All articles by: Jools Jordan-Probert

Everton vs Newcastle – Match Preview

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Everton vs Newcastle United
Monday 23rd April 2018
FA Premier League, Goodison Park

Live on Sky Sports Premier League – Kick-Off: 20:00 

Everton vs Newcastle United – With Newcastle all but securing their Premier League status after a fantastic run of results, they travel to Everton for a clash as mid-table as they come with 9th hosting 10th.

Rafael Benitez has masterminded an extremely productive season at the helm of Newcastle United. With almost no funds afforded to him amidst Mike Ashley’s desire to sell the club, The Magpies are now on 41 points with five games left. A great return.

Newcastle’s guidance into safety is largely on the back of the four consecutive victories they have garnered. Victories against rivals Southampton and Huddersfield were supplemented with excellent wins away at Leicester and against Arsenal at St. James Park.

Despite Newcastle being below Everton, the atmosphere is completely different within the two clubs. Toffees fans are voicing their discontent of Sam Allardyce’s methods and playing styles. These concerns were voiced via an internal questionnaire given to the fans asking to rate their satisfaction. It didn’t turn out well for the veteran manager.

Even though the momentum is diverse, Newcastle have to overturn some dreadful recent form in this fixture to get the win. The Toon have won just once in the last ten meetings between the sides, losing eight times. Newcastle haven’t even managed a goal in the previous four clashes.

It is hard to look past this being a tense match where defensive play is king. Wayne Rooney has scored ten league goals (but has none in 14 games, since January) and Oumar Niasse has seven, but other than that no player in either side has managed to find the net more than five times.

Everton will hope to continue their solid home form, sitting as high as 7th place in that metric and only losing five times in 17 games. Newcastle, have good away form, reaching 8th. This truly is a middling game for the Premier League that could go either way.

Bobby Madley is officiating this one, for what will be his 18th Premier League game of the campaign. The high-profile referee has only given out 56 yellow cards and two reds this season. With both teams only receiving one sending off this term the stats suggest it’ll be unlikely that tally will be increased.

Everton vs Newcastle will be televised live in the UK on Sky Sports Football HD with kick-off at 20:00 GMT.

Prediction: Everton 1-1 Newcastle

With Newcastle now seemingly having nothing to play for, and Everton not in the greatest of form, this one will be tight.

Suggested tips – Everton vs Newcastle United – (BET365):

  • Correct score, Draw 1-1 – (link no longer available).
  • Half Time / Full Time – Everton/Draw – (link no longer available).

Suggested tips – Everton vs Newcastle United – (SKYBET):

  • Price Boost – Morgan Schnierderlin and Jonjo Shelvy both to be carded – 22/1. 
  • RequestABet Specials Up to 10/1 – Everton vs Newcastle United – Over 1.5 Goals and 10+ booking points each team – 15/8. (NAP)
  • @FootyAccums Specials – Walcott to score and Gueye & Shelvey to be carded – 100/1. (NB)
  • RequestABet Specials Up to 10/1 – Everton vs Newcastle United – BTTS and 4+ corners each team – 9/4. 

Outsider Cover Bets – Everton vs Newcastle United – (SKYBET):

  • Draw 0-0 and no booking points – 66/1. 
  • Draw 0-0 and Gueye & Shelvey to be carded – 125/1.

Both the above markets can be found in the 80/1 and above request a bets on Sky Bet.

Odds and markets last updated on 23nd April 2018 @17:35 GMT. Markets will unlikely be updated ahead of kick off.

Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and betting previews for more previews for this upcoming weeks European, FA Premier League and SkyBet Championship action.

Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur – Match Preview

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Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur
Tuesday 17th April 2018
FA Premier League, Amex Stadium

Live on Sky Sports HD – Kick-Off: 19:45

Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur – Brighton can all but secure their Premier League status by beating a Tottenham Hotspur side in the pursuit of second place.

First things first. Chris Hughton and Brighton have done a remarkable job so far. The Seagulls’ maiden Premier League campaign has so far been a huge success as they stand on the brink of guaranteed safety from relegation.

The season has included some massive highs, such as the 2-1 victory against Arsenal and the 3-0 defeat of West Ham at the London Stadium. Recent form has not been so strong, without a victory in five since that Arsenal match, but their performances throughout the year have surely done more than enough to beat the drop.

The weekend’s defeat to M23 derby rivals Crystal Palace will leave a sour taste in the mouth, but a match against one of the country’s best, and most in-form sides is the perfect platform to rectify that taste.

Until the defeat against City, Spurs were on a rampage. They had not lost in the league since the first time they played Guardiola’s side in December. Pochettino’s team have forced themselves into the race for second place, and by surpassing Chelsea, aided with a wonderful curse-breaking 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge, nearly ensured Champions League football once again.

The reverse fixture was a comfortable win for Spurs. This game will likely again depend on Tottenham’s attacking impetus and whether they can break the ever-resilient defensive wall that is Brighton’s backline. Dubious goal-claiming Harry Kane will be fired up to increase his tally and do so.

