THE Saturday before Christmas reminded me of Tenner Bets passim.

Mrs Tenner Bet spent the day rearranging the household furniture – no that's not a euphemism that involves flying pots and pans – while I took Wee Fiver and Wee Tanner to the cinema to watch Spiderman: No Way Home.

It was a day for strange metaphors: having booked tickets for the wrong day in one cinema, a frantic scroll through a number of barely functioning movie chain apps ensued before tickets for another cinema – a long way from home – were secured for a lot more than was originally paid for the first sets of tickets. Yep, all in, it was a pretty accurate reminder of the baby-brained days of the Tenner Bet's first iteration.

Anyway spoiler alert – although I think it's pretty obviously not since it's a Marvel movie – Spiderman doesn't die. Well, not all of them (another spoiler alert). At least I don't think he died. The uncertainty stems from the fact that for 90 minutes of said film, the Tenner Bet was flaunting all kinds of cinema etiquette by repeatedly flicking on his mobile phone to check Live Score for updates from the three games that made up that weekend's treble. You may recall that Blackburn Rovers strolled to a 4-0 victory over Birmingham City, while Nottingham Forest battled back from 1-0 down to beat Hull City and, as predicted, Aston Villa v Burnley succumbed to Covid. That left a sweat on out-of-form Kilmarnock to beat equally sketchy Dunfermline Athletic and all appeared to be going to plan when Killie went 1-0 up early on only for them to concede a 20th minute equaliser. But the result was nullified when the game was abandoned due to heavy fog and we had our first winning football bet of the season . . . in December – in the luckiest of circumstances.
Let's not be too picky, though, the £39 has made a dent in the overall losses and my Spidey senses are telling me that if we use a similar strategy this weekend (home favourites) then there's no reason why we can't strike another blow for the free world.

It's not been a chore to narrow down those home sides that have a more than decent chance of victory this afternoon. Right at the top of the pile is Leicester City, who entertain a Norwich side that is in total disarray with supporters on the backs of the players and the early promise shown under new manager Dean Smith a distant memory. They travel to face a Leicester side that stunned Liverpool in midweek and which, despite indifferent away form, continues to be a formidable opponent at home. They are the first name on the coupon. Next up is Forest Green Rovers, who host a Stevenage team with the second worst away form in League Two. Forest Green, of course, were the ill-fated stars of a previous losing bet but it would be a monumental shock if they were not to win against opponents who have managed just six goals on their away visits all season. There is a fixture in League One which has a similar profile to the previous one mentioned and that is MK Dons at home to a Gillingham side who have lost their last three away matches. Final preference comes from another game in the same division where Oxford – the second best home team in League One – look sure things when they host travel sick Cheltenham Town.

Selections: Leicester City (6/13), Forest Green Rovers (3/5), MK Dons (11/18), Oxford United (33/50). Quad pays: 5.25/1

Season's total: -£71.00