10/11

Early in the week I was worried that the bookies would overreact to England's beating of Wales and had nightmare visions of 20 or more points being given to the home side.
Pleasantly surprised with 2 converted tries, I think England will improve on last weeks effort and that is bad news for a poor national side like Italy.

SIX NATIONS MATCHES FRANCE v Ireland (4:30p.m k.o BBC1)
1/2 W.HILL 1/2 TOTESPORT

Some quarters are calling this the Championship decider in only the second week of competition, which is folly when you consider injuries, suspensions and fortune will all have a part to play. Having backed France outright we would like to see them win this cosily enough and the Irish have a pretty poor record traveling across the Channel.

SIX NATIONS MATCHES WALES -10 v Scotland (2:00p.m k.o BBC1)
10/11 W.HILL 4/5 TOTESPORT

Wales will easily pass this 10 point margin, Scotland last week, despite a lot of huffing and puffing never really troubled the French tryline, and even if they had done, the feeling was France could have found two more gears at least. The Welsh will have been distraught at the way they lost to England and will be determined to put it right in front of an expectant home crowd.

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE BARNSLEY + BRENTFORD + MILLWALL (3:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS NEWS)
4.38 W.HILL 4.37 TOTESPORT 4.52 BETFRED

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER COVENTRY CITY v Queens Park Rangers (3:00p.m k.o)

At odds against Coventry at home are unbeaten in their last 6 league games and only losing in extra time to fellow Championship team Portsmouth. Q.P.R are simply in freefall due to bad management from the owners down to poor old Mick Harford.

A little dip into todays F.A Cup action,

ENGLISH F.A CUP SOUTHAMPTON V PORTSMOUTH OVER 2.5 GOALS (12:30p.m k.o ITV1)
6/5 W.HILL 11/10 TOTESPORT 11/10 BETFRED

I was severely tempted to punt Southampton as they have won the last five meetings with Pompey at St. Mary's or whatever it was before and they are 9 games unbeaten at home in all competitions. Add to this the dire situation Pompey find themselves in and the tie seems ripe for a giant killing, but it's a derby so caution advised.
4 of the last 6 meetings here featured over 2.5 goals.

Don't forget to become a fan of ILOVESTEVEPALMER on FACEBOOK to stay up to date with all late and winning picks and RUDGEY76 on TWITTER.
Our Euro Wizard has already posted this weekends picks on our Facebook page and Fast Freddies horse picks will appear there later, both have stunning records to upkeep at the moment, so tune in at ILOVESTEVEPALMER on FACEBOOK(links at top of blogspot)

More tomorrow, C'MON!!

50% but still in front....

Ipswich Town won.
Man City beat Bolton half time and full time.

Sunderland conceded an equaliser, after leading since the 12th minute, with the last kick in the 96th minute.
Leicester let down the treble by not being able to score in a brothel.
Despite these misfortunes, we still ended up nearly a point in front.

6 Premier League games tonight, as a bit of fun, I will pick a winner from every game!

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE LIVERPOOL v Arsenal (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
3/1 W.HILL 11/4 BETFRED 11/4 TOTESPORT

Arsenal seem to be starting to struggle for goals after getting by without Van Persie for the last few months and Liverpool have found Dirk Kuyt's best position after 4 years...as a striker!

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE MANCHESTER UNITED v Aston Villa (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS NEWS)
5/6 W.HILL 10/11 BETFRED 10/11 TOTESPORT

United have won 5 of their last 6 visits to Villa Park, Villa have scored once in their last 4 Premier League home matches and Rooney can not stop scoring, even if he tied one leg behind his back!

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE BLACKBURN ROVERS v Hull City (8:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS NEWS)
5/6 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 10/11 TOTESPORT

Hull have shown signs of getting back to their early season form of 2008/2009 with a draw against Chelsea and a win against Man City, but I would hazard a guess at the two teams mentioned underperforming rather than mini miracles from "Permatanman"
Blackburn haven't had the best fixture list of late either with the distraction of a league cup semi and few home games, plus a few injuries.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE CHELSEA v Everton (8:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS NEWS)
7/10 W.HILL 8/11 BETFRED 7/10 TOTESPORT

Chelsea know the importance of this game and I see it them winning with the centre of midfield being stronger than Everton's, who are missing the Afro for tonights game.
Chelsea have won 3 of their last 4 visits to Goodison, while it is 10 years since the Toffee's last home win of Chelsea.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE WEST HAM UTD v Birmingham City (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS NEWS)
6/5 W.HILL 5/4 BETFRED 13/10 TOTESPORT

West Ham are too good to go down and Birmingham aren't as good as their league position suggests they are.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v Wolverhampton (7:45p.m ko SKY SPORTS NEWS)
4/5 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT

Reality is starting to sink in at Wolves and they may just start to accept their fate after tonights drubbing by Spurs. Spurs have won 5 of their last 6 visits to Molineux and aside from Kevin Doyle, the rest of the squad is struggling to find it's feet at this level.

Everyone would agree that odds on away from home is the quickest way to the poorhouse so maybe sticking 3 in a treble rather than singles will cost us a little less.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE MANCHESTER UNITED + CHELSEA + TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
5.61 W.HILL 6.05 BETFRED 5.95 TOTESPORT (returns inc. one unit stake)

That treble plus two decent singles on Liverpool and West Ham should keep us entertained tonight.
Looking forward to winning more on the 6 Nations this weekend and more F.A Cup action on the way too.
C'MON!!!

What more do you want?...........

FRANCE BEAT SCOTLAND BY 9.
CHELSEA BEAT ARSENAL.
DIDIER DROGBA SCORED TWICE.
BIRMINGHAM CITY BEAT WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS WON THE SUPERBOWL.
DREW BREES WAS NAMED SUPERBOWL MVP.

All of these were advised for Sunday and now you're gonna believe us, now you're gonna believe us......
Full set of English football fixtures over the next two nights so there should be plenty to get stuck into.
Televised action first:

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE MANCHESTER CITY HT/FT DOUBLE RESULT v Bolton Wanderers (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
21/20 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT
City have won their last 6 home games and generally tend to go in half time in front and injuries are hitting Bolton hard at the moment.
Also from tonights Premier League card:

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SUNDERLAND v Portsmouth (7:45p.m k.o Sky Sports News) 11/5 W.HILL 2/1 BETFRED 11/5 TOTESPORT
If Pompey get deducted 9 points Wednesday lunchtime for going into administration, there's a good chance they may go down with the lowest points total ever!
Confidence on the pitch must be at an all time low and if Sunderland can get in front early, it may just knock any remaining fight out of Avram Grant's doomed side.

Couple of teams from the Championship and a League Two side for a neat little treble:

MIDWEEK COUPON TREBLE LEICESTER CITY + WEST BROMWICH ALBION + ROTHERHAM UNITED (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS NEWS) 4.90 W.HILL 5.06 BETFRED 4.96 TOTESPORT (returns inc. one unit stake)

Cannot resist a small interest in a side away from home at odds against, on the improve, playing a side I think have self destructed in the middle part of the season, thanks mainly to a meddling owner.

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL IPSWICH TOWN v Queens Park Rangers 13/8 W.HILL 7/4 BETFRED 7/4 TOTESPORT

A few setbacks.....

But we broke about one unit stake up.
With 3 6 Nations bets, a Soccer Saturday treble and 2 other footy picks to keep an eye on, I did well to stay sober until midway through the England Wales dustup.
So a 6/5, a 19/10 and an 8/13 covered the losses incurred by Carlisle's late equaliser at Huddersfield and Ireland's lack of motivation towards the last 10 minutes against an already beaten Italy.
After seeing highlights of West Ham v Burnley, two bad defensive decisions and a host of missed chances mean we will be recouping losses on the Hammers sooner rather than later.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE BIRMINGHAM CITY v Wolves (1:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
5/6 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT
Wolves beat Blues 2-0 in last years F.A Cup but lost to them in the Championship game between them at St Andrews last season. Add to that 3 draws between them and this could be tight. Unfortunately for Wolves the improvement shown by Birmingham in the middle part of their Premier league campaign should see them past a side suffering from nice but not quite good enough.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE CHELSEA v Arsenal (4:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
5/6 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 3/4 TOTESPORT
Arsenal are great footballers, pleasing to watch and free scoring when in full flow.
They just are not going to get the freedom of Stamford Bridge and Chelsea have their African contingent back from Angola, giving Drogba chance to bully an Arsenal defence that is still not the most convincing. He has scored 5 times in his last 5 appearances against Arsenal.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE DIDIER DROGBA TO SCORE ANYTIME v Arsenal (4:00p.m k.o)
EVENS W.HILL EVENS TOTESPORT 9/2 E/W 1,2,3,4 BETFRED

The SUPERBOWL, I'm just going to chance my arm with as it is a must watch, just for it's extravagance.

