Barrie's View

Germany Start World Cup Off with Convincing Victory

2010-06-13T21:19:00.002+01:00

Any doubts that you had over Germany coming into this tournament were put to bed with their performance in their 4-0 victory over Australia this evening.

Despite Philipp Lahm having to block a shot off the line in the opening minutes, Lukas Podolski fired Germany into the lead inside 8 minutes and there was no looking back afterwards. Just before the goal, I backed Germany in-play.

Podolski's strike partner, Miroslav Klose added to their goal tally as the partnership up front, when he headed in his 11th World Cup in a World Cup; his 7th with his head. The Polish-born duo had 6 domestic league goals between them last season but continue where they left off in 2006.

Tim Cahill received a red card from a tackle from behind. Harsh in my opinion, even if Bastian Schweinsteiger's ankle got crushed in the process. No attempt to play the ball, but he pulled out of the challenge.

Thomas Muller rolled in a third and Cacau became the quickest German substitute to score in a World Cup as he made it 4-0.

As I wrote in my Group D preview, expecting big things from Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil in this World Cup, neither disappointed. Ozil put in a man of the match performance and Muller came close to matching him. Ozil's vision and passing ability were both on display in this match. Muller had run taking on players and putting good balls into the box. It was his cut back that Podolski smashed home for Germany's opener. Marko Marin made a late substitute appearance and didn't have time or enough possession on the ball to impress, but look out for him in future matches. He is a good dribbler who's not afraid to take players on.

Germany's odds have already been cut from 14/1 to 10/1 to win the World Cup. While not wanting to jump on a bandwagon having only played one game, but if there's no such thing as peaking too early when it comes to Germany, then they are genuine contenders.

Germany's defence was hardly tested this evening, but they dealt with set pieces admirably. Perhaps Serbia can give the Germany defence a real test on Friday.

Earlier today, Slovenia were fortunate to beat 10 man Algeria 1-0, when Robert Koren's shot crept under goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi. And Ghana beat 10 man Serbia 1-0 thanks to Asamoah Gyan's late penalty.

England: Is It 2006 All Over Again?

2010-06-13T12:54:00.001+01:00

Less than 4 minutes into England's first 2010 World Cup match, all was going well. Emile Heskey played in Steven Gerrard and all of a sudden the nation was ecstatic.

After that, England were anything but convincing and it was the USA who were getting closer and closer, notably beating England's defence in the air several times. And what happened 5 minutes before half time will be remembered and replayed for eternity. Rob Green's horrendous error gifting Fulham's Clint Dempsey and USA an equaliser.

Emile Heskey and Shuan Wright-Phillips had one-on-one's in the second half, but other than that, Tim Howard was not tested. Rob Green was fortunate to deny Jozy Altidore in the second half as the USA came the closest to stealing al 3 points. It was a flat, dismal performance from England, who playing like this aren't going very far at all in 2010. But we will improve, right?

Back in 2006

A David Beckham free kick flicked into his own net by Carlos Gamarra after just 3 minutes lead England to a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in their opening game. That was followed up by a second poor performance, struggling to beat the weak Trinidad and Tobago. Qualification was already assured before England conceded their first goals of the tournament in a 2-2 draw with Sweden to top Group B.

A favourable draw matched England with Ecuador in the second round and a David Beckham free kick that no one connected with was the only game. England through to the quarter finals despite not impressing once. Progressing further than Spain, the Netherlands, Mexico and several other countries who must have been kicking themselves. England were then eliminated on penalties to Portugal in the quarter finals.

On paper, 2006 looked good. Not a single defeat, and only Sweden scoring against England. But the team's performance was terrible and we were very lucky to get as far as we did.

Based on the opening game, I can see the same thing happening again. And as soon as we come up against a good nation, we're going out of the tournament. England don't do victories over the big nations.

Rafael Nadal Defeats Robin Soderling to Take Fifth French Title

2010-06-06T16:34:00.002+01:00

Rafael Nadal raced away with today's French Open final, defeating last year's nemesis Robin Soderling in straight sets, 6-4 6-2 6-4.

The Spaniard, who didn't drop a set throughout the tournament for the second time in his career faced break points early in each of the three sets. After saving them, sometimes in style with points that made you wonder if you were hallucinating, Nadal went on to break Soderling in each set on his way to an inevitable victory.

Undefeated on clay once again all season, Rafael Nadal returns to number 1 in the rankings, ending Roger Federer's overall 285 weeks as world number 1, one week short of match Pete Sampras' record.

The Spaniard now has a chance to extend his lead at the top of the rankings having missed the whole of the grass court season last year through injury. Rafael Nadal's grass season starts this week at Queen's before Wimbledon on June 21st.

Our tennis betting tipster correctly predicted a victory for Rafael Nadal today, as he had been backing him throughout the tournament. I myself took Nadal in-play with the best odds available at 1/3.

Francesca Schiavone Wins the French Open

2010-06-05T18:05:00.002+01:00

17th seed, Francesca Schiavone caused a big upset in defeating favourite Samantha Stosur in the final of this year's French Open final, becoming the first Italian female to win a Grand Slam final.

Both players started well on serve, but it was the Italian's single-handed backhand that was causing Samantha Stosur problems, with the Australian's serve not having the devastating effect it had on Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic in previous rounds.

The 29-year old Italian was edging the opening eight games, but it wasn't until Samantha Stosur was serving at 4-4 in the opening set that there was a break. Following that, Schiavone was able to fight back from 0-30 to serve out the opening set.

Samantha Stosur made a good start to the second set, starting with a few forehand winners that had helped her reached her first Grand Slam final. The Australian broke her Italian opponent early in the second set and raced into a 4-1 lead. However, there remained little difference between the number of winners she was producing compared to the number of errors. Her serve didn't have its desired effect in this match, and her forehand winners were not as prominent as in her previous three matches that saw her eliminate Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic.

Francesca Schiavone deserves credit for the number of serves she returned in play. Her biggest threat was at the net, where the Italian always looked like winning the point, and won 93% at the net, compared to Stosur's 61%. Despite a successful doubles player and former world number 1 in that event, Stosur doesn't look comfortable at the net when she approached.

Francesca Schiavone has played very well this week, but her performance in today's final was undoubtedly the best of the two weeks, and the biggest achievement of her career.

Bookmakers Expecting Goals from England at World Cup

2010-06-01T23:10:00.002+01:00

There's not been too much optimism as far as I can tell regarding England's chances of a successful summer in South Africa.

Criticism over squad selection, criticism over player's determination and after England's latest two friendlies, criticism over the performances.

Despite this, the bookmakers are expecting a successful World Cup campaign from England. Or at least that's what their odds are showing.

England have been pegged back to equal third favourites today, with Argentina joining the Three Lions at 7/1. Diego Maradona certainly has a lot of talent at his disposal that have many punters backing him to lift the trophy as both captain and coach. However, his tactical decisions, choices and general eccentricity leave doubts in my mind as to whether Argentina will lift the World Cup for a third time.

England are 1/3 favourites to win Group C, as they come up against USA, Algeria and Slovenia. This I cannot debate, with only consecutive lacklustre performances the only reason why England should not win this group. The United States are beatable, Algeria are a bit of an unknown package, so I'm not ruling them out entirely. Slovenia beat Russia in the playoffs to reach the finals, but England were comfortable 2-1 winners in a friendly in September last year that suggests to me 3 points should not be a tough deal here, provided they are required from the final group stage game.

England, 1/16 to reach the second round. Once that has been complete, a second round match would see England pitted against either Germany, Serbia, Ghana or Australia. The bookmakers apparently don't fear either of these nations as England are 1/2 to reach the quarter final! Perennial quarter finalists, will Fabio Capello be able to live up to what should be regarded as minimum expectations?

If so, and if he go one stage better, the bookmakers are still offering only 6/5 on England to reach the semi final at the 2010 World Cup!

The odds that stand out the most to me are the overs/unders with the majority of bookmakers setting the mark at 9.5. Looking at England's record in previous World Cup's, the only time England scored more than 8 they went on to win the competition (need I remind you which year?). With Wayne Rooney's lack of goals recently, Emile Heskey's lack of goals period, and Frank Lampard's missed penalties; can we really expect to see England knock in 10 or more goals this summer? I have my doubts. England scored 6 en route to the quarter finals in 2006.

Yesterday we published the official Premiership Tips World Cup Preview.

Svetlana Kuznetsova Hangs on to French Open Defence

2010-05-26T18:56:00.000+01:00

Svetlana Kuznetsova had to save 4 match points in set two to overcome Andrea Petkovic in her second round match today.

The defending champion was outpowered in the opening two sets, with the world number 41 hitting some great ground stokes and generally winning most of the rallies.

Andrea Petkovic won the opening set 6-4 before a rain delay that last over an hour. Nerves didn't kick in after play resumed as the German continued to smash Svetlana Kuznetsova around the court.

Crucially, at 5-3 40-0 in the second set, Petkovic clearly tightened up. Firstly her serve went from her, and secondly her forehand wasn't delivering as they had been up to this point in the match. Four missed match point opportunities before Kuznetsova levelled the second set. The Russian went on to win the next two games to level up the match.

Andrea Petkovic didn't play her best tennis in the final set, coinciding with the increase confidence and belief in Svetlana Kuznetsova's own game saw the Russian take control of the final set until it came to serving out the match. She was broken herself at that point, but won the match on Petkovic's following serve and progressing into round three, 4-6 7-5 6-4.

Kuznetsova meets Maria Kirilenko in round three.

Seeds Venus Williams, Francesca Schiavone, Aravane Rezai, Nadia Petrova, Dominika Cibulkova and Alexandra Dulgheru all enjoyed victories today.

In the men's draw, seeds Roger Federer, Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic, Mikhail Youzhny and Albert Montanes all enjoyed victories today, while seed number 32 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was defeated in four sets by Thiemo De Bakker.

Justine Henin Safely Through to Second Round

2010-05-25T11:39:00.000+01:00

The 22nd seed and four-time winner of Roland Garros, Justine Henin made a comfortable start to her French Open Grand Slam by defeating Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the opening match on the Philippe Chatrier court.

Both players held serve in their opening three service games and it was the Belgian who took the early advantage in the first set when she broke in game 7. Henin would see out the opening set and break in the opening game of set 2.

It wasn't all straightforward for the favourite after that as Pironkova would take 3 straight games to lead 3-2 and then force three straight break points on Henin's serve. From that point the Belgian, who hasn't dropped a set here since a fourth round match with Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005, was in command of the tie.

Justine Henin would face another break point in game 8, but after holding it for a 5-3 lead, she would go on to break her opponent and win the match, 6-4 6-3 in just under an hour and a half.

Tsvetana Pironkova played some wonderful forehand winners in this match, but they were too few and far between to seriously challenge Justine Henin. Henin's backhand was magnificent at times, putting in a solid performance. A few slice winners were a joy to watch.

Justine Henin progresses into round two to face either Klara Zakopalova or Katarina Srebotnik in the second round.

Andy Murray Comes From 2 Sets Down to Beat Gasquet Again

2010-05-24T18:44:00.000+01:00

Andy Murray came from 2 sets and a break down in his opening round match against crowd favourite Richard Gasquet for a stunning 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 6-1.

Roll back two years and Andy Murray came back from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Back then, Andy Murray was comfortably beaten by Rafael Nadal in the quarter final.

In a tight opening set which saw limited break point opportunities for either player, it wasn't until game 10 before either player took the initiative. A poor service from Andy Murray at 4-5 saw Richard Gasquet take the first set.

The French player, who was suspended for three months last summer found his form prior to this tournament when he won the Nice Open, upsetting Fernando Verdasco in the final on Saturday. From early as the second set in this match he didn't look capable of going the distance. However he was pulling out a string of great backhand winners as he kept the pressure up on Andy Murray. It was a backhand from Murray into the net that saw Gasquet take the second set, 7-5 in a tie-break.

Progression was looking ominous at this point for Britain's number 1, and it looked despairing when his shot went into the tramlines on break point in game 5.

Momentum would soon shift as Andy Murray broke back immediately, his first break of the match, over two and a half hours in. After holding, Andy Murray broke again and was serving at 5-3 to take the set. At this point, Murray's service game would go beneath him and he handed Gasquet a chance to get back into the set. At 4-5, Gasquet failed to hold onto serve for the third consecutive attempt and Andy Murray had the upper hand going into the fourth set.

From this point onwards, Andy Murray didn't have too many struggles, but for needing to save a break point at 1-1 in the deciding set. After that, he ran away with the match.

