LAST Saturday I advised punters to back the Premier League favourites and with all of them winning bookies took a tanking.
Tens of millions were paid out and this is because loads of punters back teams blindly – they pick out the short-priced sides on the assumption traders are correct.
Sometimes that's a policy that works but of course we all know the favourites are there to be shot down and there's more satisfaction finding value winners are bigger prices – especially if you're not playing for high stakes.
For those who like the former type of betting this weekend doesn't look good with no Premier League matches and a much reduced Football League card as they make way for the next round of the FA Cup.
Just about all that matters looking at these cup ties is team news – and of course punters aren't helped by the window being open. Players will leave, players will arrive – and some of the new signings will be ineligible having already competed in the tournament for another club. There is the added complication of the African Nations Cup with some sides missing key players.
Already I've seen comments from people saying they'll lump on Bournemouth at Aston Villa on Sunday and on current form that would be good advice. But the Championship leaders have been playing weakened sides in cups – even when they beat West Brom in the Capital One Cup – so try to discover Eddie Howe's plans before risking too much.
Another side being backed are Sheffield Utd at off-form Preston but remember they still have a Capital One Cup semi-final second leg with Spurs to look at so again let's see what Nigel Clough's thoughts are regarding priorities.
I've as usual put together a Super Single shortlist looking only at form and stats – so anyone who has team news that support or go against a pick should post it here. I'll hunt out as much team news as possible on Friday before making my pick.
Super Single shortlist
CARDIFF v Reading
Wigan v HUDDERSFIELD
Port Vale v CREWE
Preston v SHEFFIELD UTD
YEOVIL v Coventry
York v BURTON
DUNDEE UTD -1 v Motherwell
Hamilton v INVERNESS
Kilmarnock v PARTICK TH
QoS v HIBS
In December 2020 we sadly 
west ham to bt bristol city 10/11..5*NAP
sheff utd have their second leg against Tottenham next week so I would leave them well alone,also last night took a lot out of them
lambert has said he will play his strongest team so anything above evens is value imo,villas best performance against Liverpool for a long time
last Saturday and Bournemouth don’t play their strongest line up for the cups
as a bham fan and somebody who is going down Saturday(full house 28000)I reluctantly think wba are value at evens,big gulf between premier players and our team of freebies and journeymen even though gary rowett has done an absolutely unbelievable job so far
sam allardyce was on the radio saying that he didn’t want west hams efforts against everton going to waste and that he would be playing a strong side against Bristol city,again a big gulf in levels here, west ham at evens good value imo
robbo, team news is king and I agree West Ham might be worth a look but I won’t take Villa even if Bournemouth play 11 donkeys. It would probably still be 0-0.
lol!!!!!!!!
what about Shrewsbury – Stevenage? Shrewsbury at home 11-2-0, away Stevenage 3-4-6. H2H 8 wins of Shrewsbury & 1 draw.
arturrus, it’s a Super Single list of teams priced evens or above – Shrewsbury nowhere near that price.
Your saying crewe to beat port vale at vale park on saturday. Being local derby these are always tight affairs( but hope crewe stuff the vale ). So i’d go for safe bet of both teams to score in any accumulator you do. Or for a big price do correct score of 1-1 at odds of around 5/1. Good luck.
Do you not fancy Luton on Saturday against Cheltenham Mr F.
Ryan, it’s just an initial shortlist.
Mr Fixit are you a fellow Bluenose in disguise lol
sexton blake, the only time I have a bluenose is when I’m cold. Davie Cooper started at Clydebank and was back at the club when he died. In between he played for a couple of smaller clubs .. and Scotland.
Surely Sheff.U. MUST go for it on sat what a chance for them to go further in the FA cup.Worry about Spurs after the FA cup tie.I fancy Leicester not to loose at Spurs.
Hi everyone. New to the site but have been following for a few months. I have found the tips on here to be very useful and I’m having a good season so far so thanks. I’m a notts county fan and the tips I put up will mainly be lower leagues english football, which I have followed for many years, particularly the fortunes of my own club. Who knows, someone might win a bit off the back of one of them :)
northeastrob, look forward to that – fans often know best.
peterboro seem a mess at the moment
whats your thoughts on notts current state?
Morton at home 11/8 v Dunfermline
Great bet.