SUPERBOWL XLIV NEW ORLEANS SAINTS v Indianapolis Colts
7/4 W.HILL 9/5 BETFRED 13/8 TOTESPORT

SUPERBOWL XLIV MVP DREW BREES 11/4 W.HILL 3/1 BETFRED 5/2 TOTESPORT

SUPERBOWL XLIV 4TH QUARTER TO BE THE HIGHEST SCORING 9/5 W.HILL 9/4 BETFRED 2/1 TOTESPORT.

We still have our France -7 pick to keep an eye on also this afternoon.
Keep check on late picks from ILOVESTEVEPALMER, TmsWinners, Fast Freddie and John In Spain @ILOVESTEVEPALMER on Facebook and @rudgey76 on TWITTER, links at top of this page.
C'MON!!!

More interest......

ALREADY ADVISED
RBS 6 NATIONS OUTRIGHT FRANCE
RBS 6 NATIONS NO GRAND SLAM WINNER
RBS 6 NATIONS IRELAND -20 v Italy
RBS 6 NATIONS ENGLAND v Wales
RBS 6 NATIONS ENGLAND V WALES OVER 3.5 TRIES
RBS 6 NATIONS FRANCE -7 v Scotland

Cardiff must have felt a long way away at about 9:45 last night, for anybody who travelled to St James' Park last night. A 5-1 humbling will have been hard to take.
The Giants did the bizzo for this page, beating the Bulls by 12.
Straight on to todays picks,

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE WEST HAM UNITED v Burnley (3:00p.m k.o SOCCER SATURDAY)
9/5 W.HILL 7/4 BETFRED 13/8 TOTESPORT

Could not understand the Burnley chairman's thinking behind appointing Brian Laws, a manager who was dragging a once regular fixture in the top flight, Sheff Wednesday, down to League One.
West Ham are giving out nothing but positive sounds since the completed takeover and three or four signings, Carlton Cole back, an international striker Benni MacCarthy to link up with.

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP CRYSTAL PALACE v Scunthorpe (3:00p.m k.o SOCCER SATURDAY)
9/5 W.HILL 15/8 BETFRED 19/10 TOTESPORT

A quick glance at the table would make you look twice at this pick, but add on the 10 points Palace were deducted for financial difficulties, they would be several points and places above Scunthorpe, verging on playoff places.
Love him or loathe him, it is the kind of situation Neil Warnock will turn to his advantage, by firing his team up to a big finish to the season.

SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE NOTTINGHAM FOREST + HUDDERSFIELD + BRENTFORD
4.65 W.HILL 4.65 BETFRED 4.75 TOTESPORT (returns inc. unit stake.)

More Premier League Soccer tomorrow and the biggest sporting event in the U.S sports calendar, THE SUPERBOWL!!
C'MON!!

Bostin' weekend....

Cracking action this weekend including the start of the 6 Nations Rugby Union tournament.

ALREADY ADVISED
6 NATIONS OUTRIGHT FRANCE
NO GRAND SLAM WINNER.

3 Matches this weekend and the picks are,

IRELAND -21 v Italy (2:30p.m k.o BBC1)
10/11 W.HILL/ -20 EVS BETFRED/ -21 10/11 TOTESPORT.

ENGLAND v Wales (5:00p.m k.o BBC1)
8/15 W.HILL 4/7 BETFRED 8/13 TOTESPORT.

ENGLAND V WALES OVER 3.5 TRIES
6/5 W.HILL 10/11 TOTESPORT

FRANCE-6 v Scotland (3:00p.m k.o Sunday BBC)
10/11 W.HILL / -7 EVS TOTESPORT

Also with the oval ball tonight, we have the first full weekend of SuperLeagueXV.
Tonights t.v action involves the Giants and the Bulls, with both sides introducing 3 or more debutants each. For a small interest and focusing on last seasons performances,
ENGAGE SUPER LEAGUE
HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS -4 v Bradford Bulls (8:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
4/5 W.HILL 4/5 BETFRED 10/11 TOTESPORT

In tonights Championship action, unbeaten at home, Newcastle take on Cardiff City.
I don't think any team could go unbeaten at home all season long in this division and with goals flowing for Cardiff away from home at the moment, at the prices, I think we'll get more of a run from Cardiff than some might think.

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER CARDIFF CITY v Newcastle Utd (7:45p.m k.o BBC RADIO 5LIVE)
16/5 W.HILL 3/1 BETFRED 10/3 TOTESPORT 3/1 BET365

More footy picks tomorrow, check ILOVESTEVEPALMER @Facebook where the europicks are up from our man on the continent and racing picks from Fast Freddie, late picks show up @rudgey76 on TWITTER.
C'MON!!

Back to gut instincts......

The only thing that worked for us last night was the hunch I had about Danny Wellbeck prospering at this level and he duly obliged. I won't be mentioning him again, but I believe he is to be followed till the seasons end.
As for the rest of last nights picks, on review seem to have suffered from over analysis, so rapid fire tactics are put to the test on three of tonights soccer fixtures.

ENGLISH F.A CUP LEEDS V TOTTENHAM OVER2.5 GOALS (7:45p.m k.o ITV1)
10/11 W.HILL 8/11 BETFRED 4/5 TOTESPORT

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE FULHAM v Portsmouth (8:00p.m k.o no t.v)
8/13 W.HILL 4/6 BETFRED 4/6 TOTESPORT

ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP WEST BROMWICH ALBION v Blackpool (7:45p.m k.o no t.v)
21/20 W.HILL 13/10 BETFRED 5/4 TOTESPORT

Leeds v Tottenham, last 6 Elland Rd meetings featured 18 goals averaging 3 per game.
Fulham have won 3 of their last 6 home meetings with Pompey, who are desperate.
Blackpool have just started to lose their way after going half of the season unbeaten at home and the Baggies are unbeaten on the road in their last 6, also a win would push them above Nottm Forest into second place.

The free download featuring stats for the forthcoming 6 Nations published last week highlighted our antepost picks and the reasons why,

ALREADY ADVISED
FRANCE TO WIN 6 NATIONS 6/4 W.HILL 6/4 BETFRED 6/4 TOTESPORT
(TOTESPORT are offering moneyback on outright bets if England win the 6 Nations!)
NO GRAND SLAM WINNER 8/13 W.HILL 4/6 BETFRED 8/13 TOTESPORT

Coming up later in the week, 6 Nations matches, Super League XV matches, Superbowl picks and the Soccer Saturday treble which we have collected on the last 2 weeks.
Don't forget to sign up to ILOVESTEVEPALMER @Facebook and @rudgey76 on TWITTER for late picks.

More tomorrow. C'MON!!!

All things must pass......

So the weekends form soon passed!
Sunderland could have won last night had Howard Webb noticed Robert Huth decide to audition for a 6 Nations role this weekend and carry the ball past Darren Bent in the area.
As for the derby oop north, I've briefly read the match report and it doesn't sound like there was ever any danger of it being a goal fest, sounded pretty grim to be honest.
Tonight's televised F.A Cup replay between Crystal Palace and Wolves has, suprisingly to me, been priced up by bookies with the home side as favourites.
A cup run would probably suit Palace more than Wolverhampton, with their current financial needs and Wolves are more focused on staying up. It doesn't always play out that way though does it?
ENGLISH F.A CUP REPLAY WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS v Crystal Palace (8:00p.m k.o ITV4)
7/4 W.HILL 7/4 BETFRED 17/10 TOTESPORT
A Premier League fixture tonight between Chelsea, fighting for the title and Hull City, fighting for Premiership survival.
The last 6 meetings between these sides, at Hull, average 3.5 goals per game.
The last 4 meetings have finished a combined total of Hull City 1- 15 Chelsea.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER CHELSEA -1 GOAL v Hull City (7:45p.m k.o)4/6 W.HILL 4/5 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT
One other pick taken form one of the two Championship games tonight.
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER PRESTON N.E v Barnsley (7:45p.m k.o)10/11 W.HILL 10/11 BETFRED 10/11 TOTESPORT
Barnsley, after an upturn in form after a dreadful start to their season, have just seen their form begin to plateau, losing their last 3 away from home.
Preston, after a change of manager, have shown little improvement, but from what I had seen previously only needed a goalscorer. Having secured the talents of Danny Wellbeck from Manchester United till the end of the season, he has already netted within two games of arriving and I can see him performing well in this division for the remainder of the campaign.
So as a show of confidence in my own ratings of players,
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER DANNY WELLBECK TO SCORE ANYTIME v Barnsley (7:45p.m k.o)
5/4 W.HILL 11/8 TOTESPORT

7 picks, 6 winners 1 loser.......