Clearly last week's run in Nice affected Richard Gasquet who looked tired early in this match. Andy Murray had taken the whole week off after losing in the quarter finals of Madrid to David Ferrer. A five set opening round match isn't ideal, but he should have less problems in round two against Juan Ignacio Chela. Lifting his first Grand Slam isn't going to happen this time in Paris, but there are plenty of world ranking points to defend having reached the quarter finals of Roland Garros last year. His first serve percentage needs to improve if he wants to make that realistic; something that he has struggled with on clay this season.

Seeds, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, John Isner, Stanislas Wawrinka and Marcos Baghdatis all had comfortable straight sets victories today, while Novak Djokovic, Fernando Gonzalez and Gael Monfils all game through in four. Two seeds, Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez were eliminated, by Viktor Troicki and Julian Reister respectively.

In the women's draw, seeds Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na, Francesca Schiavone, Lucie Safarova, Alisa Kleybanova, Alexandra Dulgheru and Kateryna Bondarenko all enjoyed victories, as did 2008 winner, Ana Ivanovic.

Svetlana Kuznetsova Safely Through to Round Two

2010-05-23T11:27:00.000+01:00

Women's defending champion at the French Open, Svetlana Kuznetsova recovered from a slow start to comfortably progress into round two.

Her opponent, Romania's Sorana Cirstea made a quick start to the match, leading 3-0 in the opening set with Kuznetsova making a handful of errors. The Russian got herself into the match shortly after, taking 6 consecutive games to take the opening set.

After that, Cirstea was short of ideas but for ambitious, low-percentage shot attempts that she wasn't pulling off. Sorana Cirstea has certainly become erratic since twelve months ago when she reached the quarter final in Paris. Today, she did not want to rally with the defending champion and allowed the Russian to dismantle her.

What had the potential on paper to be a difficult opening match, Svetlana Kuznetsova didn't look comfortable to begin with but had problems moving into round two in the end, a 6-3 6-1 winner. She enters this tournament as seventh favourite and will need to find some form that was lacking coming into this competition if she wants to defend her title.

Svetlana Kuznetsova will meet either Elena Vesnina or Andrea Petkovic in round two.

Inter Milan Complete Treble with Champions League Trophy

2010-05-22T21:36:00.000+01:00

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan won the first Champions League final to be played on a Saturday this evening, with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu.

After early pressure from Inter Milan, Bayern Munich took control of the first half in terms of possession, but failed to test Julio Cesar in the Inter Milan goal. It took 35 minutes to see what Jose Mourinho's teams do so well, as they soaked up the pressure and scored on the counter attack; Diego Milito lifting the ball over Hans-Jorg Butt in the Munich goal.

Both teams started the second half brightly, but it was Inter Milan who took the ascendancy with a smart run and finish from Diego Milito in the 70th minute to put the game beyond the Germans.

Diego Milito, the scorer of the only goal in Inter Milan's Coppa Italia final victory, and the goalscorer on the final day of the season in their 1-0 victory at Siena that saw them lift the Serie A title. He completed the hat trick with his brace this evening. His place in Diego Maradona's 23 man World Cup squad is still to be confirmed. Milito also scored valuable goals in the quarter and semi finals against Chelsea and Barcelona respectively.

In winning the Champions League, Inter Milan become the sixth team to complete the treble; winning the domestic league and cup as well as the Champions League. Barcelona were the fifth to do so, last season, joining the elite list that consists of Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho has now won the league and Champions League with two of his last three teams; FC Porto the first. He failed to win the Champions League during his time at Chelsea. He is expected to join Real Madrid in the near future as he aims to become the first manager to win the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga.

Maria Sharapova Wins Strasbourg Open

2010-05-22T14:23:00.000+01:00

Maria Sharapova picked up her second WTA tour title of the season with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Kristina Barrois in the Internationaux de Strasbourg final today.

The Russian made a slow start, but turned the match on its head towards the end of the first set, winning 5 of the remaining 6 games as her inexperienced opponent failed to close out the first set. The second was comfortable for the former world number 1 as she raced away in what turned out to be a dominant display.

Kristina Barrois, playing in her first title played well at the start of the match, but failed to see out the first set, missing two easy points when serving for the set. After she dropped her service game at 5-4 it seemed inevitable that the Russian was going to be lifting the trophy at the end of the day. That's precisely what she did before playing down her chances at Roland Garros this week.

Maria Sharapova's toughest match this week and best performance came in the semi final, where she came from a set down to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues. She came into the final as clear favourite.

The former Wimbledon, US and Australian Open Grand Slam champion hasn't played in many tournaments this season and is unlikely to be challenging for the French Open over the next fortnight. She enters as a 66/1 outsider to claim the only Grand Slam missing from her collection. Sharapova faces Ksenia Pervak in round 1.

Rafael Nadal set to Rule Roland Garros

2010-05-22T13:50:00.002+01:00

Rafael Nadal has hit form at the right time prior to the start of the French Open on Sunday. The world number 2 is 15-0 on clay this season, winning all 3 ATP 1000 events as his winning streak looks to continue at Roland Garros when he aims to bring back the crown.

Roger Federer won last year's French Open title, defeating Robin Soderling in straight sets in last years final. Nadal had been eliminated in round 4 by the Swede, with his knee problems and fatigue being the main contributing factor. The Spaniard never won another title all year as Roger Federer went on to claim Wimbledon and restore his world number 1 spot where he remains today.

With points on offer here for Rafael Nadal and several at Wimbledon where he did not compete last year, the Spaniard could soon be back on top of the pile. He's dropped just 2 sets from his fifteen matches so far; one in each of his victories over Ernests Gulbis and Nicolas Almagro. While he remains healthy, there is no one that can beat Rafael Nadal in five set matches on clay playing like this. His odds reflect this, as 2/5 favourite to win his fifth Roland Garros title.

Rafael Nadal could potentially face Fernando Verdasco or Nicolas Almagro in the quarter final, David Ferrer or Novak Djokovic in the semi final and Roger Federer in the final. Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer are both playing well on clay currently, but taking three sets off the king doesn't look like happening. Roger Federer has won just two of twelve matches against Rafael Nadal on clay and losing all three previous French Open finals to the Spaniard.

Be sure to check out our French Open tennis betting tips this week.

Rafael Nadal Wins Madrid Masters

2010-05-16T19:57:00.001+01:00

Rafael Nadal overcame his nemesis in the final of the Madrid Masters ATP 1000 event this evening. After a sluggish and high error prone start from both players, Rafael Nadal took the upper hand in the first set as Roger Federer failed to break back.

The world number 1 came out second best in this match despite producing more winners (34 to 27) than his Spanish counterpart. For Rafael Nadal, he was able to starve off most of Federer's break point opportunities in the opening set.

Both players were comfortable in reaching the final, despite both dropping sets in their semi finals. This was the dream finale as many tennis fans and writers like to call it. This was also the first time Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have met since the final here 12 months ago.

Rafael Nadal through away a 2-game lead in the second set, but took it into a tie break. Roger Federer had leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the tie break, but it was the Spaniard who would fight back and take the tie break 7-5, and the match.

In winning Madrid for the second time, Rafael Nadal is the first player to win three consecutive ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in one calendar year, having previously won in Rome and Monte Carlo. This is also a record-breaking 18th 1000 point event title on clay, one more than Andre Agassi. This is his 28th ATP title on clay.

Rafael Nadal will move up to world number 2 in the rankings tomorrow when they are released. Roger Federer remains at world number 1.

Rafael Nadal is odds-on favourite to win this year's French Open.

In the women's final earlier today, Aravane Rezai defeated Venus Williams 6-2 7-5 for her first WTA tour title of the year. Our expert was 2/2 with his tennis betting tips today.

Milito Fires Inter Milan to Serie A Title

2010-05-16T15:55:00.001+01:00

Diego Milito scored the only goal at Siena this afternoon, 12 minutes into the second half as Inter Milan claimed their fifth straight and eighteenth overall Serie A title.

Despite letting Roma back into the title race in the second half of the campaign, and then allowing i Giallorossi to top Serie A after 34 games, Inter Milan have been the best team in Italy this season.

Roma will look at a poor start to the season and then suffering a home defeat at the hands of Sampdoria, despite dominating the first half in that game as reasons for finishing second this season.

Inter Milan, coached by Jose Mourinho have now completed the domestic double, having won the Coppa Italia against Roma in the final 11 days ago. Next Saturday they face Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League as they look to become only the sixth team to complete such a feat. Barcelona became the fifth team to do so only last season.

Jose Mourinho has now won Serie A in both of his two seasons in charge of the Italian side. He had previously won back-to-back Premier League titles with Chelsea and before that, consecutive Portuguese Liga titles with FC Porto. Mourinho has won 6 league titles in the last 8 years.

Andy Murray Safely Through to Madrid Quarter Finals

2010-05-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

World number 4 Andy Murray safely progressed into the quarter finals of the Madrid Masters this evening with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Romania's Victor Hanescu.

The first four games were very competitive, with Andy Murray needing to save two break points on his second service game. Once Murray broke mid way through the opening set there was no way back for the world number 38.

Andy Murray had the better of the baseline rallies as he took the final 4 games of the first set in 10 minutes. Victor Hanescu's main attempts to get Andy Murray out of his rhythm were to pull off drop shots. Unfortunately for him Murray recognised them coming as the match went on, and Hanescu was failing to make them over the net the further the match went on.

After making just 44% of his first serves in his first match, Andy Murray increased his percentage to 58% this evening, firing 4 aces against his 6'6” opponent.

On Wednesday Andy Murray had few problems in defeating Juan Ignacio Chela in his opening match in Madrid after a poor start to his clay court season. This result sees the British number 1 record back-to-back victories on clay for the first time this season. In his final tournament before the French Open, Andy will know he needs to beat top opposition if he is to live up to his to match last year's quarter final performance.

Andy Murray will face either David Ferrer or Marin Cilic in the quarter final in Madrid.

In Hindsight: Manchester United Should Have Kept Diego Forlan

2010-05-13T19:55:00.000+01:00

Having scored a brace in the Atletico Madrid's Europa League final victory over Fulham on Wednesday night, Manchester United fans can only look back at what may have been.

A season where the Red Devils had only a Carling Cup to show for after their season fell apart in less than a week when they were eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern Munich and beaten at home by Chelsea in the Premier League. An unfit Wayne Rooney played less than an hour versus Bayern and did not partake against Chelsea. United had a lack of fire-power without him, with Dimitar Berbatov failing to live up to his £30,750,000 price tag.

Over eight years ago, Sir Alex Ferguson invested £7,000,000 in Diego Forlan, signing from Argentine side Independiente. He had a torrid start to life at Old Trafford, going eight months, 26 games without a goal. 27th time lucky came from the penalty spot against Maccabi Haifa in a Champions League match. Even after that he continued to struggle to find the net, finishing his United career with just 17 goals in 98 games before his two and a half year spell ended with him moving to Villarreal.

Manchester United fans have some fond memories of the Uruguayan; most notably a second half brace in a 2-1 victory at Anfield and a stunning injury time volley winner against Chelsea a month later as Manchester United went on to win the Premier League that season (2002/03).

Diego Forlan was never going to overtake Ruud van Nistelrooy from the top of the league pecking order, but with injury-prone Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Louis Saha at the club. In hindsight, one more season for Forlan and he may well have turned into a regular Premier League goalscorer.

All hopes of Forlan getting another season in the Premier League banished when he was sold to Villarreal at the start of the 2004/05 season. 10 days later showed that Ferguson was making room for another striker as they would sign 18-year old prodigy, Wayne Rooney.

Ruud van Nistelrooy would miss most of that season due to injury and stay just one more year before moving on to Real Madrid. Louis Saha would never get a full season of games for Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played just 22 games in the four seasons after Forlan left. There was room for Forlan on the squad list.

It's easy to say this nearly six years after. But Forlan was entering his mid-20's at the time of his departure. He had began to show his knack for important goals and he always gave his best on the pitch. The Premier League is harsh, especially at the top. Taking too long for the Spanish-speaking Uruguayan to settle onto foreign land proved his downfall.

For Diego Forlan however, he's proven a hot shot in La Liga, scoring 54 times in 106 league appearances for Villarreal and is currently at 66 league goals in 102 appearances for Atletico Madrid. He scored all 3 of Madrid's goals in their Europa League semi final elimination of Liverpool before bragging a brace as they went on to lift the trophy at the expense of Fulham. A hero in Spain, we can only think of what could have been if he was given time at Old Trafford...

