Sports Betting Blog: Premier League weekend betting preview, 14/3/15

Chelsea may have been humbled in Europe but they are strong 1/9 favourites to win the Premier League this season holding a five point advantage and a game in hand over Manchester City.

Both are in televised action this weekend with Chelsea hosting seventh-placed Southampton and City away at battling second-bottom Burnley. Below we preview the betting for those games and the other live TV clashes.

Crystal Palace v QPR - BT Sports 1, 12.45pm Saturday
Palace will be looking to rediscover the form shown when Alan Pardew first took over at Selhurst Park as they aim to improve on a record of just one win in their last five.
To be fair to the Eagles, their three defeats in that period have come against Liverpool, Arsenal and Southampton so facing a QPR side in the bottom three should prove an easier challenge on paper.
The Rs have just one win in 13 with eight defeats in their last nine. The only bright point in a rather depressing recent few weeks was the 2-0 win at Sunderland, which represents the West London side’s only away success in the league so far this term.
Spreadex have Palace 8/11 for the win, QPR 4/1, the draw 13/5 and the spread betting Goal Supremacy at Palace/QPR 0.7 – 0.9.
The stats scream a home win, but Spreadex fixed odds clients have so far been putting more money with the visitors, perhaps based upon the fact that the game will mean more to Chris Ramsey’s men given their precarious position compared to Palace’s safe mid-table situation.
Spreadex spread betting clients see this as being tight and goalless until the second half as indicated by buys of 1st Match Goal at 38 and of Last Match Goal at 65.

Burnley v Manchester City – Sky Sports 1, 5.30pm Saturday
City’s form has been somewhat erratic in recent months causing them to crash out of the FA Cup, lose ground in the Premier League and face an uphill battle to stay in the Champions League.
So any slip up here could all but hand the title to rivals Chelsea.
Burnley earned a creditable 2-2 draw at the Etihad over the Christmas period so won’t fear the current champions, however Sean Dyche’s men are on a horrendous run of late with just one win in their last 14 and just two points collected from a possible 21 in their last seven league games.
Spreadex clients seem convinced that Manuel Pellegrini’s side are not about to throw in the towel just yet and we’ve seen some chunky buys of the Goal Supremacy price of City/Burnley (h) 1.15 – 1.35 and a City win placed in numerous fixed odds accas at 4/9.
There have also been plenty of takers of Over 2.5 City goals at 13/8.

Chelsea v Southampton – Sky Sports 1, 1.30pm Sunday
This clash seems to be all about goals – or perhaps we should say, the lack of them with both sides known for building their sides on the backbone of a stern defence.
After notching up some big wins earlier in the campaign, Chelsea have found goals slightly harder to come by in recent weeks with only one of their last nine games in all competitions resulting in more than three goals being scored in total over 90 minutes.
Southampton too have been involved in plenty of low-scoring affairs recently. And when you throw into the hat the fact that Southampton (conceding just 20) and Chelsea (conceding just 22) both boast the best defensive records in the Premier League this season, it’s maybe no surprise that Spreadex traders have total Goals at paltry 2.35 – 2.55.
Goals aside, Chelsea are strong favourites to bounce back from their midweek disappointment to PSG at 8/13, with the Saints 5/1, the draw 11/4 and the spread betting Goal Supremacy Chelsea/Southampton 0.85 – 1.05.

Manchester United v Tottenham - Sky Sports 1, 4pm
If the battle for the title is not very interesting, then that is more than made up for by an intriguing fight for top four spots. And this clash could be key in deciding who will be in the mixer for a Champions League spot come the end of the season.
Manchester United remain in the top four despite still never really looking convincing and they now face a testing period with Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea all coming up after this clash.
The Red Devils will be without Angel di Maria (suspended) and Robin van Persie (injured) so, with Radamel Falcao woefully out of sorts, will once again be relying on Wayne Rooney to deliver the goods.
Spurs meanwhile are currently sixth largely due to 26-goal man Harry Kane and will be boosted by two wins from their last two trips to Old Trafford.
Spreadex clients are split on the outcome of this one. We’ve had equal amounts of buyers and sellers on the spread betting Goal Supremacy price of Man United/Spurs 0.55 – 0.75 and an equally undecided range of bets on the fixed odds match prices of Man United at 5/6, Spurs 3/1 and the draw 13/5. One thing punters do seem to agree on however is that there will be goals with buyers on the spread quote of 2.8 – 3 and backers of over 2.5 goals at 4/6 and over 3.5 goals at 7/4 on the fixed odds.


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