Dave1962

This season in La Liga, Real Madrid have played ten home games and have won nine of them. The last ten times they have been at home against Rayo Vallecano they have won nine and drawn one. With Real Madrid being the much higher team in the league, there is every chance this will be another home win for them.

Having won his first two chase races, Final Demand looks to preserve his unbeaten record against five rivals. He won his last two races by eight lengths and thirteen lengths. He has won on heavy and soft ground, so provided Leopardstown get the go-ahead, every chance Final Demand will complete his hat-trick.

Third in the table, Aston Villa take on ninth-place Brentford. They won this fixture last season, and in all competitions they have won twelve of their last thirteen home games. Brentford lost their last away Premiership game against Chelsea, who are below Villa in the table.

Rangers are second in the table, twelve points above Hibernian, who are fifth. Rangers' eight-game winning run came to an end last [week] when they travelled to FC Porto in the Europa League and lost. Today they should find things a little easier at Hibernian. This will be no walkover for Rangers, as Hibs have taken ten points from their last four home games. Rangers won on their last visit to Hibs. Now that Rangers have got themselves into contention to win the Scottish Premiership, it is vital that they don't drop points to teams below them in the table. So, take Rangers to get the win and keep up the pressure on Hearts and Celtic.

The last three meetings between these two teams have all been won by Rangers without Hibernian scoring a goal. Their last away Premiership game saw them win by this scoreline at Aberdeen.

Since taking charge of Manchester United, Michael Carrick has seen his team win both matches: one against Manchester City and the other against Arsenal. With Fulham being lower in the table than either of those teams, take United to continue their winning ways.

A win for Nottingham Forest would see them move level on points with Crystal Palace, who have lost their last three away Premiership games. Forest won this fixture last season, and following their midweek win against Ferencváros, they look likely to do so again.

Summergrounds has been very consistent in his last three races, filling the runner-up spot in each of those races. He was a course-and-distance winner in March of last year. His last two wins came on good-to-soft ground, which is the current forecast for this race. Summergrounds has the same ten-pound claiming jockey on board as he did in his last race. He deserves a change of luck, and if things go his way, he can hopefully go one better today.

Since moving to the Joseph O'Brien yard, Kim Roque has raced twice, finishing second and fourth. Today he takes a small step up in distance as he seeks to gain his first win since moving from France. He has a different jockey today, and provided he jumps better than he did at Cheltenham, Kim Roque appears to have an obvious chance of winning.

Celtic find themselves third in the table behind Rangers and Hearts. Falkirk are sixth in the table, twelve points behind their opponents. Celtic have welcomed Falkirk twice this season: once in the league and once in the League Cup. Each time Celtic scored four goals and had a comfortable win. Falkirk's last four away Premiership games have seen two wins and two defeats. The last four visits to Celtic have all ended in defeat for Falkirk, and in two of the games they failed to score. Celtic have scored four goals in each of their last two home games.

The last four times that Celtic have welcomed Falkirk, they have scored at least three goals. In two of those games, Falkirk failed to score. Celtic kept a clean sheet in their last home Premiership fixture.

Having secured their place in the next round of the Europa League, Real Betis turn their attention back to La Liga as they seek to remain a team in the top six. They have won their last two home La Liga games. Valencia are fifteenth in the table and have lost two of their last three away league games.

Once again the Willie Mullins-trained Lossiemouth is up against the Gordon Elliott-trained Brighterdaysahead. After two races this season, the Elliott-trained horse is still looking for her first win of the season. Lossiemouth won her last two races of last season and has won both races this season. In her latest race she beat Brighterdaysahead over today's course and distance towards the end of December. Meeting again on the same terms, I expect Lossiemouth to once again come out on top.

After securing a top-eight finish in the first set of matches in the Champions League, Tottenham will be looking to see their Premiership form improve. Manchester City have lost their last two away games, against Manchester United in the Premiership and Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League. Tottenham's last home game was a win in the Champions League against Dortmund.

Of the twelve chase successes that the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs has won, seven came at Leopardstown, including winning this race for the last three years. He has won a number of races when the going has been soft. So, if he is able to handle the underfoot conditions, he has every chance to win this race for a remarkable fourth time. He has won the three previous Irish Gold Cup races by at least four lengths. Galopin Des Champs is again ridden by Paul Townend in his final race before another run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

This season Sunderland have played eleven home Premiership games, winning six and drawing five. Burnley are one place off the foot of the table. The last time Burnley travelled to Sunderland they lost.

Third-place Hull will be looking for all three points as they seek to close the gap between themselves and the top two in the table. With a game in hand, they are only five points behind Coventry and Middlesbrough. Hull have won three of their last four home Championship games. The last away game played by Watford saw them draw at Blackburn, who are currently in the relegation zone.

Having played two games fewer than Boreham Wood, they are second in the table??"two places and eight points above Boreham Wood, who lost their last away game. Rochdale have won five of their last six home games.

Top-of-the-table Hearts have won three of their last four Premiership away games. Their only defeat was against Hibernian, who are fifth in the table. St Mirren are tenth in the table and lost their last home game, which was against Falkirk. With tougher games to come, Hearts will not want to drop any points against a team that have acquired thirty-one points fewer.