Braeburn's Tenner - Week 13

No joy for Braeburn's Tenner last week and this week I have done it in a hurry due to utter laziness...

Split your tenner thusly.

Man City to beat Swansea by the following scores, all with Bet Victor.

£4.74 on 3-0 at 17/2 (returns £45.03)
£2.81 on 4-0 at 15/1 (returns £44.96)
£1.45 on 5-0 at 30/1 (returns £44.95)
£1.00 on 6-0 at 90/1 (returns £91.00)

Week 12 starting balance: £68.19

Profit/Loss: - £10.00

Week 13 starting balance: £58.19

And follow me on Twitter: @marcusbraeburn

Braeburn's Tenner - Week 12

A mega stonking week for Braeburn's Tenner last time out with the anytime goalscorer treble rolling in at over 8/1.

Bet 1 - The Single

This week I am putting my money where my mouth is and sticking half my tenner on Saints to win at Arsenal, albeit with the slight safety net of going in on the draw no bet market. It's a best price 16/5 with Bet Victor.

Bet 2 - The correct score spread

Stoke v Sunderland is guaranteed to be last on MOTD so we'll spread our second fiver across 1-0, 0-0 and 0-1. Yawnitty yawn.

£5 on Saints to beat Arsenal (draw no bet) market at 16/5 with Bet Victor. (returns £21)

£2.10 on Stoke to beat Sunderland 1-0 at 11/2 with Bet Victor. (returns £13.65)

£1.55 on Stoke to draw 0-0 with Sunderland at 8/1 with Bet Victor. (returns £13.95)

£1.35 on Sunderland to beat Stoke 1-0 at 9/1 with Bet Victor. (returns £13.50)

Week 11 starting balance: £30.73

Profit/Loss: + £37.46

Week 12 starting balance: £68.19

And follow me on Twitter: @marcusbraeburn

To stay up late or get up early? That is the question...

It certainly is an exciting time to be a sports fan, or indeed a fan of sport if you are offended by the Americanisation of our language. In particular it is fine to be me. Not only do Southampton sit third in the Premier League but the Ashes begin in Brisbane tonight. And nothing gets my juices flowing quite like the Ashes.

If results go their way this weekend then Saints could be top after twelve games. First place after three games is perhaps a freak start to the season; top after 12 makes you genuine contenders, perhaps not for the title but certainly for a hallowed top four spot. It was also refreshing to see three Saints players turn out for England in the last week. Jay Rodriguez may have looked a little out of his depth but Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert both look the part for me. If you factor in ex-academy players Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (currently both injured) plus Gareth 'the-most-expensive-player-in-the-world' Bale (currently Welsh), then the football landscape could look even more Sainty.

As far as the cricket goes there are just two small problems. Firstly, and for the first time in the last few series, I have absolutely no idea which way the contest will go. If England are as shoddy as they were this summer then surely they will receive a battering allowing the Aussies to prove that not only are they the worst losers in the world but also the worst winners. However, should England play to the potential they showed when last 'down-under' then it could turn into another crushing defeat for our Australian friends. Let's hope so. Problem number two is the time difference. Should one stay up late and watch the first session thereby ensuring a bleary eyed day in the office, head bobbing around like one of those Churchill dogs on a dashboard? Alternatively one could try and get a really early night, get up at 5am and watch the last session of the day over a nice cup of tea and a bowl of muesli? Quite a dilemma I am sure you will agree.

Braeburn's Tenner - Week 11

Bad week last week.

Can't lose this week!

Bet 1 - The Treble

Burnley and Reading both to win at home to Bournemouth and QPR respectively added to Villa v Cardiff to yield less than 2.5 goals. Pays out a tidy 7/1 with Bet Victor.

Bet 2 - Anytime score treble

Suarez, Lambert and Van Persie all to score at anytime. Pays out at over 8/1 with Bet365.

Fingers and toes crossed. 
Week 10 starting balance: £40.73

Profit/Loss: - £10.00

Week 11 starting balance: £30.73

And follow me on Twitter: @marcusbraeburn

Bath time with Alan Hansen and Premier League predictions.

