Betting tips / Ralph Ellis / 25 October 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Plenty of records were broken over the weekend, proving that for all that the history books say, football remains an unpredictable old game.

It was Henry Ford who said that 'history is more or less bunk'; which means if he was still around today he'd probably be the only one who didn't lose money betting on this weekend's football!

If you'd checked up the stats beforehand, then you knew quite clearly that Manchester City's 6-1 win at Old Trafford simply couldn't have happened. For a start United had not lost a game at home in any competition since April 2010. They hadn't lost there by a five-goal margin since 1955. And as for conceding six, well you had to go back to 1930 to find that one (Huddersfield, still a major force in the post Herbert Chapman era, won 6-0).

But happen it did, and a couple of weeks after going odds-on for the title when we were hailing the flair of wingers Ashley Young and Nani, United are now as long as [3.2].

Ironically it was that flair that probably caused the huge scoreline. With ten men (after Jonny Evans was sent off) Fergie chose to keep chasing the game, sending on an out-and out striker in Javier Hernandez to replace Nani when he was two goals down. His attack-minded side were still seeking a miracle in the final minutes as they were picked off mercilessly on the break by the mercurial skill of David Silva.

But Old Trafford wasn't the only place at the weekend where, in the words of the financial adverts, "past performance should not be relied upon as a guide to any investment decision". Chelsea, for instance, had not lost to a newly promoted team since April 2001. Some 63 games against new boys had come and gone between that 1-0 home defeat by Charlton and yesterday's trip to Loftus Road. Then came red cards for Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba following a reckless challenge by David Luiz that gave Heidar Helguson the chance to score from the spot, and another record was broken.

It was only last week I was arguing that QPR's decent start masked the fact they hadn't played any of the big boys. Now they have - and won - and they are out to [4.6] in the relegation market. The next three fixtures against Spurs, Manchester City and away to Stoke will tell us more.

Blackburn are now nearly even money at [2.02] to go down. You might have argued before they faced Tottenham that their bad run couldn't go on - after all they had not started a season so poorly since 1996. But Rafael Van der Vaart's two goals gave Spurs a 2-1 win, and Steve Kean looks more and more as if he's out of his depth. Ray Harford was in charge of the '96 campaign that brought just four points from the first 11 games - he was then sacked and Roy Hodgson amazingly lifted the club to finish 13th.

The bottom of the Premier League is a bit of a North West version of the Bermuda triangle at the moment, with Wigan and Bolton the other two sides in the bottom three. Roberto Martinez thought he could turn that round at St James' Park on Saturday - after all Newcastle had never gone so many games unbeaten at the start of a Premier League season. But Yohan Cabaye came up with the only goal and Alan Pardew's team stay fourth. They look value at [5.7] a top six finish.

As for Bolton, they are missing the bits of class that loan players Jack Wilshere and then Daniel Sturridge have provided in the last couple of seasons. Owen Coyle desperately needs to find another brilliant young kid he can borrow to lift his team following a 2-0 home defeat by Sunderland. It's now Bolton's worst start in the club's 109 years of history. Does that mean they are worth backing at [3.85] to win at Swansea next weekend?

But then West Bromwich Albion hadn't won at Aston Villa since 1979, and didn't look as if they would on Saturday either, until a debatable red card left Alex McLeish's side with ten men. It lifted Albion, after a bad start, to 12th and they have come in to [3.25] for a top ten finish.

So it's time to tear up all the stats and start again. Anybody fancy flipping a coin to choose next weekend's best bets?!