Roker Riches: Week #5 - The Tables Have Turned

Backing England to win last week proved to be a profitable choice for five of our writers, with everyone but Gav making profit off the back of Adam Lallana's late winner in Bratislava.

This means that we have a new leader - Chris Sparks now sits at the top of the table on one hundred quid - he's doubled his money within a month of us starting. Impressive.

Danny Roberts picked his first winner of the competition but he still finds himself well behind the rest of the pack, so winning big has to come soon if he is to keep up with the lads at the top.

The Premier League returns this weekend, which means we also have to bet on Sunderland again. Somehow I don't think week five will be anywhere near as successful as week four, do you?

Week Four Table:

Pundit	Last Week's Profit/Loss	Current Balance
@Gav1879	- £20	£85.96
@RoryFallow	+ £20	£75
@SAFCSource	+ £13	£73
@DGP202	+ £13.50	£56.85
@ChrisSavedLatin	+ £8	£100
@DjRoberts22	+ £5	£14

Make sure you head over to the Dafabet website and check out their price-boosts for all of this weekend's football!

This week's tips from the pundits are below - feel free to pinch our bets and nab the credit when you have won a load of cash.

@Gav1879

I don't really like betting on Sunderland. But, since we have to, I think you have to focus on our consistencies.

And no, I don't mean losing - though we do that incredibly consistently - but of course Jermain Defoe scoring goals, especially at home. JD to bag the first goal of the match has been price-boosted to 15/2, and I can't resist placing a fiver on that, which would see me return £42.50.

Elsewhere this weekend sees the return of the Manchester derby, and it's a game I'm finding incredibly difficult to call. Both sides have started the season tremendously, both sides are scoring goals for fun and both sides have big players - except, Manchester City's main man, Sergio Aguero, is banned. For that reason I'm feeling a home win in this game, and Manchester United to be winning at half time is 2/1. I'm going to pair that in a double with Celtic to win & over 2.5 goals in the Old Firm derby, which returns £82.50 off a tenner.

Picks:

Jermain Defoe to score first against Everton: 15/2 - £5

Double: Man Utd to be winning at half time, Celtic to win & over 2.5 goals: £10 returns £82.50

@RoryFallow

Two wins in a row! I don't what to do with myself here. Well, I do know - I'm going to reinvest my £10 stake and plonk another fiver on top of it. That £15 is going on a simple Sunderland to win with both teams to score. Even though our defence looks good, I still think Everton's attacking muscle will break us down at least once. I'm confident we can land a few punches ourselves though so, at 6/1, I'll place my faith in this as it'll make me a potential £90 profit.

Staying in the Premier League, I'm going for a double in my second selection. Burnley host newly promoted, performing above expectations Hull City in the battle of the newly promoted sides which are always hard games to predict, especially this early in the season. I'll back a draw. The late Saturday game sees Liverpool host the champions and 3/1 is a canny price for Leicester to take a point home with them. £5 on both games to end in a stalemate would give me a £60 overall return and it doesn't seem too risky. I hope it isn't, at least.

Picks:

Sunderland to win and BTTS: £15 - 6/1

Double - Hull v Burnley draw, Liverpool v Leicester draw: £5 returns £60

@SAFCSource

We're still searching for our first league win of the season and next up just happens to be the fixture where we got our last league win - in the game that secured our Premier League safety last season - Everton at home. Although another 3-0 win may be asking a bit much, I think the new arrivals will give us a boost and David Moyes will be desperate to notch his first win against his old side but I am hoping to see Lamine Kone put his transfer saga with Everton behind him and repeat his goalscoring efforts against the Toffees from last season.

Hull versus Burnley, then - both of these promoted sides will be reasonably happy with their start to the season, with Hull in particular overachieving. Neither side will want to lose this fixture against what will likely prove to be relegation rivals come the end of the season but I can only see Burnley coming away with the points from what will be a close, defensive game.

Picks:

Burnley to win 1-0: 5/1 - £5

Lamine Kone to score anytime: 10/1 - £5

@DGP202

If we learnt one thing from that transfer window it’s that it is very difficult to buy a proven Premier League striker. The silver lining here is that we already have one. Please god let him stay fit for the rest of the season. I make no secret of my love for Jermain Defoe and I’m betting on him to score first on Monday evening. I was going to make this bet anyway so I was more than delighted when I saw Dafabet had "price boosted" the odds from 6/1 to 15/2. This meant I could double my intended stake on JD and I did exactly that.

I refuse to give up on these accas. The last acca I did was a sevenfold and two home teams (Palace and Bradford) let me down with 1-1 draws. If just one of those two teams had won, I would have at least got my stake back. This time round I’m going for four London teams to win (Fulham, West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea) along with Juve, Real Madrid, Barca, and Roma. One of these days I will learn. Maybe.

Picks:

Jermain Defoe to score first: 15/2 - £4

Eight-team accumulator: £4 returns £75.69

@ChrisSavedLatin

Well I’m most certainly riding my luck at the moment! A last minute Gareth Bale penalty meant that my Wales 4-0 victory bet came in last week. I’ve now doubled my money with relatively small bets so far and I’m not going to change my tactics just yet, although they do say ‘bet big to win big’ don’t they?

Last time Sunderland played I backed Jermain Defoe to score first, and I’m going to do the same yet again, and it’s hard not to when Dafabet are offering price boost odds of 15/2. Defoe enjoyed playing against Ashley Williams during his Swansea days over the past 18 months, and I’m hoping he will enjoy Monday evening just as much, backing him for FGS at 15/2 with a £7.50 stake.

Elsewhere I’m going to go for a five-fold accumulator with Dafabet’s ‘Acca Refund’, where they refund my bet should one team ruin my bet slip. I’m backing Arsenal, Chelsea, QPR, West Ham and Sheffield Wednesday to claim victories this weekend, with a £2.50 bet potentially returning £35.59.

Picks:

Jermain Defoe FGS v Everton: £7.50 returns £63.75

Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Sheffield Wednesday and QPR all to win: £2.50 returns £35.59

@DjRoberts22

I actually won a bet last week… just let that sink in. The comeback is obviously very much on, and by the end of the season, when the others have pissed away their pennies, I will reign victorious, or something like that. Anyway, I digress, my winning bets this week are as follows.

Because I have to do a bet on Sunderland and Everton are yet to lose this season (albeit we’re only three games in), I think I’ll make use of Dafabet’s price boosts and bet on The Lads to pick up a draw. Although I think it could finish 1-1, I’m going to play it a little safer and place a fiver on a draw and both teams to score, which is at 4/1.

My second bet will be an treble, with Norwich to beat Cardiff at home, Fulham to beat Birmingham at Craven Cottage and Sheffield Wednesday to pick up a much-needed home win against Wigan at Hillsborough. That trio gives me a return of £27.49 if I place another five on that.

Picks:

Sunderland and Everton to draw and both teams to score: £5 - 4/1

Norwich, Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday all to win: £5 - 5.498/1