@likebuyingmoney Twitter followers’ tips week 27

After week 25 our followers were making a £43.18 loss after a poor week, could they improve their form in week 26? Here's a reminder of what was tipped up last week and a roundup of the results:

Follower	Selection	Result
@DanRS2000	Moto2 & Moto3 (Jerez) – S Redding, D Kent & Ant West	Moto 2 – S Redding 4th & Ant West 16th. Moto 3 – D Kent 13th LOSERS
@conormc1972	Blackburn to beat Spurs	No attempts at goal by Blackburn meant a 2-0 defeat LOSER
@grayslufc	Newcastle	Wigan hammered Newcastle 4-0 LOSER
@rahulm3	Newcastle DNB vs Wigan	Wigan hammered Newcastle 4-0 LOSER
@NicoHillkenberg	Newcastle, Huddersfield & Man Utd	Two defeats & a draw puts pay to this treble LOSER
@toddycounago	Crewe and Watford DNB	Watford beat Boro but Crewe drew at Torquay VOID
@Jugador1984	Cardiff to draw & Boro to win	Cardiff made the play-offs with a victory over Crystal Palace & Boro defeated at Watford LOSER
@agilebeast	Newcastle	Wigan hammered Newcastle 4-0 LOSER
@rigger60	Shrewsbury & Swansea	Shrews won against Dag & Red but Swansea let slip a 3-1 lead to draw with Wolves LOSER

Our followers’ had a shocking week 26 (mainly thanks to Newcastle's defeat) & increased their overall loss to -£53.18, from £1 stakes.

Detailed below are the selections for the weekend of the 5^th May / 6^th May:

@CliveMallon picks a double of Sheffield Wed & Chelsea. Chelsea face Liverpool in the FA Cup Final & a victory for Sheffield Wed will see promotion to the Championship. The double pays 2.28/1.

@grayslufc BTTS – Blackpool/Birmingham, Newcastle/Man City, Blackburn/Wigan and St Mirren/Inverness C. The four fold BTTS pays 17/2 but remember the play-off 1^st leg between Blackpool/Birmingham is tonight at 7:45pm.

@grayslufc also has a treble of Port Vale (win), Notts County (win) & Rotherham/Northampton (BTTS). Port Vale host play-off chasing Oxford & Notts County have to beat Colchester to have any chance of making the League One play-offs. The treble pays just under 17/2.

@GHorsfall the lower leagues expert fancies Jermaine Grandison (Shrews) to score 2 or more @ 125/1.

@kdear57 tonight’s’ best greyhound bet is Trap 6 Bit View Micko in 9:30pm Wimbledon take 7/2 will start shorter.

@jspennington with Chelsea running out of defenders, Liverpool to win +/ or Suarez scoring has to be worth a punt or two. Liverpool are 2/1 to win their second cup of the season & Suarez is best price of 8/1 to open the scoring.

@rigger60 has a cheeky double of MK Dons (4/6) to beat Walsall & Bolton (20/19) to get a massive three points against WBA. The double pays just under 5/2.

Thanks again to all those who submitted their suggestions, we'll round up the results at the beginning of next week’s post.

To enter next week please send a tweet and include #likebuyingmoney with your best bet.

Championship Playoffs First Legs

The Championship is already into the playoff stage of the season & the first legs take place this Thursday & Friday as four teams try to make it to the promised land of the Premier League & the riches it has to offer. Thursday sees Cardiff City host West Ham United & then on Friday we have Birmingham City visiting Blackpool. We've got previews & bets from both playoff games before a huge weekend of sport with the FA Cup final, the remaining leagues winding up & the first horse racing Classics of the season with the 1,000 & 2,000 Guineas - we'll be finding bets for all of those too so check back.

