Weekend Betting, Saturday 7th January

Into 2012 we go, and it's FA Cup 3rd Round (and Scottish Cup 4th Round) weekend. Plenty of opportunities for shocks, they tell us. Plenty of opportunity for betting, I tell you. Here are some pointers:

• There's a growing trend towards making wholesale changes for the FA Cup, particularly among the Premier League clubs (nobody in the SPL has a big enough squad to make wholesale changes and still field a strong line-up). With that in mind, it's worthwhile waiting to see teamsheets before backing or opposing certain teams. 2 fixtures that immediately come to mind regarding this are Barnsley v Swansea and Norwich v Burnley. In both matches, if both teams were at full-strength, then Swansea (6/4) and Norwich (18/19) should both prevail fairly comfortably, but both sides are likely to prioritise their Premier League campaigns, and could send out much-changed sides, giving an opportunity to the Championship clubs


• In-form lower league club at home to out-of-form Premier League club? Those sound like the conditions required for a cup shock. 2 prime examples of where these conditions apply are at MK Dons (7/4) and Swindon (21/10), who host misfiring QPR and Wigan respectively. Those prices will become even more appealing should the visiting sides make changes, as highlighted above. Cardiff (4/1) are also well worth a punt when they travel to West Brom


• There are some ties, though, that should surely merit comfortable wins for the favourites, and could therefore form part of a reasonably safe accumulator, namely Everton, Fulham, Sheffield United and Tottenham


• In the Scottish Cup, a similar coupon can be put together: back Hearts, Motherwell, Partick and St Johnstone to get the job done on Saturday. Shock-wise, if you're feeling really adventurous, then have a wee look at Arbroath v Rangers. Arbroath are going well in the 2nd Division and are unbeaten at home this season- Rangers travel to Gayfield without a number of key players, and with uncertainty surrounding the future of striker Nikica Jelavic, their attacking edge has been blunted of late. The draw is available at 13/2

Celtic v Ross County, Saturday 10th April

Part 4 of the Grand National Preview will follow tonight

My Thoughts
For Celtic, the Scottish Cup represents their only realistic chance of a trophy this season, and (the final Old Firm derby of the season aside) perhaps the only chance for Neil Lennon to stake his claim for the manager's job on a permanent basis. For Derek Adams' fine young Ross County side, this is surely the biggest game in their 81-year history. County are probably now just too far back to realistically be in with a chance of winning the 1st Division this season, but this has still been a memorable campaign for the Staggies, with the quarter-final victory over Hibs among the highlights. For Celtic, this has been a miserable campaign, with only the temporary signing of Robbie Keane providing them with any joy (and, no doubt, some healthy merchandise sales)

The Verdict
Now, the verdict in this one has been causing this writer much trepidation. Despite Celtic being in a higher league than County, recently their performances have been poor- they were unconvincing in victories over Kilmarnock and Hibs, and then there's the results "achieved" under Tony Mowbray. County's recent form has generally been not bad, not great- of their last 4 games, they've won 1, lost 1 and drawn 2. It should be noted, though, that County's form going into the games against Hibs wasn't brilliant, and yet the Staggies progressed (with a few late goals thrown in. Bear that in mind after 75 minutes). Celtic's Scottish Cup record is good (they've won it 4 times this millennium, and plenty of times before then), especially when compared with County, who before this season had never been beyond the last 16, but their defence has been particularly unconvincing of late, with Robbie Keane being relied on to get them out of trouble. This could be a close one

The Bet
90 minutes at Easter Road couldn't separate County and Hibs, and it took until the 90th minute for Scott Boyd to score the winner in the replay- it's not beyond County to force extra time here. Therefore, the draw at 11/2 with William Hill looks great value. The same bookmakers also offer odds on County's free-kick expert left-back Scott Morrison to score anytime of 66/1, as well as a wee special double with the Grand National: County to win and Beat the Boys to win the Grand National: £5 would net you £5,555. Tempting

Weekend Betting, Saturday 6th February

Plenty of interesting matches on this weekend for punters to get stuck into. Here's a few tips:

• Hull and man citeh to draw. An away banker this is not. Hull were excellent in their 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea in midweek, and have shown signs of life in recent weeks. With Amr Zaki set to become another option in attack for the Tigers, and teams above them in freefall. Phil Brown's side still have a chance of staying up. citeh are not in top form at the moment- they somewhat laboured to a 2-0 win over Portsmouth last weekend, and their away record of 3-5-3 is patchy. The draw is available at a best price of 11/4 with Ladbrokes
• Bolton to beat Fulham. Under Owen Coyle, while the results haven't yet come (and that's really more due to a tough run of fixtures), there has been a marked improvement in Bolton's recent performances. Fulham, however, had lost their last 5 leage games before their midweek 1-0 win over Portsmouth, and are still dismal away from home. With Andy Johnson out injured for the season, Clint Dempsey also injured, Diomansy Kamara away on loan to Celtic and new signing Stefano Okaka still finding his feet in English football, it's difficult to see where the support for Bobby Zamora upfront is going to come from. Bolton look good value at 6/5 with Paddy Power. As a side bet, in addition to Fulham's aforementioned striking problems, Bolton have tightened up defensively under Coyle, so under 2.5 goals is worth a punt at 8/11 with Stan James
• Let's be honest, the question today at Old Trafford will not be "Will Wayne Rooney score?". The question will be "How many will Wayne Rooney score?". Some bookies go as long as 28/1 on Portsmouth winning, and it's difficult to see even an inspired David James behind a flat back 10 keeping out the on-song Rooney, who can be backed to score 2 or more goals in the game at a ridiculously short best price of 3/1 with William Hill (folks, that really is the BEST price I could find- some firms go as short as 6/4 on this bet). Therefore, a random punt at first goalscorer could be worth a shout at Old Trafford today- Nani is finally starting to produce, and is available at a best price of 7/1 with Ladbrokes
• To the Active Nation Scottish Cup! Some interesting ties this weekend. Montrose have improved in recent weeks, but Hibs should still have far too much for them, so take Hibs on the -1 handicap at a best price of 1/3 with Coral. Elsewhere, St Johnstone and Dundee United recently served up a 3-3 ding-dong in the SPL- these two evenly matched sides could serve up another draw at McDiarmid Park today, with the draw available at a best price of 12/5 with William Hill

Graeme's Silly Bet, Saturday 6th February

We are into February, getting near the business end of the season, and the 6 nations are back. Result.
Scotland are 20/1 to win the Six Nations this year. Don't do what my brother did and put a fiver on it. Idiot.
A more realistic punt this weekend, I believe, is an England/Scotland double. Cheeky fiver on that.
Moing on to the Active Nation Scottish Cup, a large accumulator is necessary.
Dundee to beat Ayr
Hibs to beat Montrose
Aberdeen to beat Raith
Inverness CT to draw with Kilmarnock
St Mirren to beat Rangers
Ross County to beat Stirling Albion (an interesting side battle in this game will be whether or not Shifty takes revenge on the Albion fan who's been slagging him off on OverTheBridge)

In the Premiership,
Bolton to beat Fulham
Man City to beat Hull
Man Utd to beat Portsmouth
Arsenal to beat Chelsea

Quick mention on an upcoming feature on here:

Shifty, Graeme, and a selection of guest pundits will be predicting the 23 players they think will be in the England World Cup Squad. Watch this space, because unlike the other much-hyped new features Shifty's always going on about, this one is actually going to happen quite soon