Even with Man City’s slip up at Fulham, they’re absolute bankers this weekend and will be in my doubles and trebles all day long. David Moyes continues to run his club on the tightest of budgets and has done brilliantly to get Everton up into the European places. But beating City on their own ground is a whole other problem.
The Toffees have had the better of City over the past few seasons, but this is a very different City side nowadays – even from last year. Roberto Mancini was rightly furious with his side’s lack of concentration at Craven Cottage and he’ll be certain not to let that happen again. I still cannot quite believe that Mancini was trying to claim his squad was threadbare – try telling that to his opposite man tomorrow!
I’m off to St James’ Park for Blackburn’s visit tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. I still haven’t quite forgiven the Magpies costing me some money in their Carling Cup match on Wednesday, but it was a cracking game against Forest. If they defend like that again tomorrow, then it could be a cricket score.
Steve Kean deserves a huge amount of credit for the result against Arsenal. Just when everything was going against him, they pulled out a massive shock and although they rode their luck at times, I thought they deserved the three points.
Both sides had midweek wins and that’ll have given both managers a selection problem as there were some strong performances in the cup. I don’t see much to separate the sides, so the draw looks the best shout here.
Stoke and United is a tough one. Sir Alex Ferguson’s young flyers could either be three up after 30 minutes or Stoke could get stuck in like they did against Liverpool and Chelsea. Tony Pulis has spent wisely over the summer and he’s turned Stoke into an even better side than last year. The Britannia is a nightmare ground to go to and United just about escaped with a win after Javier Hernandez’s late winner on their last visit.
With the way United are playing at the minute, it seems pure madness to back against them. Wayne Rooney is on fire and looking to extend his cracking start to the season. I know it’s not the greatest tip in the world, but United just look too strong. Stoke won’t go down without a fight though – so expect a battle.
Betting on BETDAQ – Alan’s Punts:
Man City v Blackburn: back City at 1.45
Newcastle v Blackburn: back the draw at 3.55
Stoke v Man Utd: back United at 1.56