A narrow win for ‘Lawro’ last time as he beat me 6 points to 5 and so I am compelled to continue this nonsense for another week despite having much better things to do with my life. Although Sunday looks like a great day for a Sky Sports Leo Sayer, football aficionados will all agree that Saints v Hull Tigers is the game of the weekend. Can the Super Saints trio of England squadders keep Southampton in the title hunt? Well I think they can but being a superstitious sort Braeburn is going for the draw in this one!

Villa v Cardiff

It is a case of after the Lord Mayors show for the Blue/Redbirds this weekend. Confidence will be high after last weekends derby win but the truth is that Cardiff were not all that good on Sunday, they were just a little better than a way below par Swansea.

My Prediction 2-1

‘Lawro’s’ Prediction 2-0

Chelsea v Baggies

‘Lawro’ is in his tedious auto-pilot mode here and while predicting a Chelsea win is the easy, obvious and probably correct thing to do, I am happy to fly in the face of common sense. I need points fast if I am to catch up the goatee bearded buffoon and besides, Steve Clarke knows all about Mourinho and his West Brom team are improving with every game.

MP 1-1

LP 2-0

Palace v Everton

This is how ‘Lawro’ does his predictions.

1. ‘Lawro’ looks at league table.
2. ‘Lawro’ observes the difference in places between the two competing teams.
3. Whatever team is higher ‘Lawro’ predicts a 2-0 win for them.
4. If the teams are close, or the better team are away ‘Lawro’ may pick a draw.
5. If Liverpool are at home ‘Lawro’ may pick a 3-0 win for them. Although this is probably because if he doesn’t Hansen will make him stand naked in a bath filled with three inches of cold water for the entire night.* Apparently.

MP 1-0

LP 0-2

Liverpool v Fulham

Re: bullet point number 5 above, although Fulham are crap away and I happen to agree with Hansen here, he didn’t even have to do the bath thing to me. Unfortunately.

MP 3-0

LP 3-0

Saints v Hull Tigers

This week I have decided that it is worse supporting a team that look like they might achieve something wonderful rather than one fighting relegation. You know that the big boys will all finish in the top six and you will end up as disappointed as that time Hansen was supposed to pop over and do the bathtime thing and then didn’t turn up because he was drunk in the park on two bottles of cheap McTavish Whiskey (allegedly).

Speaking to my Dad this week he admitted that on Saturday he had been tempted to ‘sell his soul to the devil’ for an equaliser against Stoke. I couldn’t agree more; surely there are enough Saints fans willing to flog their souls out there to ensure we win the league? And what better souls for the devil to buy than those of the Saints? (Give me a buzz Mr Beelzebub and we can thrash out a deal, yo) My heart says win but my friend Dapper Max always warns me against hubris and he is nearly always right, so I am going for a draw instead.

MP 1-1

LP 2-0

Norwich v Sammers

A loss for Norwich will surely spell the end for the likeable but ineffective Chris Hughton whilst defeat for the Sammers may leave Big Ham drinking in the bar next door to the last chance saloon. I think Norwich will win but I will donate £10 to the Pompey supporters trust if they score twice against stingy, negative West Ham.

MP 1-0

LP 2-0

Spurs v Newcastle

See the ‘how ‘Lawro’ makes predictions section above’.

MP 1-0

LP 2-0

Sunderland v Man City

See the ‘Spurs v Newcastle’ section above.

MP 1-4

LP 0-2

Man Uniturd v Arsenal

See the... oh you get the idea. Couldn’t agree more on this one though, Uniturd are starting to look a quarter decent again while the law of averages says that Arsenal can’t win away again. Can they?

MP 1-1

LP 1-1

Swansea v Stoke

A slight variation on ‘Lawro’s’ system but he is wrong here. Swansea have not had the best results after their Euro adventures whilst Stoke have Asmir Begovic banging them in. This bad boy has got 1 each written all over it.

MP 1-1

LP 2-1

Read BBC Football ‘Expert’ Mark Lawrenson’s full predictions here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24841322

And follow me on Twitter: @marcusbraeburn

*apologies for the deeply unpleasant imagery here.

