With the start of December nearly upon us it's time for me to return with some football tips and hopefully a return to some profitable football betting.

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Liverpool have recently drawn 2 games at Anfield 0-0 against lesser lights in the Premiership but its nearly twelve months since they lost at home in the league, a 2-1 defeat to Man United.

West Ham gained a morale boosting win at Sunderland last week 1-0 which looked like a decent result until Bolton beat the same opposition 4-1 yesterday.

Torres will be missing for the home side tomorrow night but the other important pieces in the Benitez jigsaw will probably line up in Reina, Carragher, Gerrard & Mascherano. Along with Torres these are the players Benitez needs available if they are to mount a title challenge.

West Ham have a strong squad to pick from as long term injuries seem to clearing up and the likes of Dyer, Noble and Spector back in training meaning they will only be missing Dean Ashton & Danny Gabbidon. Craig Bellamy will be itching to get a goal against one of his former clubs and if he does it will go a long way in securing the Hammers 1st point at Anfield since 1999. Its 7 straight wins for Liverpool at home to West Ham this century and you have to go back to 1963 when the Hammers last tasted victory here.

If Liverpool are to mount a serious title challenge their home form is important and with 4 points dropped already to weaker opposition this season theyll be looking to secure the win here.

At the weekend the last of the major European leagues get underway as the Dutch, Italian and Spanish leagues kick off.

Football is on a high in Spain. They have one of the best leagues in the world and now the have the best international side, according to the latest FIFA rankings. Spain, of course, won the European Championships in the summer and now the league takes centre stage.

One of the main talking points in the Iberian peninsula as been the Cristiano Ronaldo saga. For weeks the 'will he, won't he' saga dominated the headlines but there has been far more going on than that. For me the main two protagonists of the title race will once again be Real Madrid & their main rivals Barcelona. These are the only two sides capable of winning the title IMO and if you're looking for a Champion look no further than these two.

Villareal managed to split the two last season as Barca tailed off once the title was gone and although I expect them to do well again they'll be doing well to finish as high this time. Their pre-season has not gone well losing in their last 4. Atletico Madrid finished 4th last season and as usual have spent the post season strengthening their squad. The arrivals of defenders Tomas Ujfalusi and John Heitanga should stabilise the defence, whilst the capture of ex-Liverpool striker, Florent Sinama Pongolle, looks to be a good one after he impressed in his two seasons at Recreativo. However, they rely too much on their young Argentine striker Sergio Aguero to add the creativity to the side and the burden maybe too much for one so young.

That leaves just Barca and Real.

Real finished a whopping 17 points above Barca last season and beat them home and away. They have lost the services of Sneijder through injury for 6 months but the acquisition of his countryman Rafael van der Vaart, from Hamburg will eliviate some of that pain. Elsewhere the squad remains the same and although Robinho has stated he wants to leave there is a rumour making the rounds that they have made a bid for Valencia's David Villa. In Van Nistlerooy and Raul they have strikers who can hit 20 goals in a season and in Higuain they have a player who will make the same impact from the bench.

Consistency on the field and in the technical area will be the key to Madrid's campaign but that can't be said of Barca. After last season's debacle Rijkaard has gone and so have some of the disruptive influences in the dressing room. Deco has gone to Chelsea, whilst Ronaldinho turned up in Milan. Eto'o has dug his heels in and seems to have earned his place back in the squad whilst several players deemed surplus to requirements either left or retired. Zambrotta, Edmilson, Ezquerro and Oleguer were released, while Thuram retired. Laporta has installed fan favourite & Barca legend Pep Guardiola as head coach but after just one season as head of Barca B will this be a step too soon?

How can a side in a state of transition, with a coach at the helm after just 1 years coaching experience and who finished 17pts behind Real last season be contesting the position at the head of the market? It pains me to say that even though I have a soft spot for Barca Real are the wise choice this season.

