Premiership 2013/14: Match Betting

Put pure and simple, The Premier League’s ‘big six’ can be split into three groups for us. You have Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, who look set to fight out the title, Arsenal and Tottenham, who look set to fight out fourth, and Liverpool, who are on the fringe edges and improving all the time.

The penny could drop at Anfield very soon with so much young talent coming to the boil but they finished 11 points behind Spurs last year and don’t look to have made any changes that should threaten those positions. Andre Villas Boas’s men have been the subject of the Gareth Bale transfer saga but have been improving steadily under the former Porto and Chelsea man and bough very well over the summer in the two key areas that one might argue kept Spurs from the top 4 last year. Sandro’s injury just after the turn of the year was a huge blow for them that did leave them defensively vulnerable at times, but in Brazilian Pauinihio Spurs have the best of both worlds as not only an effective cover in midfield to protect the back four but a new creative influence who can create more opportunities alongside Moussa Dembele while filling a potential hole left by any injury for Sandro and if the two play together there’s huge potential for Spurs to fufill the 4-3-3 Villas-Boas has always favoured

Secondly, the arrival of Roberto Solado from Valencia gives Spurs the best option they’ve had upfront for some time. Scorer of 26 goals for the La Liga side last year, if coping with English football – and his numerous experience in the Champions League, including games against Chelsea and Manchester United , bodes very well – he can lead the line more effectively than anyone else has and reduce reliance upon Jermaine Defoe and also the unreliable Emmanuel Adebayor, a much needed boost, with Bale still at White Hart Lane on the opening weekend and likely to stay from our point of view, to provide the star turn. Liverpool are an improving side, but one that may be a year from reaching its full potential with so many young players bidding to step upto the plate, and an 11 point gap will take some turning around. Spurs to beat the Redmen is one of our bets of the season at the 5/6 with Hills.

The mid table last season ended up being incredibly congested – only 10 points separated West Brom in eighth from Sunderland in seventeenth – so it’s hard to be confident of any bets. One team to keep onside however is West Ham, who were three points behind West Brom at the end of last season despite having key man Andy Caroll for only 22 games of the season. Big Sam Allardayce’s football can be rather mechanical to say the least but it’s effective and the arrival of Stewart Downing could prove to be a rather smart move and if Diame stays fit in midfield then him and Joe Cole can provide ample supply for whoever’s leading the line and the 6/5 on them beating the Baggies over 38 games is a tempting one, especially if they can win more than three away games and score more than three goals on the road.

Hull were seven points ahead of Crystal Palace last term and have made the better improvements to their squad over the summer, so are an obvious choice to round off the match bets. Signing Alan McGregor and Steve Harper was a smart goalkeeping move early while Steve Bruce has made early measures to fix the lack of a genuine goalscorer as none of their squad managed to reach double figures last season. Danny Graham had a dire time at Sunderland but was much better at Swansea and is at least experienced here, while Sone Aluko and Matty Fyatt were missing for most, if not the whole of, last season and things could be different this time around on that front, while the double signing of Tom Huddlestone and Jake Livermore is a cracking piece of business and adds real quality to a side that was needing it before they came up in midfield and defence. Crystal Palce are an admirable outfit but haven’t improved their squad much at all and look threadbare, while Hull – whether relegated or not – have the better squad and the previous form.

Advice

9 pts Spurs to finish above Liverpool (5/6 Hills)

3 pts Hull to finish above Crystal Palace (5/6 Totesport)

2 pts West Ham to finish above West Brom (6/5 Skybet)