Current Scores

Lawro - 76 points

Marcus - 66 points

(I have now awarded myself the one point for the Chelsea v Villa game that I was unable to find ‘Lawro’s’ prediction on, this is mainly so that I can remove this annoying sentence from weeks twelves predictions)

Braeburn's Tenner - Week 10

Well, well, well. Another good week for Braeburn's Tenner last time out with Arsenal obliging at Selhurst Park, their 2-0 win gives us our biggest balance so far. It was however disappointing that Derby blew the treble at home to Birmingham City, especially as they were leading for a decent chunk of the game. Still you can't win them all and if we can more than double our money every week then we will be sunning ourselves in the Caribbean by the season's end.

No explanations this week but you can rest assured that all these bets have been extremely well thought through...

£2.50 treble on Leeds, Derby and Wigan all to win with BetFred, returns £34.31

Cardiff v Swansea, correct score spread with BetVictor
£1.80 on Cardiff to win 2-1 at 12/1 returns £23.40
£3.36 on 1-1 draw at 6/1 returns £23.52
£2.34 on Swansea to win 2-1 at 9/1 returns £23.40

Fingers and toes crossed.
Week 9 starting balance: £27.53

Profit/Loss: + £13.20

Week 10 starting balance: £40.73

And follow me on Twitter: @marcusbraeburn

A chill down 'Lawro's' Spine

Winter draws menacingly in, the days have gotten shorter, nights lengthen. The clocks went back on Sunday morning, scarves were fetched out from the back of the wardrobe, the gloves are quite literally on for the foreseeable future. Another sign that winter is here will come on Saturday as the Premier League season passes the quarter way mark, we now know which sides are in for struggle and which are in for success. Meanwhile, in the wonderful world of predictions it was the second good week in a row for Braeburn. ‘Lawro’ was defeated by four points, my six correct outcomes beating his four, and the gap is now narrow enough to be breached in a single week. Three weeks ago I was ready to throw in the towel but now? Now I have the goatee bearded football ‘expert’ back in my sights. I will predict in the cafes, I will ponder on the underground, I will never surrender...*

Newcastle v Chelsea

The Geordies are better at home than ‘Lawro’ gives them credit for and the recent 2-2 draw with Liverpool when down to ten men backs up this fact.

My Prediction 1-1

‘Lawro’s’ Prediction 0-2

Fulham v Man United

United are still not that great but this Fulham team don’t like it up ‘em.

MP 1-2

LP 0-2

Hull Tigers v Sunderland

Yawnity yawn.

MP 0-0

LP 1-1

Man City v Norwich

Agreement here between me and the goatee bearded one. City are pretty good at home and Norwich can expect a second heavy defeat to a Manchester club in four days.

MP 3-0

LP 3-0

Stoke v Saints

Sooner or later Southampton will lose but I just don’t see Stoke as the side to inflict only their second defeat of the season. ‘Lawro’ somehow thinks that Stoke’s defeat at Old Trafford is a better result than Saints draw the week before. He is a fool.

MP 0-1

LP 2-1

Baggies v Palace

Another shattering defeat for Crystal Palace. How not to run a football club.

MP 3-0

LP 2-0

Hammers v Villa

Meh.

MP 1-1

LP 1-1

Arsenal v Liverpool

The second best looking game of the weekend is a toughie to call but I see goals galore and the Gunners to nick it thanks to home advantage.

MP 3-2

LP 1-1

Everton v Spurs

Tottenham just haven’t quite clicked into gear yet. The Toffees to edge it by a smidgen.

MP 2-1

LP 2-1

Cardiff v Swansea

Kapow. The first EVER top flight Welsh derby will be a cracking match, loads of cards, two goals and a point each.

MP 1-1

LP 1-2

Read BBC Football ‘Expert’ Mark Lawrenson’s full predictions here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24758848

And follow me on Twitter: @marcusbraeburn

*unless I lose really badly this week and can’t be bothered anymore.

Current Scores

Lawro - 70 points

Marcus - 60 points

(I am also owed one point for the Chelsea v Villa game that I was unable to find ‘Lawro’s’ prediction on)