Chelsea: Where the Premier League Title was Won

2010-05-09T17:54:00.003+01:00

Chelsea's 8-0 thrashing of 10-man Wigan today confirmed they won the Premier League title for the third time in six seasons. They finished 1 point ahead of Manchester United.

Carlo Ancelotti becomes the third manager to win the Premier League in his first full season, after Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho. Chelsea become the first team to win the Premier League title under two different managers and the first team to score over 100 goals in the league's 18 year history. Their +71 goal difference is also a Premier League record.

Manchester United were made to rue a terrible start to April, when they were eliminated at the Quarter final stage of the Champions League to Bayern Munich and then beaten at home in the Premier League by Chelsea.

Manchester United were without Wayne Rooney for the game against Chelsea and it proved to be the big difference maker as United rarely tested the Chelsea defence without him. The Blues are deserved champions, being the first team to do the double over Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in a single Premier League season.

Despite losing at Tottenham, Chelsea were always in the driving seat. Three comfortable victories and clean sheets since Ashley Cole returned from injury. A 7-0 victory over Stoke City, a 2-0 victory at Liverpool and finished the season on top with an 8-0 thrashing of Wigan that saw Ashley Cole score the final goal of Chelsea's Premier League season.

Wigan Athletic's fifth trip to London this season has now seen them concede 26 goals and picking up 0 points. Survival was the key for them this season and they have done that, finishing 16th despite having the worst goal difference in the league. Didier Drogba scored his first hat trick of the season to clinch the Golden Boot. Despite being away with Ivory Coast at the start of the year in the African Cup of Nations, he finished above Wayne Rooney by 3 goals with the United striker struggling for fitness at the end of the season.

Arsenal wrapped up third spot with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Fulham, while rivals Tottenham blew a 2-0 lead at Burnley to lose 4-2. They finish in fourth and will enter the Champions League at the qualifying stage next season.

Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea play Portsmouth next weekend in the FA Cup final as they look to do the double in the Italian's first season in charge.

Credit to Steve McClaren

2010-05-04T18:03:00.002+01:00

After an horrendous performance as England manager that saw his national side eliminated at the qualifying stage of Euro 2008, Steve McClaren has won over some admirers this season. Still on many people's minds is that infamous rainy night at Wembley where Steve McClaren watched on from the sideline under his umbrella as Croatia beat England 3-2 in what was to be the former Middlesbrough manager's last game in charge of the national team.

Roll on nearly 2.5 years and the former Derby County and Manchester United assistant manager guided FC Twente to the Dutch Eredivisie title on Sunday, for the first time in their 45 year history. He's done it with a team of lesser-known players and two Chelsea loanees. His team had to fight off an Ajax side who won their last 14 league games and scored 106 goals in 34 games, compared to Twente's 63.

Steve McClaren joins an elite list of former England manager's to have success abroad in Europe. The list previously only consisted of Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables. Robson, who took England to the semi finals of the World Cup in 1990 went on to win the Dutch Eredivisie back-to-back with PSV Eindhoven in 1991 and 1992 and the same in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon in 1995 and 1996. Despite failing to win La Liga with Barcelona in the late 90's, he won the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup in 1997. Venables won La Liga with Barcelona in 1985, 11 years before taking England to the semi finals of Euro 96, who, like Robson's side were eliminated on penalties by Germany.

Steve McClaren has already been linked with moves to both Hamburg and Wolfsburg in Germany, and is currently favourite to be the next permanent manager at West Ham. Having been heavily criticised for his poor tactical and selection decisions as England manager, he took himself out of the limelight by managing a team abroad and has guided them to unexpected success.

As assistant manager to Jim Smith at Derby County in the mid-nineties, he helped guide the Rams to Premier League promotion in his first season and later helped lead the team to top half finish in 1998. Shortly after his departure to Manchester United, Derby would decline and drop out of the Premier League. In his first season at Manchester United in 1998/99 as assistant to Alex Ferguson, they would win the treble (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League). A feat Manchester United haven't achieved since.

McClaren left his role as assistant manager and took on his first managerial job at Middlesbrough for the start of the 2001/02 season. During this time, he became assistant to Sven-Goran Eriksson with England. In his five year stay at Boro, his side were a constant mid-table team, but for finishing 7th in 2005 and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The season before his side won the League Cup. The following season, McClaren guided Middlesbrough to a surprise final in the UEFA Cup, losing the final 4-0 to Sevilla in his final game. After that, he took charge of the England national team after Sam Allardyce was overlooked and media claims hurting Harry Redknapp's chances.

Speaking of the media, now is a good time to shame the Telegraph, who misspelt Steve McClaren's name in the headline of one of their articles yesterday.

Andy Murray Bounces Back with Victory in Rome

2010-04-27T21:04:00.003+01:00

Following three consecutive losses for Britain's number 1, Andy Murray recorded his first victory of the clay court season in Rome this season, defeating Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-2 6-4.

Andy Murray had previously been eliminated in his opening matches at both the Sony Ericsson Open and Monte Carlo events, to Mardy Fish and Philipp Kohlschreiber respectively. He had lost he previous three matches without taking a single set and dropped to world number 5.

Looking to rebound, Andy Murray made a flying start in the last singles match on centre court today, breaking Andreas Seppi to love in the opening game. Followed up by a comfortable hold on his own serve. Murray's second service game of the match would see him face a pair of break points for which he overcame for a hold. He would not face break points on his serve again throughout the match.

Andy Murray showed signs of old as he chased every ball down, asking questions of his opponent every time. Added with some great backhands to win rallies as Murray had Seppi's number all game. One weapon that was still lacking in Andy Murray's game today was his serve as he only managed 1st serve percentage of 53%. Of those 1st serves he did land, he won 90% of the points. Andreas Seppi's poor return game hurt him here. Murray did produce 11 aces and 3 double faults. Overall, Seppi did not play well, not putting pressure or trying to take advantage's poor form coming into this match.

Andy Murray will have a day's rest before his third round tie against either David Ferrer or Potito Starace who play their second round match tomorrow. Our tennis betting expert correctly picked both Andy Murray (he said take his 4/11 odds as prices like that don't come around often!) and Nicolas Almagro today who both safely progressed.

Andy Murray was 20/1 to win this competition yesterday. His odds have now dropped to 12/1 after this performance, added with Roger Federer's surprise elimination at the hands of Ernests Gulbis today. Rafael Nadal remains the odds-on favourite.

Hull City Heading for the Drop

2010-04-21T22:11:00.006+01:00

Coming into tonight's game 3 points behind West Ham United, the team directly above the drop, Hull City put in a flat performance against Aston Villa the KC Stadium.

Poor defending culminated in Aston Villa's opening goal when Hull City failed to clear the ball which ended with Paul McShane's clearance into the back of John Carew falling into the path of Gabriel Agbonlahor. Still with work to do at an angle, Agbonlahor coolly bent the ball past Matt Duke into the top corner after 13 minutes.

Aston Villa started the game brightly but their possession lead to few chances before Hull came into the game half way through the first half. Hull City and Kevin Kilbane in particular were kicking themselves in the first half when they missed a hattrick of opportunities in a matter of seconds, firstly with Brad Friedel making a double save and ending with Kevin Kilbane's effort from six yards hitting James Collins on the goal line and bouncing onto the roof of the net.

Hull City failed to create any real chances in the game after as Aston Villa defending soundly. With Richard Dunne and James Collins at the centre of their defence; two defenders who enjoy defending, Hull City didn't have enough quality to cause problems.

Matt Duke sparred Paul McShane's blushes when the goalkeeper narrowly beat John Carew to the ball following a risky back pass from the half way line. Eventually Aston Villa doubled their lead when George Boateng brought down James Milner in the penalty area with quarter of an hour of normal time remaining. Milner picked himself up to score the second goal that pushes Aston Villa into 6th position, 3 points behind Manchester City in the battle for the final Champions League place.

Following this result, Hull City are heading back to the Championship along with Burnley and Portsmouth. With 3 games remaining they are effectively 4 points behind West Ham, despite a 3 point difference, they are also 21 goals behind the Hammers. The Tigers host Sunderland this weekend in a must-win game before travelling to Wigan on a Monday night and hosting Liverpool in their final game of the season. West Ham host Wigan this weekend, travel to Fulham and host Champions League-chasing Manchester City on the final day.

The appointment of Iain Dowie ruled out Hull City's chances of avoiding relegation in my opinion. The timing of Phil Brown's “gardening leave” in mid-March was crazy to say the least. Dowie's influence hasn't had a positive influence as he continued the Brown trend of playing 1 striker at home. He never took a gamble in both the weekend's draw at Birmingham or tonight's game by throwing extra striker's on. Thus his team are in the position they are in.

Jimmy Bullard hasn't been the player he was in the few appearances he was able to make under Phil Brown either. Perhaps with most of his goals coming from set pieces he was receiving more credit than was due, but he was doing more under Phil Brown than he has done in the last few games when they've desperately needed goals and performances.

Hull City are playing like a team knowing they're on the way down. A lack of effort and heart in their performances haven't helped. Iain Dowie looks destined for a Premier League hat trick; being relegated as manager of Crystal Palace, assistant at Newcastle last season and as 'Football Management Consultant' with Hull this season. He was also relegated as a player with Crystal Palace in 1994/95.

Where Has It Gone Wrong for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal?

2010-04-19T23:46:00.003+01:00

It's nearly six seasons ago that Arsenal done the unthinkable and went the whole of the Premier League season undefeated on their way to a third league title under Arsene Wenger.

That successful squad included Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Ashley Cole. Arsenal have not come close to winning the league in six attempts since.

The following season saw Chelsea's dominance under Jose Mourinho. A defeat at Old Trafford with the Wayne Rooney penalty incident ended Arsene Wenger's sides long, unbeaten run. That started a poor run of form which Arsenal would drift too far behind Chelsea, despite finishing the season as runners up. Arsenal haven't finished second since and this season will mark only their second finish in the top 3 in the past five seasons.

Where has it gone wrong?

From the invincible's to the inexperienced. Arsenal's side lacks the level of experience and quality they had five or six seasons ago. When Arsenal became the first team to lose a Premier League game from a 2-0 lead in the 80th minute on Sunday, they had an average age of 25 which was boosted by Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre's centre back partnership in for the injured William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen. Injuries have been a major blow for Arsenal this season. Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and William Gallas are just some of the many injuries and long-term injuries Arsenal have had disrupting the fluency in the Arsenal team this season.

Defeat could have been avoided if the inexperienced Lukasz Fabianski had have got down quicker to make a save on Ben Watson's goal and later not dropped the ball onto Titus Bramble's head for Wigan's equaliser. At that point they had fallen apart. Arsene Wenger put it down to discipline. That problem could have been erased with more experience in the centre of midfield instead of Craig Eastmond, who was making only his second start in the Premier League, and alongside him, Abou Diaby.

Consistency

The biggest problem this Arsenal side face is consistency. Andrei Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue, Eduardo, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song, Theo Walcott. There's enough players to field a first team there. They've all put in some excellent performances for Arsenal in the past. But unlike what Manchester United players churn out season after season, these Arsenal players fail to play well on a consistent basis. They will not win another title or even another trophy until they can fix this issue.

One thing they need to do to fix this is build a spine of consistent and good players through the team. They currently have Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie who can do that, if they stay healthy and if Arsenal can keep hold of both players over the summer. One urgent requirement is a solid goalkeeper. Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and even Liverpool all have those. Arsenal need to bring in someone who can match that. Manuel Almunia simply isn't good enough. In defence, with William Gallas' fitness issues, finding another top defender to partner Thomas Vermaelen should be a summer priority. The rest of the centre backs on the squad list are simply ageing or not good enough to compete for a Premier League title.

The physical side

Successful Arsenal sides in the past under Arsene Wenger had the likes of Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva in. Players who weren't afraid to get stuck in and win the ball/knock opposition off of it. As was demonstrated when they played Chelsea this season, they lack the physical game to compete with some sides. When Wenger looks for a new centre back, perhaps a new partner in midfield for Cesc Fabregas and someone up front for Robin van Persie who should look for players with physical presence to bolster up the team.

The competition

With Manchester City's spending power that included stealing both Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal last summer, they will be looking to improve the squad further this summer, especially if they qualify for the Champions League, and with a new manager in charge from the one they had at the start of the season. Tottenham and Aston Villa are also good sides who are looking to compete with Arsenal. The Gunners cannot afford to rely on their current batch of youngsters to come good next season. They need to bring in a few solid signings if they want to make a serious push for the Premier League and Champions League next season.

