CORRECT Score king Daniel McCulloch (@danmcc84) picks out the scorelines he'll be backing this weekend.
Hull v Burnley | Saturday 15:00
When pricing this one up, I had the home side at 10/11 so to see them at 6/5 on the exchange was a pleasant surprise. Hull look a completely different side under Marco Silva compared with the Premier League cannon fodder they resembled under Mike Phelan.
A run of games against Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal (three of them away from home) yielded four points and had they not been on the wrong end of some officiating at Stamford Bridge and The Emirates it could well have been more.
When Silva took over, you could get 3/1 on the East Yorkshire side staying up. Now they are odds on. They have just two of the top six to play and in theory have the easiest run in of the bottom six sides.
They need to put that theory into practice, however, and a home game against a Burnley side with just one point away from home all season offers the perfect start.
Barring a complete implosion, The Clarets will be playing Premier League football again next season and despite an embarrassing result against Lincoln last week, it has been an excellent season so far for the Lancashire side.
As stated earlier, however, their away record is horrendous and I cannot see that improving on Saturday. They have lost their last four away games by two goals to one so unsurprisingly I am backing that score this weekend.
Given that Hull have already beaten Premier League opposition 2-0 on two occasions under Silva I also want to keep that one on side. Both 2-0 and 2-1 prices are 9/1 so split your stakes between the two.
Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough | Saturday 15:00
I will be honest, from a Palace perspective, it is hard to back this up with stats. I simply feel that their squad of players is far too good to get relegated. I think Alan Pardew would have kept them up so given the money he has spent Big Sam certainly needs to!
It has been an inauspicious start to life in South London for the ex-England manager but I feel that shot-shy Middlesbrough offer the perfect opportunity to get his first home league win.
The Teesiders have scored fewer goals than any other side in the league and have been on the wrong side of a 1-0 defeat away from home on three occasions already this season (a further two at home). This suggests the 11/2 with Betfair for a fourth offers good value.
Given Sam's penchant for pragmatism and Aitor Karanka's record as Boro manager (they have already had five 0-0s in the league this season), I wouldn't put anyone off the under 1.5 goals market or Draw/Palace in the HT/FT market. However, this is a correct score column so I shall stick to simply backing The Eagles to win 1-0!
Best Bets
Hull v Burnley – Hull to win 2-0 (9/1 Bet365)
Hull v Burnley – Hull to win 2-1 (9/1 Bet365)
Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough – Crystal Palace to win 1-0 (5/1 Bet365)
