Sky Blues & Arsenal to deliver a double volley to the bookies

There's plenty of sporting action over this Christmas period & we'll be trying to find the best bets right throughout - the football wasn't great for us last Saturday with two lower league losers but other than that it's been winners all the way for followers with Arsenal winning with ease on Monday preceded by our NFL picks coming up trumps too. We'll have the American football bets up as usual for Sunday's full schedule of games & with a bit of luck we may even get a King George blog up as well for Boxing Day's racing. Make sure to follow us on Twitter @LikeBuyingMoney if you aren't doing so already by finding us on there or clicking the Follow button up above.

Wigan Athletic vs Arsenal

Sometimes you can see bets that look too simple to be true but you can't let that put you off a great punting opportunity & Arsenal look overpriced again against Wigan just as they were when thrashing Reading on Monday night.

(Ho Ho Ho! What will Santi deliver this Christmas?)

Arsene Wenger has done a super bit of business with tying down a quintet of key young English players to long term deals in the week & there appears to be a bit of a feel good factor at the club after hearing nothing but grumbles by many fans & some super intelligent ex-players (cough Ian Wright cough). Arsenal are one of the top three sides in Europe in terms of possession along with Bayern Munich & Barcelona who sit way out in front, that passing style & superior players should ensure that they best Wigan who also try to play football the supposed 'right' way.

Wigan have lost the joint most games in the league, 10 along with Reading & too often seem to have a soft centre & that paired along with a lack of a consistent scorer has meant they've slipped into the relegation zone. Wigan's ex-Hamilton James's McCarthy & McArthur are decent players but Arsenal's central midfielders should be able to outmaneuver them especially now that Santi Cazorla looks to back to form with an almighty bang. Odds of 3/4 about an Arsenal win look too big - the Latics are 3rd worst on their home form with the Gunners 4th best in the league on the road.

Coventry City vs Preston North End

Down in League One, Coventry City entertain Preston North End at Ricoh Arena. There is only one point & two places between them with Coventry 13th & Preston 15th.

(Striker David McGoldrick (front) is the main man for Coventry & worth his weight in goals)

Coventry are in fine form & two weeks ago they brought home the money for us & you as they easily dispatched Walsall 5-1 with a brace from both David McGoldrick & Carl Baker. They followed it up with an excellent 4-1 away victory at 4th place Doncaster Rovers to make it six wins in their last eight league games. McGoldrick is League One top goalscorer now with 15 goals of which ten coming his last nine league games & manager Mark Robins will be desperate to extend his loan deal past the 1st January.

Preston have been inconsistent all season with seven wins, eight draws & seven defeats in their 22 league games so far, they have only won one of their last eight league games & a they earnt a point in a 0-0 draw last weekend against Portsmouth after two defeats to Leyton Orient & Crewe Alexander. They have failed to score in three of their last four & the side haven't been effective since the long term injuries to full backs Keith Keane & Scott Laird.

We expect a Coventry side brimming with confidence & goals to be too strong for an inconsistent Preston team at the best price of 6/5 with bet365 & BetVictor.

Selections:
Arsenal to beat Wigan Athletic at 3/4 (Various)
Coventry City to beat Preston North End at 6/5 (bet365/BetVictor)

Monday Night Football - Royals facing the Firing Squad

We haven't been making picks for every Monday night but we like the look of the Premier League game this week as there may have been a slight overreaction by the layers to Arsenal's recent poor form - Kevin Pullein recently stated again, in his excellent Racing Post column, how poor runs of form tend to be worse indicators of the quality of a team than good runs (it's easier to lose than win!) & this may well be the case with the Gunners.

Reading vs Arsenal

All the talk in recent weeks has been of how terrible Arsenal are & that it may be time for the side to part ways with their French managerial maestro Arsene Wenger yet if they beat bottom placed Reading this Monday night they'll go to 5th place in the Premier League & be set to be challenging for one of those lucrative Champions League spots.

(Arsene Wenger is under intense media pressure & has demanded his players improve)

It's quite correct for Arsenal to have been derided for going out of the League Cup to League Two Bradford last week, they can't claim to have not been taking it seriously because we all saw the 11 players who lined up & proceeded to play so poorly with a listless display. The criticism will however have genuinely hurt Wenger & the vast majority of his players (Three-O Walcott may not care so much though....) & this game against the porous Reading defence could be just the tonic for the Gunners. The League Cup game here earlier in the season was maybe the most remarkable in the competition ever with the scoreline ending up 7-5 after Reading led by 4 just before half time with Walcott (a slight doubt here with injury) inspiring the Arsenal comeback.

