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MANCHESTER CITY v MIDDLESBROUGH ODDS PREVIEW I 1-4-06
By Derek Bilton of Bettingzone.co.uk
Having lost four out of their last five it's surprising to see City at odds-on in places for this one.
Stuart Pearce's men have been far more miss than hit of late, and had Boro not been involved in UEFA Cup action on Thursday night then they may have represented a spot of value at the current 14/5 available.
Yet having played a taxing UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg tie against FC Basle and then having to journey back from Switzerland to HQ on Teesside, only to be greeted by an away trip to Eastlands less than 48 hours later is clearly far from ideal.
Too big to score...
Yet we still can't be having the light Blues at the current prices.
After a solid run in the league at the turn of the year, a run that included that memorable 3-1 derby victory over Manchester United, City have struggled manfully of late.
Some pundits reckon the speculation liking Pearce and the vacant England job has unsettled the players, and that could well be true.
However you have to say that injury problems have not helped.
They had no less than nine first-team stars out against Chelsea at the weekend, and the indications are that new Greek cult hero Georgios Samaras will again be missing against Boro.
One man definitely out is skipper Sylvain Distin, banned for his sending off at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
Patchy form and personnel problems mean that Middlesbrough are still worth a play on the Asian Handicaps.
The Teessiders are 21/20 (0, +0.5) which roughly translated means you win at the price if Boro win the game but also land 50% of what you would have won (plus money back) should they only draw.
The only way the bet loses is if the Eastlands outfit take the three points, so the bet looks more than fair.
Mark Viduka also looks a little too big to score first in the match.
Before Boro's latest European game in Switzerland the big Australian had bagged four goals in his last six and looked a real handful.
When he is in this sort of form Viduka really can be unplayable, and so should he start he looks real value to get among City's patched up rearguard.
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