Superior Quality to show through in Midweek Matches

The weekend's football saw a slightly less manic weekend than last week & it was particularly subdued down in the Championship with just 15 goals in 11 games on Saturday & Sunday & plenty of draws, there will be a few teams hoping to impress their fans a bit more in the midweek games  we've picked out a couple of sides from the Championship & one in Europe that look superior to their opposition without that superiority being reflected in the available odds.

(Derby's top goalkeeper Frank Fielding returns & can keep Barnsley's strikers at bay)

Tuesday sees a full round of Championship fixtures including Derby County entertaining Barnsley at Pride Park. The Rams have made an impressive start to the season currently sitting pretty in 3rd spot & making a mockery of their 23 point handicap mark (as highlighted in our first ever post http://likebuyingmoney.blogspot.com/2011/06/201112-early-football-handicap.html). They have won six of their eight league matches including away at arch rival Notts Forest 2-1 despite having goalkeeper Frank Fielding sent off within the first 5 minutes. Visitors Barnsley are sat 2 points above the relegation zone and have drawn their last four league games but are struggling to score goals with only 6 goals registered so far. We believe Derby will have too much firepower in the form of Steve Davies & Craig Bryson & will outscore Barnsley at a reasonable price of evens.

Also in the Championship, 2008 FA Cup winners Portsmouth take on Darren Ferguson's Peterborough United at home, the clash pitting 14th place against 11th & is the first time these will have met in 9 years. The Posh visit Fratton Park having won one of their last five, in comparison Pompey have lost just once at home this season and their only defeats at home or on their travels have been by the odd goal (against West Ham, Hull and Brighton). Steve Cotterill's men are hard to break down and have conceded a measly two goals in 4 matches whereas Peterborough have only managed to find the net 3 times away from London Road, two of which came in a draw with Millwall, they have really been missing last year's top scorer Craig Mackail-Smith who's started well at Brighton. We think that the Hampshire based side will win this (available at 11/10), for those more adventurous Portsmouth can be backed to win to nil at 3/1 with Paddy Power.

In the Champions League on Wednesday, Shakhtar Donetsk welcome APOEL Nicosia to the Donblass Arena. Both sides are unsurprisingly top of their respective domestic leagues and in Champions League week one we saw 9 man Shakhtar beaten 2-1 in Porto after taking a early lead whilst APOEL recorded a 2-1 home victory against 10 man Zenit St Petersburg. Shakhtar's European success in recent years is based on their formidable home record; achieving four straight home wins in last season's competition before a quarter final defeat to eventual winners Barcelona (ending a 15-match unbeaten home record with 11 victories). There was little shame for Shakhtar in losing to last year's unbeaten in their league Portugese champions Porto & if they can maintain that sort of quality they can push for a knockout round place. Therefore with the game taking place on home soil & with their Champions League experience we expect Shakhtar to be a 'home banker' for any midweek accumulators at a best price of 4/9.

Selections:

Derby to beat Barnsley at evens (Victor Chandler)
Portsmouth to win at 11/10 (general) & to win to nil (vs Peterborough United) at 3/1 (Paddy Power)
Shakhtar Donetsk to beat APOEL Nicosia at 4/9 (Betfred & Victor Chandler)