(Not everyone's favourite but Per Mertesacker has helped organise the Arsenal defence)

That 7-5 game will mean that both sides will want to be tighter at the back here but Reading don't have the players to do that, they've kept just one clean sheet in the league & Arsenal are much more resilient in general, they've had 6 clean sheets (over 1/3 of their games) & have only conceded 16 in total. Some Reading defenders really aren't up to this level & that includes mediocre keeper Adam Federici & Shaun Cummings & Adrian Mariappa have struggled with the step up to the top league. Arsenal still need to strengthen at the keeper position but their back 4 are actually developing into a coherent group & although Per Mertesacker is always vulnerable to balls in behind he's well complemented by pacy fullbacks Gibbs & Jenkinson. Arsenal's big problem in recent weeks has been that record signing Santi Cazorla's form has dropped off, he had become their most important attacking player by far & the talented but unarguably overrated Jack Wilshere has not stepped up on his return from injury.

Reading have won just once this year, they've lost their last 5 & they conceded 3 to toothless Sunderland last week, as lacklustre as Arsenal have been we think the value lies with them to win & do it comfortably too - back them at 4/6 to pick up the win. Arsenal should be really fired up & will be aiming to salvage a bit of respect from their short journey to the suburbs, their attack should be much improved when Gervinho drops to the bench so have samll bets on scorelines of 2-0 & 3-0 at 9/1 & 16/1 for potential big pickups.

Selections:
Arsenal to beat Reading at 4/6 (General)
Arsenal to win 2-0 at 9/1 (BetVictor, Stan James & Coral)
Arsenal to win 3-0 at 16/1 (BetVictor & Stan James)

Arsenal Guns to Overpower Villa's Light Artillery

We're looking forward to this weekend's football action - there looks to be some tight games in the Premier League & we wouldn't be surprised to see an upset involving a relegation threatened team putting one over on a bigger club, QPR did it on Wednesday to bring up our 4-1 tip here on what were some decent midweek results for the team. We are going to try & continue the fine football tipping form with three selections for Saturday with one pick from the top tier & then two from our favourite division of League One. Good luck with all of your picks & our number one tip is to keep those accumulators small; the bookies love it when you hand over slips with 57 teams on. Try to forget about the dream money & you can instead give yourselves a chance of large, but not life changing, payouts on a regular basis!

(Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looks a real class act for Arsenal)

Alex McLeish's pedestrian Aston Villa side face an unenviable trip to the Emirates to take on an in form Arsenal who seem to have really found their stride, especially since a disappointing run of one league win in 6 games at the turn of the year. Arsenal have been in fine form recently, playing the type of football that they've been renowned for over the years & have rattled off 6 league wins in a row plus nearly produced the comeback of all comebacks against AC Milan in the Champions League. Demolitions of Blackburn & Spurs at home have been complemented with impressive wins at tough places to travel to on the road, Liverpool, Sunderland & Everton have all been beaten with Wenger's men even getting a rare clean sheet against the Toffees on Wednesday night. Obviously Robin Van Persie is Arsenal's main man with the incredible amount of goals he's been scoring this year but the emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been a real boost & could prove critical as they strive to finish as high as possible & guarantee Champions League qualification. Villa look overmatched here, they've just two league wins in 9 in 2012 & they came against Fulham last weekend with a last minute winner & against the league's worst in Wolves, they've actually only lost 3 away games thanks to the containing setup that McLeish employs but also only have 3 away wins with a league high 8 draws. Arsenal have the game to combat sides that try to defend as they have so many technically gifted players who can find space & play balls through a defence & with Villa being so unproductive going forward it should mean that Sagna can bomb on to help out & ThomasVermaelen will provide a threat at set pieces - a real area of weakness for Villa this season. We think Arsenal will go all out in this one as they seek to maintain momentum & that means taking Evens for them to win by two clear goals or more seems a fair bet & we'll be on come 3pm on Saturday.

(Ronnie Moore has been all smiles since his return to Tranmere Rovers)

In League One, Tranmere Rovers host Exeter City at Prenton Park. Tranmere are in 16th position & are looking to pull away from the relegation zone whilst opponents Exeter are in the bottom two. Tranmere were on a winless run of 11 matches when gaffer Ronnie Moore returned to the club for his 2nd spell in charge, since then they are unbeaten & have won three of their last five league games with the latest being away to Rochdale in midweek. They have gained 71% of their points at home & their record there against sides in the bottom half is impressive with seven victories & no defeats in ten games. Exeter have struggled all season & they have lost five of their last six league games, they have the worst away record in the league where they've suffered 13 defeats in 19 games & have only picked up 10 points. They aren't the greatest side in the league but know how to take advantage of weaker rivals & we expect a resurgent Tranmere to continue their good current form at the expense of Exeter at evens.

