Saturday
Fixture: Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham
Venue: Villa Park (Aston Villa home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: They have been a little hit and miss in recent weeks, admittedly, but Villa should still finish strongly enough to maintain fourth. The return of Emile Heskey, who has been out for a month, should be a boost, while West Ham are still forced to play the kids on the back of their small, inexperienced squad. They proved incapable of forcing anything out of a hit-and-miss Tottenham away from home last weekend, while Villa were drawing at Everton, and I can't see them get anything out of a trip to Villa Park.
Betting Advice: 3pts Villa win at 8/11 (1.73 at Coral)
Fixture: Middlesbrough 0-0 Fulham
Venue: Riverside Stadium (Boro home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: If this game was taking place six weeks ago I would have picked Fulham in a heart beat. Boro are going down and deserved to be dropping to the Championship because they have shown no desire and little sign of having enough talent to compete at this level. However, we are now at the tail-end of the season where funny results hit us because of the pressure and immediacy of the drop. It is the time of year when the bottom club already relegated starts beating the top teams and championship-winning sides falter against mid-table opposition. It is not a time to be "all-in" with our betting. So, Fulham to win this one and all but send Boro down, but with a modicum of restraint.
Betting Advice: 2pts Fulham to win at 5/2 (3.5 at expekt.com)
Fixture: Portsmouth 1-0 Bolton
Venue: Fratton Park (Portsmouth home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: I'm sticking with my belief that Portsmouth are good enough to avoid the drop and that they will get the points they need to stay up - despite them letting us down last weekend. Bolton are a no-nonsense ugly side that get results where they can. But Portsmouth can ugly it with the best of them, and after drawing against West Brom last week will be making doubly sure they put some distance between themselves and the bottom three.
Betting Advice: 5pts Portsmouth to win at 11/10 (2.1 generally)
Fixture: Sunderland 1-0 Hull
Venue: Stadium of Light (Sunderland home)
Kick-off: 3pm BST
Verdict: Sunderland's performance against Man Utd suggested that they will have far too much at home for a faltering desperate Hull side. In fact, I would go as far to say that Sunderland could finish in mid-table with the run-in they have. They certainly have the better of the firepower up front.
Betting Advice: 5pts Sunderland to win at 10/11 (1.91 generally)
Tuesday
Fixture: Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal
Venue: Anfield (Liverpool home)
Kick-off: 8pm BST
Verdict: It is with a huge sense of that Liverpool look at the timing of their match with Arsenal. It has been pushed back to give them six days from their epic 4-4 encounter with Chelsea. That won't have taken too much out of them emotionally because they never expected to get anything out of it. Arsenal, meanwhile, are a danger at the moment, but their thoughts are with the Champions League at the moment, while Liverpool have just the league to chase. I imagine that Arsenal's kids will be overwhelmed at Anfield as Liverpool chase that elusive title. They actually deserve it this season.
Betting Advice: 3pts Liverpool win at Evens (2.0 at Bet365)
THE NO BETS
Saturday
Most pundits are going big on Stoke to win this, but I like Blackburn and I think they can get at least a point at the Britannia Stadium - particularly if lowly Newcastle can
Sunday
Spurs should beat Newcastle, but the Geordies are desperate for points and will scrap for anything. Avoid
Man City are unbackable at the moment. They are erratic and costing punters a lot of money. WBA may see this as a rare chance for points
Wednesday
Chelsea (1/2) are no price to beat Everton. I wouldn't be too surprised if this is tougher than they think
Man Utd (1/4) should beat Portsmouth at home, but I won't be backing them at that poor price
