Swansea to take no liberties against Chelsea

In the Premier League, Swansea City host Chelsea at the Liberty Stadium. Swansea are sat in 13th position and have a 8 point cushion over the relegation places whilst Chelsea are in the final Champions League spot. Both sides have nearly identical league records in their last 8 league matches with Swansea picking up 12 points & Chelsea 13. The Swans have collected 20 points (out of a total of 26) at home & have only suffered one defeat against Manchester United in 11 games. They have won five & drawn five & impressively taken four points off North London duo Arsenal (3-2) & Tottenham (1-1). At home they are solid defensively with six clean sheets & only 6 goals conceded. Tricky wingers Scott Sinclair & Nathan Dyer have caused problems for every Premiership defence & in striker Danny Graham they have a finisher who has bagged seven goals so far. Chelsea have drawn three of their last four away league games & are in a real battle to gain Champions League qualification this season. Despite Andre Villas-Boas best efforts they still lack any real attacking fluency or cutting edge in their play. This was again highlighted in their last two matches with a 0-0 draw at Norwich & a very poor penalty decision deciding the FA Cup game against QPR after a dire affair. We can't see Chelsea beating Swansea in this one so back Swansea +1 on the handicap market at evens.

(Will flying winger Scott Sinclair come back & haunt his old club?)

Selections:
Swansea +1 on the handicap market against Chelsea (General)

Fulham can get engine running in Cup bid

The weekend gets underway early this week with FA Cup matches on Friday & we've got a selection in one of those games as well as searching through the lower leagues where value seems to be found the most often. Last weekend we had 3 from 3 with our outright picks with Villa, West Ham & Blackpool coming up trumps, we're looking to carry on with that form - you can keep up to date with our posts & fancies by following us on Twitter @likebuyingmoney or by clicking the button above.

(Fulham's Hangeland & Dempsey would be welcomed into most sides)

For our first pick we're looking towards a team that we think offer some excellent value in the outright market for victory in the competition, they have to get past Everton first but Fulham play some attractive football at times & have very recent history of an outstanding cup run when reaching the final of the Europa League. In the league both sides have exactly the same amount of points with just 26 from 22 games, neither look in real trouble of relegation, at the moment, but a slip in form between now & the end of the season could see things get close. Everton's obvious problem this year has been a chronic lack of goals & that has been a similar story for many of the clubs at the bottom end, Fulham have scored the same amount of goals as Spurs at home (joint 4th highest) but have struggled away with just 7 in 11 league games. Everton's strength comes at the back with Howard in goal, Baines at left back & Distin & Jagielka in the centre all being excellent when at their best, unfortunately Distin & Jagielka are out & that could be disastrous if Johnson, Zamora & the red hot Dempsey link up like they did against Newcastle. Everton have looked a little lifeless recently with losses to Bolton & Spurs, draws against Blackburn & Villa & a sole unimpressive win against Tamworth in their last 5 games. Fulham are in & out certainly, but they have played some great stuff at times & we know they can score, owner Mohamed al-Fayed will be keen for them to have a cup run so they have to be backed at generous odds of 3/1 to win here & we also like an each way bet at 40/1 in the cup's outright market.

(Johnnie Jackson has scored directly with two free kicks in his last two matches) 

In League One, Exeter City entertain Charlton Athletic at St James Park. Charlton top the table & have a seven point gap to 2nd place Huddersfield whilst Exeter are in 18th place just 3 points above the last relegation place. Charlton look well on course to gain automatic promotion with 13 league wins in their last 16 matches. Their current form has seen four wins out of their last five & they have beaten both Sheffield clubs 1-0 in their last two games. Away from home they have the best record in the league with 32 points out of a possible 42 with ten wins. Hosts Exeter have drawn their last two matches 0-0 & have only one victory in their last eight league games. All of their six victories this season have come against sides in 16th place or lower & their last victory at home came back in November. We believe that Charlton will be too strong for an average Exeter side at the generous price of evens with Boylesports currently but this price won't last for long!

(Who will come out on top in the battle of the gaffers between Terry Brown & Dean Holdsworth?)

