Roker Riches: Week #5 - Danny's On A Fiver

The only winner in week #4 was @GRokerReport, who saw his four-fold of Spurs, Manchester City, Arsenal come in and return £30.90 - not a bad little earner. That's two wins in two weeks for him.

The rest of the lads may have lost money but Rory is still storming ahead having notched a big earner in week three.

Is this the week that Danny finally wins something?! He might have to go into his overdraft to cover bets if he doesn't win soon.

Week #4 Table:

Pundit	Last Week's Profit/Loss	Current Balance
@GRokerReport	+ £25.90	£45.90
@SAFCSource	- £10	£15
@RoryFallow	- £5	£83
@FunkyPhallus	- £5	£26
@Jim_Holmes_101	- £6	£13.12
@DjRoberts22	- £5	£5

@RoryFallow

Our game away to Liverpool throws together two sides who love conceding goals. With both sides being poor defensively but decent going forward, I'm placing £5 on an optimistic away win and over 2.5 goals at odds of 12/1 with Betfair.

In La Liga, Barcalona travel to bottom of the league Levante. Lionel Messi to get a hattrick in this game is a mere 14/1 with Betfair but, despite the low odds, I'll place £5 on him to destroy lowly Levante.

Picks:

Sunderland to win, over 2.5 goals: 12/1 - £5

Lionel Messi to score a hattrick against Levante: 14/1 - £5

@Jim_Holmes_101

Well, I've been terrible at this, but I have a feeling this week my luck is about to turn.

The last time Sunderland won at Anfield was in 1983 in Sam Allardyce's last game playing for the club. I'm going for the lads to buck this thirty-three year hex and Jan Kirchhoff to score in a 0-1 win to the lads, which is 310/1 with Bet365 - ambitious?

There's a bit more science behind this than you may think. Liverpool are absolutely appalling from set pieces and with the delivery of Khazri, I fancy the giant German to pop up with a header.

Secondly, I'm going for a Saints and Swansea double, which is 2.93/1 with Bet365. I hope I'm wrong with this one but Palace look dreadful currently and I think the swans will win comfortably.

Picks:

Jan Kirchhoff to score & Sunderland to win 0-1 - 310/1 - £1

Saints & Swansea to win - 2.93/1 - £5

@SAFCSource

We played better on Tuesday night than we have in a long time - we may have come away without a point but if we can repeat that performance we stand a chance of getting something from Anfield. Liverpool have looked nervy from set-pieces this season and with Wahbi Khazri causing all sorts of problems against Manchester City via corners, I think Simon Mignolet and the Liverpool back four could be in for an uncomfortable game.

The defeat against Manchester City means we have to pick up some points from the next two games, so why not start against Liverpool?

Jordan Rhodes hasn't been in great form of late but he will make his Middlesbrough debut against the club he just left, Blackburn, at the weekend after a protracted transfer. That game seems set up for Rhodes to use his old side to get back into form and you can get 13/2 for Rhodes to score 2 or more in the game with SkyBet.

Picks:

Sunderland to win against Liverpool: 8/1 - £3

Jordan Rhodes to score 2 or more: 13/2 - £2

@GRokerReport

We're going to have to beat someone decent eventually, aren't we?

Whether or not Liverpool are decent is subjective, but they're certainly better than us. That said, the game is there for the taking and at 8/1 I think it's worth a fiver of my profits from last week to see if we've got the stones to go to Anfield and take three points for the first time in years.

Elsewhere I've had a bit of luck with accumulative bets in recent weeks and I'm going for another. Arsenal are away to Bournemouth and I feel will have enough to leave with three points, whilst in form Barnsley take on Bury and are great value at evens. Jan Kirchhoff's old club mains are away to bottom side Hannover in the Bundesliga, and at 13/8 are too tempting not to take.

Picks:

Sunderland to beat Liverpool - 8/1 - £5 returns £45

Arsenal, Barnsley & Mainz treble - 10.76/1 - £10 returns £107.62

@FunkyPhallus

The Southampton v West Ham game could go either way, but with 5/1 available on West Ham I couldn't resist. I fancy Cardiff to be too strong for MK Dons at evens and I got a puzzling but tasty 21/20 for league one leaders Burton to beat Bradford at home. This treble gives odds of 23.59/1 with Bet365.

Kirchhoff bossed the midfield against Manchester City and Kone looked solid as a rock – on the back of that performance it looks like we might have a team on our hands. Sunderland to win against Liverpool with over 2.5 goals in the game is 14/1 - Haway!

Picks:

West Ham, Cardiff and Burton to win: 23.59/1 - £2.50 returns £61.50

Sunderland to win + 2.5 goals: 14/1 - £2.50 stake returns £37.50

@DJRoberts22

I wonder if now is the time to give up before I embarrass myself any further? Sigh. Right, so this week’s money losing picks are…

I think we might grab something on Saturday, and I’m hoping we keep a clean sheet in the process, so, with that in mind my bet will be Sunderland to win to nil, and I’ll place two of my remaining five pounds on that, wielding a less than impressive £26 return on Bet365.

My second bet is, as always, an acca, with Middlesbrough to beat the Championship’s worst in-form side Blackburn, Stoke to bounce back from their defeat to Man United and beat Everton at home and, because I just know it’s going to happen, Swansea to beat out-of-form Crystal Palace. £2 on that brings me back just under twenty-quid.

I’m going to be cheeky and put a third bet on too - £1 on Jordan Rhodes to score first for ‘Boro against his former side.

Picks:

Sunderland to win to nil: 12/1 - £2

Middlesbrough, Stoke and Swansea to win: 8.54/1 - £2

Jordan Rhodes to score first vs Blackburn: 15/4 - £1