Roker Riches: Our Betting Selections As The Swans Come To Town

Week Twenty-Three Recap

It always looked as if the bookies had massively underestimated Sunderland last time out and both Karl and myself capitalised on their generous odds, with the Welshman heavily cashing in with the Sunderland victory and bringing home a nice profit of £29 which in turn moved him back to the top of the leaderboard. In fact Karl's win balance would have looked even healthier had Lazio not let him down for his second bet.

New recruits Craig Clark and Luke Bowley joins the feature this week, so we've been generous enough to start them off with a crisp tenner to see how they get on.

Onto this week's picks:

Karl Jones

Two in-form sides, the seventh and third top scorers in the league on either side, it doesn't take Sheldon Cooper to realise Tuesday's game will be tough. That Swansea has the best defensive record away from home enhances the task that Martin O'Neill's men face, but their recent attacking displays suggests they'll score. Unfortunately, Swansea are just as capable going forward, so a score draw could well be on the cards.

Elsewhere, Norwich have relied on their home form for wins this season but Spurs should have too much for them. Free-scoring Watford have scored 32 goals away from home and face bottom club Bristol City. Having toyed with the idea of backing them with a handicap, they can be found at better-than-evens just to win. Fine by me.

• Sunderland to draw 1-1 with Swansea - 13/2 - £2 Stake
• Tottenham to beat Norwich, Watford to beat Bristol City - 3.96 - £5 Stake

David Boyle

As Karl has alluded to Swansea bring with them to the North East a formidable defensive record and will undoubtedly provide a stern test to O'Neill's squad. With that said I can see it being a tight contest and have once again been tempted to return to an old favourite of mine which has served me well this season, the under 2.5 goals bet.

Elsewhere I am expecting Stoke to have enough about them to see off Wigan at the Britannia and also, sorry, Newcastle to benefit from the their recent influx of Frenchmen and heap further pressure on Paul Lambert with victory at Villa Park

• Sunderland vs Swansea, under 2.5 goals - 9/11 - £2.50 Stake
• Stoke and Newcastle to win - 6/1 - £2.50

Simon Walsh

I need to get back into the game here after a bad patch which is now turning into a full blown drought as far as winning bets are concerned.

I think Swansea will still be on a bit of a high from their League Cup exploits, but equally we shouldn't have too much reason to be down-hearted and should be plenty rested after having the weekend off too. The overall verdict? Pretty even. I've been here long enough to know that three league wins in a row is slightly wishful thinking, so I'm going with a 1-1 draw.

Elsewhere around the midweek games I too see victory for Stoke against Wigan, and also for Watford at Bristol City. I've bet on Watford quite a bit this season and always with let-down. This is the last chance saloon for Gianfranco Zola's men and me.

• Sunderland and Swansea draw 1-1 - 11/2 - £2 Stake
• Stoke and Watford to win - 4/1 - £2 Stake

Craig Clark

After his brace against Wigan, I can see Steven Fletcher popping up with another goal or two against Swansea on the way to a narrow Sunderland win. The Scottish striker also scored twice at the Liberty Stadium earlier in the season, previously finding the net for Wolves at the same ground last season. Home advantage should see us improve on the draw we managed in South Wales.

Looking at the other Premier League games on Tuesday night, Manchester City and Stoke represent pretty safe bets. Stoke are generally strong at home, while Wigan's away form is dreadful. The Lancashire side have won just once on the road in their last 6 attempts. Manchester City should have too much for a QPR side who will be reeling from their embarrassing home defeat to MK Dons in the FA Cup this weekend.

• Steven Fletcher to score anytime & Sunderland to win - 16/5 - £3 Stake
• Stoke & Man City to win - 3/1 - £3 Stake

Luke Bowley

Swansea have really impressed me under Laudrup this season, and their movement in attacking positions in the reverse fixture back in August caused out not-so-mobile defence a lot of problems. That said, Sunderland are looking very deadly on the counter, so I can see their being goals in this game. Tempted to go for over 3.5 goals, but I think I'll play it safe with this one.

Elsewhere in England, I'm going against teams in bad form. Norwich are a team in free-fall at the moment, and their confidence will be low after their shock defeat to Luton. I fully expect them to lose at home to Spurs. West Ham have been in equally poor form as they face an unbalanced, but talented Fulham team. Finally Huddersfield's 12 game winless streak led them to sack Simon Grayson recently, and I can't see them having a post-sacking boom against Crystal Palace.

• Sunderland v Swansea: Over 2.5 goals- evens - £5 Stake
• Tottenham, Fulham and Crystal Palace all to win - 7/1 - £3 Stake