Dale Tempest's football tips: Sporting Life's newest columnist gives you a couple of football pointers for the weekend
Dale Tempest starts his new regular Sporting Life column with some long-term football betting advice and a best bet for Saturday's action.
Hello and welcome to my new weekly article. My name is Dale Tempest and after 40 years in the football and betting industry I’ve now been tasked by the boys at Sporting Life to bring some insight (and more importantly winners) to the Sporting Life readers!
Let’s hope we can can have some fun and back some winners...
Hull v Barnsley
I’ve had my eye on Hull for a while and now is the time to get with them against struggling Barnsley. Hull sit ninth whilst Barnsley sit rock bottom, five points adrift of 23rd-placed Stoke with only one win all season. New manager Gerard Struber, in his first home game, will expect a huge improvement from his side who have handed both Blackburn and Middlesborough victory in their last two away games.
However, just five wins in the last 49 EFL Championship matches tells its own story. After the Tykes' last two promotions from League One they’ve sold all their best players and now find themselves once again out of their depth at the Championship level.
A few weeks ago Hull caused one of the EFL shocks of the year beating promotion favourites Fulham 3-0 at the Cottage. It was no fluke with Hull achieving an xG (expected goals for those who were wondering) of 1.86 whilst restricting Fulham to just an xG of 0.34 - their lowest of the season.
The Tigers were then very unlucky to lose at home to West Brom when missing several big chances (xG 1.63 v xG 0.61), but after a nightmare first half they showed their character when coming from 2-0 down to grab a 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough. Then on Wednesday night they produced a real WOW moment with a 4-0 demolition of high-flying Preston.
Jarrod Bowen, once again top scorer with 11 goals this season, and Kamil Grosicki were the star men ripping Preston apart with pace and clinical finishing. Manager Grant McCann will be expecting nothing less than a victory at Barnsley so the fact we get to back the Tigers at a very generous level ball is a huge bonus.
Note - A level ball Asian Handicap Bet is the same as a Draw No Bet bet which is more common in the UK markets.
Captain America can be your hero
- Chelsea v West Ham - Saturday 3pm kick-off
Getting ahead of the curve by spotting improving teams or underrated players is crucial for any winning punter. This is the first of my players to follow. He should be in your Fantasy team but also included in any weekend scorer bets.
And that man is Christian Pulisic. He should be in all of your weekend bets at around 7/2 for first scorer and 21/20 anytime.
Frank Lampard, Mason Mount and “Tap-in “ Tammy Abraham have gained all the plaudits as Chelsea have started the season in great form. They’ve played with style and endeavour and even in defeat at Man City last week they went down in a blaze of glory. One of the recent heroes, but mainly ignored by fans and the media is 21-year-old American international Pulisic.
In seven league games he’s only started four times (three sub appearances) but has an amazing strike-rate with five goals and three assists. In that time he’s had 16 shots and managed to get 12 on target, which is incredible for a wide attacking player, but it’s not just his goals, it’s the type of goals he’s scored.
Pulisic's ability to get tap-ins and chances in the six-yard box ,from a wide starting position, is fantastic and shows his desire to get into the penalty area and get goals. Watch him, he’s a natural, he never stops moving in the box and can be a revelation for Chelsea goalscorer bets.
His goal in Valencia on Wednesday was the perfect example of a natural poacher just putting the ball over the line. I spent all my career doing just that so appreciate watching a player with that ability!
Abraham may not start this weekend but Chelsea will still be strongly fancied to take care of West Ham - either way though, get with Pulisic on the goals and stick with him.
He’ll make you money through the season.
Christian Pulisic anytime scorer in Chelsea v West Ham at 21/20
Christian Pulisic first scorer in Chelsea v West Ham at 7/2
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