It’s a blank weekend in the Premier League due to yet another International break, where we get to witness the somewhat dubious delights of Kevin Davies falling over in an England shirt. Surely he is destined to join the likes of Michael Ricketts in the one-cap wonder stakes!
With the break I have been delving into the Ante-post market, where all 5 of my current bets are winning. This is an area that can be very lucrative if you get it right and my goal here is to try and find a number of bets, which have been priced up more on a knee jerk reaction than stats. Take the head to head between Wigan and Wolves, where the former team where as big as 13/8 after just a couple of games. I made these two teams very similar and the odds have adjusted on Wigan down to 5/6. I will keep an eye on these odds as a further swing could see Wolves go out in price, meaning we can lock in definite profit here.
Speaking of Wolves they are now a best 5/1 to finish rock bottom this year, which may also be worth keeping an eye on. Last season they were the lowest scorers in the league and their goalie Hahnneman made the most saves of any keeper.
So what other teams are being judged on knee-jerk stats? Well the first team that jumps to mind is Liverpool who despite a dreadful few weeks are not as bad as some doom-mongers have them to be. Totesport have slashed them from 200/1 into 11/1 in the past week in the relegation market, which is frankly ridiculous! There is more chance of me winning Mr Universe than the reds going down this season.
One other market I am weighing up is the Top 6 finish and especially the 9/4 on Aston Villa to repeat their 6th spot from last year. Gerard Houllier is no mug and I think this is value compared to the best 11/8 on Liverpool and 2/1 on shot shy Everton to do the same. One to watch for now.
One bet I am advising featuring Villa is for them to overcome a -12.5 pt handicap against rivals Birmingham at the end of the season, which you can get at 10/11 with VCBet. Last season Birmingham over-performed and still finished 14 pts behind the Villains. I expect Brum to hit around 45 pts this season, while Villa should get up to at least 60. A further 1 pt investment in this bet.
Latest Ante-Post Bet
1 pt Aston Villa -12.5 Handicap V Birmingham. 10/11 VCbet.
Existing Ante-Post Bets (already advised)
0.5 pt Stoke to finish in top half of table. 7/2 Ladbrokes
0.5 pt West Brom top newcomer 9/4 Ladbrokes
1 pt Sunderland to finish above Newcastle 3/4 Bwin
1 pt Blackpool to concede most goals this season 11/8 VCbet
1pt Wigan to finish above Wolves this season. 2.63 VCbet (Ante-post)
Whatever you bet on, good luck!
Mike