Chelsea vs Newcastle – Punters predict Chelsea will be feeling the blues!
Soccer Predictions
Soccer predictions, free picks and odds from the team of expert sports handicappers from WagerTalk.com covering the Premier League, Bundesliga, Italian Serie A , Portuguese Liga, French Ligue 1 , Dutch, Eredivisie, Argentine League, Brazilian Serie A and Major League (MLS).
FA Cup – West Ham vs Liverpool – Betting suggests Liverpool will have the last laugh over the Hammers!
West Ham are yet to beat Liverpool in seven FA Cup meetings (D3 L4), with the most recent encounter prior to the 0-0 draw at Anfield coming in the 2006 final, when the Reds won on penalties after a 3-3 draw. However, the Hammers have won three of their last five meetings with Liverpool, including two league victories this season – a 3-0 win at Anfield back in August and a 2-0 victory at home in January.
Bournemouth vs Arsenal – Gunners to start firing again and blow away the Cherries!
This will be only the third competitive game between the sides, and the first in Bournemouth. Arsenal have won both of the previous encounters without conceding a goal – 3-0 in a League Cup game in 1987 and 2-0 when the sides met at the Emirates Stadium in December.
The Cherries have claimed three top-flight home wins this term – only Aston Villa, with one, have a lower tally. They have dropped 14 points from winning positions, more than any other top-flight team. Former Arsenal youth protégé Benik Afobe has scored in each of Bournemouth’s last three Premier League games.
Arsenal have failed to score in three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since a run of four matches without a goal between January and February 2009. The Gunners have won just one of their last six top-flight away games (D3, L2), with their only victory coming at Aston Villa on 13 December. Arsenal have dropped seven points from winning positions away from home, more than any other team.
Spread:
Bournemouth (+0.5) 45.2%
Arsenal (-0.5) 54.8%
ML:
Bournemouth 10.2%
Draw 15.5%
Arsenal 74.3%
Total (2.5):
Over 72.6%
Under 27.4%
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Read moreBournemouth vs Arsenal – Gunners to start firing again and blow away the Cherries!
Premier League Preview: Southampton vs West Ham
The last three meetings at Southampton have ended all square – including goalless draws in the last two. West Ham have never won a game at St Mary’s Stadium (D4, L2), scoring just two goals. Their last win away to Southampton was a 3-2 victory at The Dell in November 2000, which was also the last season they did the league double over Saints.
Premier League Betting Action: Arsenal vs Southampton
Arsenal are unbeaten in 20 league matches at home to Southampton since a 1-0 defeat in November 1987 (W15, D5). However, Ronald Koeman and Southampton did win 2-1 at the Emirates in the League Cup last season. Southampton could register three successive league wins against Arsenal for the first time since 1968.
Read morePremier League Betting Action: Arsenal vs Southampton
FA Cup Fourth Round Action: Liverpool vs West Ham
Liverpool have never lost in six previous FA Cup meetings with the Hammers (W4 D2), most recently in the 2006 final, when the Reds won on penalties after a 3-3 draw. However, West Ham have won three of their last four meetings with Liverpool, including two league victories this season – a 3-0 win at Anfield back in August and a 2-0 victory at home in January.
Football League Cup Semi-Final, Game 2: Manchester City vs Everton
Despite their differing league fortunes, with Man City on the coattails of surprise leaders Leicester and Everton down in 12th after consistently underperforming, the sharp money has been coming in for the Toffees. Everton have shortened into a 5.40 low from an opening best price of 6.98, whilst the Citizens can now be backed at a 1.61 high after opening at a lowest price 1.48.
Manchester City vs Everton
Football League Cup Semi-final, Game 2
Today, 2:45 PM
City of Manchester Stadium
Read moreFootball League Cup Semi-Final, Game 2: Manchester City vs Everton
UEFA Champions League Final Day Scenarios
As we get into the final match days of group stage play in UEFA Champions League and we’ll take a look at some of the scenerio’s that will come into play in each group that may have implications to consider when assessing where to put your wagering dollars to work.
