Bet On Chelsea And Man City To Draw At Stamford Bridge

Thursday, 8th December 2011

First up we've got the live Sunday lunchtime kick-off between Sunderland and Blackburn at the Stadium of Light. I'm not sure Martin O’Neill can get a lot more out of Sunderland's squad as it stands. He will make them harder to play against but they are undoubtedly going to need to buy a goalscorer. In fact you can probably trace their struggles back to when Darren Bent left the club and because of their lack of belief in front of goal at the moment this won't be an easy game.

Sunderland will always give it a go at home in front of their own fans, while Blackburn come into the game on the back of their win last weekend. It's a very difficult call as there are no real form lines to go on and there are so many imponderables, with Sunderland at home and O'Neill coming in but Blackburn winning last weekend. I have no real confidence in Sunderland to go and win games of football at this stage and Blackburn's away form is terrible, but they are capable of going there and getting something so I'm going to split the stakes and go for the 1-1 at 13/2 and the 2-1 to Sunderland at 8/1 with Ladbrokes.

We've then got Stoke against Tottenham in Sunday's later kick-off and Stoke have shown recently that they are far too good to be in any sort of trouble. They do what Fulham used to do after they’ve been beaten in Europe and are looking in a bit of trouble, they go and get results in big games.

This will be a super game and another different test for Tottenham but the way Spurs are playing I think they can handle this. They will need to find their rhythm against Stoke and it is an intriguing game on paper. You'd look at the two teams man for man and say Tottenham would win nine out of ten times but that just doesn't happen with Stoke. They have taken a couple of tonkings this season but other than that they have been reasonably solid. Tottenham's away form is fantastic though as they have won five out of seven and I'm going to go with Spurs to win this 2-1 at 8/1 with Betfred.

These are tough games and there are never any clear cuts matches in the Premier League but Tottenham have shown they can handle different circumstances this year and Emmanuel Adebayor and Brad Friedel will play a big part in standing up to the Stoke bombardment. Scott Parker will provide steel and they are equipped to go there and get a result.

We’ve then got Chelsea against Man City on Monday night and it's ok for Andre Villas-Boas to hit back and say what he did after the win over Valencia in mid-week because they got a result, but he has made a lot of mistakes so far. They're going through a transition but that's not an excuse and if they set up properly they are capable of winning games. It's not good enough playing well one in four, they should be doing that more consistently no matter what team he picks. So it's all well and good that they won and good luck to him but that's not to say he's ticked every box so far and the jury is still very much out on him.

It was interesting that the English teams in the Champions League played their strongest sides last weekend so it was obviously in the back of their minds that they might go out of Europe, which Man City obviously have. It's not as big a blow to City as it is to Man United though.

I fancy Roberto Mancini's side to get a 1-1 at Stamford Bridge, which is available at 6/1 with William Hill, and that would mean that they've been to Man United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea, and they've only got Arsenal left of the big five to play away. So they've done four out of the five and they'll be thinking that ‘everyone else has got to come to us and we're sitting on top of the league'. Nobody else can say that at this stage, all the other top teams have got to play each other away, so I think they'll take the draw in a game where I can’t see there being a lot between the sides.

For my weekly treble, I'm backing Southampton to beat Blackpool at 8/13 in the live Saturday lunchtime kick-off in the Championship, with Leicester to beat Peterborough at 4/6 and I fancy Charlton to extend their eight match winning run at Walsall (5/6). The odds on all three winning pays out a shade under 4/1 with Coral.

Steve Claridge's Weekend Football Tips

Tip#1: Sunderland v Blackburn – Correct score of 1-1 @ 13/2 with Ladbrokes

Tip#2: Sunderland v Blackburn – Correct score of 2-1 to Sunderland @ 8/1 with Ladbrokes

Tip#3: Stoke v Tottenham – Correct score of 2-1 to Tottenham @ 8/1 with Betfred

Tip#4: Chelsea v Man City – Correct score of 1-1 @ 6/1 with William Hill

Steve's Weekend Treble: Southampton to beat Blackpool (8/13); Leicester to beat Peterborough (4/6); Charlton to beat Walsall (5/6). A £25 treble returns a touch over £98 profit with Coral.

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