First of all, congratulations to followers who backed EGYPT at 9/1 to win the African Cup of Nations outright.
Then on to the bright things who followed our advised picks on Saturday and Sunday, with only our Welsh Masters Snooker final pick going wide of the mark.

Liverpool, Cardiff City and Southampton all to win at just over 2/1, won.
Everton to beat Wigan Athletic around 6/5, won.
Ali Carter and John Higgins to win their Saturday semi finals in the snooker, both at odds against.
Manchester City minus a goal versus Portsmouth, around 11/10, won.
Arsenal v Manchester United to feature over 2.5 goals, won.

Football matches every night this week, with not much else occurring until the weekend.
Tonight at the Stadium of Light, Stoke visit with both sides desperately in search of a winning streak to turn the heads away from the relegation zone.
Stoke have not won in their last 6 visits to Sunderland, with the Black Cats winning 3 times.
I feel Steve Bruce's charges owe him a performance and it could be worth siding with the home crowd stirring up enough passion to get them over the line a couple of times tonight.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER SUNDERLAND v Stoke City (8:00p.m k.o E.S.P.N)
6/5 BETFAIR EVENS BETFRED 11/10 W.HILL 21/20 TOTESPORT

In tonights League Two encounter,
Bury have scored in each of their last 9 home games.
Rochdale have scored at least once in each of their last 9 away games.
ENGLISH LEAGUE TWO SOCCER BURY V ROCHDALE OVER 2.5 GOALS (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
11/10 BETFAIR 5/6 BETFRED 11/10 W.HILL EVENS TOTESPORT

More tomorrow. C'MON!!

What more do you want?...........

FOUR POSTED RECOMMENDATIONS YESTERDAY....FOUR WINNERS!!
Both selections in the Welsh Open semi finals won.
The Soccer Saturday treble won and our pick on Everton to win their away game at Wigan won.
On with todays Premier League fixtures, first up to the lunchtime kickoff at fortress Eastlands, where Man City remain unbeaten in the league and today host Premiership has beens, Portsmouth. At around 1/3 the home win is no value, but that is the only result anyone can surely see?
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER
MAN CITY -1.5 ASIAN HANDICAP v Portsmouth (1:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
21/20 BETFAIR 3/4(-1)W.HILL 8/11(-1)BETFRED 8/11(-1)TOTESPORT
The following statistic seems too good to be true for todays other Premier League encounter.
5 of the last 6 meetings between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates have gone over 2.5 goals, add to that, Man United's ever changing back four and rampant Rooney marauding at Gallas and Campbell (surely the oldest centre half pairing in Europe,) there must be goals.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL V MAN UTD OVER 2.5 GOALS (4:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
21/20 BETFAIR 19/20 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT.
Also today sees the culmination of the African Cup of Nations, but as we are sitting on 9/1 antepost about EGYPT, we can just watch the Pharoahs stroll in the Angolan sun to victory.
After picking the finalists out from the two semi finals yesterday, it would seem impolite to not take one of them on in todays Welsh Open final.
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER FINAL ALI CARTER+2.5 FRAMES v John Higgins (1:30p.m break BBC WALES/BRITISH EUROSPORT)
4/5 W.HILL 4/5 BETFRED 5/6 TOTESPORT.
Remember to keep an eye out for late picks on the ILOVESTEVEPALMER Facebook page and on TWITTER @rudgey76, maybe more from our man on the continent, who went 2-2 yesterday with a winning Spanish pick and a Bundesliga winner, or a rescue selection from FAST FREDDIE who suffered a humbling Saturday after his previous heroics.

C'MON!!!

Saturday Superstore.....

The strongest pick of the day kicks off at 7:p.m this evening.
Our Welsh Open Snooker ante post pick, RYAN DAY, got thoroughly spanked last night, like one of those kinky Tory backbenchers, but without the plastic carrier and orange.
Last years winner, Ali "the Captain" Carter, beat him up good and proper.
Unfortunately for Ryan at the moment, he doesn't seem to be able to string performances together, as he has demonstrated at the last two tournaments, following good wins against great players with utter mediocrity.
Both semi finals take place today with Carter playing Stephen Maguire early on and the evening offering being John Higgins v Ronnie "147's r us" O'Sullivan.
Both outsiders with the bookies are value bets.
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER S-F ALI CARTER v Stephen Maguire (1:30p.m break BBC WALES/EUROSPORT)
5/4 BETFAIR 6/5 BETFRED 11/10 W.HILL EVS TOTESPORT.
For me the stronger bet has got to be John Higgins. His preparation for the Masters was blighted by a small back problem which he is now over and Ronnie has been telling everyone for weeks he is not playing well and if someone plays well against him they'll beat him. Higgins beat Mark Selby to get this far, the last man to beat O'Sullivan, convincingly 5-2.
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER S-F JOHN HIGGINS v Ronnie O'Sullivan (7:00p.m break BBC WALES/EUROSPORT)
7/5 BETFAIR 11/8 BETFRED 5/4 W.HILL 5/4 TOTESPORT.
As for todays soccer, only one team at odds against stand out to me in the Premier League fixtures for today.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER EVERTON v Wigan (3:00p.m k.o SOCCER SATURDAY)
5/4 BETFAIR 5/4 BETFRED 13/10 W.HILL 23/20 TOTESPORT.
The Toffee's have done nothing but improve on their stuttering early season form of late and with the squad getting stronger week after week, they can continue their progress up the table at the expense of wobbly Wigan.
As is tradition on a Saturday, we have our cross league treble taking in the Premier League, Championship and League One.
SOCCER SATURDAY TREBLE LIVERPOOL + CARDIFF CITY + SOUTHAMPTON (3:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS SOCCER SATURDAY)
3.25 BETFAIR 3.10 BETFRED 3.17 W.HILL 3.10 TOTESPORT (returns include unit stake)
Tomorrow we have the final of this weeks Welsh Snooker Open, the final of the African Cup of Nations, featuring our 9/1 antepost pick, EGYPT, who are just a shade over even money on BETFAIR outright now. Also the men's Aussie Open final featuring Andy Murray (GBR if he wins, Scottish if he doesn't) v "The G.O.A.T" Roger Federer, plus more Premier League soccer to dig into.
Last and by no means least, FAST FREDDIE has just come through with his Saturday nap treble. Great national hunt racing today at both Cheltenham (Festival Trials Day) and Doncaster (SKYBET Chase.)
FAST FREDDIES NAP TREBLE INCHIDALY ROCK 2:35 CHELTENHAM QUWETWO 1:45 DONCASTER ROYAL CHARM 3:10 CHELTENHAM.
Remember old Fast gave us 4 picks last Saturday and Sunday with all four obliging.
More tomorrow. C'MON!!

Doing fine.....

Inter Milan to beat Juventus in the Coppa Italia quarter final. Winner.
Mark Allen to beat Matthew Stevens Welsh Open Snooker. Winner.
Ryan Day still running for us in the Welsh Open.
Egypt through to African Cup of Nations final. E/W backers, Winner.
Tomorrow morning's post should include more selections from Fast Freddie, after last weeks 4 from 4 effort, bit of pressure on him.
C'MON!!

MEAT LOAF!!!..........