Let's not forget that both Chelsea and Manchester United have underperformed this season and will likely make a few top signings in the summer to make sure they come back stronger after the World Cup.

Ruthless Rafa Shows No Compassion in Monte Carlo Final

2010-04-18T15:00:00.001+01:00

Rafael Nadal was in fine form this afternoon as he run out a comfortable winner over friend and fellow compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters.

The world number 3 got off to a flying start by breaking Fernando Verdasco's opening serve to love before holding his own. Rafael Nadal raced away to win the opening set 6-0 which included winning 13/18 points on his opponent's serve and facing no break points.

Fernando Verdasco won his first game at the start of the second set but that was the only competitive part of the final as he was unable to cope with Nadal after that, as he took 6 straight games on course to a 6-0 6-1 victory. All 5 of Fernando Verdasco's break point opportunities came in the sixth game of the second set, including a winner in one of the point of the tournaments. But failing to take any typified this match as back-to-back points against Nadal were hard to come by.

Rafael Nadal had been playing well all week but he saved his best for this final as he won his record sixth straight Monte Carlo Masters title. His first title since Rome in May last year. He is back to his best, judging him by this tournament. Excellent forehand shots and freely moving around the court as he prepares to win back his French Open title in a few weeks times.

Our tennis betting expert tipped Rafael Nadal to win in two sets and won't be surprised by this performance and result off the back of his near-perfect Monte Carlo Tips this week (only 1 wrong).

Paul Scholes Goal Gives Manchester City Stoppage Time Blues

2010-04-17T16:33:00.001+01:00

Paul Scholes scored a dramatic winner in the final seconds of stoppage time as Manchester United completed the double over Manchester City with a 1-0 victory today.

This is the third time Manchester City have lost in stoppage time to their rivals this season. City were defeated at Old Trafford back in September thanks to Michael Owen's controversial 96th minute winner. And Wayne Rooney scored a stoppage time winner in January as Manchester United eliminated their city rivals in the Carling Cup at the semi final stage.

The early kickoff in the Premier League was a scrappy affair, not living up to all the pre-match hype. I myself was expecting goals, but Roberto Mancini didn't set out to do so. Despite Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy all starting, the service to them was limited. The long ball game never worked for them in this game and Adam Johnson failed to produce much on the wing.

Carlo Tevez came the closest for the home side in the first half with a free kick well heading towards the top corner plucked out of the air by Edwin van der Sar. Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs both spurned chances towards the end of a dull first half.

Wayne Rooney never seemed 100% as he didn't test Shay Given at all today. The game appeared to be headed for a goalless draw when Rooney was taken off for the under pressure Dimitar Berbatov with quarter of an hour remaining. 10 minutes before, Roberto Mancini had set out his intentions by taking off Adam Johnson for Patrick Vieira. Sir Alex Ferguson had attacking intentions at least when bringing Nani on for Darron Gibson and Gabriel Obertan on for Antonio Valencia in the second half.

Shaun Wright-Phillips got a 15 minute run out and was City's brightest spark down the right wing, forcing referee Martin Atkinson to take Patrice Evra's name in the book with an intentional foul. But it was Evra who setup the winner with a cross from the left wing onto the head of an unmarked Paul Scholes. Dimitar Berbatov started the move.

This game showed the difference in class between Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini, Manchester United and City. Ferguson was brave to go for the 3 points and it paid off. Mancini, once again happy to settle with what he had at 0-0 was made to pay for not attacking a Rio Ferdinand-less Manchester United defence.

Manchester United fans may feel they are back in the title race, 1 point behind Chelsea, who play their game in hand at 5.30 this evening at White Hart Lane. Unfortunately for United, Tottenham are playing their 3rd game in a week, which comes after 120 minutes in a disappointing FA Cup semi final defeat to Portsmouth and a joyous 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday night. How much energy has been taken out of Spurs, especially the midweek victory? One thing that will give Spurs energy is being 1 point behind Manchester City coming into this game as they chase 4th spot.

Blog has moved

2010-04-14T18:39:00.002+01:00

This blog is now located at: http://barriesview.blogspot.com

For those affected, please update your feed subscriptions here:
http://barriesview.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Pressure Grows on John Terry and Chelsea

2010-02-28T11:15:00.003Z

Chelsea were handed a surprise 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Manchester City, days after their 2-1 Champions League defeat in Italy. Not only are their odds of doing the treble increased, their chances of succeeding are slipping.

All attention before the game was on the Wayne Bridge-John Terry saga which saw Bridge refusing to shake Terry's hand pre-kickoff. While Bridge put in a solid performance, John Terry continued to stumble again today. Firstly some miscommunication with John Obi Mikel for the opening Manchester City goal. Later a completely mistimed tackle and a confrontation with Carlos Tevez. The former England captain has made big errors in each of his last 4 games now, which has seen Chelsea lose 3 of them. He's not the commanding and reliable captain centre back he use to be.

Chelsea dominated the first half and broke through on 41 minutes with Frank Lampard slotting home. Expecting Chelsea to run out comfortable winners at this point, Mikel's crazy header under no pressure at the half way line gave Carlos Tevez possession as he weaved in and out of Terry and Ricardo Carvalho before his scuffed effort rolled past and out-of-position Hilario.

The Portuguese stopper, in for the injured Petr Cech was also at fault with some bad positioning for City's second goal as Craig Bellamy raced onto a long ball down the left wing when Branislav Ivanovic was caught out of possession, and although appearing to dribble the ball too wide of goal he managed to get the right angle on the ball and fire City ahead.

Chelsea were crumbling and things were made worse 15 minutes from time when Juliano Belletti's clumsy challenge from behind on Gareth Barry saw him sent off and a penalty awarded against the Blues. Tevez powered it home and celebrated with Wayne Bridge, who the City team were clearly sticking up for and playing for in this one. As well as playing for themselves and the team obviously.

Michael Ballack's needless tackle from behind on Tevez saw him receive a second yellow ahead of Craig Bellamy adding a fourth before Frank Lampard converted a consolation penalty for the league leaders.

Fortunately for Chelsea, despite a couple of suspensions adding to the big losses of Michael Essien and Ashley Cole, they have two domestic games that they should find their form in ahead of their Champions League tie with Inter Milan. Inter Milan are evens to qualify from that tie, with a 2-1 lead from the first leg if that tempts anyone.

The Premier League title race is still in Chelsea's hands, albeit with only a 1 point lead over Manchester United and 3 over Arsenal. They have a few favourable fixtures until the end of the month where they need to take maximum points from as they will be expected. One thing for sure is this is going to be a very exciting run in and we can expect a few more twists in the tale!

Advantage Mourinho: Inter 2-1 Chelsea

2010-02-24T21:40:00.000Z

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan will take a 2-1 lead to Stamford Bridge for their Champions League second leg tie with Chelsea in 3 weeks.

Inside 3 minutes, Diego Milito was allowed to cut inside John Terry and fire into the bottom corner for a 1-0 lead. The Argentinian striker was quiet after that but his goal was invaluable.

Chelsea had a few chances afterwards, including a long range free kick from Didier Drogba that came out off the underside of the cross bar in the first half. The Blues could have been awarded a penalty on the stoke of half time when Salomon Kalou was dragged down by Walter Samuel inside the six yard box, one-on-one with Julio Cesar. It wasn't to be, but it was Kalou who stroke the ball past Cesar 5 minutes into the second half. Mourinho won't be happy with the defending that saw Branislav Ivanovic walk around the Inter 18 yard box before laying it off to Kalou, whose shot should have been saved by the Brazilian number 1.

Less than 5 minutes after Kalou had equalised, Esteban Cambiasso blasted Inter back in front from the edge of the area. Inter saw the game out after that and worse news for Chelsea saw Petr Cech go down on the hour mark with a knee injury that looked serious. Hilario replaced him but the loss of Cech will be a big blow for the remainder of their campaign if it turns out to be as serious as it first looked.

The away goal for Chelsea is big, but Inter are on top in this tie. Jose Mourinho's teams in the past have been successful at parking the bus and sitting on leads. Lucio kept Didier Drogba in check this evening. Nicolas Anelka was ineffective and Frank Lampard didn't test Julio Cesar. Opportunities looked hard to come by for Chelsea tonight as Inter defended well as a team in both open play and at set pieces. The Premier League leaders cannot afford to go all out in attack at home with the likes of Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito, Wesley Sneijder, Goran Pandev and Mario Balotelli all capable of hurting Chelsea on the break.

Manchester United are the only English side in the Champions League who take a lead into their second leg, having won 3-2 in the San Siro against AC Milan last week. They look comfortable but cannot rest on their laurels with a defence that has shown vulnerability this season.

Arsenal are still favourites to qualify for the quarter finals despite losing 2-1 in Porto last week. Two moments of madness cost them the 2 goals and they rarely threatened the Portuguese sides goal in the away leg. Arsenal, as like Chelsea, are more comfortable on their home turf and I can understand the bookies choice to make them favourites. I won't be backing them any more though as I backed the Gunners in-play when they went a goal down in Portugal during the first leg!

Nearly a Perfect Premier League Weekend

2010-02-21T18:52:00.004Z

Firstly, I wasn't overly surprised by Everton's victory over Manchester United on Saturday. They didn't wake up for the early away game kickoff against an in-form side at Goodison Park. Their chances of winning the title are very slim now; 4 points behind Chelsea who have the better run in.

Chelsea extended their lead over Manchester United with a 2-0 victory at Wolves. While I wasn't surprised by this, I wasn't brave enough to back a Chelsea side who have struggled on the road recently. Didier Drogba's brace has given them a comfortable lead at the top of the table.

My first tip on Saturday was Arsenal beating Sunderland and they did so, 2-0, cutting the gap behind Manchester United to 2 points. My other 3pm kickoff tip was West Ham to beat Hull City and they backed up their 5/6 odds with a 3-0 victory over a side who finished the game with 9 men. With the bottom 7 losing this weekend, West Ham are now 4 points above the relegation zone. Hull are just 1 point outside of the bottom 3.

In Saturday's evening game I wasn't brave enough to back Stoke to win, so I took a double chance of them to win or draw at Portsmouth. Despite trailing at half time, goals from Robert Huth and Salif Diao won my bet and earned 3 points for Stoke.

Today, Aston Villa gained 2 points on both Manchester City and Liverpool after beating Burnley 5-2 at home. This is what I regarded as the safest bet of the day ahead of the match and I was certainly a bit concerned by the slow start Aston Villa made to the match. They were 11/10 when 1-0 down and I didn't back them, partly because I had already invested heavily into them and partly because I was concerned they may had had next week's Carling Cup final on their mind. Fortunately they equalised before half time and then 4 goals in 13 minutes in the second half won my handicap bet.

Good job I chose not to watch the Manchester City-Liverpool game after reports it was a dull affair. This didn't surprise me with both sides playing not to lose when I thought Manchester City should have been going for the win here. Fernando Torres made his return to the Liverpool side though as a second half substitute. Maybe I should be kicking myself for not backing the draw here, but it's been such a good weekend of gambling I don't need to worry about that.

My final picks on this week's Premier League Betting Tips was on the Tottenham v Wigan game. It wasn't a convincing performance from Spurs on a terrible pitch at the DW Stadium, but Jermain Defoe scored for the first bet, Tottenham won for my highest bet and with a bit of fortune at the end I also won handsomely on a handicap bet. My only lost bet on the weekend was backing Defoe to score a hattrick, but it's nothing worth crying about!

Make sure you come back next Thursday for some more reliable Premier League Tips. I hope you too had a successful weekend and if not let's make it a successful weekend to finish of February.

Michael Bisping Beaten by the Axe Murderer

2010-02-21T15:57:00.001Z

The 'Axe Murderer' Wanderlei Silva looked rejuvenated last night in his performance at UFC 110, defeating Michael Bisping on a unanimous decision after the fight went through all three rounds.

Both fights exchanged blows throughout a close fight. The Brit, Bisping connected a few times early on and took Silva down to the mat on a couple of occasions. But the Brazilian, having lost 5 of his last 6 bouts scored with a rally of punches at the end of the first and third round that swayed the judges scores in his favour.

The Count, coming off an impressive victory over over Denis Kang in November, was caught in a guillotine choke at the end of the second round after attempting to take Silva down. Time also saved him at the end of the final round as Silva knocked him down to the ground and was about to start a flurry of punches before the referee intervened at the bell. However, he did not do enough to win the fight in the 15 minutes as the Axe Murderer was comfortably attacking him in the final round.