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One of the few games tonight to pit divisional rivals together. Preston have had a decent start to the season after finishing last well last season. They looked to be heading towards relegation before Alan Irvine left his post at Everton and seized the chance to become manager at Deepdale. All the info coming out of Preston is that they had a testing pre-season and Irvine seems to have been making sure the squad are match fit and ready to fight this season.

Derby seemed to have left off where they finished last season. On Saturday they lost to a youthful Southampton at Pride Park with John Salako, who was commentating for Sky Sports, describing the performance as one of the worst he had ever seen. Confidence is shot to pieces and one wrong move and they fold like a pack of cards. It's nearly a year since they last won a game [in 90 minutes] and there is no hiding place for manager Paul Jewell now. Last season he masqueraded behind the excuse that the side was made up of players that his predecessor had signed but they are yet to show an improvement.

Preston beat them 4-1 in the FA Cup last season and this is a home team full of confidence against a side low on confidence. Derby seemed to be overrated in this market so take the 2.10 on offer for the home win.

Coventry's had a good start to the season but they were soundly beaten at home Saturday by Bristol City and they have a few missing tonight through injury. Goalkeeper Westwood and striker Eastwood are definately out. Right Back Stephen Wright and striker Leon Best are also missing.

Newcastle themselves still have a few missing through injury but Keegan has taken a strong squad down there and he has stated that they will be aiming for a couple of decent cup runs this season as that is the most realistic chance of trophies. Owen is being mooted to play some part in the game and the likes of Coloccini and Gutierrez are being lined up to start. They have had a promising start to the season with a draw at Old Trafford and a win over Bolton so I expect Newcastle to be confident.

With Newcastle taking this game seriously the odds of over evens could be big at the final whistle.

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Stockport
League Pos: 5th
Home Form [Last 7] : WWWLDDW
Rank: F
Home Fig: 706

Darlington
League Pos: 3rd
Away Form [Last 7] : DLDLWWL
Rank: G
Away Fig: 689

At Edgeley Park Saturday two of League 2 promotion chasing candidates meet in a match which will influence who snatches the remaining automatic selection behind Peterborough and MK Dons. Stockport have declared tomorrow's game a Community Foundation Day and they expecting a bumper partisan crowd of 7000.

Stockport are on an amazing league run of 14 wins and 2 draws in their last 17 matches; their only defeat coming in the local derby against Bury in February. They have kept 6 clean sheets in the last 7 and have 2 matches in hand over tomorrow's opponents after last weekend's abandonment at Chester.

Darlington are on the slide winning just once in their last 7 league matches and their promising season is faltering at the death. They have been hit by a number of injuries to key personnel at the wrong time for manager, Dave Penney, and tomorrow squad highlights this. Greg Blundell and Ndumbu-Nsungu are both struggling with their fitness. Tommy Wright has just returned from an hip injury and his short of match fitness whilst Richie Foran has returned to Southend after his season was curtailed with a serious knee injury. Pawel Abbott is hoping to return soon from injury but will definatley not make the game tomorrow. Those 5 have hit 33 of Darlington's goals this season and they are being sorely missed at the moment.

Darlington won tthe 1st fixture between the sides at the beginning of the season 4-0 but Stockport at the side in form at the moment and I make them around evens shots tomorrow.

Brighton
League Pos: 8th
Home Form [Last 7] : WWWDWWD
Rank: J
Home Fig: 803

Port Vale
League Pos: 24th
Away Form [Last 7] : LWLLLLL
Rank: W
Away Fig: 707

This is crunch time for Port Vale. They have successfully staved off relegation so far but the noose is tightening. 12 points from safety with just a possible 15 on the table means that the trapdoor will open sooner rather than later and it could be all over come Saturday 5pm.
They will need to improve their away form which has seen just 2 wins and a draw from their last 15 away matches. Their wins came over fellow strugglers, Crewe and Gillingham, and the match against Brighton is a much tougher proposition.