(Gary Madine has been celebrating plenty of goals for Wednesday this season)

Staying in League One we find Sheffield Wednesday on the road down south as the face Leyton Orient in a game they will be determined to win in order to keep their chase for an automatic promotion spot on the rails. The Owls will have been mightily disappointed not to have beaten Walsall on Tuesday night but showed great resolve to come from 1-0 & 2-1 down to get a draw, they've been getting the goals since replacing Gary Megson with Dave Jones as manager & that could be key against Leyton Orient who the league's joint 2nd lowest scorers at home with just 18 goals in 18 matches. The experienced Ryan Lowe has forged a decent partnership with the tall youngster Gary Madine with them each grabbing a goal each in 3 of their last 4 games & they should be partnered up again here. Wednesday haven't lost in their last 6 games whereas the O's have won just 1 of 7 with that coming against Brentford who've won just 3 games since mid December & that tempers our concerns around Wednesday's away record with them having won only 8 of 19 away from Hillsborough so far this year. Wednesday should have too much quality about them & can nick this one despite some defensive frailties still existing, Orient don't have the firepower to exploit that as they rely heavily on veteran striker Kevin Lisbie, & odds of 5/4 about the Wednesday win look very tempting to us.

Selections:
Arsenal to beat Aston Villa with -1 goal handicap at Evens (general)
Tranmere Rovers to beat Exeter City at evens (Skybet/Betfred)
Sheffield Wednesday to beat Leyton Orient at 5/4 (Coral)

Happy days for one Bristol side, Bad Times for the other

We were maybe a little ambitious with our Blackburn to beat Man City bet last week but at 18/1 it was a value pick & that's always in our mind when picking out bets, often it's not the biggest odds that offer value though as could be seen in midweek with an outstanding price of Evens on Charlton to beat rock bottom Chesterfield! We've got three picks this Saturday starting off early with the 12.45 kickoff in the Premier League between Carling Cup winners Liverpool & Champions League place chasers Arsenal, hopefully that can get us & you off to a nice start & more profitable football betting.

 (The arrival of Mark McGhee has seen an upturn in fortunes for Bristol Rovers)

In League Two, Bristol Rovers host Macclesfield Town at the Memorial Stadium. Rovers are in 16th place & eight points above Macclesfield. With the addition of Mark McGhee as manager Rovers have put together a fine run of form, in their last eight league matches they have won five, drawn two and suffered just one defeat away at 3rd place Shrewsbury Town. In this time they have built a strong defensive unit & have only conceded four goals, at home they are unbeaten in their last four having picked up two wins & two draws. Visitors Macclesfield are bottom of the form table having been beaten 8 times in their last 10 matches & only picking up two points & their away form has been dire all season with 12 defeats from 16 matches. We expect Bristol Rovers to run out comfortable winners against a poor Macclesfield side & provide punters with a 'weekend banker' at the odds of 4/6.

(Liverpool have just 4 wins from 12 home league games & Andy Carroll is hardly helping)

Liverpool take on inconsistent Arsenal at Anfield in the early kickoff on Saturday & there might be a temptation to think that their League Cup win will lead to them kicking on but the odds on offer of them winning this one are truly dreadful for a number of reasons. Liverpool have won just 4 of their 12 home league games & they have come against 3 relegation candidates in Bolton, Wolves & QPR plus an understrength Newcastle side. The Reds have won just 2 of 9 their last 9 league games & to put it bluntly really aren't that good & with captain & talisman Steven Gerrard injured on England duty they will undisputably be weakened. Arsenal are also coming off a morale boosting result with their extraordinary comeback in the North London derby over Spurs. The Gunners can't claim to be consistent but they eventually appear to have their first choice back 4 in place with Vermaelen & Sagna both fit & with Liverpool only scoring twice or more in 9 of their 25 games they might not be able to exploit Arsenal's greatest weakness. Liverpool are currently trading at around 2.1 (11/10) on Betfair & have to be a lay for anyone on the exchange at anything at 2.2 (5/4) or lower, their price is completely false when you look at their league form & lack of goals & it should be remembered they needed extra time & a penalty shootout to overcome a Championship side for that Cup win.

(Ipswich duo Michael Chopra & Jay Emmanuel-Thomas are both in red hot goalscoring form)

In the Championship, Ipswich Town entertain Bristol City at Portman Road, Ipswich are just below mid table whilst Bristol City have slipped towards the relegation places & are now only three points above the trap door. The Tractor Boys are having a disappointing season but had won four in a row before losing to the current form team Brighton last weekend. They impressively dished out hammerings to both West Ham & Cardiff City in these four wins; with ex-Premiership striker Michael Chopra bagging five goals. They are unbeaten in their last three home matches & have scored a impressive ten goals. Bristol City have really struggled in recent weeks & they current form reads five defeats in their last six matches. They are conceding goals at an alarming rate having conceded three times in four of their last five & away from home they haven't picked up any points on the road since December losing their last four, we can see Ipswich having too much firepower for a demoralised City side at a general price of 5/6.

