Our tipster Jones Knows is backing Bournemouth centre-forward Dominic Solanke to add his name to the long list of strikers to have scored vs Fulham this season.
How did we get on last time out?
Betting on outcomes in football matches is difficult for many reasons. We are investing into a game of a low-scoring nature and one that can be settled on fine margins. That was on my mind last weekend, where 4.5 more points went back into the bookmakers’ satchels.
Watching my Leicester-focused bets heads south at Bournemouth was a particular frustration. Three points invested across Harvey Barnes and James Maddison to score in an away win was looking good with 20 minutes to play, especially when, with the Foxes 1-0 up, Barnes scampered through with a sight of goal. That low drive was saved and just three minutes later Leicester found themselves 2-1 down. Fine, and rather frustrating, margins aren’t dropping our way, although you can’t say I wasn’t warned about Leicester’s inability to perform the basics of defending.
Then there was Michail Antonio’s injury-time goal to make it 3-1 to West Ham vs Fulham and scupper my Hammers win and under 3.5 goals play.
Perhaps I deserved it. Perhaps I got a little unlucky. Perhaps this losing run is making me overthink things too much. It’s probably the latter.
For the second week running a bet that was borderline on whether it would make this best bets column, but I didn’t quite pull the trigger on, and left it just written up in the predictions piece landed in fine style. Gabriel Martinelli to assist at 7/2, to score first at 9/1 and to either score or assist at 5/4 all romped home, but that’s no good for the betting balance. With that in mind, I’m increasing the volume of bets that make this column this weekend to see if that can spark us into life. You have to speculate to accumulate and all that.
P+L = -12
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1pt double on ‘no’ in both teams to score in Brentford vs Brighton & Chelsea to beat Aston Villa to nil (13/2 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)
Get your bets on quickly for this one as we’re getting involved in the Friday night game, live on Sky Sports.
Brentford are likely to play no-thrills defensive football after their walloping at Newcastle, while Brighton are a very reliable defensive unit.
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The under 2.5 goals line would usually be my play but 8/11 with Sky Bet is skinny enough, so my advice is back the Evens available on ‘no’ in the both teams to score market. It is a bet that would have copped in both fixtures between these two last season.
Hopefully that winner will roll over to Sunday where Chelsea look a great price to me to win to nil against Aston Villa, who are really struggling in forward areas.
2pts on Dominic Solanke to score anytime vs Fulham (11/4 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)
0.5pt on to score twice (22/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)
1pt on to score a hat-trick (150/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)
Fulham are vulnerable through the heart of their defence. Just look at the list of strikers to have notched against them this season: Gianluca Scamacca, Michail Antonio, Callum Wilson, Taiwo Awoniyi, Harry Kane, Ivan Toney and Darwin Nunez. If Bournemouth can get the right service into Solanke in and around those dangerous central areas, I’d be confident of him adding his name to that list. Let’s not forget, he was Bournemouth’s top scorer with 29 Championship goals last season, making him the highest scoring English player in the top four tiers of English football. He also scored in both fixtures vs Fulham.
I’m taking the 11/4 with Sky Bet on his anytime goalscorer prospects as my main bet, but also tickling the 22/1 on him scoring twice and 125/1 for the hat-trick.
1pt on Lucas Paqueta to register an assist (9/2 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)
1pt on Gianluca Scamacca to score from a Paqueta assist (14/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)
My eyes have been drawn to the 9/2 with Sky Bet on Lucas Paqueta registering another assist for West Ham. I’ll be surprised if this lad doesn’t get over seven assists come the end of the season judging by the freedom he’s given and his creative touch, so these current prices are worth jumping on while they last. Scamacca to score another goal assisted by Paqueta is also overpriced at 14/1 with Sky Bet.
*Just for reference, Sky Bet pay out on an assist which is recorded by Fantasy Football rather than Opta. For any bets involving assists, the following rule will be applied: “An Assist is defined as the final pass or pass-come-shot leading to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal. It also includes the following actions: Penalty won; Attempt saved; Shot hit woodwork, rebound scored; Instigating an own goal through a shot/pass.”