Weekly betting column: Wembley classic on the cards

The weekend's sports betting action previewed by Joe Whitaker of ValueBet Bookmakers.

With the regular football season now over it’s down to the mighty FA Cup final to keep us hanging in there.

Cup final day probably means less to the younger football fans coming through than it does to the older brigade.

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We have had some classics over the years and I think Arsenal-Chelsea could be just that. It’s a London derby and both sides are in a good form, with both winning their last five matches.

A good sign for the neutral is that goals have not been a problem for either side, with Arsenal putting 13 away and Chelsea an impressive 16 in their last five games.

I think this can carry on to Wembley tomorrow, with the atmosphere and heat sure to make it a tough stage for both defences.

Chelsea look suspect to the high ball to me and Olivier Giroud can cause problems for Cahill and Luiz. He is 7/1 to score first and it looks a big price, so I would use the ValueBet 2 for 1 first goalscorers offer by pairing him up with his partner Alexis Sanchez who is also 7/1.

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For the result of the match I genuinely feel Arsenal have a chance and at 3/1 they look decent enough value.

There is something quite special about Arsenal and the FA Cup. Chelsea of course are a classy outfit and you could argue Arsenal are missing that natural leader for the big stage though even the 2/1 for Arsenal to lift the trophy looks much better value to me than Chelsea at only 4/5 to win the match.

The cup final is one of our great national treasures however and an epic final would be a welcome boost to the public given the horrific events of the past few days.

The racing is starting to warm up nicely with The Derby approaching next weekend. For the purists the 3 year old classics are the pinnacle and we have already seen money come for the John Gosden trained Frankel colt CRAFTSMAN who is now best priced 4/1 favourite.

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The public were looking for one to get stuck into after maybe not being totally impressed with the Aidan O’Brien trained Cliffs of Moher. Craftsman only beat Mark Johnston’s Permian by a shoulder in the Epsom Derby Trial though he is clearly seen as a colt who will get better and better as he matures. I feel 4/1 could look a big price come next Saturday so it may be worth some early antepost money.

A horse to look out for tomorrow is TURANGA LEELA in the 2.30 Fillies Handicap at Chester. She has a decent draw in Stall 2 and should she grab the rail she could be hard to peg back ridden by Philip Makin.

Enjoy the weekend folks, Joe

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