Having lost to Dan Henderson in July last year, followed by this one, Michael Bisping is a long long way from a title shot that seems unlikely for him to ever get now.

On the British front, Dan Hardy will become the first ever Brit to get a title shot as he takes on Georges St Pierre for the Welterweight Championship in New Jersey on March 27th. Hardy's odds are going to be long to say the least and as supportive of the Brits as I am, I am like everybody else who doesn't give him a chance in this match! He's represented Britain well in the UFC and with Michael Bisping has helped to expand the popularity of the sport over here.

Everton Halt Manchester United 's Title Chase

2010-02-20T14:56:00.001Z

Goals from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell handed Manchester United a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park today as the defending champions failed to overtake Chelsea in the Premier League.

Dimitar Berbatov had given Manchester United the lead after quarter of an hour. It was only a few minutes later that Bilyaletdinov capitalised on a poor clearance from Jonny Evans.

Manchester United's defence looked vulnerable without both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. This has been a problem all season and has seen them keep only 3 clean sheets on the road this season.

Going forward, United have relied heavily on Wayne Rooney this season and it showed today. Rooney was quiet with help from an excellent performance by Sylvain Distin. They really threatened the Everton goal, wasting a number of set piece opportunities.

Already with a tough run in, Manchester United will be relying on Wolves to pick up points at home to a Chelsea side missing a number of first team regulars today. Victory for the Blues would extend their lead to 4 points at the top with just 11 games remaining. Arsenal have the opportunity to close the gap to 2 points on Manchester United if they can win at home to Sunderland, as expected. They have a favourable run in.

Defensive problems have been a part of what Manchester United are struggling with this season. They've had injury problems there all season. Edwin van der Sar has only recently return, Rio Ferdinand returned to get suspended and Nemanja Vidic is currently out injured. They were all key players in there championship winning season in 2009. Despite scoring an impressive 63 league goals in 27 games now, they rely on Wayne Rooney far too often going forward. In games like today's when he doesn't perform well, neither do they.

The league is Chelsea's to lose now. Victory today and their odds will shrink dramatically.

Who Will Finish 4th in the Premier League?

2010-02-16T18:34:00.004Z

The Premier League is as exciting as ever this season. With a dozen games remaining, there are 3 teams still in the title race, 7 teams within 3 points of relegation zone or safety and a race for the illusive final Champions League spot that could come also down to the final day of the season. With that in mind, I'm going to have a look at those teams competing for 4th spot.

Liverpool

Odds: 11/8

Remaining fixtures: Manchester City(a), Blackburn Rovers(H), Wigan Athletic(a), Portsmouth(H), Manchester United(a), Sunderland(H), Birmingham City(a), Fulham(H), West Ham United(H), Burnley(a), Chelsea(H), Hull City(a)

Currently holding 4th spot, 1 goal ahead of Manchester City who are at Stoke City tonight, Liverpool will have their say in the title race as the face the top two before the season is over. The title for fourth spot isn't in their control at the moment, having played two more games than Manchester City, but they travel to Eastlands on Sunday for what will be a big match and one they cannot afford to lose. After that they should be looking for 9 points before they travel to Manchester United, the team they have beat in three straight league meetings. Since Christmas, Rafael Benitez has fixed their defence which has brought them much success. Defeat to Arsenal last week still came as little surprise, but they need to beat the lower placed clubs now if they want to qualify for next season's Champions League. Fernando Torres will be back this month and can take the pressure off Dirk Kuyt's shoulders, with few other players in the team producing goals in the Spaniard's absence.

Manchester City

Odds: 5/4

Remaining fixtures: Stoke City(a), Liverpool(H), Chelsea(a), Tottenham Hotspur(H), Sunderland(a), Fulham(a), Wigan Athletic(H), Burnley(a), Birmingham City(H), Manchester United(H), Arsenal(a), Aston Villa(H), West Ham United(a)

The toughest remaining schedule of these four teams doesn't bare well for Manchester City who have a cup replay at Stoke City to come later this month also. Their run of 7 straight league draws towards the end of 2009 under Mark Hughes included a lot of sides they should have beat. Looking at these fixtures, it's hard to see where they will string a few consecutive victories in a row together. One thing they do well is increase their performances against the big sides. They have home victories over Arsenal and Chelsea in the league this season, and Manchester United in the Carling Cup. They need to beat Liverpool this coming weekend as well as home games with Manchester United and Aston Villa as the season draws to a close. The 3 league games after tonight will have a big say in where Manchester City finish, and whether they come out of those on top or bottom, they need to string victories together in the games after that. There are a few good set piece sides in there which could cause problems for Manchester City, as well as a few tough away fixtures. But home games with the 3 teams they're competing with for fourth spot will be key.

Tottenham Hotspur

Odds: 6/1

Remaining fixtures: Wigan Athletic(a), Everton(H), Manchester City(a), Blackburn Rovers(H), Stoke City(a), Portsmouth(H), Sunderland(a), Arsenal(H), Chelsea(H), Manchester United(a), Bolton Wanderers(H), Burnley(a)

Arguably the toughest of the remaining schedules, Tottenham face all 3 title contenders, 1 fellow competing Champions League side and 5 teams in and around the relegation zone, fighting for their survival. As with Liverpool, a trip to Manchester City in the coming weeks will have a big say in the race for fourth spot. Ideally, Tottenham need to be in fourth place before they play Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in consecutive games. Should they fail to be, they can be ruled out of Champions League football next season. Their recent run of form, or lack of in the Premier League has cost them already in my view. They still have the FA Cup to compete in, but a Champions League spot looks very unlikely for Harry Redknapp's side.

Aston Villa

Odds: 9/2

Remaining fixtures: Burnley(H), Sunderland(H), Stoke City(a), Wigan Athletic(a), Wolverhampton Wanderers(H), Chelsea(a), Bolton Wanderers(a), Everton(H), Portsmouth(a), Birmingham City(H), Manchester City(a), Blackburn Rovers(H)

Currently 2 points behind Liverpool, Aston Villa have a decent remaining schedule to put them in a strong position to compete for a top 4 finish this season. Hopefully for them an FA Cup replay and Carling Cup final won't have a negative impact on their league form. They need 6 points from their next two home games against teams in the bottom half struggling for form. Then come two away fixtures they ought to be taking 4 points from. That will likely see them in 4th spot should they do the business. They have two rivalries, fortunately at home, and trips to Chelsea and Manchester City to come. With Tottenham likely to drop off, Manchester City with a tough fixture list and Liverpool capable of shooting themselves in the foot, Aston Villa are a good shout to snatch that final Champions League spot they have been looking at for the past two seasons.

Who do you think will take the final Champions League position this season?

Live Betting Key to Success in the FA Cup

2010-02-14T18:29:00.003Z

The FA Cup provided bags of entertainment and some unpredictability this weekend. I expect the bookmakers to have had some success with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa being held today. Despite having Spurs and Villa in a treble today, it's been a very profitable day and weekend for me.

In the first game today, Bolton really took it to Tottenham who were hanging on for a while until the home side finally broke through with Kevin Davies tapping in after a lovely move. Tottenham did get back into it shortly after and it was before half time that I took them to win or draw at evens.

A game of two halves came true in this one. After being outplayed in the first half, Tottenham took control in the second. Jermain Defoe equalised on the our and that was after Spurs had twice hit the bar. Tom Huddlestone had a penalty saved later as Spurs failed once again to score from the spot. A chance for Bolton to win it late on as I was expecting never came as Spurs finished the game on top. These two will replay now, but thanks to live betting strategies, I came away with a tidy sum today.

That was only the start of it. And the less nervous one of the two. I was expecting Aston Villa to win today. Even with Crystal Palace's notable talent and good form. So after Crystal Palace took the lead, and with the usually reliable bet365 having problems, I found the best place to go to for some good odds were at Will Hill. Although Aston Villa were substantially odds on, as I couldn't see them losing this game I took the bet of Aston Villa to win +1 on the Asian handicap at 8/11.

It was a close match and the Crystal Palace players certainly put themselves about. I felt confident in my bet paying off when James Collins nodded home an equaliser for the visitors. And the home side rarely threatened Brad Friedel's goal after that. That was until Darren Ambrose struck a 36 yard free kick that flew into the corner of the net. I was taken away by it and it left Villa with just 20 minutes to find an equaliser.

Fortunately, through a controversial corner that brought out the best of Neil Warnock in his post-match interview, Stiliyan Petrov headed home to setup a replay. And more importantly, win my bet.

I've often said to be careful in the past on FA Cup games because they do throw us some strange results. There have been no major upsets this weekend, but thanks to in play betting and a but of fortunate (or good judgement ;) ), I can afford that trip to Montreal in May that I have been considering recently, solely on this weekend's results. I hope this weekend's games brought you success also. If not, I will have more tips and advice for you as always in the near future.

In-Play FA Cup Betting Provides Winners

2010-02-14T11:57:00.003Z

The unpredictability of the FA Cup continued yesterday. This time there were no upsets before Valentines Day.

Firstly, I was embarrassed on my Southampton bet as Portsmouth thrashed them 4-1 (the last 2 goals were on the counter attack when Southampton pushed up field). But as with any cup game you keep your stakes low.

Except for West Brom. But for live betting I would have been down yesterday. Live betting and a late West Brom equaliser. I was fortunate in that sense yesterday, but I took full advantage of in-play betting after West Brom conceded a goal inside 10 seconds, backing them to win or draw narrowly above evens and matching the same stake I had on them to win pre kickoff. I ended up making a small profit from that game. It would have been a big loss if Reading had won, but were they ever going to win? ;) And if West Brom had taken the man advantage they had for a while and won the game, I would have been a very rich boy.

My biggest winner actually came in the Championship yesterday with Coventry beating Queens Park Rangers. The home side were in form and QPR have been playing awful under Mick Harford. I don't rate him as a manager. A good coach, but not a manager. A tough guy in his day, but not a manager. Ladbrokes giving me evens was a mistake on their behalf.

Today I am leaning on Tottenham and Aston Villa. While Tottenham have yet to win at the Reebok Stadium, you would like to think they will break their duck eventually. Tottenham are one of the favourites for this competition now and Harry Redknapp will be looking to get his hands on the cup once again. Aston Villa meanwhile are in the same situation and are playing well. They are both live on TV so will be ones for in-play betting. A cheeky treble with Fulham before they kickoff, but the serious betting will be in play.

Spotting the FA Cup Upsets

2010-02-13T12:04:00.002Z

There's a few nice FA Cup matchups today and a few potential upsets on the line.

Southampton host Portsmouth to kickoff the 5th round today. A big rivalry on the south coast, the Saints are a team in form and already booked their place at Wembley for the St Johnstone's Paint Trophy. They have overcome a 10 point deduction and are pushing for the League One playoffs, playing very well under Alan Pardew. They have a goalscorer up front in Richie Lambert who you can expect to cause the Portsmouth defence a lot of problems today.

Pompey have had all their problems off the field this season and it's affected them on the pitch. Manager Avram Grant is frustrated by the situation, the players heads have gone down and it's just a matter of time before relegation. There's not enough players giving their all for their team because a lot of them as they look to jump ship. Southampton are more hungry and I expect them to want this more than Portsmouth. An attacking formation and if they go at Portsmouth from the start, we could have a third tier club in the quarter finals of the FA Cup this season. It's live on TV for in-play betting, but pre-match odds of 2/1 are worth taking.

Derby host Birmingham in a Midlands derby. The Rams have found their form recently, especially at home, beating Nottingham Forest and Newcastle in their last two games at Pride Park. While Derby were beating the then-Championship leaders 3-0 midweek, Birmingham went down 2-0 at struggling West Ham. The Blues seem to have hit their peak, but with their Premier League status assured manager Alex McLeish can focus on the cup. There's no reason why he won't start with a strong lineup and with a good recent history against Derby they will feel they can get back to winning ways today. My heart's saying Derby today, my head's saying Birmingham. My money is staying in my pocket for this one.

Instead I'm looking at West Brom to win at Reading. West Brom have found their form recently and even beat Scunthorpe 2-0 midweek despite putting in a poor performance. A sign of a good team. Yes, Reading have had a good cup run this weekend but I'm expecting the Baggies to come through in this tie.

The evening game sees Manchester City host Stoke City, also live on TV. This is before venues are reversed and they meet in the Premier League midweek. As for today, expect City to win against a well-disciplined Stoke side provided they put the effort in. As second favourites for the Cup and success expected with the money put into the club, they should fancy their chances this year.

