All articles by: Jools Jordan-Probert

Nottingham Forest vs Derby – Match Preview

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Nottingham Forest vs Derby County
Sunday 11th March 2018
SkyBet Championship, City Ground

Live on Sky Sports Football – Kick-Off: 14:30

Nottingham Forest vs Derby County – Much more is at stake than just three points in the always ferocious East Midlands derby between Nottingham Forest and Derby County.

Bragging rights and the pride of the East Midlands comes with the territory. Also, for Derby a win is essential to maintain their dwindling automatic promotion chances.

Forest will be desperate to avenge their 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. That game featured an opening goal after just 24 seconds from Matej Vydra, so always expect the unexpected in this one.

The Rams are undefeated in their last four East Midlands derbies, winning three of them. This, and the direction Gary Rowett is taking the side in, is widening the gap between the two teams. But everyone knows that derbies are a complete leveller. Derby will be favourites, but you can guarantee that Aitor Karanka’s side will need to motivation to get one over on their biggest rivals.

Forest are in the abyss of mid-table at present. An early-season play-off challenge has fallen by the wayside and now The Reds are 15th, 14 points away from 6th. Derby were in 2nd just a matter of weeks ago, but without a win in six games they are now nine points adrift of Cardiff. The race isn’t over yet though, and consolidation of a play-off spot with ten games remaining is vital.

Forest are unbeaten in their last five, so will come into this full of confidence. One feels that the club are putting the foundations in place for a potential promotion challenge next season.

Jeremy Simpson will have the hard task of being the man in the middle for this one. Of the 33 Championship referees, only six give out a higher average of booking points (45.4). The tempestuous nature of this one lends itself to the idea of him having to give out plenty more. This is the type of game that both sides may find themselves adding to their one sending off of the season to date.

Excitingly, goals are a certainty in this one. Derby have conceded in their last five games and Forest have conceded in their previous nine home fixtures. Rowett’s side have found the net two or more times in 17 matches this season too. Additionally, no side has conceded two or more goals more than Forest – 19 times.

Nottingham Forest vs Derby County will be televised live in the UK on Sky Sports Football with kick off at 14:30 GMT.

Prediction: Nottingham Forest 1-2 Derby

Suggested tips – Nottingham Forest vs Derby – (BET365)

  • Correct score, Derby Win 2-1 – (link no longer available).
  • Half Time / Full Time – Forest / Derby – (link no longer available) .

Suggested tips – Nottingham Forest vs Derby – (SKYBET)

  • Both Players to Score – Daryl Murphy and Matej Vydra – 6/1.

Odds updated on 9th March at 13:20 GMT.

More markets will be added over the weekend prior to the game kicking off on Sunday afternoon.

Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and betting previews for the remainder of this weekend’s domestic league fixtures from England.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – Match Preview

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Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
Saturday 10th March 2018
FA Premier League, Stamford Bridge

Live on BT Sport 1 – Kick-Off: 17:30

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – Chelsea simply have to beat wounded Crystal Palace to get their Champions League qualification hopes back on track.

Palace are without a win in six and Chelsea need to capitalise on their poor form and get back to winning ways. The Blues are in apparent disarray after the most abject of performances against Manchester City last time out. The nature of the 1-0 defeat will be the most alarming aspect. The players seemingly had no desire and simply let City do as they please.

Antonio Conte’s side are now 5th, five points away from Spurs in the Champions League spots. Spurs are showing no signs of slowing down, so Chelsea need to put a run together and put them under pressure. Otherwise, it could mean no Champions League for the second time in three years.

Roy Hodgson has improved Crystal Palace, there is no doubt about that. However, after dragging The Eagles up the league they now find themselves right back in the thick of danger. They are 18th and need a win at Stamford Bridge just to escape the relegation zone.

It truly is one of the tightest relegation battles in recent memory, and someone has got to lose. One feels that Palace have enough quality in the squad to get out of danger but how hard will they take the defeat from 2-0 up against United last time out? It’s the time of year that going on a run either positive or negative can define a season.

Anthony Taylor is the man in charge, and he may well have his work cut out. No side has been given more red cards than Chelsea (4) this season and only three teams have received more yellows than Palace (49). Taylor himself hasn’t shown a single red card in his 20 games this season so this may well be the time to break that duck.

In terms of where the game is likely to go, Chelsea still have to be favourites despite their form. No team in the Premier League has kept less clean sheets than Palace’s five, and one would fancy Chelsea to add to their 14 games they have scored more than two in this year. They surely have too much quality not to, especially at home. However, Palace were this first team to stop the all-conquering Manchester City scoring this season, so they definitely have it in the locker.

