pre-match predictions

With the title race all but over, the big game of the evening is clearly the FA Cup 5th round tie at Goodison Park between Everton and Reading. Both teams are eager to extend their stay in the competition and with the Toffee's sweating on the fitness of Beckford, Saha and Fellaini, Royal's fans will be hopeful of an upset. Everton should be too strong for their Championship opponents though so I'm going for a 3-1 (9/1) victory for the blues. 

In the Championship, play-off hopefuls Nottingham Forest travel to struggling Middlesbrough hoping to get back to winning ways and I reckon Billy Davies men will take this 2-1 (9/1). Derby and Doncaster play out a good old fashioned  relegation six pointer at Pride Park and home advantage should be enough to see the Rams victorious, I'm backing them to win 2-0 (7/1). The third and final fixture in England's second tier see's Scunthorpe travel to Fratton Park to face a resurgent Portsmouth, and I'm backing pompy to win 3-0 (11/1). 

There is also the small matter of Chelsea Vs Man Utd this evening with the londoners desperate for a result to re-ignite their season. It will be interesting to see who starts out of Torres, Anelka and Drogba or whether Ancelotti decides to lump all three on. My hunch is that Drogba will take a seat on the bench. United can extend their lead over Arsenal to seven points with a win tonight but I fancy Chelsea to nick a 1-1 (11/2) draw with a late equaliser. 

F.Y.I - Accumulator pays 40/1