What the season has taught us so far...

With the season about to enter the finishing straight, I thought I'd post a few musings and tips from the season so far from a betting perspective:

• This season has been hard. I'm sure, like myself, many folks have had less coupons coming in this season- surprise results seem to be everywhere. Witness particularly a general deterioration in the results of the bigger teams in the top league, particularly away from home
• Manchester United concede the first goal on more occasions than one might think. It's a surprising claim, but in 31 league games, United have conceded the first goal on 11 occasions- that's in 35.4% of their league games. Think about that before blindly picking Wayne Rooney as 1st goalscorer
• The best bet in the Premier League this season is..... Darren Bent 1st goalscorer. He has plundered 50% of Sunderland's league goals so far this season (20 of 40), with 12 of those being the 1st goal in the game. Give that he's very rarely shorter than 5/1 for this bet, it has to be considered outstanding value, regardless of the opposition (Bent has scored 1st against Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool (well, the dubious goals panel were going to give it to the beachball) this season). He still won't make it to the World Cup, though
• Displaced teams. Given the number of teams that have been given points deductions (usually for entering financial quagmire, giggidy giggidy), a number of teams are in slightly false positions, or displaced. Therefore, it is necessary to consider that Southampton and Crystal Palace, to name but two, should really be further up the table. Also consider the position of Livingston in the Scottish 3rd Division, a league their 1st Division squad was demoted to at the start of the season