Paddy Power are renowned for offering competitive half-time / full-time prices, although the Irish firm may have bitten off more than they can chew on Wednesday night. While firms such as Betfred and totesport offer 4/9 about Manchester United leading at the interval and at the final whistle against West Ham, the Irish mavericks go 4/6 that this happens. Considering that the Red Devils were frustrated when drawing 1-1 at Everton, this could be a match where they storm into an early lead and don’t look back!
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are 2/9 (Blue Square) for a much-needed three points, after the champions lost ground on Liverpool and Arsenal at the weekend. This is a match in which Cristiano Ronaldo (6/5 William Hill) and Wayne Rooney (5/4 Skybet) could both rate as good bets to score at any point, while a 4-0 win in favour of the home team looks a decent shout at 12/1 (888sport).
Meanwhile, Manchester City will be looking to address their erratic away form when they travel to the Riverside this week. While Mark Hughes’ men delivered a fine performance when beating Stoke 3-0, Paddy Power are happy to lay them at 13/8 to land another three points against Middlesbrough, especially as they failed to beat ten-man Newcastle last week. However, despite winning this fixture 8-1 last season, bet365 are happy to take on Gareth Southgate’s men, going 15/8 that they pick up a much-needed victory.
Robinho is 13/2 (William Hill) to open the scoring for the third successive match, and it’s worth remembering that the Brazilian is on penalty duties for his team. Shaun Wright-Phillips also plays in an advanced position, which suggests that the 4/1 (Paddy Power) about him scoring is a value punt. For the home team, Afonso Alves will be looking to build on the goal he scored at Blackburn and he’s 11/4 (William Hill) to score at any time.
Finally, Aston Villa demolished Wigan 4-0 on Sunday and its little surprise that they are odds-on (8/11 Ladbrokes) to beat Blackburn. The Villans are unbeaten at home in the league, although they only managed a goalless draw against Portsmouth a fortnight ago, suggesting they are more of a threat on the counter-attack. Therefore, VC Bet’s 57/20 about the match ending level could be a good call, especially if Rovers (9/2 Stan James) can stifle the twin threat of John Carew (11/2 Skybet) and Gabriel Agbonlahor (13/2 Skybet).