The Week Ahead: Five 'must have' bets for the coming seven days

We'll be blowing our own trumpet if Pompey are involved in a low-scoring affair against Cambridge on Saturday

Today sees the start of a new column on betting.betfair, bringing you five bets that you must consider across five different sports, keeping you interested from early on a Monday right through until Sunday night...

1. Cambridge v Portsmouth (Saturday) - Back Under 2.5 Goals @ around 2.01/1

As well as continually disappointing fans with their league positions over the past few years leading them to become entrenched in the country's bottom division, Portsmouth have long held the title of most boring team in League Two; just one of their last 10 league games have seen more than 2.5 goals in it - the 1-2 defeat to Southend last month.

Pompey's main problem is that they simply cannot score - just 30 goals in as many league games is never going to be enough to challenge for playoff honours, let alone automatic promotion.

At the other end though, the south coast side haven't conceded a single goal in their last four league games and should have enough to keep high-scoring Cambridge at bay for the most part. Odds of around Evens will come from Cambridge's goalscoring reputation, but Pompey are a well-drilled outfit and this looks like it could well be another stalemate.

2. Northern Trust Open (Thurs - Sun) - Back Dustin Johnson Top 5 Finish @ around 4.57/2

The golf world has been watching Dustin Johnson's return to the fray very closely and they will have liked what they saw at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This eight-time PGA Tour winner came home tied fourth after four rounds all in the 60s to confirm his wellbeing.

Pebble Beach is a course that he has always enjoyed and the same can be said of Riviera Country Club where he has a quartet of top-10 finishes including a runner-up spot in 2014. Let's get a fresh DJ on board @ around 4.57/2 to finish in the top five this week, the Long Bomber is sure to go well.

3. Welsh Open Snooker (all week) - Back Ronnie O'Sullivan to Win @ 4.3100/30

By the time this goes to publication Ronnie will be just about to waltz into the next round of the Wales Open (he is due to play his first round match at noon on Monday) but his odds to win the tournament shouldn't really shorten should you not read this until later in the day.

The reason for that is because he is playing Vinnie Calabrese - yeh, it's one of those 1980s milk advert moments, Vinnie Calabrese... who is he? How daft will we look if the Aussie actually knocks Rocket Ronnie out!

But on a serious note O'Sullivan really should go deep in this event. Paul Krishnamurty - fresh from a 130.0129/1 winner in the golf last week - explains all here. Who are we to argue, especially when Ronnie is capable of breaks like this?

4. Premier League Darts (Thursday) - Back Raymond van Barneveld @ 2.186/5 to beat Peter Wright

Peter Wright is only in this year's Premier League because of his world ranking, but on current form Snakebite is more like a half of shandy that's been left overnight - no umph, no fizz.

The world number five currently sits bottom of the table following back-to-back 7-1 defeats, yet defending Premier League champion Barney is odds against to beat him. True, the Dutchman hasn't been in great form recently either but he's won three times the amount of legs Wright has and he knows how to recover from a poor start to the league campaign.

Wayne Mardle will be back with his expert tips and analysis later in the week, but if you're thinking of having one early darts bet this week then make sure it's Barney - the man with the Eye of the Tiger.

5. Betbright Handicap Chase (Saturday) - Back Easter Day @ 8.07/1 or better

It's Pancake Day tomorrow, but the horse by the same name ran really flat last time (you can have that joke for free) so it's fingers crossed for a better effort from another 'Day' horse in this weekend's big handicap chase at Kempton.

Eater Day has lots going for him. He hails from the ever-powerful Paul Nicholls yard who has a tremendous record in big Saturday races. He's seemingly a seven-year-old chaser on the up who was going really well before falling at Cheltenham last time. His handicap mark remains the same, and it's a mark that prior to his previous run Nicholls reported that he was delighted with.

Hopefully we'll get a bit of rain at the weekend because Easter Day loves the soft ground, and if he takes his chance he'll be the one they all have to beat. He'll be trading at around the 8.07/1 during the week, so don't miss out on this early Easter gift.

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Have we missed the most obvious 'must have' bets this week? Let us know what you fancy during the next seven days by leaving a comment below or Tweeting us at @BetfairExchange