Down in League Two, AFC Wimbledon play Aldershot Town at the Cherry Red Records Stadium. AFC Wimbledon are sat in 15th position & are four places above Aldershot. The Dons have come out the other side of a poor run of form between 15th October - 2nd January where they only managed three points with nine defeats out of twelve matches. Their return in form has coincided with a number of early January signings in Jason Euell, Byron Harrison, George Moncur & Billy Knot which has boasted confidence & yielded three wins in a row against Port Vale, Gillingham & Macclesfield. Visitors Aldershot have suffered seven defeats in their last ten league games & have only scored two goals in the process. They haven't scored a single goal in their last six & it's hard to see where their next goal is coming from? We fancy AFC Wimbledon to continue their winning streak at the expense of Aldershot at the best price of 7/5 with Boylesports.

Selections:
Fulham to beat Everton at 3/1 (Totesport, Betfred & BetVictor)
Fulham to win FA Cup outright at 40/1 (BetVictor & Stan James) each way 1/2 odds first two
Charlton Athletic to beat Exeter City at evens (Boylesports)
AFC Wimbledon to beat Aldershot Town at 7/5 (Boylesports)
A double on the above teams pays 3.80/1.

@likebuyingmoney Twitter followers’ tips week 13

After week 11 our followers were making a £25.91 loss after a poor week, could they improve in week 12? Here's a reminder of what was tipped up last week and a roundup of the results:

Follower	Selection	Result
@DaveLane1	Chelsea -1 vs Norwich	Norwich held Chelsea to bore 0-0 draw LOSER
@DaveLane1	F.Torres anytime vs Norwich	F.Torres yet again failed to hit the net LOSER
@Ricabii	QPR -1 vs Wigan	QPR won 3-1 at home to Wigan (-1 @ 11/4) WINNER
@Ricabii	Sunderland/Fulham double	Sunderland beat Swansea 2-0 & Fulham won 5-2 vs Fulham (just under 3/1) WINNER
@rigger60	Sheff Weds, Huddersfield & Swindon treble	Huddersfield & Swindon both won but Sheff Weds drew 2-2 against Hartlepool LOSER
@Jugador1984	Fulham to beat Newcastle	Fulham beat Newcastle 5-2 (@ 21/20) WINNER
@JulesDud	Blackpool, Burnley, Middlesbrough & Sheffield Wednesday	Only Blackpool won with Burnley & Sheff Weds drawing & Boro losing LOSER
@toddycounago	Northampton to beat Barnet	Barnet came from behind to win 2-1 at Northampton LOSER
@MrMatthewReid	Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham & Preston treble	West Ham won but Sheff Weds & Preston failed too LOSER
@gray67lufc	Rotherham to beat Port Vale	Port Vale won 1-0 LOSER
@gray67lufc	Huddersfield to beat Brentford at	Entertaining game ended with Huddersfield winning (@ 4/5) WINNER
@gray67lufc	Burnley to beat Derby	Another 0-0 bore draw LOSER
@gray67lufc	Barnsley to beat Millwall	Millwall won 3-1 LOSER

After only a few winners this week our followers’ current loss increased to -£30.06, from £1 stakes.

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

@LeeHooper1 Big Bucks and Grand Crus double, Big Bucks unbeaten. Grand Crus holds a great chance. Grand Crus has swerved the Argento Chase at Cheltenham so Lee is left with a banker single of Big Bucks in the Cleeve Hurdle @ 1.29 on Betfair.

@Matt_Hudson fancies a treble of Rotherham, Cheltenham & AFC Wimbledon at a little over 12/1 (Skybet). Rotherham travel Dag Red, Cheltenham away at Macclesfield and AFC Wimbledon host Aldershot.

@MrMatthewReid initially Matt selects from Friday's FA Cup game at Vicarage Road putting his faith on Defoe FGS at 3/1 and ATS at 8/11. He also picks Rochdale v Bury BTTS doubled with Brentford win. 2/1.

@rigger60 picks a FA Cup treble of Chelsea to beat QPR @ 4/6, Stoke to beat Derby (5/4) and Arsenal to beat Aston Villa @ 8/13. This all Premiership treble pays roughly 5/1.

