andrewcalo

Yeah you can say that @andrewcalo

First things first my friend, we will have to see if Pardew is still in a job by the time that game comes around

No Premier League team should ever be that price, but they are that price for a good reason too. I think if you backed Burnley at 20/1 in the same match 20 times, you'd win money without a doubt, but it's not my type of bet to get involved in.  

I did think the same but then I still think Man Utd will want to bounce back from that humiliation. They are only 6 points off the top and have only lost one game at home this season and that was narrowly against City. Think it will be ugly but think United should win. Got a feeling Zlatan will break open Burnley's back line.

Just a matter of time before the winning streak starts

Wow what a shower from Man United. Never saw that coming. Plan 'A' was poor, and there was no plan 'B'.
The style of play was awful. A mixture of the worst of Moyes and van Gaal. Back sideways, with no pace. No play maker, no directness.
Just awful.

Poor call from me - should have known they would sit back against one of the big boys after trying "their normal way" against Arsenal and Man Utd, losing both.

Initially I was annoyed with the way Mourinho set up and played against Liverpool. But then I began to understand more...
In a busy week of Liverpool away, Fenerbache at home and Chelsea away, he could not afford to start the week with a loss. A proper hiding would have been very damaging, to moral, confidence, tactics and the team in general. It also would have a knock on effect on the next three games (Fenerbache, Chelsea away, Man City at home .... league cup). A very tricky run.
In addition a Liverpool win, would have given Liverpool so much more confidence so giving them 3 points was never really an option.
Also, by Man City slipping up against Everton, United could have a 'positive' week, gaining a point on the league leaders. 
But it is pretty obvious that he does not trust some of his players in certain formations. He trusted them against Man CIty at home and they were clueless. At this moment in time he has inherited just too much dead wood from van Gaal. Terrible to poor signings (Darmian (12.7m), dePie (25m) , Rojo (16m),  Schweinsteiger (14m), would have been better served by another potential superstar (de Bryne or Renato Sanches).
Make no mistake, Mourinho wants to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge like oxygen. He has kept his ego quiet, but he wants to rub his ex employers faces in the dirt. For me this game is really the focus of his week...If you asked him if he would take a draw and a win in two away games against Liverpool and Chelsea he would answer YES. Ask him where he would prefer to win... I think he would answer Chelsea every time.
I think Zlatan is a good player, but he is coming to the end of his time. Both him and Rooney are blunting United by their lack of pace.
Zlatan is not working hard enough, and I hate to see 'lazy offside' when a striker walks back from a deep position. For me that action should be fined !
Let United rather play a 442 and play Martial and Rashford upfront (mArtial needs some confidence but scored  17 goals in  one season under van Gaal). 
2 midfield starters are  automatic  Pogba, Mikatarian. Then choose  (Herera, Carrick, Rooney, Mata, Fellaini, Young, Lingaard, Schneiderlin ) for the other 2 spots. Choose accordingly. Rooney or Fellaini can play as holding midfielders, Mata and Carrick can create, Young and  Lingaard can provide width, Herrera and Schniederlin are versatile).
Standard back four with wing backs Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, and Luke Shaw. Realistically, I would like to see Fosu Mensah come in at right back at some stage. Young guy with level head and huge talent.
If Chelsea play a back three, I think they lose this game badly. They just don't have  the mobility to match a hard running midfield, that will overload them (wide), and then move the ball quickly. Terry is not quick enough, and is far more suited to a back 4. Cahill looks like he has a mistake in him almost every game.
For me United win here easily, with a Mourinho tactical masterclass.
 
Two teams gong in opposite directions are Stoke and Hull. Hull started with a bang, but have lost 5 of their last 6 games. Many predicted a 20th spot in the league, and I think they will be right at the bottom. The 6-1 thrashing from Bournemouth was very damaging, because it's a game where Hull would expect to compete, reasonably evenly. I think Stoke win here, probably to NIL. I would also consider the NO BTTS in this game.
 
I think the Monday game against United will definitely help Liverpool against WBA. How to break down a defensive opponent ? Liverpool will have to develop this side of their game, because it's going to become the 'norm' as they get better and better.  Fergie's United could do it, and understood to do it, but it takes practice and practice. One thing Klopp has brought to Liverpool is the quick start. Dortmund did it for years, and blew teams away early. I think Liverpool are playing a similar style. High press, energy, catch em early. The Liverpool HT/FT WIN WIN is the way to go here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tottenham is a fair shout. The absence of Alderweireld could well hurt them against a side that is so attacking like Bournemouth.
I also agree @andrewcalo, Man Utd looking a lot better this past week. Football is a funny old game isn't it? Amazing how things can change in a week.

Liverpool to score a few past a West Brom defence with Jonny Evans suspended (2-0).
Arsenal to punish a poor Middlesborough side. Walcott and Sanchez on fine form at the moment (3-0). 
Man City to bounce back from defeat at Barcelona against Southampton who also lost away on Thursday at Inter. Man City to win 2-0.  
I'll be having them all on a -1 Asian Handicap bet. 
 

