The wallet opens for the last time, with a crispy tenner sent fluttering the way of our friends at Paddy Power.
Having won a good half a dozen bets during our betting “experiment”, we’re determined to go out on a high by finding another success in our little selection of specials.
Once the cash has been dished, we’ll also take a glance at Paddy’s clean sheet and anytime goalscorer odds and check if any of their wisdom can alter our best laid plans for the final day.
With so many Fantasy Managers putting their faith in Dimitar Berbatov coming good against the Tangerines to seal the Golden Boot for his mantelpiece, it’s only right that we choose to back the Bulgarian with some bunce. Paddy are offering 3/1 on Berbatov to score two or more goals against Blackpool today – we’ll take that as our bet of the week and put a healthy £5 on it.
Switching to the relegation battle, and I strongly fancy Wolves to continue their run of form to put Blackburn to bed at Molineux. Jamie O’Hara and Steven Fletcher are both in the Scout Picks 14-man squad and will be key to Wolves’ fortunes. Paddy have Fletcher at 9/1 to score two or more – with O’Hara at 7/2 to notch anytime. I’ll split £3 across those two bets.
Finally, as Da Beeez stressed earlier in his “Gameweek 38 – Revisited” post, clean sheets are often hard to come by on the final day. Paddy’s Clean Sheet Accumulator offers long odds on shut-outs then but we’ll take the 18/1 on offer on Wolves, Tottenham and United all earning cleanies in their games. Equally though, Paddy are pushing 80/1 on no clean sheets in the Premier League today – we’ll put a quid on each of those.
Who Will Keep a Clean Sheet?
- Tottenham 2.50
- Man United 2.70
- Man City 2.70
- Wolves 2.80
- Arsenal 3.00
- West Ham 3.00
- Newcastle 3.20
- Liverpool 3.25
- Chelsea 3.30
Clearly, Paddy is feeling about as confident as us Fantasy Managers on the prospects of clean sheets. The odds on shutouts, even at the top of the rankings, are pretty long, reflecting the unpredictable nature of the final day. Tottenham, with an impotent Birmingham attack visiting them at the Lane, are considered most likely to see defensive returns. The Manchester sides come next, with United’s odds perhaps surprisingly seen on par with City’s chances of a shut-out at Bolton. Elsewhere the sight of Wolves amongst the top odds for a clean sheet is not something we’re used to, with Paddy rating Mick McCarthy’s side above the likes of Arsenal at Fulham, Liverpool at Villa and Chelsea at Everton.
Anytime Goalscorer
- W Rooney 1.66 (BLP)
- J Hernandez 1.66 (BLP)
- D Berbatov 1.66 (BLP)
- J Defoe 1.80 (BIR)
- C Tevez 1.90 (bol)
- M Owen 2.00 (BLP)
- P Crouch 2.10 (BIR)
- R Van der Vaart 2.10 (BIR)
- R Van Persie 2.20 (ful)
- D Drogba 2.20 (eve)
- M Balotelli 2.30 (bol)
- R Pavlyuchenko 2.30 (BIR)
- Nani 2.37 (BLP)
- L Suarez 2.40 (avl)
- D Bent 2.40 (LIV)
- F Torres 2.40 (eve)
- D Ba 2.50 (SUN)
- C Cole 2.50 (SUN)
- S Ameobi 2.50 (WBA)
- L Best 2.50 (WBA)
- A Carroll 2.60 (avl)
- H Rodallega 2.60 (stk)
- K Jones 2.62 (WIG)
- P Lovenkrands 2.62 (WBA)
- S Fletcher 2.62 (BLA)
- J Walters 2.80 (WIG)
- F Lampard 2.87 (eve)
The expected United goalfest against Blackpool at Old Trafford is clearly reflected in the goalscorer odds with all three of Alex Ferguson’s principal strikers out in front in the rankings.
Jermain Defoe is a somewhat surprising choice to come next, with Paddy clearly backing Spurs to make short work of the visiting Birmingham defence. It’s no shock to see the much-fancied Carlos Tevez following, although some may well be surprised to see his odds considerable shorter than those of Robin Van Persie considering the Arsenal striker has notched in his last eight away trips.
Steven Fletcher’s odds are also interesting – Paddy has the likes of Shola Ameobi, Darren Bent and Hugo Rodallega above the Wolves striker, despite the Wolves striker scoring five goals in his last five games. Clearly Paddy feel that goals will be hard to come by in the Molineux clash with Blackburn.
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