@Ricabii Crosses the pond for his best bet Okay I am going for Boston Celtics on the handicap (-6.5) vs Pacers @ 17/5. 

@Jugador1984 Soon to be Wembley visitor Luke looks for his fourth successive winning tip, this weeks #bestbet Hull City to see off Crawley @11/12 with a few changes should be too strong.

@FootyTipKing selects from the biggest tie of the FA Cup fourth round picking Utd DNB at Evens.

@Douglie9 is going for a double of Stevenage and Hull. The Edinburgh man's double pays just under 3/1.

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.

Murray can hit the big time down under

The Australia Open is now into the latter stages with some of the quarter finals already played, we like a bit of tennis here at Like Buying Money Towers & have what we think are a couple of good selections for glory in th first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

(Petra Kvitova can gain the second Major win of her career)

We were keen on Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon & the 21 year old Czech really delivered showing none of the nerves she apparently had on receiving the trophy, she's the real up & coming star of women's tennis & can show that with a win here. She should take care of the unseeded but still useful Sara Errani in the quarters & will then face one of the two Russians in either Sharapova or Makarova. Kvitova would be favourite to beat either & we think she'll have a big advantage as it could be a real battle between those two. That would mean a final against either the grunting Victoria Azarenka or crowd favourite Kim Clijsters, neither of them necessarily has the game to really work Kvitova's biggest weakness which is her speed & she'd be odds on if getting there. We're not saying it will be easy but we definitely want to side with a player on th upgrade & already a Grand Slam winner & odds of 7/4 for Kvitova to win look very fair.

In the men's draw it looks likely to be the same old faces in the final four with one semi between rivals Rafa Nadal & Roger Federer already set up & Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray very much expected to deal with inferior opposition in their quarter finals. To be fair it wouldn't be the biggest upset of all time to see David Ferrer get the better of Djokovic, he's very solid & reached the semi final last year but the Serb is a level above & really should progress. The Australian Open was Djokovic's first Grand Slam victory back in 2008 & he followed up with a win last year & the first sign that he was going to have one of the most incredible years in men's tennis history with another two Grand Slam victories. Djokovic's form did drop off at the end of last year, largely as a result of the sheer amount of games he played & maybe taking his foot off the gas but it did at least show him to be beatable & as impressive as he's been he did drop a set against Hewitt in his last game, we don't want to take the short odds of him winning again.

(Is Andy Murray's new coach Ivan Lendl the key to him reaching the top?)

Nadal had a real battle in his quarter against Berdych with the game lasting 4 hours & that should give Federer an advantage over him but in all likelihood their game is going to be tough & tiring physically & emotionally whoever wins. Andy Murray is the outsider of the 4 at 11/2 & it is understandable as he is the one without a Grand Slam title & has to get past Djokovic if he makes the semi but we think he offers the best value by far especially now that he's linked up with Ivan Lendl as his coach. Lendl is an all-time great player with 8 Grand Slams & may be able to give Murray the winning mentality he needs to break through & become the best, already Murray's game is changing & he says he's standing closer to the baseline - that should make him more aggressive & attacking, going out to win rather than not lose. The Brit started a little slowly in the tournament  hasn't faced a seeded rival yet but the tournament is a marathon not a sprint & he should be feeling fresh & confident. At the moment Djokovic is better than Murray but their head to head record is close, with the Serb leading 6-4, so Murray certainly wouldn't be a huge underdog if they face off & we'd foresee a tight match. If Murray succeeds in the semi we think he'd beat either of the other two, he has won more games than he's lost against Federer & although Nadal has the better of their meetings Murray came out on top the last time they met, in the Japan Open final. Quite simply Andy Murray has been underrated here in contrast to how he's so often been overrated in the past; he's ready to make the step up & should be backed at 11/2 to win.

Selections:
Petra Kvitova to win Women's Australian Open at 7/4 (General)
Andy Murray to win Men's Australian Open at 11/2 (Boylesports & Stan James)

Wembley awaits – Carling Cup Semi Final, Second leg. Cardiff City vs Crystal Palace

Cardiff City host Crystal Palace tomorrow night in the second leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final. Palace hold a slender one goal advantage from the first leg. Cardiff, still aggrieved at a seemingly legitimate disallowed Kenny Miller goal, will be looking to turn their fortunes around and reach Wembley for the fourth time in four years. The sides are led by two young Scots, Malky Mackay and Dougie Freedman. The up-and-coming managers will be looking to achieve something they never did as a player, qualify for a major final.

