Champions League Tuesday

Last night was an average night for picks (my early Manchester City Asian Handicap bet was premature and ended in a push), however by kickoff the odds on City winning were as high as 1.81…more than enough to entice me in. They won (eventually), and my stack looks a little more swole now (that sounds disgusting).On to tonight’s festivities, and it looks like Europe will once again throw up some super betting potential.

Chelsea, top of Champions League Group B, face Schalke 04, knowing that a victory could see them safely through to the next round. Chelsea easily beat them two weeks ago at home, and are on a great run of form (they have won their last seven games, including two in the Champions League). Schalke, on the other hand, lost their last game to the Bundesliga’s bottom club, and are sweating on the status of two of their star players, and have a further five out definitely.

With all of this stacked up, why are Chelsea so far out at 2.14?

The main reason seems to be their defence, which has two noticeable gaps (Terry and Cole) and also Ferreira on the sidelines, and so punters seem to be being a little cautious about how Chelsea will approach this match. Is that enough to justify this price? I don’t think so. The back four that kept a clean sheet at Wigan at the weekend should be reunited, and with Schalke needing to press forward to take the three points, there should be ample space for Joe Cole, Lampard, Drogba and (even) Shevchenko to exploit.

My pick:
Schalke 04 v Chelsea – Chelsea (to win) @ 2.14

Back to basics

After backing Phoenix against the Lakers earlier in the (brief) NBA season, I was fooled again into thinking that Kobe wouldn’t show up to work with the right attitude. He did, and the Jazz felt it.

With that disappointment fresh in my mind, tonight is a night for going back to basics.Manchester City host Sunderland this evening, with the 6-0 drubbing by the newly rejunivated Chelsea galacticos still fresh in their minds.

Sven’s men want nothing more than to erase this blip in form from the minds of the football public, and what better way than to reassert their authority at home to a Sunderland team who have failed to win in 9 of their last 10 outings?

City will also be boosted by the return of Martin Petrov (the Fantasy Football enthusiast’s favourite pick), which should see them extend their home record to a perfect 7-0-0.

How to play tonight’s match? Try this bet:

Asian handicap, Manchester City -1.0 @ 2.22. This means…

If Man City win by 2 or more – £6.10
If Man City win by 1 – £0
If Man City do not win – -£5.00

Showdown Sunday

The US sports world is buzzing about the biggest NFL matchup in 10 years – the New England Patriots at the Indianapolis Colts. With the Red Sox sweeping the World Series, and the Celtics welcoming their first ‘triple threat’ offence since Bird, McHale and Parish, the Patriots are looking to complete the puzzle by proving their football seniority by defeating the reigning Superbowl champions, the Colts.

Just like Arsenal v United yesterday, this one is a tough call. The Colts, as previously mentioned, are the world champions, they are undefeated and (perhaps most importantly) may hold the pschological edge by winning the last three meetings against the Pats. The Patriots, however, boast the most talked about team in recent times, with an offence that has averaged more than 40 points per game on their way to a perfect 7-0 record this season. So what’s the call?

The call is – don’t risk it! If football insiders and commentators are split as to who will win, the only possibility is that anything can happen! Even taking the spread (Colts +5.5) is troubling, because if the Patriots do get on top, they have shown no mercy in running up the score all season long.

Looking over at the NBA, there are some tasty Sunday night matchups – with the pick being Utah travelling to LA to face the Lakers. In what promises to be a tight game, Utah has been given a slight edge by Vegas (-2.5), however betting exchanges are not recognising it, actually making Utah a slight underdog (1.99 to 1.98). The Lakers comfortably beat Phoenix on Friday, however this seemed to be more due to their opponents bad play rather than their dominance, and Kobe was bailed out by his bench. This leads me to Utah, who crush Golden State last night and who I think will be too deep for LA to handle.

Pick:
Utah v La Lakers (money line) @ 1.99

Bouncebackability

Last night’s pick (and the first official pick of the 2007/08 season) turned bad when Phoenix conspired to be blown out by the Lakers’ bench. There were quite a few ‘odd’ results last night…so I’m not going to get too hung up on them. What’s more important is today’s Premiership action.One of the biggest, if not the biggest, Premiership fixture takes place today at 12.45GMT – Arsenal at home to Manchester United.

This game is cLose Weight Exercise/”>Lose Weight Exercise, and the form guide for both teams reads like a Tiger Woods scorecard – Arsenal have won 8 and drawn 2 in their last 10 games, and United have gone one better with 9 wins and one draw. It’s this parity which makes it very hard to pick a winner…however…

United have scored a club record 12 goals in the last 3 games, and just one of Arsenal’s last 10 games at home has ended with fewer than 2 goals being scored (their 1-0 win over Manchester City). It will be an upbeat match with everyone trying to make their mark, and +2.5 goals is tempting at 2.3…but instead go for +1.5 goals in the game multiplied with no sendings off in the Middlesborough and Wigan games to take you up to 1.95.

For another pic, look no further than the big disappointment of this season so far (except Spurs) – Liverpool. They seem to have been surrounded by crisis after crisis since opening day, however this hysteria hasn’t completely translated itself to their Premiership form, especially on their travels where they are yet to Lose Weight Exercise/”>Lose Weight Exercise this season (in fact they have only dropped 2 points from a possible 15). A nice price of 2.56 is available for Liverpool to extend their run of away form, and with Blackburn’s talismanic midfielder David Bentley out injured, they should be able to get back on the comeback trail this afternoon.

Picks

Multiplier – Arsenal v Manchester United +1.5goals, no red cards in Middleborough and Wigan matches @ 1.95

Blackburn v Liverpool Liverpool to win @ 2.56

NBA picks – Gameday 4

Rain Man here to give a quick note to give my pick for tonight’s action. Over the coming months I will be trying to give less ‘traditional’ bets…including multiples and some in-play tips…Tonight I’ll offer up:

3 game multiplier
1 LA Lakers @ Phoenix (Backing Phoenix Suns @ 1.21)
2 Denver @ Minnesota (Backing Denver Nuggets @ 1.22)
3 Miami @ Indiana (Backing Indiana Pacers @ 1.33)

Multiplying up this comes to an overall bet of 1.96…enjoy.

Rain Man cometh…

With the 2007 NBA season beginning in earnest this evening, as well as a packed day of Premiership action, there seems to be no better time to introduce everyone to the newest writer on DJOD.co.uk…Rain Man.

Rain Man is a tipster who wears his brain on his sleeve. He isn’t afraid to make controversial calls, and will always share his insider knowledge with the world.

The tips provided on these pages will be aimed at the gambler who bets a regulated amount on every game…to avoid potential ‘DOUBLE UP’ scenarios becoming a fast train to being broke. Logic is the key and Rain Man is the locksmith.

Of course every hero has a nemesis, and the tipster who is the Joker to Rain Man’s Batman is Oytun over at www.oytun.co.uk…if you ever need some comedy to go with our stone cold locks…it’s available there.