Stoke V Leicester looks tight

One or two things occurred while watching the relentless flow of football this week. Bournemouth are undoubtedly better than their league position suggests and have played several of the top teams already. Their points spread for the season will be quite low but I’d expect them to reach the 50 mark and be comfortably mid-table in the Premier League when May comes around.

Secondly, on their performance against Preston, Aston Villa are finally turning the corner and will go close in the Championship. Steve Bruce has won promotion from this section more often than anyone else and I thought Villa looked very good for long spells on Wednesday. It’s a pity they host Sheffield Wednesday because against most teams, I’d have made them banker material. They are a side to follow from now on but I’d let things go until next week.

Stoke v Leicester looks very tight to me and probably low-scoring into the bargain. Claude Puel started well in his new job, although Everton were coming back at Leicester in the second half on Sunday without much luck. Stoke surprised me in a niggly affair at Watford but do not score many and I make this a mundane draw.

Bristol City are delighting the faithful and have an attractive Cup game against Manchester United before Christmas. Maybe the good times are coming at long last but Cardiff will be a tricky team to overcome at lunchtime on Saturday. The police are wary of this fixture and the visiting fans will have taken their full complement of tickets with every intention of arriving early. Again, this looks a draw and it will be no surprise if the referee is busy with his cards – often the case in this fixture.

The bookmakers continue to rate Southampton at home but there is no value in the 4/6 against Burnley, although there will come a day when the Saints make their early pressure tell and add a couple more when the opposition is forced to attack. Given how poor Southampton’s scoring record is, it’s quite astonishing how many teams come to St Mary’s looking for a point, West Brom the other day being a perfect example. I think Southampton will win this but 4/6 is a nonsense.

There is better value about Yeovil when they take on Southend in the FA Cup. Harry remains Harry but he’d be lost without a team to mould and cajole and the Redknapp influence is already being felt – witness the three goals before half-time last week. Sure, there is a division between the Glovers and the opposition but the home fans will be well and truly up for this and I’d say 3/1 (slightly bigger in places) about the famed Cup fighters of old is a decent shout.

Stoke v Leicester 12 units THE DRAW at 12/5

Bristol City v Cardiff 15 units THE DRAW at 5/2

YEOVIL 15 units at 3/1+ to beat Southend