25 - Back to business

An unplanned week off means that my account remains in a sturdy position.

Current balance: £116.58.

This weeks premier league fixtures show no promise at all. The best of the home fixtures are probably Arsenal to beat Villa and Liverpool to beat West Ham on Monday. However, neither of these seem to be certainties.

Unfortunately the other leagues don't seem to offer much else to wager on either.

My options are probably going to be limited to Rangers turning over Aberdeen in the Scottish premier and Peterborough v Bury in League two, which could also be a one sided affair too.

23 - Profit of £6

Everton's 1-0 win over Reading kept them in 4th place and pushed the royals into the relegation zone. Even more important than that, it gave my account a much needed boost at take the total to £116.58.

The better odds meant that this was one of the best wins I have had so far, especially when the bet made was only just over £10.

Of the other matches which I considered, Rangers comfortably beat Falkirk but Peterborough only managed a no score draw against Wrexham.

The most comprehensive win was for Aston Villa. The 4-1 result means that poor old Kevin Keegan will have to continue to wait for his first Premier League win.

23 - Wrexham's form is too good

Peterborough v Wrexham was initially my choice, but the welsh side's form has been much improved of late and they may put a dent in Peterborough's promotion hopes.

Which means that the most easy to predict match this weekend is Everton v Reading.

The Toffee's have stormed up into 4th place and Reading haven't won for 9 games in all competitions. Everton have won their last 4 home games too, so I feel confident enough.

My first worry is that I usually bet on team's such as Manchester United and Arsenal, but I am going to have to believe in the system and keep my fingers crossed.

The other concern is that Yakubu is not playing and for this reason alone I will only bet 10% of the account. Let's hope Cahill and Johnson can do the business.

£10.58 on some cheer from the blue half of Merseyside (odds of 1.6 will mean a £6 profit if sucessful).

22 - Paid Off

So, my experiment with Liverpool paid off. The match was a relatively easy win for the Reds however in the first half they played poorly and the match was very boring. Luckily they perked up in the second and beat Sunderland 3-0.

My account now stands at: £105.84

This weekend the Toffees of Everton look likely to win against poor old Reading but I am actually more interested in the Manchester derby.

Man Utd are in dominating form, have very few injuries and come up against a City side who have slipped down the table recently. Also, City always struggle against the top 4 sides. With the memories of Munich also affecting this game I fancy Utd to win comfortably, however my rules do state that I shouldn't bet on derby matches.

In other leagues, I expect Rangers to beat Falkirk and also Peterborough will most probably take 3 points at Wrexham.

Must decide whether a Manchester derby is too risky!

22 - Liverpool Experiment

A problem with my betting system seems to be that some of the absolutely certain fixtures end in a strange result due, I think, to complacency in the home side. This has happened in at least 3 of the 4 matches which have gone against me this season.

For this reason I find this weekend's Liverpool match v Sunderland very actractive and could actually be more likely to end in a Liverpool win because of Liverpool's poor recent form and their determination to turn it around.

Usually, poor recent results would stop me betting on the Reds but this weekend I will put a small bet on for a win to try to prove my point. £5 at odds of 1.35 will give me a profit of £1.75.

This alerts me to the odds also being better as Liverpool have not been in the best form of late.

Lt's hope the experiment pays off.