Some Football Bets.

Mokuba

Going to have a little go at this. Starting bank can be 50 points.

United vs Shakhtar

I'm going to write off that United/Leverkusen result as a bit of an anomaly, and I'm going to stick my neck out and have a bet on Shakhtar here.

Shakhtar are in good form, they've won their last 4 in all competitions and haven't conceded a goal in the process. United have gotten 2 points from their last 4 league games, and have lost their last 2 home games.

I'm going to speculate that if United don't start well in the opening 10, then Old Trafford is going to be an extremely difficult place for David Moyes to be. There are glaring holes in that United side, with Young and Buttner starting, and Giggs and Ferdinand also in the side, I'll wager the flanks will be a huge problem for United, as well as the energy levels of the Shakhtar side. Shakhtar have a lot to play for and I think they can pile more pressure on Moyes here. If United can't get themselves up for Newcastle at home, I can't see how they can for an effectively meaningless Champions League home game.

6/1 with Stan James for Shakhtar HT/FT looked a little too big for me on a traditionally unpredictable betting night.

1 Point win - Shakhtar HT/FT with Stan James (6/1)

Mokuba

Damn, they definitely deserved to be leading after the first half. Not too far off.

Bank - 49 points

Mokuba

Tonights football.

Vitoria Guimaraes v Lyon.

Been following Lyon quite a bit and they aren't in an amazing place right now. Quite a lot of their squad won't travel and Vitoria got a point in the reverse fixture. I'd expect them to win this.

1 Point win -Vitoria HT/FT with Bet365 (10/3)

Mokuba

Red card for Vitoria followed by Lyon converting their resulting penalty killed that. Damn, when I start actually writing this stuff down my luck goes.

Bank - 48 points

Mokuba

West Ham v Sunderland

First bet of the weekend comes in this hugely important match. I'm not a fan of footballing cliches but this is a definite relegation six-pointer and it's only December.

In this game I see one side who has been completely dreadful recently and another who has been struggling, but has had no luck and has put in some reasonably good, battling performances. West Ham have been truly awful in their last 5 games, Fulham match aside which I'll count as an anomaly because of the situation at that time. Their defense is just isn't adequate without the main man Winston Reid and they look liable to concede all the time. Without Nolan and with essentially no decent striker to choose from, I seriously struggle to see how they win here.

Sunderland meanwhile, have shown definite signs of life under Poyet. They picked up some wins followed by some not so good results, but cases can be made for virtually all of them. The 2 sendings off vs Hull and the 1 sending off vs Stoke threw those games - the own goal against Chelsea, and the fact that were it not for an un-awarded penalty against Tottenham, they could have gotten a draw against a Tottenham side who produced their best performance of the entire season in that second half.

It's no shame being outclassed by Tottenham and not having luck on your side with the penalty, but hanging in there while they produce a second half performance of title contender merit. Against Villa in their last away game, Sunderland dominated long portions of that match and had the better chances. Goals have been slowly coming and against West Ham's defense, they can get a solid away win.

2 Points win - Sunderland with Bet365 (10/3)

Mokuba

Portsmouth vs Newport

Richie Barker and Steve Coppell are in at the sinking ship in the hope that they can steady it. Barker doesn't arrive with that much of a reputation - he does have a League 2 title under his belt but he arrived into the job when the thing was essentially already won. I don't think Newport are up to much away, despite being a decent side at home. I think Portsmouth can find the net if they actually have their strikers available and don't select some rubbish 8-2-0 formation where they end up conceding anyway. The issue of conceding is an issue, but then again Newport haven't been banging them in by any means at all, so with Dave Connolly back fit hopefully there's a win on the cards here. The presence of Coppell would make you hope that the hoofball that has been going on since Appleton is a thing of the past and that they can actually start to pick up some results.

A little gamble in that I'm hoping the new manager inspires a win, but I do think them capable anyway.

2 Points win - Portsmouth with Bet365 (31/20)

Mokuba

Newcastle vs Southampton

I don't ever usually back first goalscorers, but I think it could pay to side with Dani Osvaldo for the forseeable future. He is one of my favourite players in football, and while so far at Southampton he has been a bit underwhelming and sluggish, once he finds his feat he is nearly impossible to deal with. I've followed him since his days at Espanyol and he is one of my favourite players to watch. I'm hoping that last weeks amazing goal sets him on his way to putting in the performances and goals that I'm used to seeing.

1 Point win - Dani Osvaldo 1st Scorer with Paddy Power (15/2)
(All first goalscorer bets will only be placed if the player is starting. If the odds are different at the time I bet then I will account for that)

Bank - 43 points.
In Play - 5 points.
Profit/Loss - -2