Just like the previous week, there was bad news followed by slightly better news for followers of the weekly accumulator. Once again, we suffered as one of the selections threw away a two goal lead to draw 2-2, but once again, as the bet had been advised with Paddy Power, they kindly returned our stakes as all five teams had been winning at half time. Usually when bookmakers make such offers, they advertise the worst odds on the matches involved, but for the last couple of weeks, Paddy Power have actually offered the best odds against our selections, so I have been happy to accommodate them. Other bookmaker offers include Victor Chandler offering your losing stakes back if only one selection lets you down, so sometimes it may even be worth taking slightly reduced odds to have the insurance of such a fallback position in your favour. While I try and work out what to have a bet on this weekend, let's take a look at the next batch of Premier League fixtures:

Another tremendous weekend's entertainment in the Premier League featured an average of nearly four goals per game, together with the usual array of tough tackles, controversy and further embarrassment for Fernando Torres. I can't help feeling that there is more to Torres's lengthy spell in the doldrums than we have been made aware of up to now, as it is quite incredible that such a talented and effective performer until his last year at Liverpool has become such an expensive figure of fun for opposing fans over the last couple of years. Revelations over the private lives of other players who have suffered dramatic losses of form in the past have provided full explanations for their poor performances, as we saw with Wayne Rooney in particular recently, so I have to wonder whether there is something going on that has been well hidden from the public. With the furore over phone-hacking still fresh and in the public eye, we probably won't be any the wiser any time soon, and can only continue to guess as to the r

It's always a boost to the confidence to get your first winning accumulator early in the season, and last week's suggested four-timer paid dividends to the tune of over five and half times your stake to put us firmly in profit. The superstitious amongst you may put it down to the fact that the names of all four winning teams begin with C - Cardiff, Charlton, Cowdenbeath and City (Manchester) - but I'll stick to more scientific methods for this weekend's selections, which are detailed following a preview of the next round of Premier League matches:

We're all used to the biased and hypocritical coverage of football by several TV and radio commentators, but another nauseating example occurred last weekend as Scotland fell just short of the victory required to keep their hopes of qualification for Euro 2012 alive. The post-match outcry should have made one clear and valid point, which was that the referee was guilty of inconsistency in his major decisions. Jan Rezek did indeed con the referee into giving the Czech Republic a late penalty, but Christophe Berra's feeble attempt to match his opponent's theatrical dive was correctly punished with a yellow card. So, rather than blaming the players on all sides for cheating, we end up with the knee-jerk calls for video technology to be used, just as when Thierry Henry handled the ball in the build up to France's goal that secured their qualification for the last World Cup. Had Rezek's dive taken place against Germany, our press and commentators would have been celebrating it.