Tidser resigned he’s a premier league player.
mk dons -1 at home 6/5 v barnsley. worth considering.
A bit harsh… 11 donkeys
Nap Bts – Bristol c v West ham @ 3/4 (betway) – 10 pts. City may be league one but they cant stop scoring and ive no idea still how west ham didn’t concede early on against hull.
few super single contenders for me this weekend
Notts co 13/8 home to notts co
Wycombe 5/4 away at Mansfield
macclesfield13/10 vs Lincoln
I was one of the big winners last saturday. But since then av had 1 team beat me 3 times . You just keep going thats all you can do. Hibs to beat q of the south. Plus they will catch rangers before the end of the season. Good luck at the wkend.
diyarbakir were 22/1 TO WIN AGAINST GALATASARY AWAY
AND THEY JUST BEAT THEM 2 0
Crewe have won 7 of their last 10 visits to Fale park,btts should be a banker.
Crewe btts win is 6/1 bet365
Partick thistle to beat killie 8/5 or 5/6 dnb bet365
The CB pairing of frans and seaborne have yet to concede a goal in open play. Played together 5 times only goal conceded was a penalty.
Last night kallum Higginbotham looked back to his best and Steven lawless with 8 assists already this season was terrific. After a brilliant 5-0 win over Hamilton confidence will be high.
Due to thistles inconsistency 5/6 dnb is the safer option, however 8/5 for the straight win looks overpriced in my opinion.
Shortlist bets
Partick thistle to win 8/5
Draw no bet 5/6
Thistle to win to nil 7/2
I have Port Vale as a banker this weekend. Good home record am should take confidence from coming back from a goal down to win
Ian, definitely not banker material but some comments have put me off Crewe and that is where the thread can work.
Inverness looks banker material to me playing well no coinciding many goals and hamilton have lost there way since Neil left.
Clarky, I like the look of Inverness but they’re no banker. Also Accies charging 10p admission on Saturday as a tribute to Neil who played No.10 and coach McAvoy who was with the clun for 10 years. Could be a good atmosphere, a big crowd and of course they have a good record on the plastic pitch. As you say 3 defeats in 3 since Neil left and right bad one at Partick.
Think the price of Bradford to score at Chelsea 5/4 is shockingly short.
Thought it would be at least 4s.
Bookies take no risks.
Bradford, it will be Chelsea reserves – 2-1 might have been nearer the mark.
I’ve got Shef utd and Partick in my aways treble with Bournemouth and Dundee United in Homes, just straight win tho. Hamilton v ICT and QoS v Hibs in BTTS line too
Partick are 1040/1000 @Ladbrokes on tge 0.0 asian handicap which is same as DNB, odds on everywhere else 4/5, 10/11, 9/10 etc and ££ coming in for Partick shortening everywhere
What comments put you off Crewe Mr f ?
mickmoose, one from a Port Vale fan – it’s on this thread – and the one I answered. I still don’t think Crewe will lose though.
This is a very useful site.many thanks, with love from Lagos-Nigeria.
Your right Mr.F but, Chelsea reserves still equates to 11 internationals against a team costing less than 75k.
Cech,Ramires,Oscar,Drogba,Remy,Shurllie and Azpluceta will prob come into the team v Bradford not bad reserves ! Cahill or Terry may be rested but it will still be a strong team. Chelsea -2. 10/11.
As a cov fan have to say we are dire ATM and can see yeovil winning. Confident bet I would go with is under 2.5mg
I fancy BOURNEMOUTH whatever team they put out. Villa will not be looking forward to a match with a lower league team who just happen to be banging goals in for fun.
Add to the fact that the Cherries lost in midweek will make them hungry for this one.
Really wouldn’t surprise me if Bournemouth put three or four past Villa.
The only other game I’d consider as a WDW single would be SWANSEA away at Blackburn at 7/5. The Swans will fancy a cup run and should have plenty to see off Rovers.
Theres a few potential BTTS singles I quite fancy as well:
Man City v Middlesbrough: 20/19 looks huge for a Man City side who look fragile at the back.
Southampton v Crystal Palace: 20/19 – way too big for an all Premiership tie.
Ivory Coast v Mali: 6/5 – Mali can cause Ivory Coast problems in a game the Ivorians have to win.
