Premiership Accumulator

This Saturday looks like a good time to back Premier League home teams with only Wigan’s game at the DW against Man Utd looking particularly daunting for the hosts. Aston Villa, Everton and Wolves all look good bets for maximum points and that treble is 5/1 with Boylesports.

Villa v Blackburn ought to go to form with Houllier’s side having only lost one of the last eight, and that was at Old Trafford. In contrast, Blackburn have hit the ropes with no win in four, including three defeats. At first glance Steve Kean’s side still appear to be sitting pretty in mid-table but on closer inspection they could easily get sucked into a relegation dogfight. Despite their decent run of results Villa are 16th on 30 points, just three points above Wigan, who are in the drop zone. Their situation seems so much more perilous than that of Rovers in 11th and yet a win for the home side will see them leapfrog the visitors on Saturday. Expect Blackburn relegation odds to shorten as Villa’s drift on Saturday night.

Our second home team to root for is Everton who entertain Sunderland. It’s becoming a pain waiting for Moyes’s players to show a modicum of consistency this season but surely it will follow the dramatic defeat of Chelsea in the FA Cup on penalties. The emotional toll of that win shouldn’t be a factor after a midweek off so it would be reasonable to expect a confident follow up performance in the league. David Moyes is too good a manager to allow his side to keep underperforming in games they expect to win. This isn’t to dismiss Sunderland who lie seventh for a reason but Everton fans will realise than a good end to the season could still see the Blues finish ahead of the Wearsiders.

The final game sees a massive 6-pointer between Wolves and Blackpool at Molineux. Both sides have sparkled on many occasions when they were expected to wither this season and yet neither can claim to be safe just yet. Blackpool are obviously in the much better spot following their famous 3-1 win over Spurs on Tuesday and yet any enduring sense of euphoria could count against them on Saturday. Mick McCarthy’s boys somehow still sit bottom despite many great performances and they will have earmarked this fixture a long time ago as a ‘must-win’ encounter. With all the sides directly above them facing tough matches this weekend it’s not impossible that a Wolves win could see them climb right out of the drop zone. It’s this incentive and that extra desperation which should give the home side the edge again.