(Freedman and Mackay, well regarded)

Depending on what you consider to be the Eagles best XI will determine how many players you think Freedman decided to rest on Saturday in the Eagles’ defeat to Blackpool, some claiming up to 9 players were left out of his side. All of those rested will be available for Palace come tomorrow night, the visitors also welcome back the tricky Sean Scannell (ban) and Alex Marrow and former Derby and Exeter man Dean Moxey (injuries) to their squad. Malky Mackay’s focus remains on the league fielding his best available side against Portsmouth on Saturday, the likelihood is that the game will come too soon for full-back Kevin McNaughton whereas French striker Rudy Gestede may be fit enough for a place on ‘le bench’ meaning Mackay will stick with the same side that picked up all three points against their 2008 FA Cup final opponents – the only decision the ex Watford man will need to take is who to play in goal.

The league fixture between the sides back in November in the Welsh capital saw the home side coming out on top with a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from Kenny Miller and Peter Whittingham. Palace are yet to return from the hosts new Cardiff City Stadium collecting anything more than a point. The Bluebirds' recent league form is good, in the last 8 games they’ve won 4, drawn 3 and lost just 1, in contrast Palace have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 4, in those 8 games Palace have found it difficult to find the back of the net, scoring just seven times. This trend isn’t out of the ordinary as in their 27 league games to date they’ve breeched the opposition defence on a lowly 26 occassions.

The first goal in this match is crucial; if Palace, backed by the best part of 4000 travelling fans, take the lead this one could be all over bar the shouting. However should Cardiff take the lead they rarely surrender it. The visitors are yet to draw a game away from Selhurst Park this season, a fact that only adds weight to which ever side scores first is most likely going to go on and win this one. Will Palace try to defend what they have? If so, they could be in trouble, as Cardiff have the players that could hurt Freedman’s men. The aforementioned Miller and Whittingham assisted by Joe Mason all have the ability to cause problems. Whittingham, linked with a January move to the Premier League, is Cardiff’s key man, the former Villa player takes free kicks and penalties and is available at a juicy 11/4 with Paddy Power (just 2/1 elsewhere) to score at anytime – a bet we think is worth taking.

(Peter Whittingham, 'he does what he wants' pictured here with Kenny Miller)

Cardiff buoyed by Craig Conway’s late strike on the weekend will have their tails up, not much is being said to the press by the Welsh side which contrasts to that of Palace, clearly this is one of the biggest games in the clubs' recent history. We think that with home advantage Cardiff will prove too strong for Palace, the Welsh side can be backed at 4/5 to win in 90 minutes.

Selections

Cardiff to beat Crystal Palace in 90 minutes at 4/5 with William Hill

Peter Whittingham to score at anytime at 11/4 with Paddy Power

NFL Championship games - One step from the Super Bowl

A great season of football is just about winding up as the final four teams battle it out for a place in this year's Super Bowl & it means two great matchups with two of the best defenses up against some great offenses led by previous Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. Tom Brady & the New England Patriots host the tough, grizzled Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game & the New York Giants have to travel across the country to come up against the NFC's best defense in the San Francisco 49ers. We've got both games previewed & some bets picked out in order to be able to enjoy it even more, as ever you can also follow us on Twitter by clicking the button above where we talk about sports in general & keep you informed of our blog updates.

(Our favourite Patriot little Danny Woodhead can help them sneak past the Ravens)

The AFC Championship is up first & sees two teams who make the playoffs pretty much perennially in the New England Patriots & Baltimore Ravens but the last time either got to the Super Bowl was in the 2007 season when the Patriots lost to the Giants, whereas Batimore have only made it once, in the 2000 season & they beat the Giants. This season the Patriots haven't lost since week 9 (again the Giants!) & have put up extraordinary point scoring performances, putting up 30+ points in 12 of 16 regular season games, they ran over Dever last week & have to be feeling confident. The Ravens also had a great regular season losing just one more than the Patriots as they went 12 & 4 & swept the tough AFC North, they managed to put away the Texans last week with a combination of great defense & Texans mistakes but they were less than impressive on offense, that could be a problem today as Brady always finds a way to score.

