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So it looks like we might have two more tickets getting punched to the baseball playoffs. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs are pulling away in their divisions. At this rate, the Cubs and the D-Backs look like they’ll be able to bury their division rivals by the end of this coming week.

Much has been written (including in this blog) about the NL West being one of the worst divisions in baseball history, but though the division may be horrendous the winner still gets to go the playoffs. And it’s looking more and more like the winner will be the D-Backs. It certainly isn’t surprising that the reason for Arizona taking control of the division is because 2nd place Los Angeles has now lost 8 straight games.

Right now the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks are playing each other. So one of these two teams has to win. And so far the D-Backs gotten the better of the Dodgers. After winning last night the D-Backs now have a 4.5 game lead.

Meanwhile, over the National league Central there has been a great race going on all season. The Cubs have stood atop the division for much of the season but they’ve been chased closely by the Milwaukee Brewers and even the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards have fallen off but the Brewers are still in the lead for the Wild Card. But in the NL Central, the Cubs are riding a 7 game winning streak and they’ve now opened up a 6.5 game lead. The Cubs are looking like the best team in the National league.

So, it looks like there may be just one race left in the National league and that will be for the Nl East. of course, it’s not over in the Central or the West yet, but it’s very close.

This week i’m putting a bit of thought into the Trading Fund tips.  Dangerous I know, but I think there are a couple of opportunities to increase the returns and let the other tips generated by the model ride.  The tips for the Premier League Fund stay as they are, it’s only the Trading Fund which is [...]

Our next preview covers teams who’ve had poor starts, both just collecting one point and both fixed in the relegation zone. It has to be said that neither was tipped as a promotion chasing side or anything, but both manager’s will have expected more after decent finishes last season.

We’ll start with a look at Burnley, who spent a considerable amount of money during the summer. Manager Owen Coyle signed no more than five players, with two of them in Martin Patterson and Chris Eagles costing in excess of £1m each. With Coyle’s men finishing in a comfortable 13th position last season, he would have hoped that his fairly big investments during the summer would have gifted The Clarets with a decent start. However, the signs have been disappointing from the first minute of the season, with Marcus Tudgay getting the first goal early on as Sheffield Wednesday romped to a 4-1 win over the Lancashire side. A defeat to Ipswich and a draw to Palace has followed and seeing as it wasn’t the most difficult start in the world, Owen Coyle knows that he needs a massive improvement from his side if they are to match last season’s finish.

Plymouth were tipped to struggle from the start, with Paul Sturrock being forced to let his best players go over the last year or so. The likes of Peter Halmosi, Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, Akos Buzsaky, Barry Hayles and David Norris have all left Plymouth – who were once a side chasing the play off places. Sturrock hasn’t seen much of the money generated through these transfers and even though he’s brought in some quality in Simon Walton and Craig Cathcart over the summer, Argyle are nowhere near the quality they were twelve months ago. This has shown in their form as well with their only point coming on the first day of the season against Wolves, while defeats against Reading and Swansea have followed.

Home side Burnley managed to sign Russell Anderson a few days ago and he looks set to be thrown straight into Owen Coyle’s starting eleven. The Clarets beat Oldham in the Carling Cup during the week and it’s thought that Coyle will look to play the same side on Saturday. Plymouth meanwhile should have full back Gary Sawyer available after he managed to make forty five minutes for the reserves midweek.

As for a prediction, we’re going to go for a home win. Plymouth looked poor in their last league game and Burnley have some good players, if they can start to gel. The likes of Martin Patterson and Chris Eagles are lethal on their day and if they can get it right, it should be a comfortable result. 2-0 Burnley.

Many thought that Doncaster would be the whipping boys of the division, having just come up through the play offs. Coventry on the other hand were thought to fare quite well, with manager Chris Coleman investing heavily in his strike force and making his side a seemingly much stronger outfit. As it turns out, both have had good starts and with both managers adopting a passing style of play, an interesting game looks to be on the cards.

