Friday night football is a new feature in the Premier League this season and we begin at Villa Park where Aston Villa host Man Utd. Both sides recorded hard fought and pretty uninspiring one nil wins on the opening day of the season. Although the football wasn't great, they will both have been relieved to have started the campaign with three points.
Villa have a terrible record against Utd, they haven't beaten them in the last 19 league matches between the sides. Coupled with their terrible home record last season (just five league wins), it doesn't appear promising.
Utd will obviously be buoyed by this but their away record does need improving from last season if they are to remain in the top four.
For Villa it appears that new striker Rudy Gusted may have to settle for a place on the bench, although for the sake of the game I hope not and that Villa have a good go at Utd from the off.
Bastian Schweinsteiger will be hoping for his first competitive start since his switch from Bayern Munich. If he does start I think he is an excellent candidate in the 'to be booked' market. He generally suffers from a lot of yellow cards and picked one up soon after coming on at the weekend. At 11/5 with Paddy Power I think this has a good chance of happening.
I think this will be relatively tight early on, but given the history between the two sides and Villa's inability to find a formula that works at home, I expect Utd to come out on top. They are 6/4 on the half time/full time market and I think this represents a bit of value. If they go ahead I don't expect Villa to be able to get back at them so we will just need a Utd goal in the first half to have a realistic shot at this bet.
> Open a new PaddyPower account and get 6/1 on Man Utd!!
Newbury 15:55
The main race on the card is a five furlong fillies Listed race and it looks a good one.
Whatdoiwantthatfor for Richard Hannon is the one I like here. She won a conditions race at Windsor before finishing a credible third in a Group 3 at Ascot on ground that was plenty soft enough. She looks to be heading in the right direction.
Mark Johnston's Muhadathat appears to be the main danger. She was an easy winner in a lower grade race at Chester and went on to a reasonable fourth place in the Molecomb at Goodwood which was also a Group 3.
Calypso Choir won her only race, a maiden at Bath, by six lengths when a 20/1 shot. The second placed horse in that race has won since so she is definitely worth a shot at this level and at best price 12/1 I think this is a good each way bet.
Today's Selections
Aston Villa v Man Utd - Utd half time/full time - 3 points @ 6/4
Bastian Schweinsteiger to be booked - 1 point @ 11/5
Newbury 15:55 Whatdoiwantthatfor - 1 point @ 3/1