Week-end Preview.

Big Buck's won the World Hurdle for a record 3rd consecutive time. Glad the recommendation won, and that was my first and last foray on jump racing for this season!

Before I get to the week-end football preview, some comments on the Champions League match-ups that came up earlier during the day. Man Utd v/s Chelsea will be tight with slight advantage to Man Utd in my opinion. Tottenham v/s Madrid, it will be interesting to see how Redknapp plays Mourinho's team. I'm inclined to check how the English coach fared against Chelsea during the Special One's tenure in England. Could it have gotten any easier for Barcelona? Probably not. As I see it, if teams play to their strength, we are going towards a Barcelona v/s Madrid, and Man Utd v/s Inter semi-finals... But injuries always seem to play a part, so fingers crossed and we'll get to the matches in due time.

This week-end's Premier League match-ups sees Man City travelling to a seemingly-resurgent Chelsea. The other leaders will be hoping that this ends in a draw. Man Utd host Bolton in what should be a tough encounter as they are missing so many players and Bolton are no slouch. At the end, I don't expect Man Utd to lose this game, so I recommend them as draw-no-bet. Tottenham host West Ham and there won't be better opportunities for them to get 3 points. West Ham are playing well of late but are quite woeful on the road.  I recommend Tottenham as a draw-no-bet as I don't see them losing this one. Arsenal travel to West Brom in what on paper looks a formality for them. The Gunners come from a depressing fortnight when they've been bounced from 3 Cups! West Brom might offer some form resistance under new coach Hodgson, but in the end, Arsenal will either prevail or end up with a draw (which won't suit them). A draw-no-bet on Arsenal looks safe and is recommended.

In Spain, Barcelona can widen the gap at the top. They will beat Getafe. A win is recommended. Real Madrid face an arguably difficult derby game at Athletico, to whom they haven't lost to for the past 11 years, by the way! The Los Blancos played a tough match in the Champions League mid-week game against Lyon but they have a big enough squad to cope. I think this game will either end in a draw or a Real win. So a draw-no-bet on Real is recommended.

In Italy, I like Lazio, Inter, and Napoli in their home games against lowly teams. There's no sure win for any team in today's Serie A, so a draw-no-bet on all these 3 teams is recommended.


Win: Barcelona.
Draw-no-bet: Arsenal, Man Utd, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Lazio, Inter, Napoli.