Mersey beaters

After 9 winning weeks out of 11, Dave Tindall goes for more profits in his weekly betting column.

After 9 winning weeks out of 11, Dave Tindall goes for more profits in his weekly betting column

Grand National Sky Bet have good news for those who fancy a punt on the Grand National. They're paying out to five each-way places instead of four and their Non-runner, money-back policy means if your selection withdraws before the race you'll have your stake returned. So where should our money be going? The idea that this is a lottery is an absolute nonsense and more often than not a class horse with many of the ideal trends comes through to win. The horse needs to be aged between 8 and 12, under 11st 6lbs, have winning form over at least 3 miles and have an official handicap rating of 136 or over. The last 10 winners had also run at least 10 times over fences and proven themselves in class races. If we're strict, the best fit is West End Rocker at 10/1 while at 50/1 Alfa Beat puts ticks in all the stats boxes. Take those two and another good system horse, Giles Cross. Sky Bet have three of their What If... markets for the big race. Donald McCain to train the winner ('McCain to do it again') is 9/1, Junior to win by 10 lengths or more ('Junior jumps for joy') is 33/1 and Synchronised to win by 10 lengths or more ('Synchronised does the double') is 22/1. Everton v Liverpool Having tipped Everton to win the FA Cup before the quarter-finals, I see no reason to desert them now. David Moyes' men have won four of their last five fixtures and go into Saturday's clash against their Mersey neighbours on the back of a 4-0 win over Sunderland. Although Liverpool beat relegation-threatened Blackburn on Monday night, their form in 2012 has been dreadful and they've managed just one clean sheet in their last 12. With Pepe Reina still suspended they'll have to rely on a goalkeeper who has hardly set foot near the first-team for the last two years and Everton have the personnel up front to cash in. The Toffees have netted 12 times in the last five games and the chief goal-getter in that spell has been new signing Nikica Jelavic. The Croatian has scored four in his last four and all those have been on the road so, with Liverpool expected to make the running at Wembley, Jelavic is the man to hurt the Reds on the counter-attack. Liverpool have held sway for so long in Merseyside derbies but this is a great chance for the Toffees to put one over them. Back Everton to win at 2/1 and Jelavic to find the net at 12/5. Chelsea v Spurs Given the way that Spurs' results have gone downhill just as Chelsea's have perked up I'm slightly surprised to see Harry Redknapp's men priced up as favourites to win Sunday's second FA Cup semi-final. Sky Bet give Tottenham the edge at 6/4 while the Blues are 7/4 but that latter price still doesn't look big enough to entice me in. However, at 23/10 the draw does seem like a good value play. For starters the two Premier League games between the pair this season have ended in stalemate - a recent 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 1-1 at White Hart Lane back in December. Rewind a little further and five of their last nine match-ups have been drawn so there really isn't much to choose between these big London rivals in the last few years. Golf Bubba Watson is the new owner of the Masters Green Jacket after his brilliant play-off victory over Louis Oosthuizen on Sunday. The big-hitting left-hander was 50/1 pre-tournament and Sky Bet saw plenty of interest in that price and also in-running. So can Bubba kick on from here and win more majors? Sky Bet make him 50/1 to win the Open Championship at Lytham in July while he's 33/1 to win June's US Open in San Francisco. He's also been installed by Sky Bet as 25/1 to win next year's Masters. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy both flopped at Augusta but, as you'd expect, they still head the betting for the 2013 Masters. The pair share favouritism at 7/1 while Mickelson is a close-up 15/2 third favourite to get the fourth Green Jacket he narrowly missed out on last Sunday. Luke Donald at 14s and Lee Westwood at 16s are the other two notables at the front of the betting. Tiger and Rory are also 8/1 joint favourites for the US Open but Woods is clear favourite to win the Claret Jug at Lytham, Sky Bet making him 6/1 and McIlroy 15/2.

Dave's tips

Everton to beat Liverpool at 2/1 Nikica Jelavic to score v Liverpool at 12/5 Chelsea and Spurs to draw at 23/10 West End Rocker e.w. in Grand National at 10/1 Alfa Beat e.w. in Grand National at 50/1 Giles Cross e.w. in Grand National at 16/1 Recent winning tips: Newcastle to beat Liverpool at 2/1
Papiss Cisse to score first v Liverpool at 11/2
Jermaine Beckford to score v Chelsea at 9/2
Man Utd to beat Wolves by 3 goals or more at 21/10
TeaForThree in the National Hunt Challenge Cup at Cheltenham at 8/1
Man Utd to beat Spurs by two or more goals at 100/30
Sunderland to beat Arsenal at 9/5
Birmingham to score first v Chelsea at 5/2
Man Utd to beat Liverpool 2-1 at 15/2
Juan Mata to score v Man Utd at 11/4
Over 2.5 goals in Chelsea v Man Utd at 5/6
Norwich to beat West Brom at 3/1
Crawley to beat Hull at 10/3
Draw/Man City HT/FT double result v Spurs at 7/2
Man Utd to beat Arsenal 2-1 at 17/2