Chelsea are my pick for the cup this year. It's easy to say after both Manchester United and Arsenal have been eliminated. But they are last year's defending champions, a stronger and more settled side than any other in the competition. A trip to the Eastlands in the quarter finals is the only troublesome matchup I can see for them from now on. Take Chelsea to win the FA Cup now while they're still odds-against.

Arsenal Bet Comes in as They Close in on the Leaders

2010-02-10T21:56:00.001Z

Abou Diaby scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal closed the gap on Chelsea and Manchester United this evening.

As I posted in my blog earlier this evening, Arsenal were the best bet tonight, as I backed them at evens to win and at 5/2 to win to nil. Both bets came in as little else did this evening. But I ended up with another profit so I won't complain.

Manchester United done well to take a point from Villa Park this evening, having firstly gone behind to a Carlos Cuellar goal. A James Collins own goal tied the game up shortly after before Nani was sent off with a straight red card for a two footed tackle after half hour. A 1-1 draw turned out to be a good result as Chelsea lost 2-1 at Everton, leaving Manchester United 1 point behind the leaders.

Florent Malouda had given Chelsea the lead inside 20 minutes and my lay bet wasn't looking too good. But Louis Saha equalised from a corner, quarter of an hour later before having a penalty saved by Petr Cech on half time. It was Saha who scored the winner 15 minutes from time as Everton moved back up to 9th in the table.

Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Liverpool sees them close the gap to 6 points behind Chelsea with a dozen games remaining. With all the big guns out of the way now, their fans may fancy their chances for the title.

My biggest loser was on Tottenham this evening. That's two 1-0 defeats to Wolves this season, both I never saw coming against strong Tottenham line ups.

Manchester City's 2-0 victory over Bolton last night moved them into 5th position where they stay tonight. They are level on points with 4th place Liverpool with 2 games in hand. They travel to Stoke next week after hosting them in the FA Cup at the weekend.

In the other Premier League fixtures that I overlooked this evening, Blackburn beat Hull City 1-0 and West Ham beat Birmingham City 2-0.

What Do Tonight's Odds Tell Us?

2010-02-10T17:54:00.001Z

At the beginning of the week, Arsenal could be found at evens and above from nearly all of your top online bookmakers. Now, less than 3 hours before kickoff and some bookmakers aren't even giving you evens.

Since Monday there hasn't been any negative Liverpool team news, and now fitness boosts for Arsenal. So the shortening of Arsenal's odds has come from a large number of punters backing Arsenal. Despite their bad form, I am one of those jumping on the bandwagon for tonight's game.

Morale may be low at Arsenal, and they may have been held here 1-1 by Liverpool in the past two seasons, but they're a better side than Liverpool this season. Arsenal's two defeats in their past two games have come against the top two teams in the league. Hopefully they will have learnt something about being left exposed on the counter attack ahead of tonight's game too.

Andrey Arshavin hasn't been his influential self in their last two games, but he has a fantastic record against Liverpool (mainly based on the 4 goals he struck at Anfield last season). He is one to watch in this game, as will Cesc Fabregas, whom also went quiet in Arsenal's last two games. And that is part of the reason for their defeats. If/when these two get back to their usual ways tonight, Liverpool are going to have more than their fair share of work. Cesc Fabregas will likely match up in the centre of midfield against Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Lucas. I don't doubt his ability to take it passed either one of those nor pass his way through the Liverpool team. Expect Fabregas to shine if Gerrard pushes too far forward. Arshavin meanwhile has looked lost at sea playing as a lone striker. Arsene Wenger should think twice about doing the same tonight. Instead I can see him dropping back or to the right hand side of midfield and Nicklas Bendtner taking the lone role up front. A position he is more suited for.

Between Arshavin, Fabregas, Bendtner, Samir Nasri and whoever else plays for Arsenal, they should be able to break down this Liverpool defence, regardless of their 6 clean sheets in 7 games. Arsenal have beat Liverpool 2-1 twice this season.

Apart from Steven Gerrard's long range efforts, Liverpool's best opportunities should fall from set pieces. Manuel Almunia is one of the most unconvincing keepers at dealing with them in the Premier League. And the small group of players with a lack of physicality doesn't help either. Add that to the lack of a player at the far post on Sunday, allowed Didier Drogba to score from close range following John Terry's flick on.

Liverpool don't have much quality going forward. Steven Gerrard has only 1 goal in his last 11 Premier League games. David N'Gog isn't doing much better (1 in 10), and lacking confidence and self belief seemingly. As well as talent. Dirk Kuyt is a man in form (4 in his last 4), but the Arsenal centre back partnership of William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen, protected by Alex Song should keep him off the scoresheet tonight.

Arsenal are evens to win with Skybet tonight. If you're feeling more confident, they're 5/2 to win to nil.

If Arsenal can win, they will be considered title contenders again should Chelsea and Manchester United fail to win their tough away fixtures this evening. Manchester United travel to Aston Villa, a side they use to dominate. That mastery is beginning to attenuate. They were held here 0-0 last season and were beat 1-0 at Old Trafford earlier this season. It took a stoppage time winner from Federico Macheda to snatch all 3 points from Aston Villa last season. Manchester United's odds have taken a small drop since Monday where they could be found at evens. With Wayne Rooney's form, can they keep in touching distance of Chelsea by beating Villa tonight? They are 5/6 to do so.

Chelsea themselves are at a morale-beaten Everton. Beaten by their most-hated rivals Liverpool on Saturday, with an extra man for most of the game. Everton can't be feeling too confident ahead of this match against the high-flying Premier League leaders. Chelsea's odds have shortened to 8/11 ahead of kickoff. But can they beat the same Everton side who held them at Stamford Bridge back in December?

Another bet I am going with this evening, is Tottenham to win at Wolves. They have something to prove following their home defeat by the midlands side back in December and I can see Harry Redknapp getting the best out of his team in this match. And the best from them would prevent Wolves from picking anything up from this match. Tottenham too are another side who have been well-backed over the past couple of days ahead of this match.

There's Only One Robbie Savage

2010-02-09T22:05:00.004Z

A £1,500,000 Paul Jewell signing and a big money two-and-a-half year contract back in January 2008. Derby County were the laughing stock of the Premier League at the time and this signing seemed to sum them up.

Robbie Savage looked a yard too slow as he captained his new Derby side in a home 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic at Pride Park on his debut. Greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos, he was part of a dire Rams side that were relegated with a league low 11 points that season.

12 months on, Derby were lingering above the relegation zone of the Championship, Paul Jewell resigned, and Robbie Savage had been loaned out to League Two side Brighton and Hove Albion. People were saying his legs had gone. Some suggested his career was over. At 34, and from dropping from the Premier League to league one in less than 12 months, it wasn't a bad claim.

The former Wales captain was recalled to the first team at Derby when Nigel Clough took charge in January 2009. Savage quickly established himself into the team with his hard work and battling skills as he became a big part of the side that rose above the threat of relegation that looked likely under Jewell.

A few weeks into this season, Robbie Savage was re-named Derby County captain at the expense of the woeful Paul Connolly. He works his socks off in the middle of the park and is a great leader on the pitch. He's had the better of the Nottingham Forest, West Brom and Newcastle midfield in games this season.

Savage's personality has blossomed off the field. He occasionally co-commentates on BBC Radio Five games, often mention his and Derby's performance the day before. And he stuck up for his team, criticising the journalists in a must listen to interview on BBC Radio Derby recently. While it seems he wants a career as a personality in football once his playing time is over, his commitment to Derby County currently should not come under question.

Robbie Savage captained his Derby side to their second clean sheet over Newcastle this season with a 3-0 victory tonight at Pride Park. Derby are in form at the moment, having beat two of the top three teams at home in their last two games. Although I didn't back the Rams in either of those games, many pub-goers down my local will be buying me a pint for tonight's result...

Congratulations to the City of New Orleans

2010-02-08T18:28:00.003Z

The New Orleans Saints done their city, state and country proud in winning the Superbowl for the first time in their history last night. What's more they overcame a 10 point deficit in a Superbowl and rattled Peyton Manning into mistakes in the final quarter.

Whether it was their destiny, or just their great coaching and teamwork that done it, the New Orleans Saints are deserved Superbowl Champions. Lead by their quarterback and the Superbowl MVP, Drew Brees finished the game with a co-Superbowl record of 32 competitions (from 39 pass attempts) for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns. Dwight Freeney recorded the only sack of the contest but his pressure was few and far between as the Colts line didn't get to Brees as he found receiver after receiver from the second quarter onwards.

Peyton Manning meanwhile started the game brightly as the Indianapolis Colts scored 10 points on their opening two drives. The second being a 96 yard touchdown drive that was captivated by a 19 yard pass from Manning to Pierre Garcon, who had got beyond two of the Saints secondary.

I couldn't pick a winner before the game. My gut was saying the Saints. My head was saying the Colts. I was slightly favouring the Colts. And at 10-0 I was more than favouring the Colts! At this point, Drew Brees hadn't got in any rhythm and his opposite number had. But the Saints finished the half on top, holding the Colts to 15 yards in the second quarter and finishing with two field goals, despite being stopped on a 4th and goal inside the final 2 minutes.

Momentum was solely with New Orleans after they recovered a brave onside kick to start the second half. A succession of completed passes culminated in Drew Brees dumping off to Pierre Thomas, who broke through a couple of would-be tackles on his way to a 16 yard score. But the Colts would follow this up with what they do best. Peyton Manning, who hadn't attempted a pass since halfway through the second quarter and after a 30+ minute interval that saw the Who perform, came out and drove his team down the field as the Colts retook the lead, 17-13.

This was as good as the shootout everyone had been expecting would get. In fact, it was the last time Indianapolis scored as to most people's surprise, the Saints got the better of Peyton Manning in the final quarter of the game. Garrett Hartley narrowed their lead to 17-16 when he connected with his third field goal. Matt Stover would miss wide left from 51 yards on the ensuring drive for the Colts. Then the Saints drove down the short field and ended it with Drew Brees hooking up with Jeremy Shockey from 2 yards, and then to Lance Moore on the 2 point conversion (only successful after Sean Peyton challenged).

The Colts were down 7 with less than 6 minutes remaining. I was expecting Peyton Manning to do his usual thing and tie it up. He hooked up five times with Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne as they drove yo the Saints 31 comfortably. But the game winner came when Peyton Manning made a bad choice in attempting to find Reggie Wayne on a hook, only to be jumped by Tracy Porter who returned the ball 74 yards for a 31-17 lead that the Colts would not come back from.

The Indianapolis Colts only had 3 players of 20+ yards, one of which was a surprising 26 yard run from Joseph Addai. They played a very casual game on offence and I think they would have had some success if they had attacked the Saints deep more often. Prior to the interception, Manning was having a fine game, despite the Saints blitzes getting to him as he released the ball.

The Colts defence, whether tired or just lacking quality against the leagues number one offence could not get to Drew Brees, did little in the way of preventing his receivers making the grabs and did not force a turnover all game.

We have a 3rd series of the Brett Favre's retirement saga is set to start shortly. We also have the NFL draft to look forward too before another exciting season of gridiron action. I guess I should leave you with one final betting slip as it is becoming a regular in my NFL section! Here's to another great season of the NFL:

Review of Today's Premier League Bets

2010-02-06T16:56:00.002Z

Manchester United have gone back on top of the Premier League this evening following their 5-0 victory over a hapless Portsmouth side.

Although it took a while to open the scoring, no one will have been surprised by the result at Old Trafford. Fortunately it was Wayne Rooney who opened the scoring, having tipped him in my Manchester United-Portsmouth preview. They also came through on the handicap that I tipped in that preview also. One I didn't mention, having seen it this morning was the few cheeky pounds on them to win both halves at evens. It could only be a small bet though with Manchester United's record of being level at half time in a number of games this season.

In other Premier League games, Stoke's victory over Blackburn was another good bet I had on this afternoon and I hope you took my advice in my preview for that game too.

As for Hull City beating Manchester City, I hope you laid them instead of putting them in a draw double (with Tottenham) as I did. As I wrote in my Manchester City preview, their odds weren't valuable and id the result was down to a slack performance that really won't surprise me.

West Ham were a big let down for me, but I guess everyone will point to Burnley's home record and tell me “it was obvious Burnley would win”. Oh well, it wasn't the biggest bet in the world.

Now to watch Tottenham-Aston Villa in what I expect to be a tight game and of few chances...

Chelsea Unconvincing on Their Travels This Season

2010-02-03T21:39:00.001Z

The Premier League top another surprising twist last night as Chelsea dropped points at relegation-placed Hull City.