Selections:
Bristol Rovers to beat Macclesfield Town at 4/6 (Various)
Lay Liverpool to beat Arsenal at 2.2 (5/4) & shorter on Betfair
Ipswich Town to beat Bristol City at 5/6 (Various)

Black Cats a Bad Omen for Wenger's Men

This weekend sees FA Cup ties so there are no Premier League matches & we've looked at through the fixture list to find a bet in the cup's fifth round plus bets from Leagues One & two as well. We're trying to bounce back from a horrible midweek for us where Brighton seemed to let everyone down at home to Millwall plus Man City prevailed against Porto & our opinion with a great result in the Europa League. As ever you can follow us on Twitter @likebuyingmoney by clicking on the follow button above. We've been fairly football heavy recently as the NFL season has ended but now the golf is back in the swing of things we'll hopefully get some previews up plus Cheltenham Festival is only a month away & the start of the flat racing season is getting closer on the horizon so we'll spreading things out a bit!

(Kieran Richardson has been maturing & improving at Sunderland)

We couldn't let this weekend go without picking out one for the FA Cup & we think that Sunderland to beat Arsenal would be a popular piece of cup magic with Martin O'Neill continuing to work the oracle at the North East club. Sunderland were a little unfortunate to come away with nothing in the league meeting here at the Stadium of Light last Saturday after holding the Gunners for 70 minutes before taking the lead through the impressive (& impressively tattooed too!) James McLean as they allowed Aaron Ramsey to equalise & then the now departed Thierry Henry to get the winner. Circumstances are different now, Arsenal were on a bit if a high with Henry back but he's now jetted back to the US & they are coming off a crushing midweek defeat to AC Milan in the San Siro. That game on Wednesday should mean that Sunderland are both fresher & more prepared for this mentally & Arsenal will know that if they lose here that yet another season without a trophy awaits them. Arsenal's defence still has problems with even Tomas Vermaelen not looking great at times whereas Sunderland have a really effective unit & Michael Turner has done well in the absence of Wes Brown, the other ex-Man United players in defence of Bardsley, O'Shea & the underrated Kieran Richardson have all contributed to allowing the forward players to play some great counterattacking football. McLean has obviously been a real gem for the Black Cats but Stephane Sessegnon has impressed throughout the season with some great inventive play & some cool finishing. The worry for Arsenal is that they face a real hangover from the Champions League, even without that Sunderland are playing such good football they'd have a very real chance & with O'Neill taking this cup challenge very seriously they offer awesome value at 19/10 to win.

(The passionate Paulo Di Canio has his Swindon side firing on all cylinders)

In League Two, Swindon Town travel to Hereford at Edgar Street, Swindon are in 4th position with only two points separating the sides from 1st to 6th places whilst Hereford are in 21st spot facing a relegation battle. The Robins are in a formidable run of form with only one defeat in the league since October 2011 plus a FA Cup victory over Premiership Wigan Athletic & a pending trip to Wembley for the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final. On Tuesday night a stunning strike from Billy Bodin put them on their way to beating promotion rivals Crawley Town 3-0 & they have won their last six league matches: scoring 14 & only conceding three. Hosts Hereford have struggled all season & have lost exactly half their league games, they have gained more points on the road this season than at Edgar Street where they have only 12 points from 16 games with 10 defeats & have conceded on average nearly two goals per game. Swindon can prove to be far too strong for a poor Hereford side as they look to continue their fine form at a best price of 5/6 with Coral.

(All in a day's work for Sheffield United captain Chris Morgan)

In League One in form Sheffield United take on Preston North End at Bramall Lane in what very much used to be a ‘Championship’ fixture. The Blades find themselves currently sitting in the second automatic promotion spot behind Charlton after a fantastic run of results, Danny Wilson’s side head the form table with a very impressive 5 wins in their last 6 league outings, more impressive though is the Red and White’s home form in which they have won 6 out of 6 scoring 16 and conceding just 2. Saturday’s opponents Preston have been gaining mixed results of late with Graham Westley beginning to steady the ship after his arrival from Stevenage just over a month ago; they come into the game on the back of a win having defeated Hartlepool with a fantastic strike from Dan Mayor on Tuesday night. Highlights of the game (courtesy of the BBC) can be seen here. As the highlights suggest Preston were a touch lucky to take all three points having invited the visitors to have 15 shots (to their 4) efforts on goal. We think that Sheffield United, with Ched Evans spearheading the attack, will prove that much more clinical in front of goal and collect all three points. United are available at a best price of 4/7 with Ladbrokes and Coral.

Selections:
Sunderland to beat Arsenal at 19/10 (PaddyPower)
Swindon Town to beat Hereford United at 5/6 (Coral)
Sheffield United to beat Preston North End at 4/7 (Ladbrokes and Coral)