Kevin Friend will take charge of his 18th Premier League game of the season, hoping to not find a reason to have to give out a first red card of the year. Of the 19 Premier League referees, Friend averages the second lowest average booking points per match with just 22.9. This has seen only 39 yellow cards in the games he has officiated.

Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur will be televised live in the UK on Sky Sports HD with Kick Off at 19:45 GMT.

Prediction: Brighton 0-2 Spurs

Suggested tips – Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur – (BET365):

  • Half Time / Full Time – Spurs / Spurs – (link no longer available).
  • Correct Score – Tottenham Hotspur win 2-0 – (link no longer available).

Suggested tips – Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur – (SKYBET):

  • Match Stat Price Boost – Murray, Kane, Alli & Eriksen to have 1+ shot on target each – 11/4. (NB)
  • Popular RequestABets – Murray & Kane to score and Stephens & Aurier to be carded – 80/1.
  • Both Players to Score – Glenn Murray and Harry Kane – 4/1. 
  • Popular RequestABet – Eriksen to score, 4+ corners each team and Dunk to be carded – 18/1. 
  • RequestABet up to 10/1 – Tottenham to win, Tottenham to score 2+ goals, 6+ match corners and under 80 match booking pts – 1/1. (NAP)

Odds and markets last updated on 17th April 2018 @18:10 GMT. Markets unlikely to be updated prior to kick off.

Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and betting previews for more previews for this upcoming weeks FA Premier League and SkyBet Championship action.

Old Firm Derby – Celtic vs Rangers – Match Preview

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Celtic vs Rangers
Sunday 15th April 2018
Scottish Cup Semi-Final, Celtic Park

Sky Sports Football – Kick-Off: 14:30 GMT

Celtic vs Rangers – The most glamorous match in Scottish football, and one of the world’s fiercest rivalries once again rears its head as Celtic meet Rangers in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup at Hampden Park.

Bragging rights, pride, intensity, honour – all words intrinsically linked with a true football rivalry, and especially the Old Firm derby. These two sides have divided Glasgow since Celtic’s inception in 1887, 130 years ago. The roots of the hatred sink deeper than football but it will be on the pitch, at the home of Scottish football, where this iteration of score-settling will occur.

It could prove to be a fantastic week for Brendan Rodgers and his side. They are 13 points clear of Rangers and Aberdeen in the league with just five matches to play. So should they come through this tie they could reach the Scottish Cup final and six days later win their seventh successive league title with a victory at Hibernian.

Rangers will have to summon all of their passion to defy the odds and best their loathed neighbours. The Gers have been able to beat Celtic since this stage of the Scottish Cup in 2015/16. On that occasion, a fiery match finished 2-2 with Rangers winning on penalties.

Since that game, Celtic have remained undefeated in Old firm matches, a run stretching nine fixtures. Even more excruciating for Rangers fan will be the two 5-1 hammerings suffered in that period.

Graeme Murty’s team have everything to play for. The semi-final of the cup is the perfect opportunity to break a poor streak and get one over your main adversaries.

A place in the final against the victors of Motherwell and Aberdeen is at stake. Both Celtic and Rangers will be adamant in adding another Scottish Cup to their already outrageous tournament hauls. Whilst Rangers have more league titles (54 to Celtic’s 48), Celtic have the better pedigree in this competition with 37 wins to Rangers’ 37.

Surprisingly, Celtic are not the top scorers in the division and are yet to have a player reach double figures in the league. Rangers have scored 67, three more than The Bhoys, and can largely thank Alfredo Morelos and Josh Windass’ totals of 14 and 12 respectively for that.

This match will be anything but a formality, Rangers have proven that this season by earning a draw at Celtic Park and outplaying Celtic in their narrow 3-2 loss. Expect goals, expect passion, expect challenges flying in, expect drama. This is the Old Firm derby, and it rarely disappoints.

Bobby Madden is the man tasked with keeping a lid on this erupting volcano. The Scot has taken charge of 21 Premiership matches this year, dishing out 77 yellow cards and four reds. That included two sending offs in Celtic’s vital 2-0 victory at Aberdeen in February.

Celtic vs Rangers will be televised live in the UK on Sky Sports Football with kick-off at 14:30.

Prediction: Celtic 3-2 Rangers

A repeat of their last fixture, the game will be open with Celtic having enough quality to once again impose superiority on their reviled counterparts.

Suggested tips – Celtic vs Rangers (SKYBET):

  • Correct Score – Celtic to win 3-2 – 25/1. (Price Boost)
  • BTTS and over 2.5 goals – 1/1. (NAP 2)
  • Popular Request a Bet – Celtic to score 2+ goals, 5+ Celtic corners, 3+ Rangers corners and 10+ booking points each team – 9/4. (NAP)
  • Scott Brown and Daniel Candeias both to be carded – 5/1. 
  • Mousa Dembele to score a brace – 6/1. (NB)

Odds and markets last updated on 15th April 2018 @13:40 GMT. Markets unlikely to be updated prior to kick off.

Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and betting previews for more previews for this upcoming weeks FA Premier League and SkyBet Championship action.