Roker Riches: Week #10 - Jim Surges Into Second

Two bets from twelve came in this week - although it isn't great, it's better than last week at least.

Jim Holmes was this week's biggest winner, raking in £65 profit after his hopeful punt on the Sunderland v Southampton game finishing 1-1 came in. He must be the only Sunderland fan that was moderately happy that Southampton got a late equaliser, because that win sees him surge up to second in our table.

The other winner this week was Andy Tomlinson, who had a fiver on Burnley to beat Blackburn at evens. Unfortunately for him his other bet failed to come in, meaning he made no profit whatsoever and remains on -£6.50. Andy needs a big win to get himself back in to the race, as the nearest pundit to him in the table is Rory Fallow, who sits on thirty-seven quid.

Week #9 Table:

Pundit	Last Week's Profit/Loss	Current Balance
@GRokerReport	- £15.00	£85.00
@Jim_Holmes_101	+ £65.00	£65.00
@FunkyPhallus	- £10.00	£59.97
@DJRoberts22	- £10.00	£37.80
@RoryFallow	- £10.00	£37.00
@SAFCSource	+ £0	-£6.50

@RoryFallow

Paddy Power are offering 3/1 for West Ham to beat Manchester United in the FA Cup on Sunday. Given United's erratic form and West Ham's impressive season, this seems a decent price and well worth a daft fiver. Slaven Bilic will see the FA Cup as a real possibility for the Hammers and, for my sake, I hope they make the semis.

In Serie A, Bologna travel to Inter Milan with Betfair offering 6/1 for the visitors to come away victorious. Bologna are in 9th place, only four behind Inter, but a 15 point margin does make that gap sound a lot more daunting. Internazionale have lost two of their last four whilst Bologna are unbeaten in five, so there's a decent chance of Bologna taking all three points. I'm going to extend some caution though and place £3 on it.

@SAFCSource

Although on paper Derby should win this, with Rotherham in the relegation places as it stands and Derby in the play-offs, The Millers have actually won their last three games and Derby have lost two of the last three. Hopefully that will continue as I am going for Rotherham to win and, despite being at home, you can get 3/1 for that to happen.

My next bet - both clubs are in similar form, with Shrewsbury only losing one of the last seven - which was at home to Manchester United in the FA Cup - and Scunthorpe have lost one of the last nine. There are only five clubs and seven points separating them in League One but you can get 2/1 on a home win. That looks too good to refuse.

Picks:

Rotherham to win: 3/1 - £5

Shrewsbury to win: 2/1 - £5

@GRokerReport

Blackburn have won their last four home games in the Championship, and this weekend they take on Leeds United at Ewood Park. Although Blackburn aren't the best side in the division, their star forward - a certain Mr Danny Graham - and their midfield maestro, Jordi Gomez, are in fine form.

I think they're superb value at evens, and when paired with a Manchester City win at Norwich you get a return of £30 off a tenner with Betway.

Elsewhere, I quite fancy both teams to score in the Bournemouth v Swansea game at evens. £20 on that is a risk, but I'll take it.

Picks:

Blackburn & Manchester City both to win: 2/1 - £10 returns £30

BTTS in the Bournemouth v Swansea game: Evens - £20 returns £40

@FunkyPhallus

There's not many Premier League games this weekend, but there's enough to tempt me into a treble.

Manchester City have been stalling over their title challenge recently - this has dragged their usually rubbish prices into something worth looking at.  They must beat Norwich - if they don't, I fear for us. Tottenham, on the other hand, have restored their title challenge and are hot on Leicester's tail. Spurs to win away at Villa should be a winner.

Finally, Leicester to beat the scum rounds off a simple top v bottom treble which comes in at 2.51/1.

My second bet will be a european four-fold. Las Palmas are on a three game winning streak, but I think that will come to a screaming halt as Real Madrid take them on. Inter have been hit and miss this season but have really found their feet in recent weeks, and I fancy them to nick a win against draw happy Bologna. Roma have a tough match away to Udinese, but I think they'll have the confidence to nick a win. Elsewhere, FC Twente have really sprung into life since Christmas, and despite a bad start to the season they're catching the pack - I back them to see off league rival Zwolle.

Picks:

Treble: Man City, Spurs and Leicester all to win: 2.51/1 - £10 returns £35.18

Four Fold: Real Madrid, Inter, Roma, FC Twente all to win: 5.43/1 - £5 returns £27.17

@DJRoberts22

Thankfully there's no Sunderland game this week, so I might actually have a chance of winning both my bets this Saturday.

I feel like playing it safe so will do a treble on both League One and League Two games. So, for the former, Bradford to beat Donny at home, Barnsley to get the win against out-of-form Southend and Gillingham to be victorious against Crewe.

For League Two, I'm going to punt on Bristol Rovers, Northampton and Hartlepool to all pick up three points against Mansfield, Cambridge and Dagenham & Redbridge respectively.

Picks:

Treble - Bradford, Barnsley and Gillingham all to win: £5 - 4.81/1

Treble - Bristol Rovers, Northampton and Hartlepool all to win: £5 - 5.8/1