I like the look of 3 bets in the Premier League this weekend.
Bournemouth v Spurs

Bournemouth play football as it should be played and attack they will. Spurs are obviously very solid but I sense this will be quite an open game and this bet could be a winner before half time. The ratings back the bet up with both teams having very high ratings at present.
Both Teams To Score @ 1.75 Betfair


Arsenal v Middlesbrough

Arsenal are looking in great form at the moment, scoring for fun. They're also scoring very early in matches, so I wouldn't rule out the Half Time/Full Time bet here. Middlesbrough have it all to do and you just wouldn't want to be going to the Emirates Stadium right now, especially as a newly promoted team.
Banker of the weekend, it's just how you get as much out of it as possible. I'm going for:

Arsenal -1.5 @ 1.80 BetVictor


Liverpool v West Brom

Well it looks like another banker on the face of it, but West Brom are a compact team and they won't roll over easy. Only conceded 3 goals away from home.

I'm going to take West Brom to make it difficult for the boys in red, but Liverpool to break them down in the 2nd half.
Draw/Liverpool @ 4.50 BetVictor
 

Personally, I stay well clear of Liverpool results under Klopp. They are shit or bust these days. I wouldn't be surprised if Man United steal the win.

How come you think Swansea will avoid defeat? A lot of talk around this way that Guidolin will be gone if you lose? Surprisingly early to make such suggestions in my opinion but rumours hinting he's lost the dressing room.
I can't decide on the Manchester City versus Tottenham game. The Spurs defence is so famously impressive under Pochettino but City do have Aguero back and firing. My concern would be whether Spurs can score!

Think Southampton will beat a very ordinary Swansea side today.  Saints have had a slow start to the season but signs on Thurs night (3-0 win v S. Prague) that they are on the up. Despite losing Mane, Pelle and Wanyama, they have a very strong squad and I expect them to get a comfortable win today.  Swansea got a creditable 2-2 draw v Chelsea last weekend but most observers saw that as a very lucky point for the Swans.  They are a dull team and will battle relegation this season in my opinion. 
Southampton 3-0 (13/1 - Bet Victor) or 4-0 (28/1 - Bet Victor) is the bet. 

Out of curiosity, to see whether the international break has any effect on favorites, I went back and looked at the WC qualifiers in 2012-13, to see whether, on aggregate, favorites in Europe do better or worse before and after the break.
I dug around and ended up counting results for EPL, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Netherlands.
The week before the break: A fair number of wins away by underdogs of up to 4.99, but just as many draws, actually. 22-22-28 by dogs at that price range. Home dogs of up to 4.99, draws.
The week after was striking...away dogs fared very poorly, suggesting that the best sides come back from the break in good shape. But when the dogs played at home, they managed draws to an absurd degree. 7-19-30, 34% draws, entire range of odds.
I'd always heard people say that you should show caution when teams return from international breaks, but what I found was a smaller than normal number of wins by dogs, a very good performance by favorites at home, and a very high percentage of home dogs managing to get a point on the return.

My thoughts exactly. I think other teams will be more aware of the threats Tottenham have. The key for Spurs will be their defence again and I think they will be top 6 again this season but I think you're right about Everton under Koeman. They have the potential to have a huge season.

Accas are a waste of money in my opinion, no matter who or what you have in them. It's hard enough getting one right, let alone five.
Anyway, based on past experience, either West Brom or Watford will win tomorrow's match outright, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Hull finish 1-1.

As my first post,let me start by praising Punters Lounge prediction and performance ratings for their high accuracy. For instance, the Newcastle vs. Man City the draw was accurately predicted. The most dramatic was yesterday's Serie A game between Genoa and Inter Milan: Genoa had a +31.5 prediction rating and caused the biggest upset beating Inter 1:0!! 
Guys,I don't know what algorithm you use to do the ratings but it is pretty good. I love it. Keep up! Let's see how it performs this weekend. Thank you

Thanks Andrew, forgot to post the thread up - my bad!

Certainly not in my opinion, they dominated large parts of the game v PSG, looked very threatening, Hiddink has certainly got them playing like a Top 2-3 side at present.

My 5 for the weekend are
 
Leicester -1 @ 7/5
Palace @ 15/8
Watford @11/8
Stoke @4/6
Sou v Che draw @ 9/4
 
 
Doubles Trebles and an acca

Odds with Bet365

27/02/2016 Leicester 37.50 48.50 - 24.50 20.00 Norwich +17.50 27/02/2016 Southampton 42.50 31.50 - 42.00 39.50 Chelsea +3.00 27/02/2016 Stoke 32.25 26.00 - 25.00 22.25 Aston Villa +10.00 27/02/2016 Watford 24.75 32.00 - 39.00 26.75 Bournemouth -2.00 27/02/2016 West Brom 38.25 26.00 - 21.50 17.50 Crystal Palace +20.75 27/02/2016 West Ham 45.75 42.00 - 16.50 25.50 Sunderland +20.25 28/02/2016 Manchester Utd 32.00 29.00 - 35.50 33.00 Arsenal -1.00 28/02/2016 Tottenham 69.00 79.50 - 40.50 32.25 Swansea +36.75

I hold my hands up and say I got that completely wrong. The game was totally even and only swung one way and then the other based on refereeing decisions and little rubs of the green here and there.
 
Man City or Spurs to win the title in my opinion, so we'll see where the odds settle once the match between them finishes.