Weekend Outlook (17 Jan 2009)

Bolton Wanderers vs Manchester United

"...Pacing is of utmost importance, lest you burn out during the final stretch. Arsenal and Chelsea have already peaked and Liverpool is showing signs of fatigue...."

- JayWalk, 17 Jan 2009

We are one win away from regaining the top spot. Well, at least for 24 hours until we fully play out our game in hand.

As expected, we play our mid-week game-in-hand to a conservative 1-0 win.

Regardless, 3 points is 3 points, whether it's 5-0 or 1-0.

Looking beyond the weekend game, we have the return leg of the Carling Cup semi final against Derby County, where we earlier lost 0-1.

It was a calculated risk on the ground of excellent resource management.

Given that it is a 2-legged round, we can easily overcome the Rams when we bring them back to Old Trafford for the slaughter. They shipped us one goal last week, we are going to ship them back 2 and then some.

JayWalk The Talk: Tevez and Rooney are out of action due to injury which means we have a slight shortage of manpower up front. Still, I think the partnership of Berbatov and Ronaldo would easily fill in the gaps.

Elsewhere, we have Ferdinand, Evans and Evra sidelined.

Bolton fared only slight better as they only have Nolan, McCann and Elmander in the sick bay.

JayWalk The Walk: Bolton has always been a stubborn side for ManUtd but they have not be as strong as they used to be. Bookie is letting ManUtd give a 1-ball handicap and a decimal odds of 1.925 to beat it. Beats at press time is 77% betting on ManUtd beating the handicap.

As I have mentioned, this is the time to conserve energy as we still have quite a long way to go before we reach the finish line.

Pacing is of utmost importance, lest you burn out during the final stretch. Arsenal and Chelsea have already peaked and Liverpool is showing signs of fatigue.

The way I see it, ManUtd will gun for the win to secure pole position but it is unlikely that are going to beat this handicap. Still a 1-goal victory gets you your money back and as such, I say go ahead and bet on ManUtd.

As worst is ManUtd unable to clear the handicap which at 1-ball, it merely means getting your money back.

Limited risk here.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.