(Tight end Ed Dickson offers some value to score for the Ravens)

We've always made it clear that we don't rate Joe Flacco as a quarterback & last week did nothingto change our minds, admittedly he threw two TDs but did start off in awesome field position & only just got over 50% with his completion rate & just 176 passing yards, it wasagainst a very good Texans defense but better quarterbacks would've found ways to counter them. To be fair to Flacco he has only an average to good set of receivers with Anquan Boldin & Torrey Smith offering the deep threat whilst back Ray Rice gets passed to more than anyone else. They have improved this year at tight end with Ed Dickson coming to the fore but still don't match up to many other teams in production at the position & certainly not the Patriots with Gronkowski & Hernandez. Dickson offers a little value in Paddy Power's 'first to score a touchdown for their team market' at 7/1, he got 5 during the season & is a viable alternative to the all-action Ray Rice. The Ravens offensive strength lies in thir running game & Rice is outstanding but if they need to score quicly they'll haveto go the air & that's unlikely to be sucessful.

(Mr Dependable Wes Welker (no. 83) can get us first touchdown scorer money again)

This is a pretty good matchup for New England as they're dreadful at defending the pass but the Ravens can't pass & they've only lost at home once all year whilst the Ravens 4 defeats have all comeon the road. The Ravens are great all round on defense but are probably a bit better stopping the run than the pass, Lardarius Webb has been exceptional at cornerback recently but he'll have a size mismatch if he covers Welker this week & that could be crucial. Pretty much noone's been able to stop Tom Brady pasing this year & he'll once again look to hit his physically dominant tight ends & Welker, Chad Ochocinco might even get a pass or two thrown his way although Brady's targeted him sparingly so far. The Patriots areloking so confident right now & Brady's arm is on fire, with homefield advantage it looks like they'll overpower the Ravens right from the off & can be beating them at halftime & fulltim at odds of 4/6. It's a different matter whether the Patriots can achieve ultimate success down at Indianapolis but it looks a safe bet that their superior offense can at least get them to the big game. It again looks like the league's leading receiver Wes Welker is being underestimated, odds of 15/2 for him to score the first touchdown & should be taken - he can deliver just like last week.

(Are Tom Coughlin's red hot Giants on their way to Super Bowl rings?)

The NFC Championship game is priced up with both teams pretty near Evens with the San Francisco 49ers marginal favourites courtesy of being at home, hosting the New York Giants at Candlestick Park. Both sides upset the odds last week with the 49ers beating our Super Bowl fancies New Orleans in dramatic late fashion whilst the Giants travelled to Lambeau Field & monstered the Packers in their own stadium in a most impressive win. These sides met here earlier in the season with the 49ers winning 27-20 but that was the start of a little sticky path fo the Giants where they lost 4 in a row, they've well & truly bounced back & have played some dominant football in recent weeks. Eli Manning has started getting a little cocky & is playing well enough to back his mouth up, he has two truly great receivers in Hakeem Nicks & Victor Cruz & they are ably backed up by Mario Manningham  & rookie tight end Jake Ballard. Even the Giants' running game which ranked dead last in 32nd during the regular season has started to produce in the las few games with Bradshaw & Jacobs making the most of their size.

(The 49ers Vernon Davis is used to celebrating touchdowns)

San Francisco took advantage of a largely soft schedule during the regular seeason but still came up with victories over Pittsburgh, Detroit & the Giants whe they did face better opposition, they rarely scored too heavily (over 30 points just 3 times) but were superb on defense, particularly in the red zone - making opponents settle for field goals & not allowing them to run the ball with any effectiveness. That goes partly down to excellent drafting with their rookie linebacker Aldon Smith looking like one of the league's outright outstanding defenders, he had 14 regular season sacks & is lightning fast & strong as an ox. We can't say we've ever been sold on Alex Smith at quarterback, he's had plenty of chances before this season but never taken them, he is however playing his best footbal right now & has been a model of consistecy & efficiency throwing just 5 interceptions all year with 20 TDs. Smith near enough passes exclusively to Vernon Davis & Michael Crabtree, Davis had a monster game last week & can take advantage of the weak Giants secondary this week, he's Evens to get a touchdown at anytime with Skybet.

