Is Steve Bruce Fighting To Keep His Job?

Steve Bruce has had a successful time as Hull City manager, having taken the job in the summer of 2012, first guiding them to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and then keeping them up in the top flight last season.

But, it seems to be heading down hill, as another defeat this weekend, although against a team unbeaten at home in leaders Chelsea, sees Hull in 19th, with just 2 wins from 16 games in the league. Hull haven't won since beating Crystal Palace at home on the 4th October, with 5 losses and 4 draws since. Their only other win in the league came against QPR away on the opening weekend of the season. They've also only scored 2 goals in their last 8 premier league games, and the decision to let Shane Long go, was a strange one for me in the first place. Abel Hernandez is back, but hasn't scored since returning from the birth of his child. I like Hernandez, and do believe him to be a quality goal scorer, but sometimes, players can take time to settle, and show their true abilities.

Barclays Premier League – 13-15/12/2014

There’s seven Barclays Premier League fixtures on Saturday, including the clash between Arsenal and Newcastle later in the evening. Before the clash of the weekend on Sunday, as in-form United host struggling Liverpool, and after that, to the Liberty Stadium for Swansea against Tottenham. Monday night football sees QPR travel to Goodison.

I’m going to look at a couple of games, provide some stats, and give some predictions, and hopefully find a few winning bets for all;

 

BURNLEY V SOUTHAMPTON

Southampton haven’t won in the League since beating Leicester at the beginning of November, and have lost their last 3, although Southampton will feel very disappointed not to have got something from both the Arsenal, and United game. Having said this, the Saints still have the best defensive record in the league, conceding 12 from 15. And Burnley are joint lowest goal scorers in the league (with Villa), with just 10 goals in 15 games.

Burnley have only won 1 of 8 league games at Turf Moor this season, and scored just 6 goals, and conceded 11 in them games. Burnley have only scored more than once in a game this season, on two occasions, and both of them, away from home, against Stoke and Leicester.

Burnley have conceded the most headed goals, with 9 this season, and when you see how good Pelle is in the air, you can imagine he’ll be getting on the score sheet.

Southampton are unbeaten in their last four games against Burnley in all competitions, with 2 wins, 2 draws, and have lost just one of their last six away games at Turf Moor (W2 D3 L1).

Mark Clattenberg takes charge of this game, and he has given the second highest amount of yellow cards in the league this season, with 83 in 18 games, an average of 4.6 per game, with 2 red cards shown.

VERDICT; It’s a tough one to call really, with Southampton near the top, and Burnley near the bottom, but Burnley above Southampton in the form table. The Saints will definitely want to get back on track here, but Burnley won’t just lay down.

Under 2.5 goals – 4/6 (Paddy Power)

Over 30 points – Card Index – 8/13 (Paddy Power)

Friday's Cheltenham Tips - Horse Racing UK

There's a very good days racing this Friday, so I thought I'd post a couple of tips before my Premier League post goes live for this weekends fixtures. There's action from Cheltenham, Bangor, Doncaster, and on the all-weather at Wolverhampton, and over in Dundalk, Ireland, in the evening.

Cheltenham sees the reappearance of Nicky Henderson-trained Hadrian's Approach, in the Grade 3 Handicap Chase. He was last seen at Sandown in April, when winning the Bet365 Gold Cup Chase. The 7-year old Bay Gelding, by High Chaparral, is set to take on 9 opponents, including in-form The Ould Lad, Paul Nicholls-trained Cowards Close and in-form veteran Charingworth.

As mentioned, I do have a couple of tips, so here they are;

Cheltenham       12:30

KINGS PALACE  4/5 (BetVictor)

Kings Palace gets the vote. Enjoys the course, winning 3 from 4 here, and also 3 from 4 on Good ground. 1 from 1 at the distance, when beating favourite, Creepy (2nd) and Monbeg Dude(3rd)here 14 months ago. Beat off Sausalito Sunrise last time out mid-November. Jockey, Scudamore has a 27% strike rate in Novice Chases this season, and 35% strike rate when teamed up with David Pipe in chases this season.

Cheltenham       13:40

VINTAGE VINNIE   4/1 (Paddy Power)

I've pondered for quite some time on this one, before coming to a decision on Vintage Vinnie. Has finished 3rd on both hurdles starts to date, over 20f, and the step down in trip could be ideal. Trainer Rebecca Curtis has a 40% strike rate in handicap hurdles this season.

Cheltenham       14:10

COWARDS CLOSE   5/1 (Coral)

Since the start of November 2014 Paul Nicholls has won 2x Grade 3, 2x Grade 2 and 5x Grade 1 races, including the Betfair Chase and the Tingle Creek Chase. He has Cowards Close in this Grade 3, and in the form Nicholls is in of late, and in the big races, the gelding by Presenting can't be ruled out, and has every chance of progressing. When teamed together this season, Nicholls and Twiston-Davies have a 28% strike rate in chases.

