I Fancy A Manchester Double This Weekend

Finding value in my football betting tips is where I like to think I earn my corn at PremiershipTips.com. It’s all well and good writing Manchester United/Arsenal to beat Blackpool/West Ham, but there is more risk than value in betting on such heavy underdogs. Personally, I rarely bet on anything under 1/2.

There are a number of tough to call Premier League matches this weekend, such as Stoke’s early kickoff with Sunderland, Aston Villa at home to Fulham and West Ham v Birmingham. I only bet big on results I am very confident in, so I won’t be dipping into my pockets this weekend for any of the aforementioned games.

Both Manchester City and Manchester United fall narrowly under the 1/2 category this weekend, but combined they are worth just over evens. And here’s why I’m backing them together.

Manchester City

It was a case of 2 points dropped on Wednesday as Patrick Vieira conceded a late penalty which Craig Gardner duly converted to give Birmingham City a valuable point towards the bottom of the table. This result leaves City 8 points behind leaders Manchester United and 3 points behind second placed Arsenal. They have 13 games remaining to turn things around. It’s looking very unlikely they will do so.

Also lingering narrowly above the drop zone are West Bromwich Albion. In fact, only Birmingham City are between them and the bottom 3. They failed to beat Wigan at home on Tuesday night, and like their neighbours, they scored a late goal in a 2-2 draw. Anything from this game will be a bonus for the Baggies, but it’s the game that follow this they will be more concerned about picking up points from. West Brom host West Ham and Wolves in back-to-back games after their trip to Eastlands, before travelling to Stoke and Birmingham.

West Brom lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City in November; Mario Balotelli scoring his first Premier League goals. City headed into that game off of back-to-back defeats and started a 3-game clean sheet sequence and an unbeaten run of 7 games in the league – their longest this season. Having picked up just 1 point from their last 2 games, this is a perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways, the weekend before they travel to Old Trafford.

Edin Dzeko has yet to make an impact in the Premier League. At least not a positive one for Manchester City following his £27,000,000 move from Steve McClaren’s Wolfsburg at the start of last month. While fellow Bosnian Asmir Begovic has done a good job in half a season’s worth of games he’s played in the Premier League, Dzeko looks like he’s going to need a little time to settle in (pointless fact: Muhamed Konjic is the only other Bosnian to have played in the Premier League). He’s looked off the pace early on, as he’s failed to score in his 3 games so far, despite Manchester City scoring 6 times whilst he has been on the pitch.

West Brom should be more concerned about Carlos Tevez and David Silva. These are Manchester City’s best attacking players, in what is otherwise a defensive-minded squad. Silva’s only Premier League goal to date came at Blackburn Rovers, but his close control and great dribbling ability has terrified a number of defences this season. He weaved through the Birmingham defence on Wednesday night en route to assisting Carlos Tevez for Manchester City’s opener. The Spanish World Cup winner has 6 assists in the league this season. Tevez has 15 on the season; only Dimitar Berbatov has scored more. The Argentine too can put fear into defences when he runs at them, but it’s his eye for goal that make him one of the best strikers in the world. A great finisher, I don’t see West Brom keeping both Tevez and Silva quiet throughout 90 minutes. In fact, I’ll be surprised if they keep either in check.

Manchester City are currently 1.45 with Betfair to beat West Brom, and an attractive 2.01 -1.5 goals on the Asian Handicap.

Manchester United

Meanwhile, Manchester United have being getting the job done time after time in 2011. Having played poorly at the Hawthorns on New Year’s day they came away with 3 points. They came away from White Hart Lane with a 0-0 despite Rafael’s sending off. They thrashed Birmingham City 5-0 and then came from a 0-2 half time deficit to beat Blackpool 3-2 in a thrilling ESPN game. Midweek saw the return of the goalscoring Wayne Rooney who doubled his tally for the season by scoring twice against Aston Villa in a 3-1 win. Another assist for Nani in that game that saw Manchester United looking like worthy champions.

Even if Manchester United start Saturday’s evening kickoff poorly against Wolves, you can’t help but think this is another game they will do what is required to pull off another victory. Wolves themselves must be heading into this game low on confidence following Ronald Zubar’s stoppage time gaff that cost them a clean sheet and a point at Bolton on Wednesday. Apart from the potential matchup between Matty Jarvis and John O’Shea, there’s not much going for the side currently propping up the Premier League.

Nani should excel down either wing in this match, while Wayne Rooney will be favoured to score in back-to-back matches for the first time this season. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic’s partnership at the back looks solid once again as they can expect to face 2-goal man Kevin Doyle on Saturday. This is 3 points for Manchester United, surely?

Manchester United are currently 1.46 with Betfair to win at Wolves.

A more attractive offer and one I am taking up is both Manchester City and Manchester United to win on Saturday at 2.04 under the Accumulators section.

Written by Premiership Tips.