 (Victor Cruz can catch & run in this one just like he's been doing all season)

The 49ers season has been based on great defense & Frank Gore's powerful runs but they've moved a little away from that in the past two games as they allowed the league's worst scorers, St. Louis, to get 27 points in a meaningful game & conceded 32 to an excellent Saints offense last week, that's hardly terrible news but those were the two highest point totals they conceded all year & it's a trend they can't afford to continue. The Giants have really started to perform when it matters, the hosted the Falcons in their first playoff game this year & held them to just two points & were supremely impressive against Green Bay, those were both better offenses than the 49ers & with everything starting to click we have to side with New York & Eli to do the business & clinch the NFC Championship at 6/5. In the first touchdown scorer market the value lies going with the Giants' Victor Cruz at 10/1, he had 9 TDs in the regular season & a massive 1,536 receiving yards, he's their number one & should be shorter than that.

Selections:
New England Patriots to be beating Baltimore Ravens at half time & full time at 4/6 (Boylesports)
Wes Welker to score first touchdown at 15/2 (various)
Ed Dickson to score 1st Ravens touchdown at 7/1 (Paddy Power)

New York Giants to beat San Francisco at 6/5 (Skybet, Ladbrokes & Coral)
Victor Cruz  to score first touchdown at 10/1 (Skybet)
Vernon Davis to score a touchdown at anytime at Evens (Skybet)

Tangerine Dreams & a double dose of Claret & Blues

There's a huge Sunday for Premier League football but before that there's still plenty of great action this Saturday & we've got bets from the Championship & a Premier League derby game. As ever you can also follow us on Twitter by clicking the follow button above & if you like what we do tell everyone you can about us!

(The evergreen Kevin Phillips is still a thorn in many Championship sides with 8 goals so far)

In the Championship, Blackpool entertain Crystal Palace at Bloomfield Road, the Tangerines sit in 9th place with 39 points & Crystal Palace are two points behind them in 13th. Blackpool have a good home record with seven wins & three draws in their 12 home league games, they haven't suffered defeat in front of the home faithful in five games (including a 3-0 victory over strong travellers Middlesbrough last time out) & haven't conceded a goal their in the last three. Visitors Palace are a mixed bag away from home with six wins & seven defeats but four of these wins came against sides in 19th position & lower. Also next Tuesday they have a massive 2nd leg Carling cup semi-final clash with Cardiff as they look to defend a slender 1-0 lead so there is a question of whether they will be fully focussed on this Championship clash. With this in mind & Blackpool's strong home record we expect them to be too strong for Palace & take the points at the general price of 4/5.

(Steve Cotterill's Forest have slipped into the relegation places & look in trouble)

Another games in the Championship sees second placed West Ham United host relegation threatened Nottingham Forest at Upton Park, the sides are currently separated by 20 league positions and 26 points. Steve Cotterill's Tricky Trees come into the game bottom of the current form table having picked up just 4 points from 8 games, the Hammers in the same period have collected a modest 13 points. Without setting the division alight West Ham are very well placed to bounce back up to the Premier League at the first time of asking following relegation in 2010/11, Sam Allardyce's side has been grinding out result of late, their tight defence takes the pressure off the forward players who have found it hard in front of goal - West Ham haven't scored more than one goal in any of there last 9 matches. Steve Cotterill knows that there is no money for new signings in the transfer window so he needs to rely on the players currently at his disposal. Forest's defence is also fairly sturdy, prior to letting in 3 against Southampton last time out in the league they went into that game having on conceded 5 in 7. We think the home side should win this one, especially if they have aspirations of playing top flight football next season. West Ham are available at 4/6 with William Hill to collect all three points.

