SHEFFIELD UNITED STILL THE CALL

The Wigan v Sheffield United game was called off last week so we had no chance to monitor the Blades’ improved form. However, they have won again since and are on the fringes of the play-off places again now. They are not conceding and Nigel Adkins clearly has things very much to his liking now. I still think they can just about win League One, though I must say our long-priced saver bet, Walsall at 40/1, looks very interesting; they are top at present.

I’m going off the ‘Both Teams to Score’ bet. I think it’s a psychological thing, really, because in some games you feel there have to be goals and I should think there are many more ‘yes’ than ‘no’ bets, just as there were more buyers than sellers in some spread markets. Of course, it was only Newcastle who let the treble down last week but I’d never have seen Man Utd v Chelsea as a goalless draw, whatever the teams’ problems, and another goalless encounter between Leicester and Manchester city stopped me in my tracks. I’m leaving it alone for a while.

Southampton staggered me by thrashing Arsenal, then reverted to type at West Ham, where they looked much the better side in the first half, couldn’t score more than one and fell away in the second, when the choice of Gaston Ramirez as one of the subs when the Saints were looking to hold on to a 1-1 scoreline would not have met with the agreement of many travelling supporters. Funnily enough, if I were still thinking in terms of the BTTS market I’d look closely at Norwich v Saints because they generally score againstv each other going back many years but I shall hold nack.

There isn’t much in the Premier league though West Brom v Stole could be a low-scoring draw; after all, how would YOU price up a match between Tony Pulis And Tony Pulis’ old boys?! I thought Sunderland were dreadful against Liverpool the other night and it’s clear Big Sam expects very little from the current squad apart from effort. Actually that market that popped up in the Racing Post the other day – Sunderland to recruit more new players than any other Premier League team in the January window – is worth careful consideration.

If SHEFFIELD UNITED are going to follow the script I’ve written for them above, they will need to beat Peterborough at Bramall lane, thereby pegging back one of their rivals for a play-off place.

The nap would have to be CHELTENHAM to beat a hapless Kidderminster in the National League but it’s only for high-rollers who don’t mind playing at 1 to 3.

West Brom v Stoke 15 units THE DRAW at 11/5

SHEFFIELD UNITED 15 units at 6/4 (at least four firms) to beat Peterborough