Steven Mouyokolo headed Hull City into the lead after half an hour. Remarkably, 15 of Chelsea's 20 goals this season have been conceded from set pieces (75%). The league average is 38.5%.

You could have been forgiven for thinking Chelsea would turn up the pressure and put a couple past Chelsea. After Hull scored Chelsea did finish the half on top. And Didier Drogba struck a free kick just before the half to take Chelsea in level at half time. Very similar circumstance to when these met on the opening day of the season.

Hull gave it their own and must have fancied their chances from set pieces again in the second half. They had chances too. Chelsea put in another lacklustre performance on the road and this time couldn't rely on a late John Terry header to pick up all 3 points. And this time they left me with a losing bet (Tottenham will do me proud tonight – couldn't ignore their odds even if it is the FA Cup – Harry Redknapp gets the business done in the cup).

Since a solid start to the season, Chelsea's away form is less than impressive. The Blues started the season with 3 straight away wins. All were impressive; at Sunderland, Fulham and Stoke City. That was ended abruptly with a 3-1 defeat at Wigan that saw the home side open with a goal from a corner and Petr Cech later sent off.

That was followed by a hardworking 1-0 win in Cyprus in the Champions League that was far from convincing. Their other two Champions League games weren't convincing either. First relying on Didier Drogba to earn a 2-2 draw at Atletico Madrid and rounding the group off with a 1-0 victory in Porto.

Chelsea have won just one of their last five league games on the road since thrashing Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates. That was thanks to John Terry's late header at Burnley on Saturday. They were unfortunate to lose 2-1 at Manchester City, unconvincing in their 1-1 draw at West Ham. They drew 0-0 at an in-form Birmingham side who they would beat 3-0 at home a few weeks later. Tuesday nights draw at Hull was the latest of their travelling woes.

Chelsea are favourites by man to beat Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. The follows a trip to Goodison Park on a Wednesday night that they won't be as heavily-fancied in. After that, trips to Wolves, Portsmouth and Blackburn in the league is where they will need to sort out their away form and set piece defending. They also have a trip to Milan thrown in there to face Jose Mourinho's Inter in the Champions League!

Defending set pieces have been a big criticism of Chelsea. They have certainly been exposed from them. While away games are traditionally much tougher than at home for the obvious reasons, some of Chelsea's displays have let them down. Having said that, only Manchester United have picked up more points on their travels so far this season. But Chelsea are the odds-on favourites to win the Premier League. And their final three away games of the Premier League season are at Old Trafford, White Hart Lane and Anfield.

Interview with a Professional NFL Gambler

2010-02-02T19:57:00.005Z

After our NFL Tipster put up some MVP-like figures during the regular season, I couldn't resist getting an interview with him for yours and my benefit.

Q: How did you get into betting on NFL for a living?
NFL Tipster: The same way every NFL fan did. We think we know it all, we want money. I had a good idea of betting before hand with other sports but the NFL is my niche. It's my favourite sport and from a betting point of view there's only two outcomes. Win or lose. There's no draws like you get in football and these are eliminated in the spread anywya.

Q: Do you bet on college American football too?
NFL Tipster: Actually I don't. Trying to be an expert in both would take twice as long and therefore I would only have half the knowledge of each. Stick to one league, the one you enjoy the most, read, watch and do whatever you have to do to maximise your knowledge in it and you'll have a good chance of making a living from it.

Q: How many years have you been betting on the NFL?
NFL Tipster: I started at the beginning of this millennium. It took a couple of seasons before it became serious and ultimately a lifestyle. But I've been a winner every season.

Q: Have you picked the correct Superbowl winner every season?
NFL Tipster: No. The Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots got away with me during the first few seasons, but I've been sound since. I invest more in individual matches, so picking the Superbowl winner early in the season or even at the start of the playoffs is more an egotistical thing or for bragging rights. Financially it's not as important, but it can be a hefty bonus.

Q: How many bets do you make on an average NFL weekend?
NFL Tipster: I only invest big in the matches I am very sure in. Some weekends that can be 0. Others 3 or 4. And those would be doubled together and less backed on them. I rarely go for the specials, but when there's something that sticks out (the line being set much lower or higher than I estimate it for player yardage for example) then I might have a cheeky bet on that, but nothing serious. Just something to quell my ego. I mainly stick to the spread, money line and point totals.

Q: What was your best weekend this season?
NFL Tipster: I've had a few weekends with 100% winning records. My best weekend was week 6. It started with Houston beating Cincinnati and New Orleans beating New York. Then New England crushed Tennessee in a late game in the snow. Perfect. Tennessee also made me happy on Christmas Day when they lost to San Diego, and I know you backed them that day too.

Q: What was your worst weekend this season?
NFL Tipster: New England at Indianapolis in week 10. I had the Colts to win by 3 points or more. They were fortunate to win that game at all, but I still lost my bet. Before that, Denver had lost to Washington. I won on Tennessee and Cincinnati that day but it wasn't enough to cover what was about to come in the late game.

Q: How risky would you say you are?
NFL Tipster: Gambling is all about risk. I just want to minimise my chances of losing. Don't we all? The more risk the more reward. I bet big on the odd match and leave the rest alone (or add a few to a big accumulator with a small stake and watch them only come in once every full moon).

Q: What do you need to be a successful gambler?
NFL Tipster: Knowledge, confidence, bottle and discipline. You must be able to take defeat and not try and make it back with another big bet on something you weren't planning on betting on. I know in the morning what bets I have in mind. Some drop off and in the odd circumstance, some get added (Tennessee over Arizona when Matt Leinart was named starter on gameday. Even then I was very fortunate Tennessee won with that 99 yard drive). Knowledge is an obvious one. So is confidence. Bottle comes down to how much you're prepared to bet. I don't like hearing any of this "I should have bet more". They're not professionals I assure you ;)

Q: Who is going to win the Superbowl this weekend?
NFL Tipster: The edge is with Indianapolis. This isn't one I will be betting on though. Partly because I already have money on both of these winning earlier this season. But mainly because I am not 99% sure they will win. If this was a regular season game I might not even add it to a long accumulator. Instead I will enjoy what should be a very enjoyable Superbowl once again.

Thank you to our NFL Betting Tipster for taking the time to answer some of my questions. He also kindly left me with his betting slips. Fortunately I have a copy of my own also, but not with as much staked!

John Terry Odds-On to Lose England Captaincy

2010-02-01T18:38:00.006Z

Paddy Power have made John Terry odds-on to lose his England captaincy following the revelations of his private life over the weekend.

The English FA took their time to make an announcement, in which they made a good decision to leave it down to the manager, Fabio Capello.

Fabio Capello took 4 games and 5 players before deciding John Terry would be the captain of the England national team back in August 2008. Terry lead England to victory in a friendly over Germany at the end of that year, scoring the winner himself.

John Terry put all his troubles behind him at the weekend, the day after the news made the headlines as he scored an 82nd minute winner for at Burnley on Saturday. He will play at Hull tomorrow night too as he looks to take Chelsea 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

This was not the first time Terry or his family have put a negative image on the England captain. Incidents in clubs and parent arrests have been part of his past. And none of those had a negative effect on the field. Saturday's performance came as no surprise to me. Stripping him of his England captain 4 months before the World Cup was be a disruption that the English media would love. That means it would be a bad story for our national team. He's a true leader on the field and a very talented defender.

Transfer Deadline Roundup

2010-02-01T17:31:00.003Z

Most January transfer windows do not see many major transfers. Put it down to mid-season, cup-tied players or the lack of money, it has been a quiet start to 2010.

Manchester City's capture of Adam Johnson is the biggest Premier League signing on this year's deadline day. Johnson has been Middlesbrough's top scorer this season, with 11 goals from the wing. I've seen him a couple of times in this division and I was always confident a Premier League side would sign him this month. He was too good for the Championship. With Robinho's departure there will be less competition on the left wing from him (Martin Petrov) as he looks to break into their first team. Talking about Robinho, he arrived at Santos today with Pele in front of a large crowd inside their stadium!

Stoke City completed the signing of highly-rated goalkeeper Asmir Begovic from Portsmouth for £3,500,000 today. 22-year old Bosnian Begovic kept 2 clean sheets in 8 starts for the Premier League's bottom club, had also been linked to Chelsea and Tottenham recently. Many expected him to leave today following Portsmouth's decision to start David James in goal at the weekend. Portsmouth sold Mike Williamson to Newcastle earlier this month and Younes Kaboul back to Tottenham at the weekend to help Pompey pay their wages.

Robbie Keane looks set to be loaned out to Celtic from Tottenham. Keane has not played 90 minutes for Tottenham since Ireland were eliminated from the World Cup in controversial circumstances to France in November. He never scored in the few appearances he has made since. 4 of his 6 goals this season came in one game against Burnley. This would be a good move for both Keane and Celtic. Tottenham captured Eidur Gudjohnsen a few days ago and already have Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch playing well in the first team. Robbie Keane should find the less competitive league a breeze and if Kris Boyd had left Rangers this month I would have backed Keane to finish top scorer in the Scottish Premier League! Celtic confirmed the loan signing of Diomansy Kamara from Fulham earlier today. Fulham have loaned in Nicky Shorey from Aston Villa and Stefano Okaka from Roma.

Sunderland missed out on Robbie Keane but completed the loan signing of Alan Hutton from Tottenham today. They have not yet confirmed the signing of Benjani from Manchester City as of yet, despite the transfer deadline having passed.

The deal of Victor Moses from Crystal Palace to Wigan was confirmed today, expected to be in the region of £2,500,000. A highly-rated youngster, he has scored some spectacular goals in the Championship over the past two and a half years. When I saw Moses in person last year, he was sent off a little harshly for a second yellow for a tackle from behind. His first yellow card was for a dive. He certainly has a chance to break into the first team immediately with Wigan as they currently offer little going forward. He may be battling directly with Scott Sinclair, their loanee from Chelsea who is a great dribbler but hasn't hit the heights in the Premier League so far. Jack Cork was loaned out from Chelsea to Burnley today.

Benni McCarthy completed his permanent move from Blackburn to West Ham today for an undisclosed fee. This is a good buy for West Ham who have struggled for goals up front, especially during Carlton Cole's time on the sideline. He scored 18 Premier League goals in his first season with Blackburn, but only scored once in 14 games this season. With a World Cup in his back garden this summer I was expecting better from him this season and with a new club with some creative midfielders I can see him doing well at Upton Park. I do question the loan deal of Mido from Middlesbrough though to West Ham. A lazy striker who was a poison for Middlesbrough when they were relegated last season. The Hammers have also confirmed the signing of Brazilian free agent Ilan. Gianfranco Zola has certainly shown his intent of bringing in strikers today!

Neither Arsenal, Birmingham or Liverpool's managers spent any money today after entering the transfer window having been linked to a number of players. Arsenal loaned out Jack Wilshere to Bolton and Philippe Senderos last week. Birmingham loaned out Marcus Bent to Queens Park Rangers today. They signed Craig Gardner from Aston Villa and Michel from Sporting Gijon last month. Liverpool signed Maxi Rodriguez in January. Ryan Babel remains with the Reds.

Stephen Hunt, who scored a penalty against Wolves at the weekend remains at Hull despite numerous bids this month up to the final day from the West Midlands club. Neither Hull or Wolves made any panic buys today.

Roger Federer Wins 16th Grand Slam at Australian Open

2010-01-31T11:22:00.001Z

Roger Federer put on another tennis masterclass this morning, winning his 16th Grand Slam title, 6-3 6-4 7-6 over Andy Murray.

The world number 1, who broke down after losing last year's final to Rafael Nadal showed few signs of slowing down after he put on a great display of tennis from the start.

Roger Federer's brilliance and consistency was on show as he produced 46 winners to Andy Murray's 29. He set up his rallies well and his serving was excellent. When he needed it, Federer's serve got him out of trouble on many occasions. Andy Murray's serving was not good enough with a low first serve percentage, especially in the first two sets. This allowed Federer to attack Murray's weak second serve, taking 4 of 12 break points.

Andy Murray had several chances in the third set, up 5-2 at one stage, but the world number 1 was able to claw his way back into it and force it into a tie break. And what a tense tie break it was. Andy Murray had five set points, which included a passing shot into the net and a volley from the net that went wide. If either had made it in play they would have been winners. But Federer was brilliant when he needed to be, held his nerve and showed off his skills as he took the tie break 13-11 and claimed his fourth Australian Open title.

