MABS

Accrington - Ipswich 1 @2.4
Bournemouth - Brighton 1 @1.9
20 double please
 

Cardiff vs Tottenham
My first preview of this New Year's Day schedule of games will try to build on what @thfc has said but I think he's got it nailed on. It's Cardiff at home to Tottenham in a 5:30pm kick-off at the Cardiff City Stadium and I'm not as optimistic as other Bluebirds fans are heading into this one.
Cardiff picked up their first away win of the season. Despite what the highlights showed it was a game I felt we deserved to win. We generally dealt with Leicester quite comfortably and only had ourselves to blame for not scoring the decisive goal earlier. It's a win that has solidified our position in 16th place to remain 3 points clear outside the relegation zone.
Tottenham suffered a surprising 3-1 loss at home to Wolves in their last game. It wasn't a result many people saw coming with Spurs leading 1-0 with just 18 minutes left. It's a defeat that now leaves Mauricio Pochettino's side 9 points off the title pace and needing something special to get back into the title race.
This could be a harsh bump back to reality for Cardiff. Our home record is decent but Manchester United exposed us on home territory just as Manchester City did earlier in the season. We simply can't cope when teams pile forward on our back line. We might score on the counter but for every goal or two we'll get we'll concede 3-4 goals when teams do that.
Pochettino will be looking for a reaction from his players. I'm not saying Tottenham will turn us over but I'm not expecting to come away from the Cardiff City Stadium having witnessed us take anything from this game. This is a very good Tottenham side and I can see them grinding out a 1-0 or 2-0 victory.
On a personal note, it's a poignant moment for me. I had a season ticket for Cardiff from the 1999/2000 season when we were in the old Division 4 right up until the season we first got promoted to the Premier League. A combination of the re-brand and having my first child all came together to prevent me from renewing my season ticket for that first Premier League season. For one reason or another, usually family or work related commitments, I've never managed to see Cardiff live in the Premier League. Tomorrow, that changes. Here's hoping we can take all three points! May the best team win, @thfc!
Tottenham to Win to Nil @ 2.53 with MarathonBet
Total Goals Scored Under 2.5 @ 2.20 with Betfair

Bournemouth - Watford X2
I am again against Bournemouth, I am not so confident they will lose but I am confident they will not win so double chance on X2 with some poor odds with high probability of going through. In the first game Watford lost 0:4 but they got a red card in 1st HT and still the statistics didn't go that much on the Bournemouth side.
Newcastle - Man Utd AWAY WIN
Newcastle is obviously not an easy opponent considering they were 0:2 up in the first game between them where Man Utd grinded out a win in last minutes but situation in Man Utd changed and they play confidently in last rounds. Newcastle lost at home to all top sides and almost all with 1:2...I could imagine it happening again.
Man City - Liverpool BTTS
Two strong opponents so I expect goals from both sides with most probable outcome 1:1. Liverpool with slightly better defense but I believe Man City has slightly better offense so it comes down to before mentioned result. I realized that Man City concedes at least a goal all the way to their CL game against Lyon.
For the rest of the games I would have considered Huddersfield to grab a win against Burnley but one of their best players Mooy is injured so no bet just like West Ham who also has lots of missings.

Fulham  1 @ 2,10
Roma 2 @ 1,72
25 point double

LEICESTER (X) 3.50
WEST HAM (X) 3.30
CARDIFF (X) 3.20
50% desperation draw treble!
 

Leeds   1.66
Fulham  2.55
Tottenham  2.70
Max stakes - half bank
5 points  total odds  11.4291

Leeds   1.66
Fulham  2.55
Tottenham  2.70
Max stakes - half bank
5 points  total odds  11.4291

Man Utd v Crystal Palace (X) 5.00
£10 single please.
 

Everton 1.4
Fulham 2.55
30 double pls

Fulham @ 2.55
£25 win

Rotherham vs Sheffield United
The Championship throws up a derby match of sorts this Saturday lunch time when a struggling Rotherham welcome high-flying Sheffield United to the New York Stadium for this 12:30pm kick-off. It's always fun predicting derby matches when the form book goes out of the window!
Rotherham are sat in 19th place in the league table right now and it's been a frustrating couple of months for the Millers. Paul Warne's side are still arguably exceeding expectations by being outside the bottom three but 6 draws in their last 8 league games has left their fans wondering what could have been.
Sheffield United are probably the big surprise package this season. Chris Wilder's men have stormed their way to 4th in the table and they had previously led the way in the Championship. However, a run of inconsistent results over the past month or so has seen them drop off a bit.
The head-to-head doesn't make good reading for Rotherham fans. Their team has won just 1 of their last 12 league games against Sheffield United. Interestingly, that single victory did come in the last home meeting between these two sides back in 2013.
A whopping 71% of Rotherham's goals this season have come from set pieces so that's where they will look to hurt United. United haven't scored in their last two league matches. The club hasn't failed to score in the league for three games in a row since September 2013.
This is a hard one to call. At face value, it would make sense to back United for the win. Rotherham are a tricky side to beat at home and are going on a decent run of five league games without defeat. I can see them taking something here if they play to their potential against a United side that aren't quite at the races right now.
Rotherham Double Chance @ 2.19 with MarathonBet
BTTS @ 1.91 with Betfred