 (Darren Bent will hope to be a villain to Wolves fans this Saturday)

The big Premier League game on Saturday has to be the Midlands derby between Wolverhampton Wanderers & Aston Villa where to our minds two of the league's most negative managers face off in what looks inevitably to be a tight & tense encounter. Both teams have just 23 goals in their 21 games played & it's little wonder neither set of fans is particularly enamoured with the men on the sideline, they've both had some tough fixtures of late & results have suffered with Wolves last win coming 8 games ago & Villa with just 2 wins in 10. There is at least grounds for optimism at Villa with a great win at Chelsea recently & the super talented Stephen Ireland starting to show some of the form from his outstanding 2008-09 season, they've got talent in other areas as well with Bent & Agbonlahor up front & Shay Given between the sticks. Wolves meanwhile are basically in relegation form mode after having started so well with two wins to start the season & apart from Steven Fletcher getting in the goals they really don't look to have that much attacking threat. If Wolves do manage to get in front the order seems to instantly go out that they should withdraw into their own half & hold the lead & they regularly end up paying the price for their negativity. It's a big game but unlikely to be a classic & we think under 2.5 goals is more likely than the 4/5 on offer, if a team is going to win it looks more likely to be Villa & they've only lost twice on the road in the league backing them on the draw no bet market at 21/20 is the way to go.

Selections:
Blackpool to beat Crystal Palace at 4/5 (various)
West Ham United to beat Nottm Forest at 4/6 (William Hill)
West Ham United 2-0 Nottm Forest at 15/2 (William Hill)
Aston Villa to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in draw no bet market at 21/20 (William Hill)
Under 2.5 goals in Wolves v Aston Villa game at 4/5 (various)

@likebuyingmoney Twitter followers' tips week 12

After week 10 our followers were making a £19.70 loss after a few winning picks, could they improve in week 11? Here's a reminder of what was tipped up last week and a roundup of the results:

Follower	Selection	Result
@plankorama	Charlton to beat Sheff Weds	Charlton won the top of the table clash 1-0 thanks to a J.Jackson strike (Charlton @ 1.91) WINNER
@plankorama	+0.5 2nd half goals in Charlton vs Sheff Weds	J.Jackson goal was scored in the first half (28 mins) LOSER
@plankorama	Charlton to come from behind to beat Sheff Weds	Charlton won 1-0 LOSER
@rigger60	Liverpool, Hull & Port Vale	Hull won but Liverpool drew & Port Vale loss LOSER
@CTGBreathnach	Everton to win away at Aston Villa	Game ended in a 1-1 draw LOSER
@Jugador1984	Arsenal and Swansea both teams to score	Cracking game finished 3-2 to the Swans (BTS @ 5/6) WINNER
@bookiebasher1	West Ham, Sheffield U, Huddersfield, Cardiff & Stevenage	So close with 4 out of 5 winners as Cardiff only draw 0-0 at Doncaster LOSER
@GHorsfall	Rotherham to beat Swindon	Swindon came out 2-1 winners LOSER
@mattsafc	Blackburn, QPR and Aston Villa/Everton Draw	2 out of 3 with Mark Hughes QPR defeated at Newcastle LOSER
@mattsafc	Liverpool-Stoke to finish 1-1	Picked the draw correctly but it finished 0-0 LOSER

After a disappointing week for our followers, their current loss increased to -£25.91 after a number of losing bets, from £1 stakes.

Detailed below are the selections for the weekend of the 21^st / 22^nd January:

@DaveLane1 fancies Chelsea -1 @ 6/4 - expect Torres to score as well. Chelsea travel to Norwich in the early Saturday kick-off - Torres is 11/2 (Betfred) for first goalscorer and 11/8 (Blue Square) for anytime goalscorer.

@Ricabii selects QPR -1 handicap. Mark Hughes first league home match is against bottom of the table Wigan and they are 11/4 at Betfred, Paddy Power & Ladbrokes.

@Ricabii second selection is a Sunderland/Fulham double. Sunderland host Swansea & Fulham entertain Newcastle at Craven Cottage. The double is just under 3/1.

@rigger60 picks a treble of Sheff Weds to beat Hartlepool, Huddersfield to beat Brentford & Swindon to beat Macclesfield. The treble is best price of just under 3/1.

