Saturday
Fixture: Aston Villa 0-0 Fulham
Venue: Villa Park (Villa home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Good point that for Fulham at Anfield, but Villa might prove that they have too many attacking options for the Cottagers' exciting all-out defence.
Betting Advice: 8pts Villa win at 4/6 (1.67 at Boylesports, Bet Direct and Stan James)
Fixture: Middlesbrough 0-0 Newcastle
Venue: Riverside Stadium (Boro home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Though they let me down last week against Bolton, I still think that Boro are playing the kind of football that will drag them out of the middle and towards a berth in the upper echelons. Newcastle are better than they were, but not by much.
Betting Advice: 2pts Boro win at 5/4 (2.25 at totesport, BlueSq and 888sport)
Fixture: Stoke 1-1 Hull
Venue: Britannia Stadium (Stoke home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: When newly promoted teams come up, you can throw previous form out of the window. It's probably best to throw out any thought of making money on the fixture, as well.
Betting Advice: no bet
Fixture: Sunderland 1-4 Bolton
Venue: Stadium of Light (Sunderland home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Sunderland are springing surprises here, getting beat when they shouldn't be. They are in that black hole in the middle of the Premiership where anyone can beat anyone. Avoid
Betting Advice: no bet
Fixture: Wigan 2-1 WBA
Venue: JJB Stadium (Wigan home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: A win last week should give Wigan the confidence to beat a WBA side that don't have any confidence at all. They are bottom because when they've had the chance to take three points they've blown it and then they've gone out the next week and lost.
Betting Advice: 3pts Wigan to win at 4/5 (1.8 generally)
Sunday
Fixture: Man City 0-1 Man Utd
Venue: Eastlands (Man City home)
Kick-off: 1.30pm GMT
Verdict: Wayne Rooney has opened up his big mouth and larged it about how rubbish Man City are, which has handed them the fixture. I was leaning their way anyway becaise United are not the most cohesive unit and look likely to fall apart in the pressure of a derby, particularly as City are a much improved side.
Betting Advice: 2pts Man City win at 7/2 (4.5 at William Hill)
Fixture: Portsmouth 3-2 Blackburn
Venue: Fratton Park (Portsmouth home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: I'm happy that Portsmouth are now on the up after all their troubles, which will give them a healthy edge over Blackburn whose last point was a draw against bottom placed West Brom at the beginning of the month.
Betting Advice: 1pt Portsmouth win at 11/10 (2.1 generally)
Fixture: Spurs 0-1 Everton
Venue: White Hart Lane (Spurs home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Although it's all about Spurs at the moment, they are still slipping up and I would want more than Evens against them beating Everton who are seventh on the back of their away form.
Betting Advice: no bet
Fixture: Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal
Venue: Stamford Bridge (Chelsea home)
Kick-off: 4pm GMT
Verdict: I don't think it's a faze any more, I genuinely think that Arsenal are just not very good anymore. They have three fundamental flaws: no defence, no strike force and an incoherence about their play.
Betting Advice: 5pts Chelsea win at 4/5 (1.8 at Bet365, BlueSq, 888sport, William Hill)
Monday
Fixture: Liverpool 0-0 West Ham
Venue: Anfield (Liverpool home)
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
Verdict: While this may be a simple home win, it is not a 4/11 shot, particularly with Torres out for the time being.
Betting Advice: no bet
