Table Toppers to Topple Medicore Midtablers

We stayed away from last Saturday's football fixtures & it was just as well as we wouldn't have found much joy from a tough set of fixtures. This week we've a couple of bets on teams riding high in the Championship & League One & they could form a healthy double at some prices we think are a little on the large side.

Blackpool vs Cardiff City

In the Championship, clear leaders Cardiff City travel to Bloomfield Road to play Blackpool in the late kickoff televised on Sky Sports. Cardiff have an eight point lead & have 23 more points than managerless Blackpool who sit below mid-table in 15th.

(Captain Mark Hudson has been solid all season for Cardiff)

Cardiff will be disappointed with only a point last weekend against a resurgent Ipswich Town but they have taken 13 points from a possible 15 in their last five league games. In these games they've kept four clean sheets & the solid Mark Hudson & Ben Turner have been excellent, the Bluebirds had their difficulties on the road earlier in the season but they seem to have put them to bed recently with four wins & one draw with impressive victories over Blackburn Rovers & Leicester City. Peter Whittingham has always seemed a cut above most players in the Championship & supplies the vision & ammunition for others whilst the dependable Icelandic Aron Gunnarsson has popped up with some important goals.

Blackpool are looking for their 3rd manager of the season with Ian Holloway & strangely Michael Appleton moving onto Crystal Palace & Blackburn respectively. With all this chopping & changing results have suffered in recent weeks with three defeats & two draws in their last five league games. They still have the outstanding Tom Ince but it seems likely he will end up in the Premiership before January ends which only adds to the uncertainty & on Tuesday night they had to endure 120 minutes against a weakened Fulham side & the deflation of an 90 minute equaliser leading to a 2-1 extra time defeat.

Cardiff will look to take advantage of this uncertain period for Blackpool & cement their healthy lead at the summit at the attractive price of 9/5.

Doncaster Rovers vs Leyton Orient

We've been cheering on Doncaster with our money in several games recently & the grand old club can continue their superb recent form under newly appointed manager Brian Flynn as they take on Leyton Orient at the Keepmoat.

(Kyle Bennett & Tommy Spurr have contributed to some ace wingplay for Doncaster Rovers)

Doncaster have risen to 2nd place in League One & that has come on the back of a tremendous run of form where they've won 8 of their last 11 games & lost just once in that time with several late goals helping out - that's a sign of a well-drilled side with a good attitude. Of course being well-drilled is one thing but Doncaster also have a lot of quality about them not least down the wings with the full backs Tommy Spurr & Paul Quinn giving good support to Kyle Bennett & maybe the division's outstanding player David Cotterill. Cotterill has been prolific in terms of scoring goals & setting them up too & it's unsurprising when you think he was at Premier League side Swansea at this time last year.

Leyton Orient had a nice little run through November & early December where they won 5 in a row but they've tasted victory just once in their last 4 & have already been beaten 2-0 by Doncaster in the reverse fixture. The O's are the 5th lowest scorers in the league & come up against a decent Doncaster defence, their forwards Dave Mooney & veteran Kevin Lisbie aren't convincing for us & we reckon they'll be kept at bay here. 10/11 for Doncaster to win against an average Leyton Orient side looks a steal & should be backed, the loss of Dean Saunders as manager shouldn't hold back their promotion charge.

Selections:
Cardiff City to beat Blackpool at 9/5 (Various)
Doncaster Rovers to beat Leyton Orient at 10/11 (Various)

Monday Night Football - Blackpool attack can light up Huddersfield defence

A lovely two out of two football bets for us at the weekend hopefully makes up somewhat for a horrible Thursday night, we're taking a look at the Monday Night Football games from the Championship as Blackpool take on Huddersfield & the NFL as Green Bay travel to the hostile environment of Seattle. If you aren't doing so already you can follow us on Twitter @likebuyingmoney by finding us on there or by clicking the Follow button at the top of the page - we're blogging & tweeting right through the football seasons.

Blackpool vs Huddersfield Town

The live English Championship match comes from Bloomfield Road as Blackpool entertain newly promoted Huddersfield Town. The Tangerines have made an impressive start to the season & another victory over Huddersfield will see them return to the top of the table.

 (Tom Ince has made an outstanding start to the season for Blackpool)

Blackpool's home form has been impeccable with three wins & they have dished out hammerings to Ipswich Town (6-0) & most recently Middlesbrough (4-1). That Middlesbrough win looks particularly good after Boro went & took maximum points off of  table toppers Blackburn in their next game. Youngster Tom Ince has bags of potential & it seems a number of Premiership clubs are keeping a close eye on him & who can blame them when already this season he has registered six goals & five assists. The Blackpool squad has plenty of experience & the loan signings of Nouha Dicko & Nathan Delfouneso have slotted straight in with a couple of goals each, with goals throughout the team & an attacking philosophy they are ultra dangerous.

