Newcastle, Villa and WBA To WIn

Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Brom winning on Saturday is a 15/1 shot with Paddy Power and looked at one by one it all seems highly plausible.

Let’s start with the ‘home banker’ - West Brom v West Ham. The logic behind Baggies’ success here is pretty simple; they have a top new manager, Roy Hodgson, whose mere presence should lift the club. In contrast, they face dejected opposition who suffered a morale crushing defeat at home to relegation rivals Birmingham City last Sunday.

Whatever feel-good factor Hodgson brings is distinctly lacking in the morose figure of Avram Grant. He appears fortunate to remain in the dug-out whereas Roberto Di Matteo got no credit for his side’s early season promise. West Brom at least showed they could get results and the feeling of turning over a new leaf with a man who’s been there and done it should bring a return to form.

Second up we have Blackpool v Aston Villa. Again, there’s no need for rocket science to fathom a likely outcome here. Blackpool are getting worse and Villa are improving so let’s go for an away win! Darren Bent has settled in well to his new surroundings and a goal for England, as well as one for his team-mate Ashley Young, will only have increased confidence further. Blackpool are great to watch but this is something rarely said about teams who keep clean sheets. Ian Holloway’s side may have developed a psychological problem where it seems that it doesn’t matter how many they score or how often they get in front. Villa should capitalise on fragile mindsets at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

The ‘long-shot’ is Newcastle winning at Blackburn at 13/5. Rovers are always tough opponents on their own patch whether under the guidance of Sam Allardyce or Steve Kean. But after the new man began well, form has taken a recent dip with three straight defeats to Villa, Spurs and Wigan in a 4-3 thriller last weekend. But, in an even greater contest Newcastle came from an unprecedented four goals down to claim a famous 4-4 draw with Arsenal. The lift that this will have given the Toon Army is almost unquantifiable.  They certainly won’t be too disheartened if they conceded an early goal at Ewood Park. More likely they will carry on where they left off and potentially complete a 15/1 accumulator.