(Young Joe Mason has bagged his share of goals for Cardiff this season)

The first playoff game sees the outright playoff favourites West Ham travel to take on League Cup finalists Cardiff after starting out their season hosting the same opponents in a loss at Upton Park, they also met here in March & West ham took advantage of a bit of a League Cup hangover by coming out with a 2-0 win, this promises to be a tough & tense affair before the deciding leg. Neither side have been easy to beat recently with West Ham only having two losses in 2012, coming in a freak heavy loss to Ipswich & to red hot Reading, Cardiff have gone ten games without a loss themselves but both sides have had way too many draws & they scuppered West Ham's automatic promotion chances & nearly did for Cardiff's playoff spot. Both sides' draw counts are quite extraordinary with the Hammers having 9 in their last 17 games & Cardiff with 7 draws in 13, & with this only being the first leg no side wants to lose it here so things could be pretty tight. Both sides do have match winners though with Peter Whittingham being a main man for Cardiff especially in terms of his quality at set pieces with great goal threat & a top delivery for setting others up, he'll need to be at his best though as the Hammers have the best away record in the league & also conceded the fewest goals with just 22 in 23 games & that would be lower if not for the 5 conceded away to Ipswich. West Ham have plenty of variety to play up front but Sam Allardyce can't all of hi players into the team at once, Carlton Cole offers a potent physical threat & Ricardo Vaz Te has been great since joining from Barnsley in the transfer window with 10 goals in 12 games. West Ham have to be sorely disappointed at not getting the automatic promotion place that the strength of their squad surely should have managed but they haven't let their heads drop in recent weeks & odds of Evens for the Hammers to win on the draw no bet market is a real tempter. As we said West Ham have only lost twice in 2012 & are outstanding on the road, the draw is a big player in this market but we'll get our bet refunded & we fancy West Ham slightly more with Cardiff having so many near misses in the playoffs over the years.

(Impact! Stephen Dobbie's put the ball in the back of the net 5 times since joining Blackpool on loan in March)

At Bloomfield Road we see another two teams trying to return to return to the top flight after relegation just last year with the colourful, in kit & playing style, Blackpool hosting Chris Hughton's Birmingham side. Ian Holloway has kept Blackpool playing the attacking football that saw them start off their Premier League season so well & they've done pretty well defensively at home too with just 21 conceded in their 23 games, they've outscored opponents here at a rate of two goals to one & have only lost 3 times at home all season. Both sides are much better at home than on the road & Birmingham's loss record shows just 10 wins all year but with 9 of those coming away from home, they have got the most away goals in the league though with 41 but 37 in the conceded column too which shows that Hughton sends his side out to play wherever they are. Birmingham's goals have come from throughout the team with Zigic, Marlon King & midfielder Chris Burke all reaching double figures, Burke has been particularly influential since leaving Cardiff for the Blues last summer & he will be desperate to play in England's top league. For Blackpool Kevin Phillips has continued to be a finely tuned goalscoring machine this year with 17 goals & has been ably backed up with goals from midfield from namesake Matt Phillips, Gary Taylor-Fletcher & also the blossoming Tom Ince. For all of that in recent weeks Blackpool's main man has been loan signing on the 22nd March Stephen Dobbie from Swansea & he's bagged 5 in 6 since stepping in showing the benefit of having so many fewer games this year on his legs than the players around him. Bearing in mind that both teams score goals & Birmingham don't seem to know how to play a containing game when playing away the odds of Evens available with BlueSquare for over 2.5 goals looks outstanding value. We also like Stephen Dobbie to score first at a very big 15/2 with Ladbrokes, he's in fine form right now & is as short as 5/1 with many other firms.

Selections:
West Ham United to beat Cardiff City in the draw no bet market at Evens (Paddy Power)
Blackpool v Birmingham City to be over 2.5 goals at Evens (BlueSquare)
Stephen Dobbie to score first at 15/2 (Ladbrokes)

Clash of the Manchester Titans - City v United

Monday night sees what is for all intents & purposes a Premier League title decider as Manchester City host Manchester United at the Etihad in maybe the biggest domestic game of football in the last ten years. Will United's old guard, so full of experience & with mantelpieces full of winners medals already be able to keep the hungry upstarts, backed by billions at bay? We've had a look at the fixture & tried to find a few betting angles in what will be an engrossing fixture for even neutrals who haven't had a punt. The football season is drawing to a close & we'll soon be concentrating more on the flat racing season, we had 3 winners from 3 picks on Sunday & you can keep up to date with the latest posts by following us on Twitter @LikeBuyingMoney either click the Follow button above or find us on there.