Arsenal should have, but didn't beat Aston Villa.
Man United v Man City over 2.5 goals winner.
Everton to beat Sunderland winner.
Two out of three ain't bad, as the fat lad, from Macclesfield I think, once sang.
On top of yesterdays TWITTER posted selections, we had previously recommended Matthew Stevens +2.5 frames v Shaun Murphy at the Welsh Snooker Open. Winner, he actually won the match outright causing a bit of an upset.
Stevens plays again today but is only given a 1.5 frame start against Mark Allen, whose recent form hasn't been great. But I believe Stevens' two corking efforts to get here after a lengthy spell in the doldrums is as far as he'll be going this week.
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER 2ND RND MARK ALLEN v Matthew Stevens (1:00p.m break BRITISH EUROSPORT/BBC WALES)
Another player seemingly wrestling with his form at the moment is , Stephen Maguire.
He plays Barry Hawkins today, a relative unknown in terms of the rankings but capable of good shows like earlier this week, when he whitewashed Peter Ebdon 5-0.
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER 2ND RND BARRY HAWKINS +1.5 v Stephen Maguire (1:00p.m break BBC iPLAYER)
Our ante post pick for this tournament, in Newport Gwent, Ryan Day is now trading at around 12/1 after stunning Steven Hendry 5-3, to make it into the quarter finals.
Trade out now to guarantee your money back!
Another of our ALREADY ADVISED picks plays today.
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS EGYPT 9/1.
Today they play Algeria, who play England at the World Cup, in their semi final match. For the tournament they are now 9/5 BETFAIR, 6/4 BETFRED, 13/8 W.HILL.
Live tonight on BBC3 7:00p.m kickoff.
An intriguing Coppa Italia match tonight features, Inter Milan and Juventus in quarter final action.
COPPA ITALIA Q-F INTER MILAN v Juventus (7:45p.m k.o E.S.P.N) general 4/5.

MORE TOMORROW. C'MON!!

Following the winners?.....

Starting by highlighting recent losses.
Nadal went out in the Aussie Open at the quarter final stage to GB's very own Andy Murray. I'd love to back him to win it now but you know what us Brits are like with winning positions. He shall receive ILOVESTEVEPALMER's unconditional support.
Our extra interest in the NFL Championship Finals was an unnecessary extravagance.
The match double we advised came in, the Colts running out fairly comfortable winners after being behind early on and the Saints winning in overtime.
The rest of Sunday was pretty exceptional!

STOKE CITY V ARSENAL OVER 2.5 GOALS (3-1) WINNER.
MAN CITY TO WIN HALFTIME/FULLTIME V SCUNTHORPE WINNER.
INTER MILAN TO BEAT AC MILAN (2-0) WINNER.

The Soccer_Bet free pick was unlucky, Feyernoord conceding a late equaliser.
Our other Man City pick, Tevez to score anytime became void with the player not featuring, so thats a refund.

Our African Cup of Nations outright pick is still running, EGYPT having reached the semi finals. They face Algeria for a place in the final versus either Ghana or Nigeria. Our 9/1 is now generally 7/4. Smart players lay some off now and lock in the profit!

Another of our ante post picks gets underway today with RYAN DAY having his first round match at the Welsh Snooker Open. His match against Tony Drago should be a formality.
An intriguing offering from Newport this afternoon is Welshman MATTHEW STEVENS, taking on Shaun Murphy. Stevens struggled through the final round of qualifying, winning a final frame decider v Barry Pinches. Not great form, but two previous meetings between these two, Murphy winning them both, have been close affairs.

WELSH SNOOKER OPEN MATTHEW STEVENS +2.5 V SHAUN MURPHY (3:00p.m break BRITISH EUROSPORT.) 4/7 W.HILL 5/8 BETFAIR.

Tonights Football sees 4 Premier matches and an almost complete Football League coupon.
Briefly, the televised game between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham, despite the Craven Cottage encounter finishing goalless (nobody knows how?,) must feature more than 2.5 goals.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V FULHAM OVER 2.5 GOALS (7:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS) 21/20 BETFAIR 19/20 W.HILL 5/6 BETFRED.
Also utilising the rest of tonights soccer programme I have formulated a home treble.
ENGLISH SOCCER TREBLE(parlay) BOLTON WANDERERS + NOTTINGHAM FOREST + ROCHDALE.
4.91 BETFAIR 4.68 WILLIAM HILL(W.HILL) 4.60 BETFRED (all returns include stake unit.)

We received a free preview to the 6 Nations rugby union starting in a couple of weeks time and posted it to the ILOVESTEVEPALMER Facebook page, it is still available to open from there and it features two ante post picks.
We will post our ante post selection for the tournament closer to kick off.
Don't forget to keep track of ILOVESTEVEPALMER selections @rudgey76 on TWITTER and ILOVESTEVEPALMER on Facebook.

More tomorrow. C'MON!!!

C'MON STEVIE!!!.........

http://www.racingpost.com/blog/sport/steve-palmer/hope-springs-eternal-as-clark-closes-in-on-magic-double/675034/

SUPER SATURDAY!!...

Cracking afternoon for this blogspot yesterday.
Football League One/Two treble(parlay) won, luckily with Norwich down to 10 men for the second half.
Fast Freddie's nap treble all won.(Posted to the TWITTER/FACEBOOK pages.)
Another Twitter posted selection won, Nicolas Anelka to score anytime v Preston.
And we brought to your attention via TWITTER, a late winning free pick from Dutch boys SOCCER_BET.
The negatives were Tottenham letting down our F.A Cup acca, after Villa and Fulham had done the bizzo and Jermaine Defoe missing a first half penalty against Leeds, after an anytime scorer selection had been posted on TWITTER.
Follow this blogspots last minute selections on TWITTER @rudgey76.
Firstly the lads @Soccer_Bet have come through early with another free pick for this afternoons Dutch Eredivisie action.
Free pick; Dutch Eredivisie; VVV v Feyenoord; we take Feyenoord ML Good luck.
(1:30 p,m k.o currently 5/6 WILLIAM HILL 11/10 BETFAIR.)
Those boys have a good strike rate.
Two more F.A Cup matches today, Arsenal away at Stoke and moneybags Man City travel to lowly Scunthorpe United.
Arsenal have scored 20 goals in their last 7 games, averaging 2.85 per match.
Stoke City have scored at least once in every home game this season.
ENGLISH F.A CUP STOKE CITY V ARSENAL OVER 2.5 GOALS EVS BETFAIR 10/11 WILLIAM HILL
(1:30p.m k.o ITV1)
In the other game, the romance of the cup is just waiting to burst through once more, following Leeds' stunning result against Man Utd in the last round.
I'd love to see Robinho forced to go out on the pitch this afternoon at Glanford Park, but that would only be detrimental to Man City's performance.
These two met earlier in the season, in the league cup, at Eastlands, where Man City won 5-1, then under the stewardship of Mark Hughes, who occasionally rested some of his stars.
Roberto Mancini does not seem to entertain too many of those thoughts.
We're going with two picks.
ENGLISH F.A CUP MAN CITY HALFTIME + FULLTIME v Scunthorpe United 5/4 BETFAIR 19/20 WILLIAM HILL
(4:00p.m k.o ITV1)
ENGLISH F.A CUP CARLOS TEVEZ TO SCORE ANYTIME v Scunthorpe United 6/5 BETFAIR 10/11 WILLIAM HILL
(4:00p.m k.o ITV1)
A bonus this evening will be the freeview on ESPN of the Milan Derby.
AC and Inter currently fill the top two spots in Serie A, with Inter 6 points clear of their rivals but AC having a game in hand adding more relevance, if it were needed to this game.
Inter have won the last two meetings with Ac last victory coming in 2008.
ITALIAN SERIE A INTER MILAN v AC MIlan 13/8 BETFAIR 7/5 WILLIAM HILL (7:45p.m k.o ESPN freeview)
The biggest audiences today will surely be targeted at the other side of the Atlantic with the NFL Championship games taking place tonight, kicking off at 8:00p.m local time.
We already have interest with a pick posted earlier last week, but a little more interest won't hurt, will it?
I will forward anything our U.S boys post to our TWITTER/FACEBOOK pages when they come through, but a risky little number I like the look of in the first game.
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME NEWYORK JETS +7.5/UNDER 40.5 GAME POINTS 11/4 BETFAIR
(8:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)

ALREADY ADVISED
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE(parlay) NEW ORLEANS SAINT + INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 1.95 BETFAIR
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS EGYPT 9/1
WELSH SNOOKER OPEN RYAN DAY 25 BETFAIR
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS RAFAEL NADAL 4/1

The last mentioned has reached the quarter final stage and comes up against our own Andy Murray Tuesday morning live on BBC, Murray looked impressive last night but is he good enough to get past our pick?

Keep checking @rudgey76 on TWITTER and follow ILOVESTEVEPALMER on FACEBOOK.
KEEP WINNING, COME ON!!

F.A Cup best left alone.......

