Lays of the Weekend: Lazio to check AC Milan's charge

AC Milan have not beaten Lazio in the last six Serie A meetings

After a rip-roaring three-from-three success in last week's column, Christian Crowther revs up the Lay Machine once again, mixing in some continental flavour...

Lay Over 2.5 goals in Leeds v Millwall @ 2.021/1
Although Neil Warnock dressed it up as a great piece of business in swapping top scorer Luciano Becchio for Norwich's Steve Morison plus a bit of cash, most could clearly see that the Canaries got the better deal. You can't blame Warnock for trying to put a brave face on it, but there's not one team in the land who wouldn't suffer from losing their leading marksmen. Leeds have drawn a blank in three out of their last four games and have not bagged more than twice at Elland Road in the league since September 1. Struggling Millwall have gone from promotion hopefuls to mid-table also-rans in recent weeks, losing five out of their last six Championship games and only registering four goals in that stretch.

Lay AC Milan to beat Lazio @ 1.75/7
It's an absolute blockbuster of a weekend in Serie A as first the top two play out a title decider in Naples on Friday, followed 24 hours later by this clash between Milan in fourth and Lazio in third. Of course, Milan's heroics against the mighty Barcelona have them down as short home favourites for the match, though a closer inspection of the stats show this may just be worth a lay. Lazio represent a real bogey team for the Rossoneri over the last three seasons, as Milan have not beaten the capital club in their last six Serie A encounters, losing the previous two, including the meeting earlier in the season. The visitors currently hold a two-point advantage and will probably set up for the draw.

Lay Real Sociedad to beat Real Betis @ 1.8810/11
After appearing to be slipping out of contention for the race for fourth, Betis emphatically announced themselves to be back in the hunt on Sunday. Pepe Mel's side produced a stunning 3-0 win over current fourth-spot incumbents Malaga, in a wholly one-sided contest in which Betis had 21 attempts on goal to their visitors' three. After a really rocky start to their campaign, Sociedad have put together a fine run consisting of just one loss in 15 La Liga games. They are now also right in the mix for the Champions League places as a result, but that run has produced six draws. Sociedad lost the corresponding league fixture 2-0 and, although they won the Basque Derby last weekend, Philippe Montanier's team have only won successive league games twice all season.