With Six Nations, Premier League and the Allianz Football League all involved this week we hope to land this tasty treble for you.
Despite receiving a ringing endorsement from yours truly, the favourites in the Super Bowl last weekend, the San Francisco 49ers, failed to get the job done, killing our treble at the ungodly hour of 4am on a Monday morning.
Close defeats like that are hard to take, especially when they cost you money, but at that hour of the night, it seems especially cruel to be so close to a handy wedge, only to see it vanish in front of our eyes.
Still, at least we had the other two right (United to beat Fulham, Mayo to beat Kerry) so we head into this first NFL-less week with a bit of confidence about our picking ability. We’ll see if it is misplaced or not with this treble, which should get you odds of around 9/1.
Ireland v England, Under 36.5 points, 5/6
The highlight of the sporting weekend is Ireland’s game with England at the Aviva. With all due respect to Italy (which of course means no respect at all), whoever wins this game is in pole position to win the Grand Slam.
With so much at stake, and with both sides wary of the consequences of defeat, this game could be a bit of a tug of war. Four of the last five games between these sides have had less than this total score on the board, the exception being last year’s Twickenham shellacking.
We’re hoping that was an exception for any number of reasons. A nice 7-3 win by Ireland will do fine.
Wayne Rooney to score at any time against Everton, 10/11
Say what you like about Wayne Rooney (insert your own gag here) but when he hits goalscoring form, he is one of the best in the business. Since nabbing two against Reading at the start of December, the striker has been in sensational form. He has netted 11 goals in 11 games for club and country and for that reason we fancy him to keep it up against his old team.
He scored twice in the crazy 4-4 draw at Old Trafford last season, and we reckon he’ll do it again, at least once anyway.
Wexford to beat Armagh, 7/4
A dip into Division 2 of the Allianz Football League this week for this clash of Ulster and Leinster. Last year Armagh were in the top tier and Wexford were in the third but now they are on the same level and after week one, their fortunes couldn’t be any different.
Wexford won against Longford, a team who have long caused them problems, while Armagh capitulated badly against Laois, 0-20 to 1-10. Still shorn of the lads from Crossmaglen, this is as weak as the Orchard County will get at home. Wexford have the talent to capitalise, and 7/4 looks a bit generous to me.
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