The Yorker's betting column, Week 1

Sneddon gives his thumbs up to this weekend's action

Sned's view

• 2pts each way Knowhere at 14-1 (Coral), 3:20 Sandown
• 1pt Wes Brown at 14-1 (Ladbrokes) first card at The Bridge
• 1pt Under 2 goals at 2.1 (Ladbrokes) fot the title decider
• 1pt Joe Swail at 6-5 (Ladbrokes) to beat Wenbo on Sunday
• 1pt Colchester United at 7-2 (Coral) to beat Stoke

Doesn't sound appealing does it? A horse called Knowhere to win the Bet365 Gold Cup on Saturday, but trust me on this lads (and girls to be PC(do girls even bet?)) this horse has potential.

Through my pain staking hours of research (part time job in betting shop) i have seen this horse race a few times and it certainly has a chance. With 4 wins from 17 outings including losing attempts at both the National and Cheltenham Gold Cup, the horse has big race experience.

Stamford Bridge sees a real clash of the big boys on Saturday lunch time. Its a shame this big boy has an exam at 4 so won't be able to enjoy it fully. Who on earth organises an exam for a Saturday? I think its a disgrace that anything should come between myself, Jeff Stelling and the lads but i won't bore you with my personal angst.

To business, im not predicting goals and im not predicting a thriller. Grant will want to win and although Ferguson is chirping up in the press about how he wants to win, he would bite your hand off for a draw at a place where Chelsea are undefeated domestically for over 80 games.

Vidic is due to return after a 'stomach virus' so United will be extremely hard to break down and considering they kept a clean sheet at the Nou Camp with a weakened back 4, Chelsea wont find the back of the net easily. By the by, is it me or is 'stomach virus' just a euphonism for the runs? Would be embarassing to say one your best players cant play at the Nou Camp as he cant control his bowels.

Ladbrokes offer a goal linebet in which the line is at 2 goals. Im telling you to get on under 2 goals at 2.1, with your bet refunded if 2 goals are scored. The last time a game between this pair shared 3 goals was 6 games ago when Chelsea won 3-0 at The Bridge; I cant see Chelsea doing that without Lampard.

Another decent punt on the game is to see Wesley Brown recieve the first card. Brown fans like to say how he always hits hard in the first tackle, intentionally letting his opposite number know he means business. I see this first tackle as more of 'getting your eye in' exercise for Wes as he attempts to get his bumbling feet to actually take the ball later in the game.

Will Brown get booked for removing his shirt?

Should gamblers bet with their heart or their heads? Normally i would say head, but sometimes it can pay dividends to follow your heart. Colchester United play their last ever game at Layer Road on Saturday against a Stoke side in the hunt for promotion. Colchester lie bottom of the league and lost at home 5-1 last weekend. No hopers?

I take you back to Southampton's last game at The Dell at home to Arsenal. A very strong Arsenal side were humbled 3-2 by Southampton to give the old stadium a proper send off and who scored the last minute winner? Saint's legend Matt Le Tissier.

I also take you back to the last game at Highbury, although only a madman would have not backed Arsenal for the victory, who could have predicted the clubs leading goalscorer in history, Thierry Henry to score a hat-trick in the famous old grounds last ever match. Sometimes scripts are written, and i think this could be just one of those occassions.

Sometimes scripts are written and then tore up and used as toilet paper in a student house fresh out of bor roll however. Sunday could be one such occassion at The Crucible as Chinese sensation Liang Wenbo plays Joe Swail.

The script (roughly translated from Chinese) reads that this young star adds Swail to a list that already contains Ken Doherty on his way to a semi-final match up with Chinese snooker's premier hope Ding Junhui. Im already tearing up this script as a Mr Hendry is giving Ding a good seeing to in his 2nd round match. Get on the 2 time semi-finalist Joe Swail to reach the next round against Wenbo.

Thats all for this week folks, remember to gamble safely and stay away from drugs. They can play havoc with a steady betting account as 100-1 shots seem like a sound financial investment.

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