 

OTHER TIPS

Chelt 14:40 - Duke of Lucca      13/2

Chelt 15:15 - Big Easy              11/4

Wolv 18:30 - Lord of the Storm 11/4


Best of luck, and enjoy the racing

Barclays Premier League - Monday Night Football - Southampton v Manchester United

Monday Night Football see's Southampton take on Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League.
 

 

The Saints have struggled in their recent games, after a blistering start to the season.

United are looking to make it 5 wins on the bounce and move into 3rd place, but their away form has been far from convincing, with just 1 win in 6 this season, their last away game, against Arsenal.

Southampton have only conceded 4 goals in 7 home games, scoring 17, but Pelle has been struggling of late, having not scored since the empthatic 8-0 thrashing of Sunderland, mid-October. I really can't see United losing this game, despite a rocky away form, but an outright win would be tough, even though Southampton have a few key names missing. Wayne Rooney has scored 5 goals in 5 starts against Southampton in the League, and if he starts here looks a good bet for ANYTIME GOAL SCORER @2/1 BET365

 

Sports Saturday – Best Bets

It’s another Saturday full of top class horse racing and Premier League football, and that’s just the way I like it. We have Newcastle v Chelsea in the early kick off as the blues look to extend their unbeaten league record to 15 games this season. And in the racing we have plenty of quality on show, including the Betfred Becher Handicap Chase (Grade 3) Cl1 and Betfred Grand Sefton Handicap Chase Cl2 from Aintree and the Racing Post Henry VIII Novices´ Chase (Grade 1) Cl1 and 888Sport Tingle Creek Chase (Grade 1) Cl1 from Sandown.

Plenty to get through, so I’ll get started straight away, first with the Barclays Premier League games;

Newcastle v Chelsea – CHELSEA WIN 4/7 (Paddy Power) – Score; 1-2      7/1 (Paddy Power)

Chelsea are certainly looking like they'll be champions come the end of the season, and remain unbeaten in the league with 11 wins and 3 draws.

Newcastle have only lost 1 game at home, which was against City on the opening weekend. They have drawn with Hull and Palace, and beaten Liverpool, QPR and Leicester, so another big test will prove too much I think. In defence Newcastle have been fairly sound, and only conceded 3 in their last 6 league games.

Having said that, Chelsea average over 2 goals a game away from home in the League this season, and they've scored 10 goals in their last 6 league games (conceding just 3). 2-1 Chelsea win for me.

 

QPR v Burnley – QPR WIN & Both Teams To Score (BTTS) 4.33 (BET365)

QPR failed to score against Swansea away in midweek, but had been finding the net a little before that, with Austin the main man. Swansea's defence is also very good at home, and QPR's away form is the worst.

QPR beat Leicester 3-2 at home recently and I can see a similar score line against Burnley, either 3-2 or 3-1 QPR.

Burnley have only scored 4 away goals but managed 2 in their last away game at Stoke, and Danny Ings looks like he's finding his feet a bit in the Premier League now.

 

Hull City v West Brom – HULL WIN 29/20 (BET365)

Both these sides have been on poor run of form, but Hull managed a draw against Everton in midweek and they'll hope that's a turning point in their season. They did lose Diame in that game through injury but have the return of strike Abel Hernandez.

West Brom have skipper Chris Brunt on the side lines with a hamstring injury, and with Berahino now 436 minutes without a Premier League goal, it’s not looking good. West Brom have scored just 5 goals in their last 11 Premier League games on the road, and never more than once in those games.

 

And that’s it for Saturday’s football bets. I do have a couple more in mind, and you can find me on OLBG to see all my tips, my username is kingman55.

 

And now a quick look at a couple of my racing picks for today;

Sandown 12:50 – Blue Buttons 3/1 (William Hill)

Harry Fry in fine form at the moment, and has a 38% strike rate in Handicap hurdles so far this season. Trainer and Jockey combination shows a 33% strike rate in hurdles this season with 6 wins from 18.

 

Aintree 1:30 – Mendip Express (EW) 10/1 (BET365)

Mendip Express is 2 from 2 on the current going (soft) and 1 from 1 at the distance. Again, trainer Harry Fry is in fine form at the moment with 5 wins from 13 in the last fortnight (38% strike rate).

Wednesday's Premier League Football Tips

Tuesday's Premier League action saw Manchester United increase their winning streak to 4 games, enjoying the majority of the possession against Stoke, winning 2-1, with goals from Fellaini and Mata.
Liverpool beat Leicester 3-1 away, but once again, it wasn't the most convincing performance, as they went behind to a Mignolet own-goal. Lallana pulled the reds level just 4 minutes later to ease the pressure. 1-1 at half time, and 9 minutes into the restart captain Steven Gerrard put the reds ahead. It got worse for Leicester as Wes Morgan was sent off in the 63rd minute, but if anything, this inspired the team, who looked the most threatening, even with 10 men, but were unable to find the net. Liverpool then punished them with a Jordan Henderson goal in the 83rd minute to seal the win.
There were also wins for Aston Villa away at Crystal Palace, Swansea at home to QPR and West Ham away at West Brom.
The game between Burnley and Newcastle at Turf Moor finished 1-1.

