Norwich, Wolves & Arsenal Can Land Bumper Weekend Treble

This weekend’s football treble comes from the Premier League, hoping that home advantage can play a significant role in securing a bet that whilst potentially causing a couple of shocks, returns odds of 43/1 with BetVictor.

Norwich v Chelsea – Home win @ 5/1

This week Chelsea has to travel to Norwich, a team in the midst of a fine run of form that has seen them rise in the table to 9^th place. They have won their last three games in all competitions and have only lost one game in their last eight. They are also a team who keep the ball very well creating chances aplenty and are very adept at converting them.

Chelsea on the other hand whilst seeming to have turned the corner regarding their overall form are still goal shy, with an average of a fraction over of one goal per Premier League game in their last six. It speaks volumes that midfielder Frank Lampard, who these days rarely gets 90 minutes, is their top scorer with 11 goals this season. Admittedly he has to thank Fernando Torres for his winning goal last week against Sunderland, the Spaniard’s overhead kick which thundered on to the bar proved that despite the lack of goals his technique and ability is beyond question.

Nonetheless the lack of goals overall is a major worry for Andre Villas-Boas (AVB) and if they do not get more than one at Carrow Road on Saturday then they are in danger of losing as Norwich have scored an average of two goals per game in their last seven.

It should be a very decent game of football, where AVB will probably include fit again Michael Essien in the line up. The Ghanaian will help shore up the midfield but Norwich will not let that worry them; they will still take the game to Chelsea and should be capable of at least a 2-1 victory.

Wolves v Aston Villa – Wolves win @ 6/4

Without a win of any description since December 4^th, the odds about Wolves winning this should be much better than the 6/4 on offer here. However, the Bookmakers realise as we do that ‘Villa’ are one of the most inconsistent teams in the League at present and are vulnerable, particularly in a ‘blood and thunder’ local derby such as this.

Most football punters will see this game as a draw, particularly as Wolves are struggling too and have drawn four from their last five Premier League outings. Villa’s away record of six draws in their ten games away from home this season reinforces the point. However, Mick McCarthy’s men have been very unlucky in at least a couple of those games but know that the great belief that they have in themselves as a team makes them more than capable of turning that around. They will therefore see that a confidence lacking ‘Villa’ will be the perfect opposition to enable them to prove this point.

Yes it will be a close hard fought match, perhaps not the most attractive for the neutral fan to get too excited over. It should also include goals but probably not many but we take Wolves to edge by the end by just the odd goal.

Arsenal v Manchester United – Home Win @ 15/8

Some will say it is madness to back an Arsenal side against Man Utd who beat them 8-2 in the reverse fixture back in August; however, there are no rules of outcome when it comes to these two giants of the Premier League.

There is no doubt that the ‘Gunners’ will still be smarting following that horrendous performance at Old Trafford, but manager, Arsene Wenger knows that freak results do occur and that the two teams will kick off on Sunday as more or less equals. He will also know that ‘United’ has only won twice this decade in the Premier League at the Emirates, while the other nine matches has resulted in five wins for the home team and four draws.

If Wenger has any concerns they will be that his team has lost its last two Premier League games against opposition that they should really be winning against. This does nothing for their momentum but the match on Sunday provides plenty of reasons for them to answer their critics and to get back into the positive headlines.

Sir Alex Ferguson will have his team in a confident frame of mind ahead of the game, that is for certain, but he will also be cautious. Above everything else he knows that playing a hurt Arsenal team can be likened to the ‘cornered rat’ syndrome, with the Gunners more than capable of biting back quickly and we think they will….just!