ROONEY CAN LIGHT THE WAY
Birmingham v Portsmouth
Birmingham and Portsmouth are both looking for their first point of the Premier League season but it's the former who made the far more encouraging start over the weekend and look a safe bet to claim victory in this one.
Alex McLeish's newly-promoted side faced a daunting opening fixture away at Manchester United but by all accounts aquitted themselves really well against the champions, who were forced to battle hard for a narrow 1-0 victory courtesy of Wayne Rooney's first-half strike.
Indeed they were so close to an equaliser soon after Rooney's goal when Gregory Vignal's effort from a corner was headed off the line by Patrice Evra.
As well as their steely performance at the back, Cameron Jerome looked enthusiastic in a lone striker role before his substitution while new signing Christian Benitez, who started the game on the bench, showed promising glimpses of just what attacking threat he could pose for the Blues during the season.
The influential James McFadden provided much-needed forward support from midfield and overall if Birmingham can continue to play to that level on a consistent basis then they should be able to avoid relegation.
St Andrews was quite a fortress last year, with Blues winning 14 and drawing five of their 23 league games there, and we're expecting them to get their home record off to a perfect start against troubled Pompey, who haven't even scored in six of their previous Premier League games.
We've already expressed our grave concerns over Portsmouth in our outright relegation preview and little has changed in the wake of their 1-0 home defeat to Fulham on Saturday.
If anything a result and stale performance such as that endorsed our initial thoughts.
Birmingham are a best priced 11/10 to win the match but instead we're going to forecast a scoreline and think the 2-0 at 9/1 with Blue Square represents a decent bet.
Verdict: Birmingham 2 Portsmouth 0
Burnley v Manchester United
Premier League debutants Burnley were bullied by Stoke on a hostile return to English football's top table after a 33-year absence and it was hardly surprising to see them slip to a 2-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium.
The manner of both first-half goals made the Clarets look pretty fragile to say the least, as they struggled to deal with an aerial bombardment of long balls and long throws into box, and they'll be up against a much more ferocious animal on Wednesday night - the defending champions.
To be fair Owen Coyle's men did eventually settle after their early stage fright and some would say there is reason for optimism having managed to produce some flowing football which characterised their promotion from the Championship and their superb run to the Carling Cup semi-finals last season.
It'll also be their supporters' turn to crank up the decibels at Turf Moor as they host Manchester United but can you see anything other than an away win, priced up at a best of 1/3?
The draw, a 4/1 chance, has got to be the best Burnley can hope for and the major factor going in their favour is the fact United's defence will still be without Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic while Jonny Evans is a doubt having limped off during their 1-0 victory over Birmingham.
But with Wayne Rooney in such ruthless mood up front as he looks to make a big impact in a more central berth this season, we're expecting a rather unpleasant night for the hosts.
The England star followed his stoppage-time goal in last weekend's Community Shield against Chelsea by scoring his 99th for United to clinch all three points at Old Trafford on Sunday.
And at a best of 5/4 with bet365 to net anytime on Wednesday night, we feel this is a pretty safe bet for this encounter.
Verdict: Burnley 0 Manchester United 2
Hull v Tottenham
Tottenham's top target this season must surely be to challenge the 'big four' stranglehold on the Premier League and they got off to the best possible start with an opening-day victory over Liverpool.
Harry Redknapp's side produced a thoroughly convincing display against the below-par Reds and although a couple of decent penalty shouts from their opponents were controversially turned down by the referee - much to the frustration of Rafa Benitez - Spurs fully deserved all three points.
It marked a stark contrast to how they began the last campaign under Juande Ramos, losing six of their opening eight Premier League games including a 1-0 defeat to Hull at White Hart Lane, but that is a long distant memory now.
They ended the 2008/09 season with eight victories in their last 13 league games and of course the turning point which sparked that run was the 2-1 triumph at the KC Stadium.
Before then Spurs were mathematically still very much in the relegation fight but easily climbed their way to safety and so nearly ended up clinching a Europa League spot.
With all this in mind Tottenham should be supremely confident of picking up their second win out of two on Wednesday night against a Tigers side many expect to be relegated this season.
Phil Brown's men opened up with a rather unfortunate 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge and their supporters will no doubt be encouraged by their plucky display but the fact is they've completely lost the habit of winning - or even collecting points.
Hull have only won a single league game in 2009 so far and their woeful run of eight defeats in their last 10 saw them slide perilously close to the drop and were effectively only saved by the respective calamities at Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
They've forgotten what it's like to win at home - their last at the KC Stadium against Premier League opposition came on December 6 - and quite simply we have little reason to back anything other than an away win on Wednesday night.
Tottenham are a best of 5/2 to be winning at half-time and full-time and that's where we're placing our stake for this one.
Liverpool v Stoke
Liverpool will be desperate to prove their title credentials in front of the Anfield crowd on Wednesday night having faltered at Spurs - but they might find it tough against a resolute Stoke outfit.
The Reds never really got going at White Hart Lane with star striker Fernando Torres particularly disappointing and following such a sluggish performance they were perhaps lucky to get away with a scoreline as close at 2-1.
Last season Liverpool's bid to clinch their first Premier League crown was twice hit by the Potters, who battled hard to earn goalless draws in both home and away fixtures between the sides, and could feasibly be another frustrating night for Rafael Benitez.
While we don't think Stoke, who beat newly-promoted Burnley 2-0 on Saturday, pose enough attacking threat to trouble the hosts and win, they certainly have the strong physical prowess all over the field to keep this encounter tight.
Therefore we can't see any value in backing Liverpool at big odds-on prices while the performance of a tired-looking Torres on Saturday would make us extremely hesitent on piling any money whatsoever on the 4/5 quotes about the Spaniard to score anytime.
Instead perhaps the wiser value bet would be siding with a narrow 1-0 triumph for the hosts, which is a best of 13/2 with VC Bet.
Tony Pulis' side will be without Amdy Faye and Mamady Sidibe but even so he won't allow his side to roll over if they do fall behind and their productive visit to Anfield last September should ensure there's no fear factor this time around.
Verdict: Liverpool 1 Stoke 0
# Preview posted at 1410BST on 18/08/2009.
