Saturday’s british betting preview

Saturday 17^th January

English Premiership

Blackburn Rovers v Newcastle United

Blackburn find themselves at the wrong end of the Premiership and need points desperately. Newcastle seemed to be getting their act together towards the end of last year with victories over Aston Villa and Spurs. Since their victory over Spurs however, they have failed to win any of their following 5 matches, losing 3 of these. One of the key factors of their recent poor run is the absence of key players such as Martins, Beye, Ameobi and Taylor who were all excellent in their decent run during November and December. It is expected that only Steven Taylor has a chance of returning tomorrow which means manager Joe Kinnear goes to Lancashire with another depleted squad.

Rovers are undefeated in the 4 matches that new manager, Sam Allardyce, has presided over. Two of these have resulted in comfortable wins over Stoke and Blyth Spartans in the FA cup. The other two games were games which they should have won. They had several good chances away to Sunderland and should have taken at least one of them, whilst they were cruising at 2-0 up at home to Man City before self-destructing and conceding two goals in the last couple of minutes.

Much talked about striker Roque Santa Cruz returns to the squad for the first time under Allardyce’s reign as does influential midfielder, David Dunn. As I have mentioned already, Newcastle will be without a whole host of players. Apart from those already listed, Geremi, Jose Enrique, Alan Smith and Mark Viduka.

As well as needing the points to get out of the relegation zone, ‘Fat Sam’ will be keen to get one over his former club. It is clear he is still bitter about his hasty departure last season and his relationship with Magpies owner, Mike Ashley, was never the best to begin with so we can safely assume that he does not think a great deal of his former boss.

The key to this game will be how well Newcastle’s defence plays against a talented array of Blackburn strikers. Cruz, Benny McCarthy, Jason Roberts and Matty Derbyshire all have claims of starting tomorrow afternoon. Whoever plays, they will certainly test a leaky Newcastle defence.

Sam Allardyce knows they have to pick up wins soon, especially against sides in and around them. With the two sides experiencing differing injury lists, I feel the home side will just edge a tense 90 minutes.

My selection: Blackburn to beat Newcastle.

The best price available for a Blackburn win is 11/10 available with several bookmakers including William Hill

English Championship

Sheffield Wednesday v Charlton Athletic

I went against Wednesday last week but I am going to side with them this weekend. A lot can change in football in seven days and that has certainly been the case for the home side. A new chairman, the return of a fans favourite, ticket prices slashed, a couple of new players and a couple of players back from injury and things are all rosy in the Owl’s garden again.

Charlton won their first match in an age in their FA cup replay midweek against an equally hapless Norwich side. They have, by all accounts, been playing some good stuff recently without being able to put the ball in the back of the net. It’s a strange on as Andy Gray is a good striker at this level and has a proven track record.

Recent recruit Tom Soares will bolster their midfield and give them a bit of steel in the middle of the park. Their problems, however, lie at the back. They have the 2^nd worst defensive record in the league having conceded 47, 20 of these coming on their travels. Charlton have only won once away from home all season losing 9, including their last 3.

Wednesday have a decent enough home record winning 7, drawing 4 and losing only two games. They will be cheered on by a bumper home crowd and manager Brian Laws has stated that there is a feel good factor about the club again.

My selection: Sheffield Wednesday to beat Charlton

The best price available for a Sheffield Wednesday is 5/6 with several bookmakers including betfred

Scottish Premier League

Hamilton v Inverness Caley Thistle

This is the proverbial relegation 6 pointer in tomorrow’s SPL match at New Douglas Park. The visitors have been on a treacherous run of late, losing their last 6 league matches. They gained their first win in 7, in all competitions, last weekend against 1^st division side, and poor travelers, Partick Thistle.

Hamilton have been relatively impressive in their debut season in the SPL. They managed to pick up a couple of early wins which set them on their way and after a sticky few months, seem to be returning to their early season form. They have picked up maximum points from their last 3 home fixtures with victories over Aberdeen, Motherwell and Kilmarnock. What is even more remarkable is the fact they did not concede in any of these matches, racking up 5 goals at the other end.

Star striker and top scorer, Richard Offiong, will miss tomorrows match due to suspension. They will miss his work-rate, running and goal threat, but manager Billy Reid has recently acquired Paul McGowan from league leaders Celtic, on loan. The young lad has been champing at the bit for first team football and will be looking to prove himself if he gets the nod tomorrow.

ICT fans have been unhappy to the say the least with manager Craig Brewster and his tactics this season. They have vented their frustration at several matches and the highland club is not a happy place to be at the moment. They themselves have brought in a couple of reinforcements with one of them, Felipe Morais, scoring twice on his debut. Having seen a fair bit of him during his time at Hibs, he is a fair weather player. When things are going his way he’s a decent player, when defenders get in his face and things start to go wrong, he is worse than a man down.

Hamilton have several exciting youngsters who have been thriving on their return to Scotland’s top flight. McCarthy and MacArthur have been nothing short of excellent this season and will be looking to help continue their sides recent good form at NDP to increase the gap between themselves and the bottom club.

My selection: Hamilton to beat Inverness Caley Thistle

The best price available for a Hamilton win is 6/5 available with a couple of bookmakers including bet365