There are four live Premier games at the weekend with Hull (7/1) hosting Chelsea (7/20) in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off, and Birmingham City (5/1) at home to Manchester United (1/2) a few hours later.
Chelsea may well be without their African stars during January, but can still waltz past a Hull side that last won in November and have conceded 15 goals in their last six matches – 10 in the second half. With that in mind, Chelsea are a tempting 37/20 (nearly 2/1) to score two goals or more in the final 45 minutes.
Chelsea did fail to net at St Andrews on Boxing Day, though, in what has been a fortress for Birmingham (5/1) in recent months, and Manchester United (1/2) will have to be at their best to beat Alex McLeish's in-form unit.
City are now unbeaten in their last 12 matches and represent terrific odds here at 5/1 to beat the Red Devils, who emerge from a tough programme which has seen them lose three of their last six matches. Birmingham are a wise punt, with a stakes saver on the draw at 11/4.
The second instalment of live action on Sunday features West Ham (3/4) against Wolves (16/5), followed by Liverpool (4/5) at home to Tottenham (16/5).
I can't predict Liverpool this season. They have lost four games at Anfield this term, while Spurs on the other hand have remained more consistent – especially on their travels – where they have only lost two Premier League away games in 10. I can see both teams scoring here and favour Sportingbet's offer of 2-3 goals during the match at 19/20.
The Africa Cup of Nations also gets underway at the weekend where Didier Drogba's Ivory Coast – my fancy to win the World Cup – head the betting at 12/5. If they are to make any impact in the big one this summer they need to send out a message here – and I'll be surprised if the likes of Cameroon or Ghana can stop them.
There are other sporting markets to get involved with this week. Tennis's ATP season getting underway courtesy of the Qatar Open, which features the in-form Rafael Nadal – fresh from victory in last week's Abu Dhabi Challenge. In:play betting on his matches and the other ties will be available throughout the week.
A couple of decent golf tournaments also begin on Thursday. Darren Clarke lines up at 16/1 in the African Open, while Steve Stricker can take advantage of the missing Tiger Woods at 11/2 in America's SBS Championship.
The darts continues on the box this week, where last week's tip, Scott Waites, has made it through to the second round. The Beeb's cameras will also be in action at Wembley Arena on Sunday for the start of snooker's Masters. The good news for fans of Jimmy 'I'm A Celebrity ...' White is that he has been given a wild card for the event, but at odds of 250/1, he stood a better chance of victory on the jungle.
Ronnie O'Sullivan heads the market at 5/2, which is no surprise as he has made five of the last six finals here – winning three of them – and is in the kinder half of the draw. His price may seem short, but 5/2 will look big come the final.
And while Jimmy White may have just missed out on TV reality glory, someone who could win the current Celebrity Big Brother 2010 on Channel Four is Stephanie Beacham.
Her laid-back manner and class will help in sticky situations, while others around her trip up, and she rates a punt with Sportingbet at 7/1.
Week's best sportingbet: Ronnie O'Sullivan to win snooker's Masters at 5/2.
