Betting tips / Mike Norman / 21 January 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

It's the low scoring games that Mike Norman sees the most value in across this weekend's Premier League matches.

Everton v Blackburn
Match Odds: Everton [1.58], Blackburn [7.2], The Draw [4.2]

It's been quite a poor season for Everton thus far, despite them sitting comfortably in mid-table. David Moyes' men have only once put back-to-back wins together and in 21 league games they have scored more than one goal in a game on just five occasions. They have scored just six goals in their last nine Premier League outings and only five goals in their last seven league games at Goodison Park.

A visit from Blackburn will be seen by many then as a good opportunity for Everton to record a decent victory, but Rovers have improved slightly of late (seven points taken from a possible 12 including that terrific win at Old Trafford) and this could be another tight, low-scoring affair for Toffees fans to endure.

A couple of Opta stats also point to a low-scoring game. First, Blackburn have failed to score in four of their last six games league games against Everton, and secondly, a staggering 14 of the last 18 meetings between these two have ended with two or less goals being scored. With these stats in mind, the recommendation is to back Under 2.5 Goals at [2.08] and an Everton Clean Sheet at [2.34]. A 1-0 home victory - available to back at [8.4] - isn't dismissed lightly either.

Fulham v Newcastle
Match Odds: Fulham [2.06], Newcastle [4.2], The Draw [3.6]

Fulham have been pretty consistent of late; they win at home (and recorded two excellent wins against Liverpool and Arsenal in the last six weeks) and don't win away (no wins in six on their travels). Thankfully then for the Craven Cottage faithful, this game is on home soil, though Martin Jol's men will have to be at their best to beat a resolute Newcastle side.

The Magpies appeared to be on a downward spiral when they went six league games without a win towards the end of 2011, but to their credit they have won four of their last five in all competitions, the last two victories coming without their absent African Cup of Nations stars Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote. However, as Opta point out, Newcastle have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight Premier League away trips and the Cottage is not an ideal place to go and get another.

Like the Everton game, I don't envisage a glut of goals in this encounter either and I can't say that I'm overly excited at the Opta stat that tells us Fulham have already had 49 0-0 draws in Premier League history. I'm going to dismiss that stat for now though and instead back a home win as well as the 1-0 ([8.2]) and 2-0 ([11.0]) outcomes in the Correct Score market.

QPR v Wigan, KO
Match Odds: QPR [2.08], Wigan [4.0], The Draw [3.6]

He won't admit it, but if you offered new QPR boss Mark Hughes the chance to pick his first league opponents at Loftus Road then bottom-of-the-table Wigan would be very high up on his list. Only Swansea and Wolves have collected fewer points on the road than the Latics, but those two clubs have had some decent results of late whereas Wigan are winless in six and have conceded an alarming 12 goals in their last four league games.

Having said that, QPR have been in dreadful form of late themselves and Hughes has an enormous task on his hands if he is turn the club's fortunes around. Rangers have lost nine of their last 12 league games including three on the bounce on home soil. This game really is a relegation six-pointer.

The order of the day appears to be low-scoring games and this has the potential to be another, especially when you consider Opta's uninspiring stats. These two clubs have met seven times in their history (all since 2001) and those games have averaged just over 1.5 goals per game. The last six meetings have resulted in two goals or less being scored and in the last four meetings a total of just four goals have been netted.

If I had to have a bet in the Match Odds market then a home victory would be the selection, but I'm more than happy to play Under 2.5 Goals at [1.86], and the 0-0 Correct Score at [11.0] with a view to trading out In-Play if those odds go as low as [3.0].

Recommended Bets

Best Bet: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ [2.08] in Everton v Blackburn
Back Yes to Everton Clean Sheet @ [2.34] v Blackburn
Back Fulham @ [2.06] to beat Newcastle
Back 1-0 @ [8.2] and 2-0 @ [11.0] Correct Scores in Fulham v Newcastle
Back Under 2.5 Goals @ [1.86] in QPR v Wigan
Back 0-0 Correct Score @ [11.0] and place order to Lay @ [3.0] in QPR v Wigan