Champions League
During group stage play the top 2 finishing teams in group stage play will advance to the round of 16 knockout stage where a group winner will play a team that finished 2nd in their group. Winning your group becomes that much more important as most teams would rather avoid meeting perennial group winners such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich in a two leg (game) match up. With that in mind we’ll look at some interesting matchups on the final match day of group play.
Group A
Madrid (13 pts) have secured 1st. PSG (10 pts) have secured 2nd. Both squads finish group stage play on home soil but before wagering on these games that should be automatic, you’ll have to look at what line ups they’ll put on the field and what you’ll have to lay (odds wise) when backing the home side. i.e. Madrid would lay over Shakhtar on any given day but the possibility of having to lay 2 goals with a team that could sit 6-7 of it’s regulars wouldn’t be that appealing. The 3rd and 4th place teams in Group a both have 3 points so it’s likely that earning a draw and 1 point may get either team the 3rd spot in the standings and a place in Europa League play. (EVERY 3RD PLACE GROUP FINISHER ADVANCES TO THE EUROPA LEAGUE COMPETITION)
Group B
We enter the final match day with 3 of the 4 teams with a chance of advancing to the round of 16. Wolfsburg (9 pts) entertain Man United (8 pts) and the match winner also wins the group, a draw between these two would open the door for PSV (7 pts) with a win at home vs CSKA Moscow to move into a qualifying spot and relegate Man United to third spot and out of Champions League play. Therefore with an eye on the PSV match Man United will have to play win while Wolfsburg are assured of advancing with a win or tie.
Group C
Athletic Madrid (10 Pts) travel to Benfica (10 Pts) with first place on the line. Both teams have qualified for the round of 16 but the group winner will avoid possible matchups with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, so this game becomes a must win for Atl Madrid as a draw would be enough for Benfica
to retain top spot based on the head to head results of these two. The other match up has Galatasaray at home needing only a tie to take 3rd spot and move onto Europa League play.
Group D
Juventus and Man City have advanced to the knockout stage but both squads will scoreboard watch as a Juventus loss coupled with a City win would give City the top spot in the group. A Juventus win or draw is enough to finish first so you’ll likely see a full strength Juventus squad on the field in Sevilla.
Group E
Barcelona have secured top spot and with a meaningless game away from home versus Bayer Leverkusen it’s best to check the line ups as Barca may rest the trio of Messi, Neymar and Suarez or a mixture of the 3. With 2nd spot up for grabs for the remaining three squads it’ll be scoreboard watching time for all three. Bate can only advance by beating Roma in Rome and hoping Leverkusen lose to Barcelona. Roma advances with a win or with a draw and Leverkusen draw/loss and finally Leverkusen advance with a Win and Roma draw/loss.
Group F
Bayern Munich have secured top spot and the second spot will be decided in the match up between Olympiakos and visitors Arsenal. Arsenal will need to win away vs Olympiakos and win by 2 goals or more. Any other scoreline and Olympiakos secure 2nd spot.
Group G
This group has some interesting final match day scenarios. Chelsea will host Porto and although both teams have 10 pts the game is likely a must win for Porto should Dynamo win their final match up against Maccabi. Chelsea will finish top spot with a win but even a draw gets them through to the next. Should Dynamo win and Chelsea/Porto draw, Dynamo wins the group and Chelsea are 2nd. Expect all squads field full rosters.
Group H
Zenit have secured top spot and travel to Belgium to face Gent in a game that Gent likely will need to win to hold onto 2nd spot and advance to the round of 16. With Valencia (3rd place currently) at home and facing a eliminated Lyon squad it’s likely that Valencia comes away with the full 3 points forcing
Gent to win their match. Again it’ll be important to see what type of line up Zenit fields as the game has little importance and likely a good spot to rest players for domestic league matches.