Premier League Betting Action for October 18-19

Saturday's lunchtime kick-off sees Chelsea travel to the Riverside Stadium to take on Gareth Southgate's young Middlesbrough side. The Blues are beginning to significantly weaken in the markets amidst concerns over the fitness of key players. The fact that the they have lost twice on this ground in the last three seasons will do nothing to allay fears that this is a potential banana skin for Felipe Scolari's men. However, when Chelsea have won here they have generally done so by shutting out the opposition and building on a clean sheet. In fact, of the five victories that Chelsea have enjoyed here since Middlesbrough's return to the Premiership, they have won 'to nil' on four occasions. I would far rather back Paddy Power's 11/10 that the Blues keep a clean sheet, in spite of their injury problems, than back them at 8/13 for the match. The same firm offer 6/4 about Chelsea winning 'to nil', but the 11/10 keeps the 0-0 on side which could well be a wise manoeuvre. That clean sheet price might be bigger on betfair once the market has formed properly later this evening, and if it is then you should snap it up. Later on in the day Manchester United may well find themselves playing catch up to Chelsea, and Alex Ferguson will be relieved that they will only need to overcome West Brom to do so. The Baggies have taken one point from 18 in the Premiership against Manchester United, and there are very few who would suggest that they will come away from Old Trafford on Saturday night with anything other than a beating. United will be welcoming back Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown from a successful international break with England. Rooney has hit a rich vein of form for both club and country, but you have to wonder whether Sir Alex will look to rest him, particularly given the growing speculation that Carlos Tevez is becoming unsettled at the club. Reports were circulating today that Real Madrid are interested in the Argentine and Ferguson will be keen to avoid a repeat of the media circus surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer. I think that the 13/8 about Tevez scoring anytime with William Hill represents a decent bit of value. If he starts then he should get 90 minutes, and with William Hill the bet is void if he isn't in the starting eleven. The first relegation dogfight of the season is in the offing on Sunday afternoon, despite the incessant claims that Spurs are 'too good to go down'. For the record, I think there is an element of truth to that statement, but points are what counts at the end of the season, and Tottenham have to start winning games before their blip becomes a full scale crisis. After seven games these two sides find themselves at the foot of the table, and whilst many expected Stoke to struggle this season, it is a shock to see Tottenham propping up the table. The Lily Whites are fast becoming a team synonymous not with mere slow starting, but forgetting to start at all. Whatever the surprise about Tottenham's current league position, it must be said that given the fact they have lost Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane, and Dimitar Berbatov in the last twelve months, this season was never going to be easy. Juande Ramos' main problem has been the tough schedule that £14 million man, Roman Pavlyuchenko has endured, a fact that has undoubtedly hampered his progress in settling into his new club. He will be missing on Sunday though, which may give on-loan Manchester United forward Fraizer Campbell a chance to put more pressure on the Russian. Whoever starts up front for Spurs in this match, I can see the game yielding a few goals and I like the look of the 10/1 being layed by William Hill about a 2-1 Tottenham victory. Recommendations: Chelsea clean sheet - 11/10 (Paddy Power) Carlos Tevez Anytime Goalscorer - 13/8 (William Hill) Tottenham beat Stoke 2-1 - 10/1 (William Hill)