All football tips w/c 26th February

Arsenal v Man City
We never got the EFL Cup Final in SA but I believe Arsenal were lucky to finish second so probably smoking my socks this evening . In their last 20 visits to the Gunners Man City are W 1 D 7 L 12.
I do not rate their defense as I believe Fernandinho papers over a lot of the cracks in his defensive midfield role. He is out tonight so I am taking a dip at

Arsenal over 1.5 goals @ 16/10
and a beer on
Final score 2-2 @ 11/1

The Vann wrote: In their last 20 visits to the Gunners Man City are W 1 D 7 L 12.

In all competitions, I make it they've won 3, drawn 5 and lost 2 in their last 10 visits, so recent form may be a bit less encouraging! (Not checking up on you, just had to have a look as that stat was so surprising.)

Just waiting for the line ups to come through to see if any goalscorer bets appeal. Spread on players wearing gloves would be quite high!

Arsenal v Man City - small punt on a draw @ 16/5

Not very inspirational but, for me, Aguero anytime is value at evens or better. I make him a 10/11 shot at most. Have also bought SPIN hotshots at 34 (25 points per Aubameyang, Ozil, Aguero or De Bruyne goal).

2 or 3 points too low by my reckoning, Maybe a few too many eggs in the Aguero basket.

harry_rag wrote:

The Vann wrote: In their last 20 visits to the Gunners Man City are W 1 D 7 L 12.

In all competitions, I make it they've won 3, drawn 5 and lost 2 in their last 10 visits, so recent form may be a bit less encouraging! (Not checking up on you, just had to have a look as that stat was so surprising.)

You are quite correct. The stat is for their last 20 league visits. And, sadly, it does not seem that Arsenal learnt anything from Sunday. Probably time to put Arsene out to pasture.

I drew a blank tonight as well, one of those occasional nights where you'd have been best advised to just not bother. If only I could perfect a way of identifying them in advance!

Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory

Big derby with heaps at stake, as the teams sitting on third and fourth meet.

Both teams are full strength, and with players like Bozanic, Arzani (wreaking havoc through the opposition defences) and Fornaroli (who showed that he is hungry when he came off the bench last week) on one side, and Barbarouses, George and Berisha on the other, I think we should see some goals here.

Bet: Over 2.75 goals @1.94 Pinnacle

Burnley v Everton
Home 15/10 Draw 2/1 Away 22/10
Burnley at home are 5-4-5 (10-11) and Everton away are 1-5-8 (9-29). The reverse fixture in October was won 1-0 by Burnley. The draw has to be in play here but, strangely there has been no draw in the last seven meetings between these two sides. Burnley have scored 2 goals at home only once - against Swansea. They have scored 1 goal in 8 matches and failed to score in 5 matches. Everton welcome back Coleman and Baines which should improve their defense and I believe this bet is the way to go
Burnley to score 1 goal exactly @ 31/20

Tottenham Hotspur v Huddersfield
Home 2/10 Draw 6/1 Away 13/1
Spurs at home are 9-4-1 (29-9) and Huddersfield away are 3-2-9 (10-28). The reverse fixture in October was won 4-0 by Spurs. Huddersfield's relegation battle started earlier then their fellow strugglers for the simple reason that they face Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City in three of their last four matches. They have to be 5-6 points clear before that run of matches. They have recently been more adventurous in matches and have scored 6 goals in their last two matches.
That fine fellow Mackem usually leaves me with matches that will never see my money but this match will get a unit or two from The Vann on

BTTS - yes and Spurs to win @ 21/10 at Sportingbet

Watford v West Bromwich Albion
Home even Draw 23/10 Away 3/1
Watford at home are 5-4-5 (21-26) and WBA away are 1-4-9 (7-22). The reverse fixture in October finished 2-2. WBA's only away win was in the second week of the season away to Burnley. What went through the Boards mind to appoint Pardew ( who lastly oversaw an appalling run at Palace ) I have no idea but we have to believe WBA don't win here and in all likleyhood leave with nothing. I am not a fan of odds on or evens bets in the EPL so my pick on this match would be
Match bet and Total
Watford win and over 2.5 total goals @ 25/10 at Sportingbet

I will probably take some of this as even without Delafeu I think the odds are on the generous side.

Newcastle Jets vs Sydney FC

The Jets are sitting second on the ladder and have the second best attack in the league, having scored in all their matches so far.

However, for this match they are missing Vargas and Rodriguez, while Nabbout is linked to a move to Japan.

Sydney keep showing that in this league they are a class above the rest.
Last round they were missing Zullo in the defence and on rainy weather they came back from 0-1 in the Sydney derby and beat the Wanderers 3-1.

There is no stopping Sydney in A-League, and they should continue the utter dominance over the Jets too.

Bet: Sydney (-0.5) @1.93 Pinnacle

Drew a blank on my four footie fixed odds so will spread the last match where Rafa visits his old stomping ground
Liverpool v Newcastle
Short first Newcastle @ 66

WS Wanderers vs Perth Glory

Both teams are in a direct fight for the last play-off spot.

Glory are on a last minute charge after last week they beat Melbourne City with two late goals, the second one deep into stoppage time.
They are boosted by the return of two players.

The Wanderers have been on and off, no consistency in their performances.

With the fight spirit that Glory is showing, and their talented attack line, I think they have a good chance to get a result here.

Because of the high stakes in play, I'm taking a cards bet at nice odds.

Also, these teams have the leakiest defences in the league, so an over bet should be considered from the outset.

Bet 1: Glory +0.75 @1.78
Bet 2: Over 3 goals @1.88
Bet 3: over 4.5 cards @2.00