London Wasps lost by two points.
Disappointingly, the match report indicated Wasps were the masters of their own downfall, conceding penalty tries, men sin binned and last minute high tackles, conceding last minute penalty kicks to go from one ahead to two behind!
F.A Cup fourth round action dominates the football tomorrow, with only one selection catching the eye.
ENGLISH F.A CUP SOCCER BOLTON WANDERERS v Sheff Utd 5/6 BETFAIR.
The new man taking over seems to have revitalised Bolton and with their top scorer finding more chances under Owen Coyle, Sheff Utd may be left to concentrate on their playoff push.
After collecting a coupon on the way back from the dole shop, a quick glance in the bus stop,presented a home treble/parlay, which after more consideration, using soccerbase, looked worth taking a chance on.
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE/TWO FOOTBALL TREBLE(parlay) MK DONS+NORWICH+ROTHERHAM general 5/2.
Our ante post A.C.N selection, EGYPT, drew Cameroon in the quarter finals, which considering the way Cameroon struggled to qualify from their group shouldn't pose too many problems, fingers crossed.

ALREADY ADVISED
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS EGYPT 9/1
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER RYAN DAY 25
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DOUBLE(parlay) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS + INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 1.95
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS RAFAEL NADAL 4/1

Follow ilovestevepalmer @rudgey76 on TWITTER for late selections on tomorrows televised F.A Cup action.

2-2......

MK Dons v Southampton could only manage one goal in 90 minutes.
Tottenham lost, despite winning every stat bar goals.
But,
Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers over 2.5 goals came in, and Aston Villa just about shook off their ilovestevepalmer hoodoo.

ALREADY ADVISED.
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS OPEN - RAFAEL NADAL 4/1
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS - EGYPT 9/1
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS + INDIANAPOLIS COLTS CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE 1.95

Another ante post to add to our portfolio today, starting next Monday.
WELSH OPEN SNOOKER RYAN DAY OUTRIGHT currently 25 BETFAIR.
Caught my eye with a devastating performance against Joe Perry at the recent Masters tournament at Wembley, whitewashing his opponent 6-0.
Unfortunately for him, his next round performance against Stephen Maguire, was a shocker and best forgotten about.
He has already talked up his attempts to perform well in front of his home fans on the World Snooker website(http://www.worldsnooker.com/default.htm)
Take a price now before the qualifiers finish and hope for a tidy draw.

Oval ball action tonight comes from Stade Yves Du Manoir, as London Wasps travel over to play Racing Club Metro.
Wasps have already tied up their Challenge Cup group but are looking to carry winning momentum back into their Premiership campaign.
Wasps recently beat Metro's French Top14 rivals Bayonne twice in this competition, with Bayonne then going on to beat Metro in recent weeks.
No huge stakes play but worth a televised interest.
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP RUGBY UNION LONDON WASPS v Racing Club Metro 11/8 currently available BETFAIR/ 11/10 LADBROKES/ 6/5 WILLIAM HILL/ 11/10 BET365.

Plenty to look forward to with the oval ball with the 6 Nations on the horizon and the start of SuperLeague XV not far away.

Our interest in todays Group D fixtures at the A.C.N, is covered by the runners up in that group playing our pre-tournament picks EGYPT in the next round.
Back tomorrow with more picks.

THE MAN......

http://www.racingpost.com/blog/sport/steve-palmer/schwartzel-proves-a-hero-but-sabbatini-yields-zero/672489/

Better than nothing....

Could have been worse yesterday.
Blackpool lost at home to Sheff Wednesday, who have found rapid improvement supposedly under the news guidance of Alan Irvine.
James Blake took U.S Open champion, Del Potro, all the way to 10-8 in the fifth set, so even though a little disappointing to lose out, we got a run.
Not so good was the late TWITTER selection, MARIN CILIC seeded 14th in the tournament, to beat a player ranked 767th in the ATP rankings, in straight sets.
The first set tie break going against us.
On the upside,
OVER 2.5 GOALS MAN CITY v MAN UTD WON.
CARDIFF CITY v Bristol City WON.
Some great footy action tonight, so straight on with who, when and maybe a little bit of why.
The first selection just simply owe me. Just one winning pick from them, just one and I'll leave them alone.
ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI FINAL 2ND LEG ASTON VILLA v Blackburn Rovers 4/5 BETFAIR (7:45p.m k.o BBC1)
Next, this will be the third time I have chosen this pick involving these two teams, so for reason s previously explained,
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL V BOLTON WANDERERS OVER 2.5 GOALS 4/7 BETFAIR (7:45p.m k.o no t.v)
No-one, not even the staunchest of Kop fans, could say they are utterly convinced with what's going on at Anfield at the moment and tonight they entertain the likliest contenders for their place in the top 4.
Tottenham have a squad more than capable of launching a bid for a Champions League place and they beat a Liverpool side full of hope on the first day of the season at White Hart Lane.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR(DRAW NO BET)v Liverpool 6/5 BETFAIR (8:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
One more pick from tonights soccer programme at the Stadium MK.
The Johnstones Paint Trophy is heading towards a climax with the two leg semi finals underway.
Tonights fixture features two of League One's big hitters and also two of the divisions most entertaining sides.
Mk Dons home games this season average 2.9 goals per match.
Southampton away games this season average 2.84 goals per match.
JOHNSTONES PAINT TROPHY SEMI FINAL 1ST LEG MK DONS v SOUTHAMPTON OVER 2.5 GOALS 20/21 BETFAIR (7:00p.m k.o no tv.)
Egypt look to tie up top spot in their African Cup of Nations group this evening, hopefully gaining us a cushty quarter final draw. The 9/1 we took at the start of the tournament has now become 4/1 BETFAIR, 11/4 LADBROKES!
Fast Freddie sent a couple of picks through last night including a nap, unfortunately the meeting where the selections were running ended up abandoned after another heavy dose of snow.
GET ON!!

Beginning to feel like a curse......

This blogspot is now feared.
Not by bookmakers or handicappers unfortunately, but by professional sports people and bodies.
If they appear in CAPITALS, then it would seem in current times, they are doomed to fail.
Robin Soderling, our large priced each way bet for the Aussie tennis, went out in five sets at the first hurdle!!
Ronnie O'Sullivan, led 9-6 in the Masters Snooker final, only to eventually lose 10-9 to a brave Mark Selby who despite getting twitchy towards the end, took on any pot.
And do I need to curse Aston Villa anymore?
I will say that in my humblest of opinions, they lack a player who can win those sorts of games for them. That one individual spark of brilliance. Agbonlahor? Todays Tony Daley. Ashley Young? Too inconsistent. James Milner? Where does he play. Stylian Petrov? ?
The big televised game tonight occurs at Eastlands, with the visitors being their greates and closest rivals, Manchester United.
United have scored 11 goals in their last 5 away games, averaging at 2.2 per game.
City have not failed to score at the City of Manchester stadium this season.
They have won their last 5 home games, scoring 15 goals in the process, averaging 3.
The league encounter at Old Trafford earlier this season ended 4-3.
ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI FINAL MAN CITY V MAN UTD OVER 2.5 GOALS currently 11/10 BETFAIR (8:00p.m k.o BBC1)
Tonights F.A Cup replays include a game we were unlucky with first time round, with a late, late equaliser leaving us cursing not using the draw no bet option.
The home side have won 2 of the last 3 meetings here and I feel they will not need extra time or penalties to settle this tie.
ENGLISH F.A CUP REPLAY CARDIFF v Bristol City EVS general (7:45p.m k.o no t.v)
One of the TWITTER posted selections Saturday were Blackpool at home to QPR, they twice led only to be pegged back each time. The visitors tonight are Sheff Wednesday, who under new management, got off to a winning start, away at recent improvers Barnsley. I'm not of the opinion that Alan Irvine has performed some kind of miracle in the short time he has been there and for me the Tangerines will get back to the home form that has firmly kept them in the top half of The Championship.
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP SOCCER BLACKPOOL v Sheffield Wednesday EVS BETFAIR (7:45p.m k.o no t.v)
Over the weekend 2 of our 3 recommended NFL bets copped but ante post selections, Dallas Cowboys made no further progress, leaving a likely New Orleans Indianapolis Superbowl. I'm already thinking over on the points.
Backing those two to win their respective championship games in a double currently pays just shy of even money.
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME DOUBLE(parlay) NEW ORLEANS SAINTS + INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (SUN 24TH JAN 8:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
One tennis match with a possible upset that caught my eye was the clash between James Blake and current U.S Champion Juan Martin Del Potro.
There may be some value if the current World number 5 turns up not fully prepared,
minimum stakes recommended.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS MENS 2ND ROUND JAMES BLAKE v J.M Del Potro 4/1 general.
Remember to stay tuned to any last minute picks on TWITTER @rudgey76.

