IT’S A FREE week for Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough this weekend, although it was no shock to see Sam Allardyce appointed as Black Cats boss last night after he was trading as 1/4 (BetVictor) favourite.

Allardyce had been installed as one of the favourites earlier in the week, with Nigel Pearson’s also being linked, although the former Leicester manager was as big as 16/1 (Paddy Power).

Perhaps the arrival of Big Sam will improve Sunderland’s fortunes and fans can back them to stay in the Premier League at odds of 4/1 (Sky Bet), which looks an attractive price based on Allardyce’s record with the likes of Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham.

Newcastle have also made a shabby start to the campaign, although they are 8/13 (Stan James) to stay in the top flight this season, with the Magpies having come close to beating Chelsea recently.

Middlesbrough’s solid start to the season means they are strong favourites (11/8 bet365) to win the Championship and a best price 1/2 (Ladbrokes) to claim promotion, with Aitor Karanka’s team sitting second in the table.

Hartlepool head to Northampton and William Hill serve up 17/5 that Ronnie Moore’s team claim their third away win of the season.

Pools will be looking to bounce back from two heavy home defeats and Winner.com offer 5/2 that this match ends all square, with the defence needing to tighten up after shipping a combined seven goals against Bristol Rovers and Luton Town.

Unsurprisingly, Northampton are odds-on favourites (5/6 Stan James) and the Cobblers are unbeaten in their last five League Two matches, having recently won 3-2 at Wycombe.

The Euro 2016 qualifiers continue, with Wales in in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bet365 make the home side 19/20 favourites although we should note that Chris Coleman’s side are yet to lose during qualification.

BetVictor offer 13/5 about the match ending all square, which would be enough for the Welsh to be joining England and Northern Ireland in France next summer, while a win for the visitors can be backed at 7/2 (William Hill).

Gareth Bale is an 11/2 chance (Paddy Power) to open the scoring and he’s done it plenty of times for Wales, while former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko boasts an amazing strike rate for his national team and is available at 4/1 (bet365) to score the first goal.

The Republic of Ireland are alive and kicking after beating Germany on Thursday and Ladbrokes offer 31/10 that Martin O’Neill’s team land victory in Warsaw which would book their place in the Euro 2016 finals.

The Republic will be full of confidence after beating the world champions, although Poland are 17/20 (Sky Bet) to claim a victory which would send them through to the finals and leave Ireland in the play-offs.

The boys in green can also go through if they bank a high-scoring draw and a 2-2 scoreline is 16/1 (BetVictor) which seems a tasty price considering O’Neill has confirmed his team will be going for broke.

Odds supplied by www.betrescue.com

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