@Jugador1984 our Welsh tipster #bestbet this week Fulham to beat Newcastle. Fulham are best price of 21/20 with Ladbrokes to gain the three points.

@JulesDud has gone for Blackpool, Burnley, Middlesbrough & Sheffield Wednesday. Just over 10/1.

@toddycounago thinks its a simple nap this weekend, improving Northampton. Northampton are at home to Barnet & are best price of 8/5 with William Hill/Skybet.

@MrMatthewReid goes for a Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham & Preston treble at odds of 4/1. All 3 sides are at home & will be looking to take advantage.

@gray67lufc picks Rotherham to beat Port Vale at 5/4, Huddersfield to beat Brentford at 4/5, Burnley to beat Derby at 10/11 & Barnsley to beat Millwall at 13/10. Plenty of bets & he'll be hoping they all come in.

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.

Midweek Money Grab - Victor Chandler Chase

We don't get too involved on the horses during the jumps season but still watch plenty & keep track of the form of horses & stables as well as keeping track of prices for forthcoming races & looking at this weekend we think we've got a nice bet in the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot - not huge odds but will surely be shorter come the day.

(Finian's Rainbow can show he's a cut above this field & a real Grade One chaser)

Nicky Henderson has his horses in great form with 9 winners from 36 runners in the last fortnight & he runs last year's Arkle second Finian's Rainbow in this £105k contest, he's a general 7/4 shot but available at 15/8 with SportingBet. A top class hurdler, beaten just twice, he mde up into one of the best novice chasers around last year with the Arkle the only time he's lost over fences from 6 tries, in fact all 3 of the races Finian's Rainbow has lost have been at the top level in Grade Ones. His only run this seson came in the Grade Two Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton & he won well in the end after a really bad blunder at the 4th last beating two of his rivals entered for Saturday in Wishfull Thinking & Oiseau de Nuit. With that race under its belt Finian's Rainbow should be much fitter now & has been given a sensible amount of time between races, they'll have worked on ironing out any kinks in his jumping too.

Chief rival in the market is Paul Nicholls' Al Ferof, a horse unbeaten in his last 5 races but with just two chases under its belt, the last hurdle win came in the Supreme Novices at Cheltenham - a race where all of the main protaganists seem to have gone chasing this year. On paper Al Ferof's chase successes look impressive with a Grade Two on debut & then a Grade One last time, but they were both in noice company & the last race at Sandown looked a particularly weak affair for the grade, Al Ferof was successful by just a neck at short odds. He did show battling qualities that day & the 2nd has since run Cue Card relatively close showing the form to be of a decent level but we'd not hesitate to say Finian's Rainbow would beat Cue Card out of sight & that sows what Al Ferof is up against. Nicholls' currentform is also a concern with one winner from 16 runners & a couple of disappointing ones, it may be noting but is worth bearing in mind.

(Gauvain - best of the rest?)

Of the others both Oiseau de Nuit & Wishfull Thinking look to have it all to do, they couldn't beat Finian's Rainbow with fitness on their side & a big mistake thrown in so can be discounted. Somersby has good placed form in top company but his best win came two years ago in a trappy 4 runner novice chase, his trainer Henrietta Knight had a welcome purple patch at the start of the month wih 3 winners in 5 days but in general the stable is very much on the wane & the days of Best Mate & Edredon Bleu are becoming a distant memory. Forpaddydeplasterer hasn't won since the 2009 Arkle & looks to have serious issues having finished 2nd 8 times in 11 runs since, plus 3 times in a row before the Arkle. David Pipe's I'm So Lucky simply looks overmatched. The one that could be capable of an upset is Nick Williams' Gauvain & we wouldn't write off at odds of 10/1 on Betfair, he's talented but has never realy fulfilled his promise & it could be getting a little late now, however if the selection falls he's right up there with the rest.

Overall we can see that this is for the most part a relatively even contest............. between the rest. Finian's Rainbow stands out on form & Sportingbet's 15/8 shouldn't stand up for long, we'd expect 6/4 on he day so get it now, he can this on his way to being a real Champion hase contender.

Selection:
Ascot, Saturday 21st January, Victor Chandler Chase - Finian's Rainbow at 15/8 (Sportingbet)