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace will be televised live in the UK on BT Sport 1 with kick-off at 17:30 GMT.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-1 Crystal Palace

Suggested tips – Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – (BET365):

  • Correct score, Chelsea win 3-1 – (link no longer available).
  • BTTS – (link no longer available).

Suggested tips – Chelsea vs Crystal Palace – (SKYBET):

  • Player Carded Accumulators – Cesc Fabregas and Luka Milivojevic both to be carded – 12/1.

Odds and markets last updated on 8 March 2018 @18:15 GMT.

More markets will be added prior to the game kicking off on Saturday evening.

Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and betting previews for more previews from this weekends domestic league action.

AC Milan vs Arsenal – Match Preview

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AC Milan vs Arsenal
Thursday 8th March, 2018
UEFA Europa League, Round of 16, San Siro

BT Sport – Kick-Off 18:00 GMT

AC Milan vs Arsenal – Two fallen European giants clash in the last 16 of the Europa League as Arsenal travel to Milan to end the crisis.

It has been a woeful 2018 for Arsene Wenger and his team. No English side has lost more games since the turn of the year. The misery has been particularly compiled in the last week and a half, losing the EFL Cup final and a home league match both 3-0 to Manchester City before a miserable 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Sunday.

Arsenal are now 13 points adrfit from the Champions League places. 13. To put that into context, they are only 18 away from the relegation zone. The only possible way they can get back into Europe’s elite competition next season is by winning this one.

AC Milan will provide stern competition in doing so. Perhaps less than in years gone by, but a monster £200m+ spending spree in the summer sought to change that.

Milan have struggled throughout the season, but since Genaro Gattuso has been at the helm results have dramatically improved. The Rossoneri are unbeaten in 13 games, winning the last six without conceding a single goal.

They have even booked their spot in the Coppa Italia final against long-standing rivals Juventus. So understandably the atmosphere around the club is a very positive one at present. They too are eight points away from a Champions League position in Seria A, so winning the Europa League is imperative.

Refereeing this one will be Clement Turpin, who plies his trade in Ligue 1. In his 12 league matches in charge this season the Frenchman has dished out two red cards and 45 yellows. This results in a rather low average of just four cards per match. There is every reason to believe that will change in this game, as Milan have already received a league-high six sending-offs in Seria A. Compared to Arsenal who haven’t been given a single red, booking points on Milan seems the sensible option.

The notion of two of European football’s biggest teams battling it out to clamber themselves back upwards is pulsating. It will be a fascinating watch and be a huge test to Arsenal’s character. Character which they don’t seem to have.

The lack of leadership has seen Arsenal fail to register a clean sheet in their last 11 league matches. That signifies their lack of form after earning nine in their first 18. Milan themselves have kept nine league clean sheets in total. Equally, both teams have scored two or more goals 13 times this campaign.

So this naturally lends itself to a prediction of:

Prediction:- AC Milan 2-2 Arsenal

AC Milan vs Arsenal will be televised live in the UK on BT Sport with kick-off at 18:00 GMT.

Suggested tips – AC Milan vs Arsenal – (BET365)

  • Correct score, Draw 2-2 – (link no longer available).
  • Half Time / Full Time – Draw / AC Milan – (link no longer available).

Suggested RequestABets – AC Milan vs Arsenal – (SKYBET)

  • Popular RequestABets – AC Milan vs Arsenal – Biglia, Kessie, Koscielny & Wilshere to be carded – 150/1.
  • RequestABet upto 10/1 – BTTS, 4+ corners each team and 20+ booking points each team- 11/2.
  • @FootyAccums RequestABets -AC Milan vs Arsenal – Cutrone & Mkhitaryan to score and Kessie, Chambers & Xhaka to be carded – 200/1.
  • RequestABet Specials 11/1 to 28/1 – AC Milan vs Arsenal – Arsenal to win, over 2.5 goals and Romagnoli to be carded – 20/1.
  • @FootyAccums Specials – Europa League RequestABets – Thu 8th Mar – 6pm games – Gameiro & Batshuayi to score, ATL, DOR & ACM 5+ corners each & LOK, RBS & ARS 20+ booking pts each – 33/1.
    (Note this is found in skybet within its own section/special as opposed to within the Arsenal game).

Odds updated on 8th March at 17:00 GMT.

More markets will be added over the weekend prior to the game kicking off tonight.

Keep visiting the tips and preview area for further updates and betting previews for the remainder of this weeks European games and this weekend’s domestic league fixtures from England.