(Ferguson & Mancini will be going into tactical battle in this one)

Sir Alex Ferguson summed up how difficult it is to call the result of this match when noting that his United side were coming here to the Etihad with the league's best away record only to face up against City who have the league's best home record, the Citizens are unbeaten here all season & have only dropped points the once when drawing 3-3 with Sunderland at the end of last month. That game against Sunderland has rather symbolised City over the past couple of months with them looking out of that game & the title race only to continue to battle right to the end & drag themselves right back into things with every chance of getting the win. Carlos Tevez's return has been a catalyst for City's very recent impressive form, with him & fellow Argentinian Sergio Aguero really striking up the type of partnership that was anticipated & eagerly hoped for by City at the start of the season. The City strikeforce is backed up by a superb mix of solidity & style in midfield with Gareth Barry & Yaya Toure controlling many games between them this year & giving the ball to players such as Silva, Milner, Johnson & Nasri who can provide the openings for the strikers. It's often said that the midfield battle is where games are won & you'd have to worry for United if they played with the same setup seen in the last few weeks with a pretty much orthodox 4-4-2. Paul Scholes & Michael Carrick were simply bullied & overrun against Everton at times last week & Ferguson will surely stick another player into the centre to help them out, that could be Wayne Rooney but that would leave them a little light up front with Hernandez, courtesy of a hot run back in October/November the only other player with double figures in league goals. It seems unlikely that Hernandez will be starting in this one though, some of his recent displays have been of a very low quality with poor link up play & getting caught offside on numerous occasions, instead Danny Welbeck could be trusted to lead the line on his own, the young Englishman has been adding more consistency to his displays but now needs to start adding the goals that will see him become a feared striker.

(Nani was checking his usual bad self with an excellent offensive performance last week & looks to have earned himself a new contract at United)

After United conceded four against Everton a last Sunday an awful lot was written & said about a 'dodgy defence' but that may be a little unfair as they've conceded the 2nd least amount of goals in the league (32) behind only City (25) & if you took out the extraordinary 4-4 last weekend & the incredible 6-1 in the reverse fixture then they would have looked outstanding, in the league at least. United have 17 clean sheets from 35 games so there isn't anything fundamentally wrong defensively & that's with missing arguably the world's best centre back in Nemanja Vidic for most of the season. Rafael remains a worry at right back as he seems to lack composure at times & has a questionable temperament & City may target him here, Ferdinand & Evans sometimes look a little ill at ease with burly old fashioned centre forwards but may be more comfortable against the technically excellent Tevez & Aguero. City's defence has been magnificent, especially at home where they've conceded just 10 goals all season & it looks like Micah Richards will be fit & ready to replace Zabaleta after missing their last two games. City have won their last three games & only conceded once in that little run when beating Norwich 6-1 but when you take a look at the opposition they have faced two promoted teams including woeful Wolves away from home & a limited West Brom side at home, before that they had gone on a run of 5 games with just one win (2-1 against Chelsea) so it would be unwise to take too much from the last three. City looked pensive at times against Wolves last weekend & although never in danger of conceding it was maybe illustrative of Mancini's dilemma here, do they go all out for the win from the start, do they push on if they get a lead?

(Carlos Tevez will be looking to make a point against his former club & to his current employers)

The game really is a tough one to call for either team & we're not going to, City's recent form has probably been overplayed & so have United's defensive frailties, at the same time it's difficult to imagine a goalless draw as City have had only one all year (at West Brom) & United haven't had one at all. The draw is available at 5/2 & don't worry about Ferguson saying United always go for the win, that's nonsense as anyone who saw the Blackburn game at the end of last season will testify, Ferguson is the ultimate pragmatist & will happily settle for the draw that would put his side in the driving seat. We said we don't like a 0-0 result so how about 1-1 instead, the price for that is 13/2 with several firms & we're huge fans of Carlos Tevez's footballing ability - it seems the script is written for him to score here, back him to score first & the 1-1 draw at 40/1 in a scorecast.

