EVERTON vs STOKE CITY (EPL)

everton will be high in confidence after a superb display against BATE borisov during the midweek europa league clash. saha has been on form and he was rested and will be raring to go against stoke, who have found it difficult on their travels and have never won so far, and have scored only 4 goals in 7 games so far. bilyaletdinov looks like a great acquisition and pienaar's absence won't be felt, hell, no one even remembers arteta is missing out for everton. that's how good they are right now, and they will only get better. everton to win.

roland's prediction: $5 on everton win @ 1.50 = $7.50

BOLTON WANDERERS vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (EPL)

spurs are having a great run, bouncing back from successive defeats against man utd and chelsea with 10 goals in the last 2 matches. bolton, who have been traditionally hard to beat at home, have surprisingly not won and i don't think they will be able to. bassong has proved to be a fine addition and harry redknapp has found a good balance to the team, and with robbie keane being able to bag 4 goals, you know that the team is on form. go for a spurs win, as i don't think bolton will be able to contain lennon and defoe.

roland's prediction: $5 on Spurs -0.5 @ 1.980 = $9.90

EPL MULTIPLIER

after last week's success, here's a little multiplier you might wanna consider laying down a couple of bucks on.

hull v wigan (hull +1 @ 1.18)

burnley v birmingham (birmingham +1 @ 1.24)

chelsea v liverpool (chelsea +0.5/1 @ 1.13)

wolves v portsmouth (portsmouth +1.5 @ 1.18)

Eddy's prediction: $5 on above multiplier @ 1.95 = $9.75

RESULT: $5 became $7.87, because birmingham was voided (score 2-1)

MANCHESTER UNITED vs SUNDERLAND (EPL)

manyoo are bang on form, having won their last god-knows-how-many games. they have won playing well, and they have won playing poorly, so the momentum is definitely with them. in a home game against steve bruce's sunderland, one would once again expect bruce, a fergie old boy, to do his former boss a favour, and lose this one. he has done it in the past, with wigan, and i think he'll do it again. however, an interesting point to note is that, it has never been a spanking for steve bruce's team. i suspect this is because the respect goes the other way as well, and fergie doesn't wanna humiliate his former players. as such, i'm going for sunderland on a good handicap, just in case they perform really well, and actually succeed in holding united.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on Sunderland +2 @ 1.60 = $8.00 (from bet365)

JURGEN MELZER vs GILLES SIMON (ATP THAI OPEN SEMI-FINALS)

10th-ranked gilles simon is the favourite heading into this match, and i think that is a fair reflection. while gilles simon tends to choke once a tournament heads into the business end, his opponent this time is 44th-ranked jurgen melzer, who has had a terribly easy route so far. i fancy gilles simon to progress to the final this time, as his past 3 losses have come to players far more established than melzer, such as tsonga, djokovic, and ferrero.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on gilles simon to beat jurgen melzer @ 1.53 = $7.65

FIORENTINA vs LIVERPOOL (Champions League)

Liverpool are without their injured Mascherano, who has been an immense figure in their midfield with the absence of Xavi Alonso. His absence will greatly impair Liverpool's ability. Furthermore, Liverpool have a crucial match at Stamford Bridge over the weekend, and another loss will cut them much further adrift from the title chase, so I think Rafa will be resting key players and playing fringe ones. As Liverpool have the weakest bench amongst the big 4, I don't think they can get a result from this game. Fiorentina have been showing very good performances at home and have won every single game so far, so I think backing Fiorentina for this game is the right choice.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Fiorentina +0.5 @ 1.960 = $9.80