Long time no see

With the Premier League season over with there's been little for me to post on my blog. I however do follow a number of horse racing systems as well as the odd football tip. I shall be back with my own football selections for the world cup soon.

In the meantime here's a presentation of my results so far this year, note I'm only a part-time gambler and don't claim to be anything else. My bets usually average around the £20 mark and I'm relaly impressed with the returns so far this year. I'm just short of £2,000 for the year so far. The below diagram highlights how each of my bookmakers accounts have done (click to enlarge)

Final games of the season

Always sad to see the season draw to a close. The battle for fourth place is settled and relegation was dealt with a few weeks back. The only thing left to decide is the title and unless Chelsea make a very unlikely slip-up the title will be heading to Stamford Bridge this season.

Bolton v Birmingham
Two very similiar teams in their approach, they've got no big names as such but are both hard-working sides. Birmingham have had an excellent season under Alex McLeish the one fault you could throw at Birmingham is that they don't score enough goals. This was clearly evident in their last game at home to Burnley, if they had been more lethal infront of goal they could have won the game by four or five goals but in the end due to missed chances they had to hold out for a 2-1 victory when really it should have been much more comfortable.

Bolton have imporved since Owen Coyle took over and have had some very good results in his time in charge. However they a little unpredictable and have bene heavily beaten on a couple of occassions. There's nothing really riding on this match but both are highly professional and will want to end the season with a win. Both teams are lacking quality in the striking department and have averaged around 1 goals per game this season. Two evenly matched teams and I'm going half stakes on under2.5 goals and the draw here.

Tips:
Under 2.5 goals @ 2.00 (Pinnacle)
Draw @ 3.46 (Pinnacle)

Everton v Portsmouth
Everton have had a terrific second half of the season and seem to be able to pick up results even when not on top of their game. Portsmouth had a good draw at Bolton followed by a home win against Wolves last week. You've got to think that Pompey will have half an eye on the FA Cup final here. Yes they will be playing for their place in the side but you expect players not to risk picking up a injury and missing out on the final. Everton will want to finsh the season off well at home here and I think they'll win by a least a two goal margain.

Tip:
Everton (-1.5) @ 1.88 (Ladbrokes)

Hull v Liverpool
Two teams who have had highly dissapointing seasons. Hull City are relegated and this will be their last game in the Premiership, Liverpool season is over and they won't be in the Champions Legaue next season but still could take 6th place ahead of Aston Villa with a win here. Liverpool suffered a dissapointing loss to Chelsea last week and only a few individual pieces of brilliance from Gerrard saw them past Burnley away from home. Liverpool are a highly negative team and even against Hull I don't see them scoring many goals here. I'm happy take unders here at an attractive looking price.

Tip:
Under 2.5 goals @ 2.18 (188bet)

West Ham v Man City
Man City lost to Tottenham on Wednesday, not just the game but the last Champions Legaue spot. In truth it was nothing more than Tottenham deserved from the game, Man City were very poor indeed. They do have lots of good individuals but it's getting them to play together that's difficult with characters like Bellamy and Adebayor that's never going to be easy.

West Ham have survived but it's mainly due to the short comings of Hull & Burnley that have ensured their survival. The financial situation is still a bit of a mess at West Ham and the new owners seem to not be helping the situation any and manager Zola's position will surely be up for much debate over the summer. This could very well be the last game for a lot of the West Ham players at West Ham and it could indeed be Zola's last game, there's no doubt the players are fully behind the manager and I feel they've got a good chance of getting a point at least here.

Tip:
West Ham (+0.5) @ 1.92 (188bet)

Wolves v Sunderland
Wolves have suffered a dip in form recentley what with the defeat at Fratton Park and the fornante home draw against Blackburn. Sunderland seem to be finishing the season in good style and put up a good fight against Man United last week without ever really creating enough chances. Sunderland have the incentive of a higher league finish here, their away form is poor but they managed to win at Hull in their last away game. I think they are worth taking on the (+0.25) Asian Handicap here as I suspect it will be a very close game.

Tip:
Sunderland (+0.25) @ 1.96 (188bet)