Selections:
Manchester City v Manchester United to draw at 5/2 (various)
1-1 correct score at 13/2 (various)
Tevez 1-1 scorecast at 40/1

I just want your extra time & your Kiss-ed

Saturday saw the official end of the racing jumps season although with the muddy conditions resembling November's ground more than good flat racing ground around you could be forgiven for thinking we were just getting into the swing of things. It means that it's now time to concentrate on the flat season which is beginning to gear up, we've the 1000 & 2000 Gunieas next weekend & Newbury's Lockinge meeting in the middle of the month where we'll see the returning Frankel. For Sunday's racing we're looking across the Irish Sea to Navan where some of the big Irish trainers are running some real prospects, we think we've some good bets to fill the pockets before Monday's big betting heat with the Manchester derby in the Premier League.

(Kissed winning her maiden back in October 2011)

We see what is effectively an Oaks trial in the 3.25 Listed 1m 2f race for fillies & it looks like Aidan O'Brien's Kissed is the one to concentrate on here. O'Brien seems to have his string in mighty fine order striking with a third of his runners in the past two weeks & has picked up the winner's trophy in the last three Listed or better races he's had runners in. Kissed is by Galileo & out of a Darshaan mare so really should have the stamina to be a real Oaks contender & she should handle these testing conditions, not just because of her pedigree but because she also won her maiden impressively after travelling well in soft ground. Kissed's maiden saw her beat one of today's rivals Violet Lashes & that one has run to a good but not exceptional level of form since, they were miles clear of the rest that day back in October & Kissed could have won by more, she's the one with bags of improvement &is a certainty to confirm form with that rival. Aaraas has run in three Group 3's since winning her maiden & has an official rating of 98, she's run this year which is a positive but needs to run above that official mark to win here & isn't open to too much improvement. One that could improve & is rated the main danger is Cleofilia, she won a very good maiden back in August & the runner up (by a head) Coral Wave has gone on to be pretty decent winning a Listed & group 3 race since. Cleofilia is an obvious danger but we reckon that Kissed's breeding is better suited to this test with Cleofilia's sire Teofilo not as proven (obviously) as Galileo, Kissed really will take some beating here & at odds of 4/6 & bigger she should be backed heavily.

(Unaccompanied winning the 2011 Alleged stakes - subsequent Breeders Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey trailing in the purple colours here!)

Another filly with a top chance is the versatile & mud loving Unaccompanied, she beat subsequent Breeders Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey at the Curragh over 1m 2f last year & the Grade One winning hurdler will take some stopping in the 5.35 over 3 furlongs further. Dermot Weld's filly is a high class sort & this type of distance is what she wants these days, she lost her last hurdle race but it was the red hot Champion Hurdle & she's had a break since. Chief rival looks to be O'Brien's Robin Hood who won on debut over 10 furlongs at the start of the season, beating Rising Wind comfortably, but then rather blew up when raced 10 days later at Cork & the step up in distance isn't certain to suit here. With Unaccompanied getting a pound in weight off of Robin Hood she's the one to back & any odds of Evens or better should be taken.

Finally, in a three year old maiden race where only two of the runners have racecourse experience we're going to take a chance on the John Ox trained Karatash who has a likely pedigree being by Halling out of a King's Best mare.  Karatash's mare was a decent type on the course, earning a rating of 94 & although winning on godd to firm she appeared to act on good to yielding ground & Halling seems to get stamina laden sorts, the Aga Khan's horses are all beautifully bred & he has two here but this one would be the first string with the underrated Johnny Murtagh on board. The likely favourite is going to be Father Of Science from the O'Brien yard, a colt with a similar pedigree to our earlier pick Kissed, being by alileo out of a Darshaan mare, this one might just be a little too short though & sometimes the money flows in for these Ballydoyle types without any concrete knowledge of how well they've been working at home. We won't know the odds for Karatash until tomorrow but at anything bigger than 3/1 we'd say a small wager wouldn't be the worst idea.