We’ll start with a look at Doncaster and the side that manager Sean O’Driscoll has assembled. Donny looked to have one of the hardest starts possible when they had to travel to Pride Park for the first game of the season, yet they overcame everything and walked away with a deserved 1-0 win. Since then they got a good point at home to Cardiff, only to end their short unbeaten run with a defeat at QPR. However, O’Driscoll must be confident that his total football style of play will cut it at this level, despite early doubts from some quarters. Some believed that Donny simply didn’t have the steel for The Championship and they would not be able to maintain the passing style that worked so well last season. With the likes of James Hayter, Lewis Guy, Ritchie Wellens plus a host of young talent in Doncaster’s squad, there’s no reason why they can’t kick on from their impressive start though.

Coventry have collected six points out of a possible nine and look to have one of the most deadliest strike forces in the division. With the likes of Leon Best, Freddy Eastwood, Julian Gray, Michael Mifsud, Leon McKenzie and Clinton Morrison providing attacking options, Chris Coleman has assembled a forward line to be reckoned with. The Sky Blues gave Newcastle a run for their money midweek and as Kevin Keegan’s men found out, they provide a huge threat from set pieces with Elliot Ward and Scott Dann being particularly dangerous in the air.

Doncaster manager Sean O’Driscoll could have three pieces of good news with Jason Price, Darren Byfield and Matt Mills all fighting back and looking to recover from injuries in time for the game. As for the visitors, Freddy Eastwood should feature after recovering from a groin injury and Chris Coleman only has a serious doubt over Jay Tabb who is suffering from blisters on his feet. However, if Coleman is desperate, Tabb could play through the aid of painkilling injections.

As you can see, both sides have a lot going for them at the moment and it looks to be yet another exciting Championship game. Coventry have the better squad on paper but with Donny’s home advantage and recent confidence, we’ll go for a 2-2 draw.

Like most promoted sides; a few people thought that Swansea could struggle as they came to terms with The Championship. Similarly, Sheffield Wednesday have been a side who’ve often been involved in relegation scraps, so it’s a surprise to see both in their current top half positions.

The Swans are managed by Roberto Martinez, described by many as a bright upcoming manager. Martinez masterminded their promotion and out of the three teams who came up, Swansea were tipped to fare the best. Even though they lost influential midfielder Andy Robinson to Leeds, The Swans have still got plenty of quality in their squad with the likes of Jason Scotland, Ferrie Bodde and Leon Britton all having good reputations within the game. So far Swansea have managed to collect six points, with victories over Nottingham Forest and Plymouth providing those points. Martinez’s man have also got to the third round of the Carling Cup after beating Hull during the week, so it’s definitely been an impressive start and one that will encourage the Liberty Stadium faithful.

As for Wednesday, they had a start that absolutely no-one expected. They’ve battled against relegation for the last few years yet managed to trounce Burnley 4-1 on the opening day of the season. Admittedly, since then they haven’t fared as well after a 4-1 defeat to Wolves and then a 1-1 draw with Preston – but it’s definitely a better start than they had in the last campaign. However, one problem for Brian Laws is injuries, with key striker Akpo Sodje being the main victim. Sodje’s height and speed gives Wednesday an excellent outlet up front and his presence was a big factor in the opening day win against Burnley. There’s no doubt that The Owls have found life more difficult without him as not only does he provide a threat in front of goal, he allows his team to defend from the front.

Swansea striker Gorka Pintado may have to be contempt with a place on the bench after struggling with a back injury for most of the week. Elsewhere, Argentinian defender Fede Bessone will definitely be out, although Martinez is hopeful that the left back will be fit enough to return after the international break. As for Sheffield Wednesday, Brian Laws will be pleased to hear that tricky winger Jemal Johnson should be fit enough to start, although star strikers Francis Jeffers and Akpo Sodje will join Wade Small on the injury list.

Swansea have had a brilliant start to life in The Championship, yet Wednesday will be relatively happy as well. However, as recent games have shown, The Owls struggle without their key man in Sodje and this could be the case again. Swansea are good going forward and for this reason, we’ll go for a home win. 3-1 Swansea.