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One of the problems with the proposal for a 39th game in the Premier League is that, for all its collective pulling power and glamour, England's top division often throws up individual matches that hardly set the pulse racing.

This weekend is a prime example, with matches such as Middlesbrough v Bolton, Stoke v West Brom and Sunderland v West Ham. Only one of those six teams is in the top half of the table and, if the 39th game did get the go-ahead, host cities would be disappointed to be offered such mediocre fare.

The least appealing matches for spectators can be the most attractive for punters, however, and that might be the case with this weekend's games at Middlesbrough, Stoke and Sunderland, where the three home teams all have good chances at reasonable odds.

For a start, West Ham and West Brom both rank in the bottom five on away form, with four defeats each from six road games. And all three visiting teams are among the seven Premier League sides that are averaging less than one goal per away game, which compromises their prospects of turning around their poor form.

Bolton, admittedly, have won two of their six away games but both wins came when they scored the first goal and they have lost all four road games when the home team has scored first. With only five goals from six away games, the probability is that Bolton will continue to concede first more often than they score first, and their low-scoring attack will have difficulty dragging them back into games in which they are trailing.

West Ham and West Brom have the same problem, both having lost four out of four on the road when conceding the first goal.