Selections:
3.25 Navan - Kissed to win at 4/6
4.00 Navan - Karatash to win (back at odds of 3/1 or bigger)
5.35 Navan - Unaccompanied to win at 6/5

Hand in Glovers - the Sun Shines out of Yeovil's Behind

It really is crunch time in the English football leagues with the Championship seeing its final weekend of regular season action & Leagues One & Two with their second to last round of games. There's also plenty to play for in the Premier League with only Wolves definitely relegated & a fierce battle going on for European spots, city bragging rights & of course Monday's massive clash between Manchesters City & United in what looks to be a true title decider. We've got our usual Saturday preview here with some top value bets, keep up to date with our latest posts by following us on Twitter @LikeBuyingMoney you can do it just by clicking the Follow button above or by finding us on there, as ever good punting & good luck!

(Loanee Steven Pienaar is flourishing with regular football at familiar surroundings)

At Goodison Park, Everton will look to continue their fine form against mid-table Fulham. Everton put in a mightily impressive performance at Old Trafford last Sunday to come back from 3-1 and then 4-2 down to gain a point & put a major dent into United's title hopes. Arguably they have three of the league's form players in January signings Nikica Jelavic & Steven Pienaar (loan) and the frizzy haired Belgian Marouane Fellaini who bullied Johnny Evans & Rio Ferdinand into submission with ease. Apart from a blip at Wembley against bitter rivals Liverpool they are unbeaten in their last five league games with comfortable victories to nil over Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion & Sunderland. Visitors Fulham have had a decent season under the guidance of Martin Jol but as usual their strength has been at Craven Cottage rather than on the road. Away from home Fulham have lost half of their matches & only picked up three wins over relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers, Wigan Athletic & Bolton Wanderers, they've managed just 11 goals at a measly rate of 0.69 goals per game & you would expect they will struggle to breach a strong Everton defensive unit. Everton have the added incentive of finishing ahead of Liverpool & collecting the three points is a must at the best price of 20/23 with Boylesports.

(Striker Andy Williams 15 goals this season & could be in demand this summer)

In League One it looks like a couple of bookies have priced up Chesterfield to beat Yeovil based on the fact that 'they need to win' in their battle against relegation, that's foolish as Chesterfield are woeful travellers & all of us as enlightened punters must take advantage here. Chesterfield are down in 22nd & even if they win their remaining two games they'll need plenty of help from the teams in front of them to stand a chance of staying up, they've won just 3 away games all year & we don't like the odds of 6/4 in places about them winning this one. Backers of Chesterfield will point to an unexpected recent resurgence with them winning their last 3 in a row & giving themselves a glimmer of hope but those 3 wins have come against low grade opposition in mid table Hartlepool, 20th placed Wycombe & bottom of the table Rochdale. Yeovil haven't been great recently & took a pounding in their last home game against Stevenage, losing 6-0, they will be desperate to sign off on a positive in their last game in front of their home fans & Huish Park should have a boisterous atmosphere. Andy Williams & Jonathan Franks have been scoring fairly readily recently & will fancy their chances against a Chesterfield side that have conceded the second most away goals away from home in the league (45 in 22 games). Get on the Glovers, Yeovil can win at nice odds of 17/10 available with BetVictor who go best odds about all three results (Home/Away/Draw).

(Middlesbrough will hope to have strike Marvin Emnes return from his ongoing knee injury)

In the final round of Championship fixtures, Middlesbrough have a must win fixture over Watford at Vicarage Road. Middlesbrough need all three points & also hope Welsh side Cardiff City lose away at Crystal Palace to gain the final play-off spot. Middlesbrough have given themselves a chance after coming from behind to beat Southampton 2-1 last weekend & have grabbed seven points from a possible nine in their last three. Most sides would prefer a home fixture when looking for a maximum points but not Middlesborough who have a better record on the road with ten victories compared to only eight at home. Hosts Watford recovered from a poor opening few months to sit comfortably in 14th place which gives rookie manager Sean Dyche something to build on next season & of course they'll be wanting to win their last home game, although that could prove difficult against Boro who have some latent quality. Watford thrived over a busy period in March where they went unbeaten with 5 wins & 2 draws but they've stuttered recently with a loss & 3 draws since, it's in direct contrast to Boro who had a horrible period going 8 without a win from 11th March but they've got the engine running again in their last three games. It may not be enough to clinch a playoff spot but Middlesbrough can at least give themselves a chance by winning here at odds of 6/4.

