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ALI'S BIG MATCH PREVIEW - MIDDLESBROUGH v CHELSEA 19-10-07
Alastair Brownlee
ORDER YOUR COPY OF ALI'S NEW BOOK 'VOICE OF THE BORO' RIGHT HERE
After yet another break for European Championship qualifiers, Boro resume Premier League action on Saturday as they search for three points from the visit of Chelsea to the Riverside. In the process the Boro are also hoping to record a hat trick of home wins over the Blues.
Last season a late goal by Mark Viduka condemned the Londoners and their manager at that time Jose Mourinho. Or in the words of a certain commentator "Do you know the way home Jose, its called the A19, and your down and out, we have done you again!"
The last part of the straining Brownlee vocal chords was a reference to the match in February 2006 when Boro were going through a bad spell under Steve McClaren.
The previous week had seen a fan throw his season ticket at Mac as the team slumped to a 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa. At that stage things looked bleak but Boro destroyed Chelsea 3-0 and never looked back as the League form picked up and the road opened up to Eindhoven.
Chris Riggott, who played in both the Riverside wins over the Blues, was keen to stress to me this week that the result in 2006 proved that one match can really turn a season and let's hope for the same this weekend.
The past year has not been kind to Chris regarding injuries but he is back 100% fit and started alongside Jonathan Woodgate in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City last time out.
He could have been forgiven for thinking that his bad luck was set to continue as he deflected the ball into his own net for the City opener, but he recovered and put in a solid display.
Nevertheless, Chris is well aware that the priority has to be for the team to start keeping clean sheets as there has been only one occasion so far this season, the home win over Birmingham, when the opposition have failed to score.
Chelsea arrive at the Riverside for the 101st League meeting between the clubs in seventh place and still in a state of transition after the shock departure of Jose Mourinho - with the "not so special one" being replaced by the "not so charismatic" Avram Grant.
Grant still has work to do to make his mark and the news that top striker Didier Drogba wants to leave has hardly helped his cause. Boro fans will be hoping that Drogba has other matters on his mind on Saturday as he has been a constant danger in previous encounters, scoring five Premier League goals against us in the last five meetings.
Andrew Taylor will pass a personal milestone on Saturday when he makes his 100th club appearance. The England under-21 full back has made astonishing progress over the past year and is now recognised as Boro's first choice left back.
I caught up with Gordon Jones this week, who made a record number of post war appearances for Boro, and was himself an excellent left back. Gordon sees a lot of himself in young Taylor, which is a great compliment in itself and remarked that this season we have seen more of Taylor as an attacking force, which is another sign of the youngster's growing confidence.
Bearing in mind that after the defeat in Russia, England now look in grave danger of failing to qualify for the European Championships, the planning will turn to qualification for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and to be involved in that has to be a realistic target for the Hartlepool born left back.
Games against Chelsea always seem to have an extra edge for all sorts of reasons. On the downside are the FA Cup Final of 1997 and the League Cup Final the following season. On the upside there is "Juninho's match" of 1997 as the "little fella" rang rings around the Blues and scored with a diving header which was named the goal of the season on "Match of the Day".
Chelsea were also the visitors for the opening game at the Riverside in August 1995 and Craig Hignett scored the first goal at the new home. Higgy remains one of Boro's all-time favourite players and will be a guest of the former players association on Saturday.
Whenever I catch up with Craig we always get round to talking about that opening Riverside goal and he admits that he was a bit lucky. Nick Barmby picked Craig out with a great pass but as the other "midget gem" received the ball, instead of a clean strike, the ball went off the outside of his boot but thankfully flew high into the net. The significance was lost on Craig until he got to the dressing room and Robbie Mustoe called him a "lucky b*****d" for making a piece of Riverside history.
A similar full time result of 2-0 would go down well on Saturday as Gareth Southgate marks his 500th day in charge of the Boro.
Bernie and I will reflect on the game on Simply Red on Century fm on Sunday from 11am until 1pm. Our special guests include Arthur Horsfield, Gary Pallister and Archie Stephens. There will also be the usual features and a chance for you to win Sunday lunch for two at the Bluebell Hotel in Acklam, so join in the Boro fun by calling 08450021100 or text 85102.
I am also looking forward to next week when my book "Voice of the Boro' hits the bookshelves. It's a hard-backed book priced at £12 that looks back over my 25 years reporting on the Boro and includes a complimentary CD that includes some of the commentary moments that struck a chord with the fans.
The book is kindly sponsored by Joe Rigatonis and the first signing session will be in the Hillstreet Shopping Centre on Thursday from 4 until 5-15pm. And afterwards" Everyone round my house for a parmo!"
ORDER YOUR COPY OF ALI'S NEW BOOK 'VOICE OF THE BORO' RIGHT HERE
RETURN TO ALASTAIR BROWNLEE INDEX PAGE HERE
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.20 ON PORTSMOUTH v FULHAM
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Sunday afternoon's Premiership clash between Portsmouth v Fulham, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.20, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £41.20 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match and we will collect £115.00 if Portsmouth win, £112.20 if Fulham win and £114.13 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet
 .
This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £26.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet
account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on Portsmouth at 3.00 (2/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Portsmouth as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Portsmouth.
Back the draw with £25.00 at 3.7 (11/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £26.00 on Fulham at 2.2 (6/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £51.00 riding on Fulham.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £115.00. That's £90.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £114.13. That's £89.13 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Fulham win you collect £112.20. That's £87.20 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Fulham match is Fulham win and you make £41.20 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £43.13 and if Portsmouth win you make £44.00. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
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