Bit of a mixed one really......

Got our money back with Stoke's late leveller.
Lost our treble due to one of those freakishly exceptional goalkeeping performances at Whit Hart Lane.
Neither of our TWITTER picks won.
Our value shot at the Cardinals winning, didn't.
On the plus side,
Ronnie O'Sullivan made it to the Masters snooker final.
Mark Selby won the other semi final.
The Indianapolis Colts won by 17 points, thus clearing our handicap line,
ans Egypt won their second group game at the African Cup of Nations, guaranteeing a quarter final place.
Todays Premier League games are,
Aston Villa v West Ham Utd
Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal.
Quick picks on these two televised encounters, West Ham are on a slippery slope towards relegation, no away win in their last 6 games and only 3 goals in their last 7.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER ASTON VILLA v West Ham Utd 4/7 BETFAIR (1:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
The game at the Reebok Stadium should, on recent form go to the away side but with new manager and returning hero, Owen Coyle taking charge for the first time, plus Bolton's 3 home wins against Arsenal in the Londoners last 6 visits, for me a safer bet is GOALS.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER BOLTON WANDERERS V ARSENAL OVER 2.5 GOALS 8/11 BETFAIR (4:00p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
Open tennis returns for the year tonight with the commencement of the Australian major.
Two antepost recommendations for this one, ilovestevepalmer's resident tennis snout has given us her idea of the final.
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS OPEN MEN'S OUTRIGHT RAFAEL NADAL 7/2 LADBROKES
AUSTRALIAN TENNIS OPEN MEN'S OUTRIGHT ROBIN SODERLING 33/1 LADBROKES
Both backable e/w, incurring a slight loss on Nadal but I think guaranteeing a run into the second week at least with both of these and with them featuring in seperate halves of the draw a possible double payout could be on the card.
The two remaining playoff games this weekend in the NFL include our ante post pick for the Superbowl, Dallas Cowboys taking on the Minnesota Vikings in the earlier kick off.
The later game, New York Jets v San Diego, has the Chargers as the favourites but I'm going to take NY with the points and hope they stay close.
NFL PLAYOFFS NEW YORK JETS +7.5 v San Diego Chargers 20/21 BETFAIR (9:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
On top of all that, hopefully the "Rocket" will do the bizzo against the "Jester from Leicester," Mark Selby in our ante post snooker climax.
We took 6/4, on BETFAIR, he is trading at 1/2 to win this match.
Keep up with late picks from ilovestevepalmer @rudgey76 on TWITTER.
Also check out @Soccer_Bet for European match bets,
@TmsWinners for your NBA + NFL picks, he gave out for FREE Under on the points total between Colts and Ravens which collected easily, top punting fella!
C'MON!!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water!

Ghana lost 3-1 to 10 men.
Ryan Day had a live tv meltdown.
Mark Allen found enough improvement to bugger every bet up.
And rugby? Stick to what you know, which feels like just about f#*k all at the moment.
Full fixture list in the football this weekend, aside from a couple of waterlogged pitches.
Early kickoff lunchtime at Stoke's Brittania Stadium, where they entertain the currently atrocious Liverpool.
Liverpool have been exceptionally poor in recent performances with Gerrard, Torres and Benayoun on the pitch, so to go to one of the toughest teams in the Premiership without them and expect much is fantasy.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER STOKE(DRAW NO BET) v Liverpool 13/8 BETFAIR (12:45p.m k.o SKY SPORTS1)
A Premier League treble, including a couple of real short ones on Saturdays card, hopefully giving us some interest in the early Premier kickoff Sunday.
TOTTENHAM v Hull City
MANCHESTER UTD v Burnley
ASTON VILLA v West Ham Utd
Spurs can't stop scoring, Man U looked irresistible against Wigan last time out and Villa, despite my recent upsets with them, have a good record against lower table sides.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER TREBLE(parlay)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR/MANCHESTER UNITED/ASTON VILLA 6/5
The first semi final in the London Masters Snooker this afternoon features our ante post 6/4 selection, RONNIE O'SULLIVAN, who is now trading as short as 4/5.
He plays Mark Williams, who despite his current renaissance, should not pose too many problems to our boy.
The other semi features Mark Selby, who let us down by one frame in our pick yesterday, against provisional world number 2, Stephen "ONFIRE" Maguire.
It would be reasonable to expect improvement from both of these players on their quarter final performances and as a losing finalist and winner in the past two years, MARK SELBY shall carry our confidence.
LONDON MASTERS SNOOKER SEMI FINAL MARK SELBY v Stephen Maguire (7:00p.m break BRITISH EUROSPORT)
Fast Freddie has been on the text last night, although not sending a nap, he quietly fancies Nicky Henderson's charge in the Lanzarote hurdle at Kempton this afternoon.
TIMEFORM give it a five star chance in their BETFAIR preview.
14:45 KEMPTON PARK WILLIAMHILL.COM LANZAROTE HURDLE DUC DE REGNIERE (currently 9.6 BETFAIR)
Down to the last four in this years Superbowl quest and our ante post 7/1 picks, DALLAS COWBOYS, play the Minnesota Vikings tomorrow. Due to them not playing in the first week of the season, they are still available at 8 on BETFAIR, but should they win tomorrow and go on to the NFC Championship game, that will quickly disappear.
Tonights games feature the Arizona Cardinals @ New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts. Two quick selections without much reasoning and only to be taken at minimum stakes.
NFL PLAYOFFS ARIZONA CARDINALS v New Orleans Saints 11/4 (9:30p.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
NFL PLAYOFFS INDIANAPOLIS COLTS -6.5 v Baltimore Ravens EVS (1:15a.m k.o SKY SPORTS)
Check out our U.S Sports gurus selections on TWITTER @DavisDailyPicks and @TmsWinners
They do give out free plays but there may not be any for the NFL this weekend.
Remember to follow any other recommendations @rudgey76 on TWITTER.
C'MON!!!

"...Don't stop, believin'..."

Mark Williams beat Shaun Murphy.
Ronnie O'Sullivan made it to the semi finals.
Aston Villa won 1-0.
Two winners and an ante post improver yesterday, only the minmum stake African Nations Cup double letting us down.
Only one game in that competition today, featuring lots of Premier League talent.
Ghana v Ivory Coast.
Neither side have made great starts to the tournament and with our poor performance with picks in Angola so far and the volatile nature of the tournament up to now, I'm recommending a minimum stake win on the side with a 1-0 head to head lead.
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS GHANA v Ivory Coast general 3/1 (6:30p.m k.o BRITISH EUROSPORT)
With a full weekend of European Rugby Union, including both Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup matches, commencing last night, I have given tonights fixtures a quick glance and may have found a decent bet.
Premiership side, Newcastle Falcons travel to France to play Top14 bottom side, Albi.
The home fixture for Newcastle finished with a resounding 43-5 victory and with an opportunity to extend their 5 point lead at the top of their group, Newcastle look strong favourites to take maximum points.
At 1/4 we have no chance of winning enough but a manageable handicap should relinquish some profit.
EURO CHALLENGE CUP RUGBY UNION NEWCASTLE FALCONS -9.5 v Albi (7:00p.m k.o non-televised)
On to the magic of the green baize!
We're trying to protect a perfect record for this tournament and with our ante post pick (RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 6/4 documented post 12/01/10) now trading at a little shorter than even money, this weeks snooker has been a real pick me up for this spot.
Todays last two quarter finals are,
Stephen Maguire v Ryan Day
Mark Selby v Mark Allen
First up, the head to head between Maguire and Day is 2-0 to the Scotsman, but both victories have been by just one frame and with Day still improving I'm siding with the Welsh again!
LONDON MASTERS SNOOKER Q-F RYAN DAY +1.5 FRAMES V Stephen Maguire 5/6 general (1:30p.m break BRITISH EUROSPORT)
Tonights match features the player to knock the world number 1 out of this competition and a world championship quarter finalist.
Mark Allen, although beating John Higgins fairly comfortably, was scratchy with his break building and Higgins was nowhere near his best.
Selby holds a 3-0 record over Allen, so the pick will be going with the "Jester from Leicester."
LONDON MASTERS SNOOKER Q-F MARK SELBY -1.5 FRAMES v Mark Allen 10/11 general (7:00p.m break BRITISH EUROSPORT)
Plenty to look at for this weekend with Premier League back in full swing, Heineken Cup Rugby UNion, NFL Playooffs, Masters Snooker semi finals and an ante post pick for the Australian Open.
C'MON!!!

