Rob Alexander hunts out the value in the weekend's Premier League fixtures
With the excitement of the Champions League and Europa League draws over the Premier League is back in full swing at the weekend and provides one stand out fixture as Europa League favourites Manchester City host a resurgent Arsenal side on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea are the only title contenders playing on Saturday and they have a good chance of putting maximum pressure on their rivals with victory over lowly Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium. After a short blip, Andre Villas-Boas' side are in good form again and will be bouyed considerably after beating Manchester City at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
Blackburn Rovers take on West Bromwich Albion at home on Saturday in what could be a key match in both sides relegation battles. Rovers desperately need to push on after Yakubu's four goal performance over Swansea City recently saw them record only their second win of the season.
Sunday sees City v Arsenal as the pick of the fixtures but the early kick off at Loftus Road sees Manchester United take on Queens Park Rangers in an intriguing encounter. If United win they will go top, at least for a short period of time, and put maximum pressure on their neighbours. Spurs can keep their title hopes up with a win at home over Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.
Saturday Pick
Wigan Athletic v Chelsea
Chelsea have found their best form at the right time in the season and will be determined to push on after good wins and performances over Valencia and Manchester City in recent weeks. A December trip to Wigan is unlikely to prove easy though as Roberto Martinez's side have won two out of their last three matches.
Wigan Athletic were roundly trounced at home by Arsenal in their last match at the DW Stadium and have suffered similarly crushing defeats at the hands of Chelsea in recent seasons. The Blues beat Wigan 6-0 and 8-0 last season and will be hopeful of a goal-fest again on Saturday.
I'm backing Chelsea to win the match comfortably once again, dashing Wigan's hopes of another mini-revival and some decent home form. In my bet Chelsea start with a big-ish handicap but the formbook shows they are capable of beating the hosts by a lot of goals.
Bet 2 points on Chelsea -2 at 2.75 with bet365.
Sunday Pick
Queens Park Rangers v Manchester United
Despite losing 4-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers in the first game of the season, Queens Park Rangers have proved very tough to break down at home and have only lost one match since, by just a single goal, to Manchester City. Their only home win of the season was a 1-0 victory against a Chelsea side in disarray but still proved QPR are a very decent side at home.
Without Nemanja Vidic and Darren Fletcher, Manchester United may struggle unless they buy in January. Immediately they may struggle on Sunday as they bid to go top of the table with victory over a Queens Park Rangers side that Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur have all struggled to score against.
I'm backing Neil Warnock's side with a small head start at odds against in what is probably a very decent value bet.
Bet 3 points on Queens Park Rangers +1 at 2.07 with bet365 and Victor Chandler.