Premier League
Three Premier League fixtures take place tonight with the remaining seven matches being played tomorrow.
Aston Villa currently sit bottom of the table without a win in over three months and a massive eleven points adrift of safety. If they are to have any chance of avoiding relegation they really need to string a run of wins together and that run needs to start immediately. Their fans gave them all kind of abuse after their draw with Wycombe in the FA Cup at the weekend and Remi Garde will be hoping for a reaction tonight. They host Crystal Palace who are seventh in the table and are enjoying a great season. Their away record is really good as are a team that sets up nicely for the counter attack with a lot of pacey skillful forward players. I have a feeling this game will be a little different however, with Palace taking the game to Villa due to them being the superior team, and this could play into Villa's hands. I think this will be a tight game but there is a chance Villa maybe able to sneak it by the odd goal in a low scoring encounter.
Bournemouth host West Ham and the South Coast club are currently four points above the relegation zone and will be looking to put further daylight between themselves and the bottom clubs with a win over a very inconsistent West Ham team. Bournemouth have been pretty strong at home since their promotion to the Premier League and this could be another game where the home side prevails by a narrow margin.
Man Utd travel to the North East to play Newcastle with both managers still under plenty of pressure. Man Utd managed to scrape through to the next round of the FA Cup at the weekend with a last minute win at home to League One side Sheffield United. It was another awful performance and the fans are now extremely frustrated with the lack of goals and dire football. This should be a game where Man Utd again enjoy plenty of possession but Newcastle look to have the attacking ability to be able to trouble Van Gaal's men and I am confident they will beat them.
15:30 Ludlow
Rainbow Haze won really well in very testing conditions at Chepstow in November before finishing sixth of fifteen in a much better race at Taunton with an additional twelve pounds to carry. He has dropped down a couple of pounds since that race and again has George Blackwell onboard taking a further five pounds off. The conditions will be tough here today which is sure to help and with likely favourite Market Option switching back to hurdles after several tries over the larger obstacles, I think this represents a great chance for Rainbow Haze at a nice price.
Today's Selections
Treble of Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Newcastle - 1 point @ 26.65 (Paddy Power)
Ludlow 15:30 - Rainbow Haze - 1 point @ 5/1 (Bet365)