SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

Chelsea v Manchester City Saturday, 17:30 Live on BT Sport 1 Blues in fine fettle It seems laughable now that Chelsea's opening-day defeat to Burnley prompted quite so much crisis talk. A month on and Antonio Conte's Blues are clearly in rude health, ticking along nicely in the Premier League - four wins in five despite a tough old fixture list - and, in midweek, producing a vintage away performance in Europe to sneak past Atlético Madrid. If Saturday's game against Manchester City is the game of the season so far, the Blues come into it with wind in their sails. There are positives wherever Conte looks. Álvaro Morata has hit the ground running since arriving from Real Madrid, Tiémoué Bakayoko has looked assured in midfield and trusted players from last season's league win have all taken up where they left off. Factor in the bonus of a returning Eden Hazard, who was electric in midweek, and it's easy to see why many are backing Chelsea to retain their t...

Barcelona v Las Palmas Sunday, 15:15 Live on Sky Sports Football and Betfair Live Video Lionel Messi hasn't scored in two games, Luis Suárez has been wasteful and Ousmane Dembélé is sidelined, but luckily for Barcelona, they have unearthed another deadly attacking talent over the last week: opposition defenders.  Two own goals helped the Blaugrana past Girona last weekend , before the unlucky Sebastián Coates cost Sporting a point in the Champions League on Wednesday night. It doesn't matter how they go in, of course, and Barcelona are now eight for eight in all competitions this season. But you get the feeling that  someone is going to come in for a hiding  when Messi and Suárez click back into gear, and Las Palmas look like prime candidates on Sunday afternoon. The side from Gran Canaria are awful travellers - one win in their last 21 away games in La Liga, and that came against crisis-stricken Málaga - and all four meetings with Barcelona have gone against them ...

Udinese v Sampdoria Saturday, 17:00 Live on Betfair Live Video The early Serie A game on a Saturday has traditionally been something of a graveyard in terms of entertainment, but I'm prepared to hope that  Udinese and Sampdoria  buck that trend and give us some goals this weekend. Both teams like to go forward, although that approach is serving Samp rather better than Udinese right now, and Marco Giampaolo's team will be buzzing after their win over Milan last weekend. Sampdoria have now kept two consecutive clean sheets in the League, and the last time that they made it three was back in March 2015. They're a long way from rock solid defensively, and I think that Udinese will find a way through them, making it  13 consecutive home games  in which they've scored against Samp. Samp drew 0-0 in Verona against a team that was desperate to defend, and they'll find that Udinese fit the mould of the Torino team with whom they drew 2-2 three weeks ago. Playing wit...

PSG v Bordeaux  (1st v 3rd) Sat, 16:00 BST Live on Betfair Live Video PSG are good enough to beat all other Ligue 1 teams by three goals when the mood takes them, but if there's one team that could stop that happening this weekend, it's Bordeaux. The visitors arrive in excellent form, their latest impressive performance resulting in a 3-1 win over Guingamp last weekend.  Bordeaux are now unbeaten in 14 Ligue 1 matches, a run that stretches back to late April (W7-D7-L0),  and lost only 2-0 when this fixture was staged last season. PSG played some tremendous football in beating Bayern Munich 3-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night but having picked his strongest line-up for that match manager Unai Emery will be tempted to rotate here. For all the plaudits PSG have received this season their squad is thin in certain areas so it will be either a weakened or tired PSG line-up that takes to the field. For a full guide to Asian Handicap betting click  here...

Hertha Berlin v Bayern Munich Sunday October 01, 14:30 The dismissal of  Carlo Ancelotti  as Bayern Munich coach was not necessarily a surprise, but the timing was. Bayern's powerbrokers have had reservations about the Italian's methods for some time - they felt he was too hands-off in his approach, happy to let individual brilliance win games rather than tactical excellence. Unlike his predecessor  Pep Guardiola,  Ancelotti wasn't looking to constantly challenge his players in a bid to improve them. That avuncular, jovial approach had some success last season, as Bayern won a fifth consecutive Bundesliga crown, finishing 15 points ahead of RB Leipzig. However, the  alarm bells  were clanging at deafening volume after last Friday's careless 2-2 draw at home to Wolfsburg, and the final act was played out on Wednesday in Paris. Bayern's 3-0 Champions League defeat at PSG was perhaps a touch flattering to the hosts, but the German giants could hardly comp...

Every weekend Walter Toner scours the major football leagues looking for value bets using his Performance Index algorithm. Here is his compilation of this weekend's most compelling value wagers... England Premier-League Chelsea v Manchester City Saturday, September 30, 2017 Betfair Back Odds -  Home   2.76  Draw  3.40  Away  2.40 Fair Value Odds -  Home   2.34  Draw  3.80  Away  3.20 Recommended Bet Back Chelsea above fair value France Ligue-1 Dijon v Strasbourg Saturday, September 30, 2017 Betfair Back Odds -  Home   2.00  Draw  3.25  Away  3.65 Fair Value Odds -  Home   1.73  Draw  4.00  Away  5.80 Recommended Bet Back Dijon above fair value Netherlands Eredivisie Zwolle v Groningen Saturday, September 30, 2017 Betfair Back Odds -  Home   1.95  Draw  3.50  Away  3.45 Fair Value Odds -  Home   2.66  Draw  3....

Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen Friday September 29, 19:30 Live on BT Sport 3 The Swedish fairytale of Ostersunds had another chapter added to it  last night,  as a club that was in the fourth tier of Swedish football last season made it two wins out of two in the Europa League group stage. Dreams really do come true, for them and for us, because their 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin secured us an odds-against winner. To Germany now, and a clash between two sides who are amongst the biggest in the Bundesliga, but have hit the skids. Schalke and Bayer Leverkusen both missed out on a place in Europe for this season, and are  rebuilding  under new coaches. The 32-year-old  Domenico Tedesco  has been tasked with dragging sleeping giant Schalke back into the limelight, and he's made a mixed start to his tenure. A 2-0 home win over RB Leipzig was a great start, but since then the Royal Blues have picked up just six points from five games. However, there is a gener...