Take on the Professor: Our man backs Southampton in south-coast derby

It’s been a tough few weeks for The Professor. His once proud tipping record is in tatters and he’s now got the small matter of a south-coast derby between Southampton and Bournemouth to negotiate.

Good job the Saints are at home and playing a side who’ve shipped 10 goals in their last two Premier League games then.

This could be the lift our bearded genius needs although Cherries fan @garphied has other ideas.

An AFCB fanatic and ‘replica shirt expert’, this guy is certainly a match for The Prof in the anorak stakes.

But what’s his tipping like?

He’ll have to go some to beat our current leader…

Right, down to business.

As ever our contestant been given a £25 FREE BET to use as he wishes ahead of the big game.

And in terms of the competition’s format, it’s pretty simple.

For each correct pick, the entrant will be awarded the odds paid out on that selection.

For example, a correct 20/1 selection will reward 20 points. There will be no penalty for an incorrect selection.

Here are our intrepid pair’s picks:

Who’ll come out on top?

The Prof is feeling very confident. Here’s what he thinks ahead of kick-off:

– Southampton have scored two or more goals in their last five home games in all competitions. Bournemouth have only failed to score once in their last 14 away games in the league so there will be plenty of goalmouth action to savour.

– Southampton have opened the scoring in their last five games at home. A defender has netted the opener in the last three and Virgil van Dijk is the logical choice here.

– Bournemouth have been losing at half-time in four of their five away games in the Premier League. Expect more of the same.

– This might be billed as a derby but with both sides receiving just one red card between them this term there’s no real precedent for things to get out of hand.

Terms and Conditions summary:

– One chosen fan blogger, will be contacted and asked if they’d like to take part before receiving their £25 FREE BET and choosing their selections.

– Ladbrokes News Team will then inform the participant of their selections so that both parties are fully aware of what’s been chosen in advance to kick off.

– After the chosen game we will add up scores and make the blogger aware of the outcome in a news story.

– Scores will be settled based on the pre-match odds given directly before kick-off of the stated game.

– The four semi-finalists will go head-to-head in a knockout format to win the Take On #TheProfessor trophy at the end of the season.

– The chosen candidate will have 24 hours to get back to us with their selections before we look for another contender.

– The promoter is Ladbrokes Sportsbook LP, a limited partnership registered in Gibraltar, number 44, whose registered office is 57/63 Line Wall Road, Gibraltar.

For full Terms and Conditions please click here:

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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