Huddersfield will be pleased with their start & are unbeaten in their last five league games with three wins & two draws after an opening night defeat against Cardiff City. After losing striker Jordan Rhodes, for a handsome fee, they have responded well however all but one of their points have come against sides 16th or lower in the league & this is a much sterner test. The Terriers only gained a 2-2 draw when away to Ipswich & we think that is pretty average form against a side in disarray, Blackpool will play at a high tempo & youngster Nouha Dicko could give left back Paul Dixon a really hard night.

This will be a step up in class for Huddersfield against a side full of confidence & in front of a buoyant crowd & Blackpool should get the points at the best priced of 8/11, however you can also take advantage of Paddy Power's wincast market where you can get 11/4 on Blackpool & in form Tom Ince as an anytime scorer. England manager Roy Hodgson recently said he may have to look at the Championship as well as the Premier League & Tom Ince may well get into a squad soon, we'd take him over Theo Walcott right now without a moment's hesitation.

Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks

We've an intriguing game for Monday night's NFL as the high powered but rather misfiring Green Bay Packer offense go on the road to take on the Seattle Seahawks at their excellent CenturyLink Field stadium.

(Kicking could be prevalent in the Packers' game at Seattle)

We don't mention the Seahawk's home venue without reason - CenturyLink Field is one of the noisiest venues in the NFL along with the Detroit Lions' Ford Field & it can make it difficult for opposing offenses to communicate effectively. One of the Packers' strengths comes from Aaron Rodgers' on-field play calling when he spots mismatches but if his offense are unable to hear those calls it will make things tough especially when trying to convert on 3rd down situations. The Seahawks are pretty strong defensively & at this early stage of the season rank 2nd against the rush & a respectable 13th against the pass, Green Bay have problems at running back & will be unlikely to get anything going here. With the Packers maybe a little one dimensional the Seahawks will fancy themselves to keep this one tight.

(We're hopefully going to see some 'Beast Mode' from Seattle's Marshawn Lynch)

Green Bay are also giving up over 5 yards a carry & Marshawn Lynch will be licking his lips at facing them, he's Seattle's star offensive player & should see plenty of action as they look to keep young quarterback Russell Wilson out of the firing line. Lynch's total rushing yards have been marked up at 92.5 & in week one he only just failed to get that with 85 & last week racked up 122 yards & we think he's a solid bet to get at least that as he looks for another 100+ yard game. The Seahawks will however struggle to pass effectively as rookie quarterback Russell Wilson is one of the weakest in the league & Green Bay love to rush the passer with Clayton Matthews in scorching form & 6 sacks from his first two games. Basically both sides could find it tough to move the ball with fluency & that could mean that field goals end up coming into play, between them the two sides have scored 8 (attempted  9) in their opening two games & having a flutter on over 3.5 field goals here could be prudent. The Seahawks could cause an upset but the odds aren't quite good enough & they're only getting a 3 point lead on the spreads, we've looked at the situation & the Marshawn Lynch & field goals bets look the best on offer.

Selections:
Blackpool to beat Huddersfield Town at 8/11 (General)
Blackpool to win & Tom Ince to score on the 'wincast' market at 11/4 (Paddy Power)
Marshawn Lynch total rushing yards over 92.5 (BlueSquare, Paddy Power & 888Sport)
Over 3.5 field goals in Green Bay Packer at Seattle Seahawks at 10/11 (Bet365)

Bayern & West Ham to make most of hometown advantage

On Saturday we get a great send off to the club football season with the Champions League final between two of Europe's finest clubs in England's own Chelsea & Bayern Munich in Bayern's own stadium, in England we get the proclaimed 'richest game in football' with the Championship Playoff final with Blackpool & West Ham fighting it out for a lucrative spot in the Premier League. We've previewed both games, taking a look at the strengths & weaknesses of the teams involved & the likely outcomes.

(Ashley Cole will need to be at his best to deal with Bayern's wingers)

Chelsea and Bayern Munich face up in the Champions League final this Saturday at the Allianz Arena after they saw off Spanish super giants Barcelona & Real Madrid respectively in their semi-finals. But the victories came at a price for them as both sides are missing influential players for the show piece event. Chelsea have a number of notable problems in defence with suspensions to captain John Terry & Branislav Ivanovic and the fact that David Luiz & Gary Cahill have missed the end of season games injured. Both players have declared themselves fit but it will is a problem for Roberto Di Matteo have to start both knowing their lack of match practice. Despite all the plaudits for Chelsea's defensive performances in the competition (especially in the Camp Nou) against Barcelona it will be a different & much harder challenge facing them this time. Barcelona played without any real wingers which allowed the Blues to sit back with two banks of four & suck up all the space in the middle of the park as everything was played in-front of the centre halves whilst Bayern will look to use their dynamic wingers in Franck Ribery & Arjen Robben to exploit the wide areas & get behind Chelsea's backline to provide the balls to prolific striker Mario Gomez. Ashley Cole is an excellent fullback but with Jose Bosingwa likely to start on the right Bayern will know that there is a real weakness to be exposed & clearly have the players to do it.