Selections:
Everton to beat Fulham at 20/23 (Boylesports)
Yeovil to beat Chesterfield at 17/10 (BetVictor)
Middlesbrough to beat Watford at 6/4 (Boylesports & BetVictor)

@likebuyingmoney Twitter followers’ tips week 26

After week 24 our followers were making a £42.08 loss after a poor week, could they improve their form in week 25? Here's a reminder of what was tipped up last week and a roundup of the results:

Follower	Selection	Result
@toddycounago	Southampton & Crewe double	Saints lost away at Boro 2-1 whilst Crewe won 1-0 LOSER
@Jugador1984	Cardiff/Leeds draw	Spot on with the early kick-off ending 1-1 (@ 3/1) WINNER
@rahulm3	Monaco to beat Le Havre	Monaco won 1-0 (@ 1.80) WINNER
@ecko_	Draw no bet double of Sunderland & QPR	QPR grabbed all three points but Sunderland only mustered a draw 0-0 VOID
@grays67lufc	BTTS fourfold - Bristol City/Barnsley, QPR/Spurs, Reading/Crystal Palace and Accrington/Shrewsbury	Only Barnsley & Spurs let down this BTTS fourfold LOSER
@grays67lufc	Cardiff/Leeds and MK Dons/Sheffield United – draw double	Cardiff/Leeds draw but MK Dons won 1-0 LOSER
@FlutteringOwl	Cardiff to beat Leeds and Hull to draw with N. Forest	Cardiff/Leeds ended 1-1 & Hull beat N. Forest 2-1 LOSER
@rigger60	Charlton & Arsenal double	The London derby ended in a dire 0-0 draw & Charlton won 2-1 LOSER

Our followers’ had a disappointing week 25 & increased their overall loss to -£43.18, from £1 stakes.

Detailed below are the selections for the weekend of the 28^th April / 29^th April:

@DanRS2000 Moto2 & Moto3 at Jerez this weekend. Can be a lottery but 2 Brit riders topped the times pre-season testing at Jerez: Redding & Kent 18s and 12s good ew bets, get on before first practice tomorrow, if it rains, Ant West in Moto2 @ 80s. In the betting for Jerez you can now get S Redding @ 16/1 (Moto2), D Kent @ 16/1 (Moto3) & A West is only @ 25/1.

@conormc1972 picks Blackburn to beat Spurs. Blackburn are the general price of 15/2 to beat a Spurs side going through a difficult period.

@grayslufc Newcastle...biggest price you can get them #weekendbankers. A massive game with consequences at both ends of the table & Newcastle are the best price of 8/5 at William Hill to win.

@rahulm3 is looking to build on his winner last week & selects Newcastle DNB vs Wigan. Newcastle are 4/5 in the DNB market.

@NicoHillkenberg Newcastle, Huddersfield and Man Utd in a 20/1 treble is crazy returns! Newcastle are a popular bet to beat Wigan, Huddersfield travel to Walsall & let’s not forget the huge title decider in Manchester.

@toddycounago has a double of Crewe and Watford draw no bet. Crewe have a trip to Torquay & Watford are at home to play-off hopefuls Middlesbrough – the DNB double is over 4/1.

@Jugador1984 our most successful tipster goes for Cardiff to draw and Boro to win. The draw between Crystal Palace/Cardiff & Middlesbrough to beat Watford is 15/2.

@agilebeast Newcastle 8/5. Newcastle W6 on the bounce and playing terrific stuff. Wigan, although improved, have only W3 at home all season.

@rigger60 selects a cheeky double of Shrewsbury (4/9) to beat Dagenham & Redbridge and Swansea (4/7) to beat rock bottom Wolves. The very safe looking double pays a measly 1.27 / 1.      

Thanks again to all those who submitted their suggestions, we'll round up the results at the beginning of next week’s post.

To enter next week please send a tweet and include #likebuyingmoney with your best bet.