I think Brighton could cause Arsenal some problems and are 13/8 DC or 10/11 on BTTS.
Those who fancy Bradford to score why not take the 11/4 for Chelsea to win and BTTS.
Yeovil interest me slightly at home v Coventry. Nothing really to back it up though other than Yeovil have better recent form but still their both poor teams at present.
Inverness looked good before I read above comments,
Dundee United interest me too-
3rd best home record, scored the 2nd most goals with 22 and conceded 9 v Motherwell who have the worst away record in the league, only winning 2 conceding the most, 27, with only St Johnstone scoring fewer.
Dundee have won 4 of the last 5 at home, scoring 14 goals while Motherwell have only won 1 of the last 5 away conceding 16.
Barring the last game at Dundee which ended 1-0 to the home side Dundee had achieved -1 in the previous two and barring the 1-0 again the previous 4 h2h games (playing at Dundee) finished with over 3.5 mg.
Dundee also have an in-form player in Armstrong who has scored in their last two games plus top scorer Ciftci.
I will probably end up going for over 3.5 mg & Armstrong to score if anything.
Cowdenbeath DC 9/4 v Rangers.
All the Turmoil going on at Ibrox and there poor away form of late i can see the above bet coming in.
8/1 for the Beath to win..you just never know.
+ i will stick my neck out and say Villa will break their goal drought v Bournemouth.
IF Villa put out a strong side and Bournemouth put out a similar side to the last round.
I’ve watched Bournemouth a bit this season and they play with a similar style to Liverpool last season meaning their always prone to conceding a goal. Nice to watch though and they have some great attacking players but I don’t think they will win the Championship and I think Villa can at least score and grab something from the game,
Again like Mr F has said team news will be vital in that one.
Shaun, I don’t think Villa can afford to go with a weakened team but we’ll see. And they have to score soon. Anyway, I’m off – up early to write up Saturday’s articles.
I am West Ham fan of 40+ years. Regarding Bristol City Sunday.
We have very good history at coming unstuck against lower league oppostion who are doing well in the league.
A lot of similar ties we have had have been draws or losses.
Yes we have a much better team..but FA Cup = Banana Skin…GL
+ it’s worth noting Mr F that Villa have Arsenal and Chelsea coming up in the league and with confidence at a low is Lambert really going to want that cloud hanging over the team with some big guns coming up.
It’s amazing what a goal can do for confidence and the pressure will ease off the players and manager for a short time,
Like you say they will score at some point.
Villa view after last weeks protest and a really good performance against Liverpool villa can not afford to lose this and I strongly belive we won’t lambert will and has to play he’s best team as he has stated more important is I think we’ve got players back like Delph who make the world of difference to us. My top tip don’t back against us
Stay away from Town away at Wigan Mr Fixit, they have a tendency over the years to lose to teams lower in the league and they have a poor record away at Wigan, can deffo see it being BTTS though sir!!
If port vale v crewe is not both teams to score ill eat my shoes
Any team news liverpool v Bolton please
dave, everything points to a full-strength Liverpool team – Rodgers and Gerrard saying they want to win the FA Cup.
Mr F
Huddersfield tip looking good after Wigan loose Ben Watson to Watford and Maloney on his way to MSL Chicago Fire & McManaman is subject of 4 bids from premier league clubs .
My super single is…
Macclesfield have won 5 of their last 6 home games while Lincoln have won just 1 of their last 6.
Back Macclesfield home win currently 2.58 GL All
Watford minus 2
12/5 ladbrokes
Mr F, Having watched an impressive Dundee at Todders last Saturday, and having rated St Mirren the poorest team to visit all season, the Dens Park side @ 6/4+ looks Super Single material to me. Cheers, Woody, Ellon
waiting on Sean ireland great tip today on Irish football
thanks mate
Wycombe 6/5 bet365
Unbeaten in 5 away, with 2 wins and 3 draws. Mansfield have won just once at home in 5 games. They have lost their last three games, conceding at least 2 in the process.
Wycombe won 2-1 in the league meeting earlier this season and are pushing for promotion these are the games they will need to take full advantage off.
notts county are a massive 23-10 at home to a peterboro side in disarray,whats this all about?
seems a mad price to me but would like any of these teams fans thoughts before I lump on