Another major blow for Chelsea is them missing arguably their player of the season in Ramires. His work rate, no stop running & knack of scoring critical goals can't be matched anymore by his likely replacement Michael Essien who has sadly struggled to capture anything like his best form since a number of long term injuries. Frank Lampard's performance is also dragged up by Ramires doing the running that he can no longer do & it would be no surprise to see the Chelsea great age before our eyes with Bayern's midfield swamping him & Bastian Schweinsteiger is definitely a younger & arguably superior version of Lampard.

In striker Didier Drogba though Chelsea have a player who rises to the big occasion & on his day can simply be unplayable. We know this by looking at his Wembley record where he has scored on every occasion he has played with the latest being goal number eight in the FA Cup victory over Liverpool.

Bayern know it's key to their chances of victory to keep Drogba very quiet but like Chelsea are suffering from a number of selection dilemmas with centre half Holger Badstuber & left back David Alaba both suspended, so manager Jupp Heynkes has the choice of Ukrainian Anatoliy Tymoschuk or ex-Premiership Daniel Van Buyten to play at the back, and decide whether to play Rafinha at right back & switch the imperious Philipp Lahm to left back or play Diego Contento in Alaba's position.

(Bastian Schweinsteiger can put in a five star performance)

With this in mind Bayern's best form of defence is attack & they certain have the players to punish Chelsea. The midfield of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Franck Ribery & ex-Chelsea Arjen Robben looks too strong for Chelsea & they will look to pull the strings & striker Mario Gomez is having an outstanding season having scored 41 goals in 51 appearances & 13 in as many games in this season's Champions League. We really rate Schweinsteiger & he could have a great game in this one without Ramires to stop him, he's as short as 6/1 to be Man of the Match so Sportingbet's offer of 10/1 should be backed.

Chelsea have to win it in Bayern's 'backyard' or face the prospect of having no Champions League football to look forward to next season but sadly we expect Bayern to take advantage of Chelsea's suspensions & defensive weaknesses & enable Heynkes to become the fourth man to win the European Cup with two different clubs & can win in 90 minutes at the general price of 5/6.

(Mark Noble is a Hammer through & through & could bag a goal here)

At Wembley, two sides are looking to bounce back to the big time at the first attempt of asking as West Ham United take on Blackpool. This will be the third time the two side have met this season with the Hammers recording two comfortable victories with the impressive score lines of 4-0 & 1-4 but this high pressure encounter could prove a closer affair with the huge prize on offer.

Both sides finished the season strongly with West Ham picking up 17 points & Blackpool 15 points in their last eight league games before their two semi-final victories over Cardiff City & Birmingham City respectively. West Ham go into the match with the favourites tag & on paper they have the big name players with the spine of the team made up of Robert Green, James Tomkins, Kevin Nolan & Carlton Cole. They kept two clean sheets against Cardiff & have been scoring with regular ease lately with two or more goals in all but one of their last eleven games with duo Carlton Cole & Ricardo Vaz Te striking up a profitable partnership.

(Can the evergreen Kevin Phillips have yet another day in the sun?)

Blackpool under the guidance of the charismatic Ian Holloway won many friends last season with their brand of football in the top league & have a strong team spirit, they carried on playing an attacking & open game upon relegation & it's served them pretty well. Their team has a good blend of experienced campaigners in Ian Evatt, Barry Ferguson & Gary Taylor-Fletcher mixed with highflying youngsters of Matt Phillips & Tom Ince. Also let's not forget that if Blackpool need a goal then they have the perfect option in the evergreen Kevin Phillips (17 goals this season) sat on the bench ready. Stephen Dobbie has made quite an impact for Blackpool since joining on loan from Swansea in March & if the Seasiders are to succeed they might require him to have a stormer.

There's no doubt in our minds that with the money they've spent & the players that they have that West Ham should've got automatic promotion & probably the Championship title this season, it would be a crushing disappointment if they couldn't succeed here & with the good memories they have of their two impressive wins over the opposition so far this year the Hammers should be backed to win the game at a very reasonable price of Evens. West Ham will have the bulk of the support in the stadium with many of the neutrals unlikely to be that neutral & that will help, Blackpool's defence hasn't been good enough on their travels & they are running into West Ham at the wrong time as they look to have stepped up a couple of gears once the prize was in sight. An interesting extra bet can be had by backing Mark Noble to score at anytime at tasty odds of 5/1, he's West Ham's penalty taker & with things likely to get nervy for players & officials a spot kick could be on the cards, 16/1 for him to be first scorer also looks overpriced so back it.

Selections:
Bayern Munich to beat Chelsea in 90 minutes at 5/6 (various)
Bastian Schweinsteiger to be Man of the Match at 10/1 (Sportingbet)
West Ham United to beat Blackpool in 90 minutes at Evens (general)
Mark Noble to score first at 16/1 & at anytime at 5/1 (Ladbrokes)