It's a marathon not a sprint...

Slowly and steadily we're starting to find some new year form.
Two TWITTER posted snooker selections (@rudgey76) collected for us yesterday, winning us around 6 unit stakes.
The first, Mark Allen to beat world number 1, John Higgins, was documented in yesterdays post. Once that collected we played up at just over even money on Welshman Ryan Day -1.5 frames against Joe "The Gentleman" Perry, who graciously lost by 6-0, giving us the easiest of collections.
Todays first set of Quarter Finals includes our ante post pick for the tourney, RONNIE O'SULLIVAN. We took 6/4 before his first round match and with the world champion out of the picture, the "Rocket" is now trading at 5/4 (almost feels like a victory in itself.)
His opponent today is Peter Ebdon, the most boring player alive today, Ronnie's record against him is 5-2 and I can't see today holding any fears for our selection.
The other Quarter Final today sees another Welshman, Mark Williams, play one time world champion Shaun Murphy. Murphy reached the final of last years Premier League beating our outright selection quite easily, but Williams has been showing a return to form lately, after a rather lengthy spell of indifference.
Tough one to call but we'll stick our neck out.
LONDON MASTERS SNOOKER Q-F MARK WILLIAMS +2.5 v Shaun Murphy (7:00p.m break) 8/11 BETFAIR.
Late last night a TWITTER selection was posted, recommending England to win the fourth test against South Africa.
That has got off to a disasterous start with four of Englands wickets falling for less than forty runs, fingers crossed for improvement.
Yesterdays football picks were so-so results wise.
The African Cup of Nations is becoming a bit of a minefield, with suprises and shocks a plenty.
Our short priced favourites suffered a loss and a draw yesterday.
Only because we like to have an interest in televised action, minimum stake recommended.
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS THURSDAY 14TH JAN GAMES BOTH TO FEATURE OVER 2.5 GOALS DOUBLE (parlay) 7/2 BETFAIR (both games live on EUROSPORT 4:00p.m k.o)
Finally tonights League Cup encounter between Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa.
With this tie being settled over 2 legs, Aston Villa may not be that ambitious in their tactics and with the pace they have out wide and up front, they could easily catch Blackburn on the counter late in the game, with Rovers not being the most prolific Premier League side, I'm leaning towards a low scoring affair with the second leg being the decider.
ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP SOCCER BLACKBURN ROVERS V ASTON VILLA UNDER 2.5 GOALS 4/5 BETFAIR (8:00P.M K.O SKY SPORTS)
N.B Found a great tipster on TWITTER with a strong 2010 S.R (27-8), they post free plays @Soccer_Bet on TWITTER and have members only picks available at soccer_bet@live.nl
C'MON!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!!

A winner at last!
Under 2.5 goals in the Birmingham City v Notts Forest match wasn't the biggest price winner, but little apples taste the sweetest.
I also wish I had put forward draw no bet for the Cardiff tip, meaning the injury time equaliser wouldn't have been such a bitter pill, for both Dave Jones and I to swallow.
Prior to the match starting I sent out a snooker tip on TWITTER, @rudgey76.
Young Northern Irishman MARK ALLEN hasn't been in great form recently, but as his run to last years world championship semi finals shows, he is able to get himself up for the big ocassion.
I wouldn't call it a mortgage job, just a bit of a value interest.
Now if you do happen to have a mortgage to gamble, the two African Cup of Nations games today, CAMEROON v Gabon and Zambia v TUNISIA, should go with the highlighted favourites.
At least 30 places seperate both TUNISIA and CAMEROON from todays opponents in the FIFA World rankings, leading, in my opinion to comfortable victories.
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS SOCCER CAMEROON v Gabon (4:00p.m k.o)
AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS SOCCER TUNISIA v Zambia (6:30p.m k.o)
WIN DOUBLE general 2/1.
Tonight sees two more F.A CUP replays, Liverpool v Reading and Newcastle v Plymouth.
At 1/5 or shorter, a Liverpool win holds no value whatsoever, but with FERNANDO TORRES, working his way back to full match fitness and having scored a late and important winner against Aston Villa in the league recently, the odds on quotes for him scoring at anytime (provided he plays,) seem like banker material.
ENGLISH F.A CUP 3RD RND REPLAY FERNANDO TORRES TO SCORE ANYTIME v Reading (7:45p.m k.o ITV1) 8/11 BETFAIR.
In the other non-televised replay Newcastle, Championship leaders take on a Plymouth side dwelling at the opposite end of the table.
Newcastle have won four of the last 6 home meetings with Plymouth and are still unbeaten at St. James's Park in their league campaign.
3 of the last 4 home wins for Newcastle have seen the Magpies going in at the interval in front and with 4/11 about a 90 minute victory too skinny for me, the 5/4 available on BETFAIR about NEWCASTLE UTD winning halftime and fulltime seems reasonably fair.
ENGLISH F.A CUP 3RD RND REPLAY NEWCASTLE UTD HT/FT v Plymouth (7:45p.m k.o)
Not too much news regarding Englands final test in South Africa yet but hopefully we'll have a selection before they get underway.
Anything too late or early for ilovestevepalmer gets posted on TWITTER @rudgey76.
Just a late word regarding Fast Freddie. His naps have dried up due to the big freeze and all the resulting National Hunt abandonments, hopefully he'll be back with something for the weekend, (Super Furry Animals 3.46sec.)
C'MON!!!!

....Togolese coach driver......

Things are not going well for you iF you are currently paying anY attention to this post or @rudgey76 on TWITTER.
At the moment I feel like I could have given The Togolese coach driver a tip for a shortcut and sent them all over a cliff edge.
The African Cup of Nations has now begun and ante post favorites, Cote d'Ivoire, stuttered their way to a 0-0 draw in their opening fixture, ilovestevepalmers ante post picks, EGYPT, commence their defence as title holders tonight in a trappy little fixture against one of the African heavyweights, Nigeria. Hopefully avoiding defeat at this early stage of the competition against title rivals will be a solid enough start to their campaign, anything more than a draw would be a bonus me thinks.
Other football taking place tonight include, rearranged third round F.A Cup ties and replays.
The only fixture that takes my eye value wise is Bristol City's home tie against 2008 finalists CARDIFF.
Cardiff haven't beaten Bristol City since 1969 but Bristol have been less than impressive in recent home games against lesser opposition than fourth placed Cardiff.
Recent seasons haven't suggested that the F.A Cup is a competition that is too kind to Bristol City, so for me the value is Cardiff.
ENGLISH F.A CUP 3RD RND CARDIFF v Bristol City 9/5 LADBROKES (7:45p.m k.o S4C)
Another televised tie, this one a replay, features two of the stingiest defences in the top two divisions with the original tie resulting in a 0-0 draw and I cannot see this game being flush with goals either.
ENGLISH F.A CUP 3RD RND REPLAY BIRMINGHAM CITY V NOTTINGHAM FOREST UNDER 2.5 GOALS (7:45P.M K.O ITV4)
The London Masters snooker tournament got underway Sunday with Ronnie O'Sullivan heading the market, at what is considered his home tournament. I'd sooner watch Ronnie compile a quickfire 147 than watch Phil Taylor throw a nine darter but then darts has never really been a sport.
Ronnie's opening fixture against Neil Robertson (Australia) saw the multiple world champion go 3-0 down, I reckon he was a cracking price in running for both match and tournament, but O'Sullivan won 6 of the next 7 frames to go through 6-4.
A major threat to the Rocket notching another Masters victory will of course be world number 1 John Higgins, but the dour Scot is anything but a crowd pleaser and I would enjoy nothing more than to see Ronnie crowned Wembley King once more after victory over the Wishaw Wizard, apart from maybe Hazel Irvine slipping on some kind of spillage and doing herself a disservice.
LONDON MASTERS SNOOKER RONNIE O'SULLIVAN OUTRIGHT 6/4 BETFAIR (price correct at time of press)
The NFL playoffs caused some considerable bloodshed to both U.S Sports guys and TmsWinners rants on TWITTER were not for the faint hearted.
Remember to check both these guys on TWITTER TmsWinners & DavisDailyPicks.
With only 8 teams left in it to win it, the side improving best and last in my opinion are the DALLAS COWBOYS and shall be carrying this posts hopes to the finish of the post season.
2010 SUPERBOWL WINNERS DALLAS COWBOYS 8.4 ON BETFAIR.
C'MON!!!

