An Accumulator For the Weekend: Week 2

My selections for last week almost made me a little money, but with accumulators almost is not enough. Liverpool to beat Burnley, West Brom beat Plymouth and Sunderland beat Hull, but Charlton (who had a 100% record up until this match) could only manage a draw at home against Southampton. It wasn’t a result anyone could see coming and that’s probably why it’s so damned annoying. Let’s hope my selections for this week fair better.

Arsenal to Beat Wigan (handicap -1)

Okay, so Arsenal have a few injuries and were almost embarrassed royally during the week by Standard Liege, but let’s face it, Wigan’s away record isn’t the best having already lost to Everton and Blackpool (in round 2 of the League Cup) this season, with a home record not much better having lost 5-0 to Man Utd last month. Whereas, Arsenal have yet to be defeated at home this season and I’m so confident that they’ll win, I’m going to back them with a -1 handicap (meaning Arsenal have to win by 2 clear goals).

Aston Villa to Beat Portsmouth

I’m a little wary of backing Villa at their home ground - we have a system set up geared more towards away games and therefore comes as no shock that our away record is better than our home record, somewhat highlighted on the opening day of the season when the Villains were truly embarrassed by Wigan. However, since that game we have been undefeated and even carved out a nice 2-0 home win against last season mid-table rivals Fulham a couple of weeks back. Am I worried about the bust up between O’Neill and Reo-Coker (who is almost certainly not playing tomorrow)? Yes I am. I think Reo-Coker is the only decent central midfielder we have at the moment and it’ll be a real shame to lose him, but I think our talented wingers and rock solid defence will more than make up for it.

And Portsmouth…well, what can I say? They’ve yet to win a game all season and I still think they’ll be facing the drop come May. Whilst I think this maybe the one bet that’ll bite me in the arse this week, I just can’t see Villa not winning this match - I just hope it’s my favourite team blinkers not making the decision for me.

Juventus to Beat Livorno

So I thought I’d go to Italy to pick out my next bet, as I liked the look of the fixture despite the league only being 3 games into the season. I feel Juventus are back to their winning ways after having rising from the ashes of their league demotion a few years back and are finally getting results. They have a strong team again and I feel will really challenge Inter for the Serie A crown this year.

Livorno were newly promoted to Serie A last year and haven’t had the best of starts so far, drawing 2 and losing 1 and I just think Juve will have the strength to see the new side off.

Real Madrid to Beat Xerez (-1 Handicap)

Look at me being all continental and whatnot! But really, I liked the look of this fixture because it’s so similar to the Juve selection: a ridiculously strong team playing at home against a newly promoted side. Despite the league only being 2 games in and thus unable to see what all the teams are capable of, I’m confident that Real will pound the newcomers and so do the bookmakers. The odds were VERY short for this one and so I slapped on the - handicap to beef things up a little, but I really don’t think it’s going to be much of a obstacle.

Round Up

So here’s the rundown:

- Arsenal to beat Wigan with a -1 handicap.

- Villa to beat Portsmouth

- Juventus to beat Livorno

- Real Madrid to beat Xerez with a -1 handicap

Good luck for the weekend and follow me in on this bet at your own peril!!!

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