Hopefully, if you followed my tips yesterday, you were on the 3 out of 6 correct scores predicted for last nights games, which could have got you around £270 profit from £10 stakes, and I have correct score tips for tonight's games below too.


There's another four games to look forward to tonight in the Barclays Premier League, with the biggest game coming from Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea look to continue their perfect run of home games in the league, against Tottenham, to make it 7 wins from 7.
Manchester City travel to the Stadium of Light, where they have struggled in recent times, losing the last 4 visits 1-0.
In the other to games, Arsenal welcome Southampton to the Emirates and Hull City travel to Goodison to take on Everton.



I've struggled a bit more than I did for yesterday's fixtures, which seemed a little easier to predict, but here goes, may the luck be with me;


Arsenal v Southampton 2-1

Cheslsea v Spurs           2-1

Everton v Hull                2-0

Sunderland v M. City     0-2

Barclays Premier League - Midweek Games

It's that time of year football managers hate, as games come thick and fast, and Christmas shopping gets left to the missus.
First up tonight's Barclays Premier League fixtures, we have Burnley at home to Newcastle, who currently sit top of the form table with 5 wins and 1 loss in the last 6 games. Liverpool travel to Leicester, Manchester United host Stoke City, QPR travel to the Liberty Stadium, Crystal Palace welcome Villa and West Brom take on West Ham at the Hawthorns. I can see most games tonight being low scoring, having looked through them all.


SWANSEA V QPR - SWANSEA WIN - 2-1

Swansea will be disappointed with their home draw against Palace on Saturday, having dominated possession, but it was poor finishing that cost them, with only 4 shots on target from 18 attempts. Swansea's best form comes at home, with just one loss in 7 at the Liberty Stadium (scoring 11, conceding 5), and they can add to QPR's poor away form, which reads 6 played, 6 lost, scoring just 2 goals, and conceding 15. Although they've only scored twice away from home, QPR have scored 10 goals in their last 6 league games, and could cause a tough Swansea defence some problems, with Charlie Austin finding the net of late.

Other Correct Score Tips

Burnley v Newcastle  1-1

Leicester v Liverpool  1-2

Man Utd v Stoke        2-1

Palace v Villa             1-1

W. Brom v W. Ham    1-2


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Barclays Premier League Tips- 29-30/11

There's 8 games this Saturday in the Barclays Premier League, starting with the early kick-off from The Hawthorns as West Brom take on Arsenal. There have been 20 goals in West Brom's 6 home games so far this season, and there could be a few more to come here.
In the 3 o'clock kick-offs Burnley host Villa, Stoke travel to Anfield, United welcome Hull City, Leicester travel to QPR, Swansea host Palace and the in-form Newcastle travel down to Upton Park.

BURNLEY V ASTON VILLA - VILLA WIN (11/4)

Two of Villa's 3 wins have come away from home in the league this season, although they're not scoring many, with only 2 goals away from home in 6 games, but did look more threatening in their last game, on the counter attack especially, against Southampton.
Burnley have come into form a little with their 2 quick-fire wins, but have only one win in 6 games at home, conceding 9 goals.


QPR V LEICESTER - QPR WIN (5/4)

Only one win in the last 6 for Redknapp's side, but their best form comes at home, with 2 wins, 2 draws from 6, scoring 9 goals.
Leicester haven't scored in their last 5 league games, since scoring 2 against Burnley in October, and have just 1 win, and 1 goal away from home in the league.


WEEKEND DOUBLE

SOUTHAMPTON and EVERTON WIN (around 8-9/1)

RIP Phillip Hughes

It's been a week where the world of sport has joined together to mark it's respect to the Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes, who passed away, two days after being struck on the back of the neck by a ball in a domestic match in Sydney. He was just 25.

I join everyone, by saying RIP to Phillip Hughes, and thoughts go out to family and friends, and in particular, 22-year old Sean Abbott, the bowler of the delivery that struck Hughes. It was an absolute tragedy, and everyone will be behind you to support you, keep strong.

It's clear to see by all the messages over the past couple of days, that this man was not only a very talented sportsman, but a genuine guy that was close to many. Always remembered as #63notout

Premier League Action Returns!

After what seems like another lengthy International break it's back to the proper stuff, and a cracking evening game from The Emirates as Arsenal host Manchester United. Unfortunately, the game does lack the Bellew/Cleverley passion and fight it once had, with the likes of Keane, Butt, Viera, Keown and Parlour to name a few, stirring it up. Both teams have scored and shipped goals this season, and the both teams to score looks a certainty for me. Arsenal are unbeaten in the league at home so far this term, and I can see that continuing. United are yet to record an away win in the league under Van Gaal, having drawn 3 and lost 2, and if the Arsenal fans get behind their team, it could prove a difficult evening for their opponents. United are the more in-form team, only losing 1 of their last 6 league games.

Verdict - SCORE DRAW


Newcastle are now a team in-form, and host a QPR side that are at the opposite end of the form table. The Magpies have won 4 of their last 6 games, conceding only 4 and scoring 8. I can see a low-scoring Newcastle victory here.

Verdict - NEWCASTLE WIN - 1-0