My winter wonderland hopes are walloped by weirdo Wizard from Oz

http://www.racingpost.com/blog/sport/steve-palmer/my-winter-wonderland-hopes-are-walloped-by-weirdo-wizard-from-oz/670423/

Cheese and jalapeno toasties....

Food of champions! Those and stuffed crust pizzas.
Lots to mention, little time before it starts.
Hard luck to Great Britain in the Hopman Cup down under, the sweaty sock had carried Laura Robson all the way to the final and when she finally wins a singles match, Murray throws in his first stinker of the week, losing 2-1 to Spain.
When did Spain get so good at sports?
Sticking to tennis for a mo, live televised final of the Qatar open this afternoon, live on BRITISH EUROSPORT from 3:30, Daveydenko beat Federer in the semi finals, while Rafa Nadal had a fairly easy ride through to this stage, but doing so in a commanding style. The current head to head score between the players stands at 4-4 with Daveydenko winning the last meeting at the O2 at the Tour Finals. Nadal was disappointingly poor all week, but ended the year winning the Davis Cup, giving himself a nice confidence boost coming into the new season.
QATAR OPEN FINAL RAFAEL NADAL v Nikolay Daveydenko general 8/11 (3:30p.m k.o)
This weekends football programme has been decimated by the freezing temperatures all over Britain the last few days, which only leaves a handful of fixtures being played, fortunately they are all easy winners and no shocks are expected from me.
I'm putting the two Premier fixtures in a DOUBLE and a FOURFOLD with two league one sides expected to win cosily.
The premier double is 1-1 for me in recent weeks, with the loss coming in that dodgy 3rd round of the F.A Cup.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER ARSENAL v Everton (3:00 p.m k.0)
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER MANCHESTER UNITED v Birmingham City (3:00 p.m k.o)
The parlay returns around 11/10 on BETFAIR.
Stick these two in a further rollup (parlay) with,
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE SOCCER LEEDS UNITED v Wycombe Wanderers (3:00 p.m k.o)
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE SOCCER NORWICH CITY v Exeter City (3:00 p.m k.o)
All four to win pays around 5/2 on BETFAIR and looks well worth following.
Global soccer was dismayed at the involvement of the TOGO national squad being involved in a terror attack en route to the AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS, which has seen them withdraw their team from the competition, commencing this Sunday.
This will offer plenty of afternoon sunshine viewing, while we're all getting chillblanes.
Before the withdrawal of togo and the suspension of the betting Ivory Coast were ante-post favourites for the tournament at 5/2. With four of the top five in the betting going to the World Cup later in the year, it may be worth backing EGYPT to compensate themselves for missing out on a trip to South Africa in June. The Egyptians have won the most Cup of Nations with six victories including the last 2 renewals.
ANTE-POST AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS 2010 EGYPT TO WIN OUTRIGHT 9/1 BETFAIR (SUN 10TH JAN)
Oval ball action, live on SKY SPORTS this afternoon comes from our frozen neck of the woods and just for something to watch
GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP LONDON WASPS +7.5 v Leicster Tigers (3:15 p.m k.o)
C'MON!!!

THE MAN......

http://www.racingpost.com/blog/sport/steve-palmer/it-s-time-to-attack-the-bookmakers-with-my-beaton-like-power/668995/

All gone quiet over here...

A real poor start to 2010 for this blog.
In a previous post I had commented almost to myself, cup competitions, especially our glorious F.A Cup should be left alone as betting options until at least the quarter final stages.
But after my near, yet so far, 8 team attempt at bashing BETFAIR, and the subsequent failings of a Manchester United side, I have looked to consolidate for a few days.
Basically I'm broke till I can talk 'er indoors into slipping a little something in my account.
As it stands I've not really missed much in the way of betting, I would have backed Stoke against Fulham but never really looked into hard enough, apart from that two CARLING Cup ties have been postponed, due to what can only be described as the end of Britain AS WE KNOW IT!!!!
There must have been two inches of snow at my doorstep this morning, "sorry luv, all activity today shall be confined to watching England scramble around trying to save the 3rd test."
After Jonathan Trott let me down, rather unluckily in my opinion, my interest in this test wained slightly, but with seven wickets in hand, 90 overs to bowl and no chance of getting anywhere tomorrow, my day is set fair, if only I could get my hands on a crate of lager!
There is a Premier League fixture tonight, but wether it will stand the constant barrage of God's dandruff, has yet to be seen, chances are, with it being in London, Southerners might put it off till April.
There is an intriguing set of stats for this game should it go ahead.
Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers
15 of Arsenal's 19 games this season (78.9%) have gone over 2.5 goals
12 out of Bolton's 18 games this season (66.6%) have gone over 2.5 goals this season.
88.8% of Arsenal's home games have gone over 2.5 goals this season.
62.5% of Bolton's away games have gone over 2.5 goals this season.
And on SKY SPORTS NEWS, as I type this the game is being announced as postponed, till their shandies won't get wet!
But you got the drift of what I was getting at, when the game does finally happen (once Arsenal and Bolton are out of the F.A Cup) get on.
ARSENAL V BOLTON WANDERERS OVER 2.5 GOALS.
This leaves us with only a Copa Del Rey game from Spain this evening.
Valencia v Deportivo.
To be honest I know naff all about this game, I won't be watching it, I won't be betting in it, so if I put a pick up, make sure you follow because it is bound to kop!
COPA DEL REY SPANISH CUP VALENCIA V DEPORTIVO UNDER 2.5 GOALS (SKY SPORTS 7p.m)
Laters.

JIM DIAMOND...

Not a huge pop star but famous for the current ilovestevepalmer anthem,
"I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER." ayayayayayayayay should have known better, available on SPOTIFY.
8, yes, eight team accumulators, are the stuff of nightmares, especially when 7 have won and you're waiting on a hugely unreliable spanish waiters motivational skills.
The list of clubs on the wrong side of me is increasing at a rate quicker than Usain Bolt on whizz!
And surely Aston Villa are doing it on purpose?
Although rather foolishly against my own advice from a previous post, I recommended avoiding them against top 6 sides. Their next two league fixtures are against sides confined to mid-lower table struggles, maybe follow at value prices, they definitely owe me.
The TWITTER posted treble failed to yield any returns also.
West Brom won but Newcastle and Birmingham both drew.
Everything has gone on early today, hopefully yielding a return in time for a little go on any late game NFL picks supplied by either TmsWinners or DavisDailyPicks.
TmsWinners has been struggling for a bit of form lately and DavisDailyPicks is attempting to setup a picks for pay scheme but he does post freebies on FACEBOOK and his email address on TWITTER.
As reported earlier in the week, after losing out miserably with two Aston Villa bets , I turned to a short price double on a couple of big guns to refund my BETFAIR account, so this Sunday I shall turn to them for the same help.
ENGLISH F.A CUP SOCCER MANCHESTER UNITED v Leeds United
ENGLISH F.A CUP SOCCER ARSENAL v West Ham United WIN DOUBLE (PARLAY)
Staying with the F.A Cup, I've been a fan of Q.P.R this season and the way they have attacked sides and the fact they have, in my mind, a half decent Premier League manager now at the helm, these, coupled with my dislike of Sheffield United's direct style of play and the near 3/1 available on BETFAIR led me to drop all that was left in hope of a minor upset.
ENGLISH F.A CUP SOCCER Q.P.R v Sheffield United.
Also, as a bit of a step into the more sophisticated side of sport, I woke up thinking of England's 3rd batsman JONATHAN TROTT top scoring in England's first innings against S.Africa, why that thought was there as I woke up had absolutely nothing to do with the morning glory, that's just natural.
ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA 3RD TEST CRICKET
JONATHAN TROTT TO BE ENGLAND 1ST INNINGS TOP RUNSCORER.
Unfortunately, Andrew Strauss, England captain, won the toss and decided to bat, so barring a mighty fine display from Jimmy Anderson, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions, we may have to wait some time to get into that market!
Hang on, four balls in and Jimmy A has struck, S.A 1-1 and Swann has just dropped a dolly off the seventh ball of the match! Could be playing today at this rate....
Nothing from Fast Freddie yet, anything comes through I'll post on TWITTER @rudgey76.
C'MON!!!