It’s 25 years since Brighton fans were watching their side playing in a Wembley FA Cup Final against Manchester Utd and how fortunes have differed between the 2. Whilst United are on course for another crack at the European Cup final Brighton are trying to rise from the depths they sunk to after their day in the spotlight.

Brighton sit just outside the playoffs and are unbeaten in their last 10 matches in the league at home. 7 wins and 3 draws has seen them rise up the table after Christmas and 3 clean sheets against Doncaster, Leeds and Nott’m Forest in recent matches shows what a tough nut they are to crack.

Last time out Brighton were unlucky not to beat Leeds at Elland Road and they are strengthened but the return of Ian Westlake for Saturdays match after the terms of his loan deal meant he missed last weekends match. Brighton have top scorer Nicky Forster in top form with 7 goals in his last 9 games and a goal in each of Brighton’s last 4 home games.

Port Vale look like missing top scorer Luke Rodgers who is set to miss out with a knock whilst midfielder Robin Hulbert is suffering with a trapped nerve in his shoulder and Danny Glover is still struggling with an Achilles complaint. Shane Tudor will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, while Colin Miles (medial ligament) is also sidelined.

I make Brighton 1/3 shots in this match so the 1.59 on offer at Betfair seems a reasonable bet to take.

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The fans of Everton and Bolton reconvene at Goodison Park for their 1st matches after Xmas and if recent form is anything to go by there should be a veritable goal-fest for them to enjoy. David Moyes has Everton playing some really attractive football at present and they sit behind only Arsenal in the goalscoring stakes this season. Add to that 17 goals scored in Cup competitions and the Merseyside club can boast nearly 50 goals to their credit with still a couple of fixtures before Xmas. In the shape of Bolton Everton face a rejuvenated side under Megson who have lifted themselves away from the bottom 3 and who still have Europe to look forward to in the new year. The return the type of football played under Allardyce has seen a return to the results they were getting and they are slowly garnering confidence. In Nicolas Anelka they have one of the best strikers in the division but they are not a one man team. The likes of Davies, Diouf and Nolan are vitally important to them and although the predicted loss of the Frenchman will hit them hard they can survive without him. Saying that the problem on the road comes in defence where they have conceded 33 goals in their last 14 away matches and coming against a side like Everton this will surely be tested. Now onto the stats - Everton home matches average 3.2 goals poor game over the last 15 matches, Boltons away matches average 3.3 goals per game over their last 15. In this time frame Everton have scored 32 at home whilst Bolton have conceded 33 away from home. I make this a 67% chance according my own stats which should be around a 1.67 shot. At over evens this makes a very good value bet.

There should be goals in this match. Preston have conceded 2 goals in each of their last 6 away matches whilst Sheffield Utd havent failed to score at home in their last 14 home matches. Both defences can be a bit leaky at times with a combined total of 33 goals conceded already between them this season. This goal tally has been breached in 8 of Utds last 11 home games whilst 7 of Prestons last 10 away games have involved more than 2 goals.

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After a disappointing opening day defeat at home to their city rivals Hearts league form has picked up and have beaten Rasngers 4-2 at home in the last couple of games. Dundee Utd were my pick on the season handicap market and so far they have failed to let me down. However despite their lofty position they still struggle on the road and have lost in 3 of their 4 away matches including a 3-2 defeat against Gretna. They did beat Hearts here 4-0 back in March, which was marked by unrest from the home fans, but Hearts have the edge in the last 10 matches at Tynecastle winning 7 of them. I believe the memory of the 4-0 drubbing may inspire the home side to return the favour today and the Jambos should seriously considered at these odds.

Bolton have been behind in 5 of their last 6 away games at half-time, going on to lose 4 of them. Arsenal been ahead in 5 of their last 7 home games at half-time, going on to win 4 of those, including their last 3. The loss of Anelka will be a major blow to managerless Bolton, who have scored 9 goals this season but 5 of them have come from the Frenchman.

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