Brentford vs Middlesbrough
I'm going to continue this weekend's trend of covering the televised games in the Championship. The third preview up this week is Brentford versus Middlesbrough that will take place at 5:30pm at Griffin Park. Both sides in need of a win here after substandard results of late.
Brentford have really struggled with life after Dean Smith. The Bees appointed Thomas Frank to succeed Smith on 16th October. Since then it's been just 1 win and 4 defeats for Brentford in the league. It's a run of results that has seen them plummet down the table to 15th place and just 5 points above the relegation zone.
Middlesbrough continue to remain in the promotion hunt. Tony Pulis will have hoped his team would be higher in the table at the moment with the club tipped by many as title winners but he can't complain. 2nd place is still automatic promotion and they're only 2 points behind league leaders Norwich. The frustrations will be drawing 3 of the last 4 league games.
It's been a tough time for Brentford in the head-to-head meetings with Middlesbrough. In fact, the Bees haven't secured a win in the league since December, 1938. That was before Adolf Hitler invaded Poland! Frank's side have also notched up just 7 points from their last potential 30 points in the league. Admittedly, some of that run was down to Smith so maybe these issues have been a long time coming.
I appreciate Brentford won their last home game 2-0 against Millwall but that was a freak result compared to their other games under Frank. Is it a work-in-progress or is this the beginning of a painful decline? I think Middlesbrough are destined to go up this season and this will be another win in the bag. Their defence is too resolute having conceded just 2 goals in their last 7 league games and 8 goals in 17 league matches in total. I'm expecting a vintage 1-0 or 2-0 win for the Boro.
Middlesbrough to Win @ 3.25 with Betfred
Total Goals Scored Under 2.5 @ 1.75 with Unibet

scored on 77 66 pt profit happy with that

Think Fulham are too high. Now with Ranieri a new Coach and he´s a good Coach to made the weak Fulham Defensive better. So offensive i think Fulham have some Class, but defensive at the Moment with 31 Goals against them absolut terrible. Now with International Break he have time to change something and also they have for me a little advantage, because they Play against Southampton who have with 8 own Goals a terrible Offensive. So for me i think Fulham is a good Choice...

Athletico Madrid v Barcelona (1) @ 3.1
Augsburg  v Eintract Frankfurt (2) @ 2.7
Plymouth v Fleetwood (2) @ 2.3
10pts win treble please
 

Valencia v Rayo Vallecano 1 @ 1.40
Schalke v Nurnberg 1 @ 1.45
Caen v Monaco 2 @ 2.50
30 pts please

Cardiff 2.45
Wigan 3.00
Coventry 3.4
10 treble please.

Well done to all the winners. What a finish from Paperclip. Thanks BH for another great competition.

Well done to everyone Divisions 4 & 5 especially knocked it out the park. 
Thanks again BH for continuing to run this so smoothly 

**Prizes will be announced in a separate thread Sunday PM
***New divisions will be calculated Monday AM
Some magnificent bets landed on the last day, well done to Paperclip and Silver Fox to name but two

 



 
 

 
 

Well done to all of the winners in this edition of the TC
We have had some fantastic totals this time round and my hats off to anyone who finished in profit.
This time round as well as the normal prizes we are awarding a PL Mug & Pen set to the top 3 overall scorers. When i thought about doing this I didn't think it would be such an exciting finish for the top 3 spots.
Well done to Paperclip who topped the charts with an amazing total of over £1100.
In fact the first 7 players all scored over £500 and Wiggo's total of £559 didnt even get him into the top 3 of his division!!!
Prizes:
Can all prizewinners send their PayPal email addy along with their PL name and prize being claimed to:
[email protected]
Overall winners must also send their name and address so we can send out the Mugs.
Please be patient with the prizes, you have 7 days to claim and it will take up to 14 days to process.
 

Overall Winners

 
Divisional winners
 


Clean slate next week and we will do it all again.
BH

Hamilton 1 @ 2,62
Derby 1 @ 3,20
Sunderland 1 @ 1,85
Max stakes please. 
:-)

Crystal Palace V Newcastle Utd
X @ 3.46 Marathonbet
In the absence of Benteke, Palace have switched to a 4-3-3 system and I actually prefer this. It gets 3 central midfielders on the pitch and opens the door for Max Meyer to get into the starting lineup. In my view he is the playmaker that Palace need as their attacking play has suffered this season in the absence of Cabaye and Loftus-Cheek. Palace may have won at Huddersfield on Saturday but it was a bit of a smash and grab as Huddersfield deserved something from the game in view of the amount of chances they created. Palace's new system maybe a step in the right direction but I think it'll take time before the red and blue army are firing on all cylinders.
We all know what Newcastle are like under Benitez; difficult to break down, hard to beat. The only reason they're currently at the foot of the table is because the fixture machine was harsh in the opening rounds. I think they will start to pickup points soon and will see this game at Palace as an opportunity to get somekind of positive result.
These are the kind of games that Palace do not like, home to an opponent that is prepared to sit back and defend and can do it effectively. Hard to see a winner emerging from this encounter so I think we have an increased likelyhood of stalemate.
3.46 for the draw is generous in my view.
 
 

wow. Not a fan of what Serena just did.