Our Tennis Tipster called his one superbly in his preview for the final: “With Andy Murray’s first serve percentage being unimpressive, look for Federer to attack the second serves to improve his chances of forcing breaks” and “Andy Murray needs to win the first set in this final to make it interesting because I see Roger Federer winning in straight sets if he takes the first” to quote him. He also text me this morning: “Fed in 3”.

Congratulations to Roger Federer and commiserations to Andy Murray. It wasn't a classic final but it was a classic performance from the legendary Roger Federer.

I Never Doubted Serena Williams - Did You?

2010-01-30T10:49:00.005Z

Serena Williams won her fifth Australian Open this morning (GMT), defeating the battling Justine Henin 6-4 3-6 6-2 in a competitive final.

The competitiveness of this final started from the very first game where Serena Williams had to save two break points on her opening service game that lasted 8 minutes.

The first three games amassed 21 minutes of the 51 minute opening set. Serena Williams took her time to settle down and had to save three break points in her opening two games before she made Justine Henin pay in game four by breaking the Belgian wildcard. Serena had to save another two break points in the ensuing game before taking a 4-1 lead.

Serena Williams wasn't the only one taking her time to settle down, with 4 very bad calls from the line judges in those opening 5 games. They would settle down after that.

Justine Henin was far from out of it and 3 consecutive games levelled the match and the bookmakers odds were in her favour. However Serena Williams would hold her serve and then break Henin to take the opening set 6-4.

A competitive second set, Justine Henin finished it off with some fantastic tennis that concluded with 13 consecutive winners on her way to a 6-3 win. The odds and momentum were very much in the Belgian's favour at this point.

Justine Henin would start the deciding set with a hold to continue her form, but a crucial hold from Serena Williams changed the momentum. Facing back-to-back break points, the world number 1 saved them with an ace and dry volley.

When Serena Williams broke for a 2-1 lead in the final set you could have been forgiven for thinking she would wrap it up. But Henin wasn't going out with a fight as she broke back with a host of excellent shots. Of course I still had faith in Serena at this point.

That would be the end of the peak for Henin, playing in only her twelfth game since coming out of retirement. Serena Williams really got in her zone as she took the final 4 games with some excellent tennis that we come to expect from her. Captivating the final with a backhand winner, Serena Williams threw her racket in the air in celebration.

Serena Williams is now 5 wins in 5 Australian Open finals, taking her 12th Grand Slam title from 15 finals. Justine Henin was playing in her twelfth final, which makes it quite surprising that this was the first time these two had met in a Grand Slam final.

While I would like to congratulate our Tennis Betting Tipster for picking Serena Williams in this final, I'll let you know he didn't have as much faith as I did in the world number 1! This screenshot is for you, Sir:

Robinho Uses World Cup to Get Out of Manchester

2010-01-28T18:05:00.001Z

As Robinho's loan move to Santos has been confirmed today, it's been a disappointing 24 hours for Manchester City fans.

First they were knocked out of the Carling Cup in the final minute at the hands of their biggest rivals last night, despite the 3 goals scored by Carlos Tevez other the two legs. And now their British record signing, Robinho is loaned out to the club he made a name at back in Brazil.

Robinho's professionalism has been a joke during his season and a half at Manchester City. It all started when he thought he had signed for Chelsea instead of Manchester City. Whether he had the wool pulled over his eyes or what it was pretty funny at the time. And Robinho has turned out be a laughing stock... unless you're a Manchester City fan. £32,500,000 and reported wages of £160,000 a week. City thought he was going to makes this team world class. He showed it in spells last season, scoring 15 goals in all. But a lack of effort on the road was clearly noticeable last season. And a lack of effort has been a constant this season.

On the ball and on his game he is a world class player. I will give him that. But he's never been “on his game” in a Manchester City shirt. A constant laziness has prevented him from becoming a Premier League star. Just as soon as he arrived he wanted to leave. Despite being linked with the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, neither of the Spanish giants have had a bid accepted. So now he is headed off back home.

The excuse being used to get him more playing time and so he can find his form ahead of the world cup is just for him to get out of Manchester. Clearly he isn't happy there and with the time he has been given he could have found his form by now. But he hasn't wanted too. In my view, it's a good move for all parties as there's no point keeping someone around against their will.

West Ham Must Fancy Beating Portsmouth Tonight

2010-01-26T19:12:00.001Z

Looking at the starting line ups, for tonight's match at Fratton Park I am more confident now in backing West Ham to beat Portsmouth when I wrote my preview on Sunday.

Asmir Begovic continues in goal for Portsmouth, in front of him he has the experienced Hermann Hreidarsson who has been clumbsy this season and goes up against the team who have won the most Premier League penalties this season. Frank Nouble and Alessandro Diamanti should find success running against him, so would substitutes Junior Stanislas and Carlton Cole if brought on.

Marc Wilson, Aaron Mokoena, Hayden Mullins and Angelos Basinas also start for Portsmouth who are backing up their status as relegation favourites for a starting eleven like this.

West Ham have Matthew Upson and the underrated James Tomkins in the centre of defence to block anything Portsmouth may throw at them (Frederic Piquionne their only starting striker – Danny Webber on the bench). I'm expecting Jack Collison to be a key player tonight, while I won't be surprised to see Frank Nouble to score his first West Ham goal.

West Ham are 2/1 win and this represents good value. My biggest bet of this evening is on Bolton Wanderers to beat Burnley at 4/5.

Andy Murray Faces Marin Cilic in Australian Open Last 4

2010-01-26T17:58:00.003Z

Andy Murray booked his place into his first Australian Semi Final after Rafael Nadal withdrew from the match early in the third set.

The world number 4 lead 6-3 7-6 3-0 at the time and was deservedly so. Andy Murray's backhand was a good weapon in this match, not to mention his forehand. He has weapons all over the court as the world number 2 found out. He was serving better and coming out on top of most of the rallies in what was a surprising below-par Nadal performance.

Rafael Nadal said his knee injury that forced him to retire occurred towards the end of the second set. Murray won that set on a tie break.

Andy Murray faces Marin Cilic in the semi final on Friday. The big Croatian defeated Andy Roddick in five sets with the American suffering a shoulder injury during the match. Cilic comfortably defeated Murray at the US Open last year. Murray didn't look comfortable or prepared for the match back in September but he is playing near his best in this tournament, still yet to drop a set as he closes in on what would only be his second career Grand Slam final.

Rafael Nadal's knees have been a problem for a while now and could see him drop a few places in the world rankings over the coming months with ranking points lost here and potentially in the future if he doesn't fully recover and match his performances in tournaments this time last year, winning 4 titles between the first two Grand Slams. Novak Djokovic has made a good start to this year, as has Andy Murray and Nikolay Davydenko who are all looking to overtake Nadal in the rankings, as is Juan Martin Del Potro.

Serena Williams On Course to Defend Australian Title

2010-01-25T13:34:00.000Z

Serena Williams put in another dominant display to see off Sam Stosur in her 4th round match at the Australian Open, winning 6-4 6-2 to book her place in the quarter finals.

The number 1 seed, looking to successfully defend the Australian Open title for the first time in her career has dropped just 15 games in her opening 4 matches so far but will face her toughest opposition to date in Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals.

World number 7 Azarenka fought from a set and a half down to take 10 straight games against Vera Zvonareva in her 4th round match. The young Belarusian and future star started the match with too many errors and couldn't take the opportunities Zvonareva was throwing at her in the first set.

Victoria Azarenka turned the crowd from mocking her ball-hitting scream to cheering her on as she overpowered and outplayed a crumbling Vera Zvonareva for over a set. She was hitting winners all over the court while her Russian opponent was hitting too many shots off court and struggling on her serve.

Serena Williams has looked confident to this point, but faces an opponent who took the first set off her at the fourth round in this tournament last year before being forced to retire. Williams will like to get on top of Azarenka early in this match and not let her get into her comfort zone. Azarenka is destined to rise to the top of women's tennis, but has yet to make it past the quarter finals of a Grand Slam.

The best odds you can find on Serena Williams to defend her Australian Open title are 6/4 at Paddy Power. If she can crush Victoria Azarenka in their quarter final match it will be difficult to see past her.

Federer and Davydenko Setup Quarter Final Meeting

2010-01-25T10:45:00.001Z

Nikolay Davydenko eventually prevailed over Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round last night, but not after some mental errors. Meanwhile, Roger Federer played near the top of his game to see off Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets.

The 6th seeded Russian raced into a 2 set lead before I joined after watching the New Orleans Saints book their place in the Superbowl. A mental lapse or a choke, call it what you will and Nikolay Davydenko gave Fernando Verdasco a way back into the match.

The Spaniard finally took an opportunity that was handed to him by taking the third set. He followed that up by winning a fourth set tie break and the previously high-flying Davydenko looked like he may be heading out of the Australian Open.

A key hold early in the final set turned the momentum back in Davydenko's favour before he broke Verdasco's serve and took the final set 6-3 to reach the quarter final for the fourth time at the Australian Open. I bet our tennis expert was mightily relieved by that with the amount he had on it!

In the evening game, Roger Federer played some sublime tennis as he won his 15th straight game against home favourite, Lleyton Hewitt, 6-2 6-3 6-4. The Australian was trying to hang in the match, but the world number 1 refused to let him after he came firing out of the blocks to take the opening two sets with few problems.

Federer slowed up at the end, but Hewitt could not get himself back into the match as last year's runner up here progressed to his sixth straight quarter final appearance at the Australian Open. He has never lost at this stage either and with Davydenko having a huge amount of confidence sucked out of him seemingly, this match may not live up to it's expectations.

Nikolay Davydenko isn't going to lose all of his form overnight, and it is worthwhile noting that he has beat Roger Federer twice in the past two months. But Roger Federer is near the top of his game right now and it would take a monumental effort from Davydenko to upstage him in two days time.

The New Orleans Saints Reach Their First Superbowl

2010-01-25T03:19:00.005Z

23 year old placekicker Garrett Hartley held his nerve in overtime to successfully kick a 40 yard field goal to change the history of New Orleans.

Their NFL team will be going to the Superbowl for the first time in their history in two weeks after beating the Minnesota Vikings 31-28.

The New Orleans done it the hard way after the Minnesota Vikings put the ball on the ground six times, only recovering three of them. However the Saints could not seal the game in normal time. They interception Brett Favre twice; the second his final play of the season, with the game tied and in long field goal range, leaving just 7 seconds on the clock at the end of the play. Noteworthy, Favre's final play as a Green Bay Packer was intercepted by Corey Webster in overtime of the 2007 NFC Championship Game from which the New York Giants went on to win and followed it up by winning the Superbowl over the New England Patriots.

His counterpart, Drew Brees completed 17 of 31 pass attempts for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns for the New Orleans Saints. The Saints got the big plays when they needed them in overtime, with Pierre Thomas narrowly jumping for a first down on a fourth down attempt, and Robert Meachem barely, if at-all-hanging onto an 18 yard pass to setup Hartley's winning field goal.

So much of the pre-game build up was on Reggie Bush after his performance last week against Arizona. He ran for 8 yards on 7 carries, caught 2 passes for 33 yards and 1 touchdown. He fumbled a punt return inside his own 15 just before half time. Fortunately for him and the Saints, the Vikings failed to capitalised as Favre and Adrian Peterson fumbled a handoff, allowing the Saints to recover.

Protecting the ball was a nightmare for the Vikings. Adrian Peterson fumbled twice himself, although both were recovered by the Vikings. Peterson ran for 122 yards and 3 yards on 25 carries. Errors ultimately cost the Vikings their place in the Superbowl, losing the turnover battle 5-1. At times you had to wonder if there was grease on the ball!

The Vikings put up 457 yards of offence to the Saints 257, and had the ball for over 36 minutes. They were made to pay for their mistakes.

Brett Favre took some big shots from the blitzing Saints defence towards the end of the 3rd quarter. At one point he had an ankle wrapped up on the sideline and limped back onto the field. He was clearly hurting in the final quarter; slowly moving around. Favre being Favre, didn't miss a play.

The New Orleans Saints will play the Indianapolis Colts in the Superbowl on February 7th in Miami after Peyton Manning lead his team to victory over the New York Jets prior to the Saints game kicking off.

A shout out to our NFL Betting Expert for correctly selecting these two teams to reach the Superbowl. Not just earlier this week, but earlier this season as he persuaded me at different points during the season to back them for success :) The Colts are early 3.5 point favourites.

Peyton Manning Leads the Indianapolis Colts to the Superbowl

2010-01-24T23:08:00.003Z

Peyton Manning kept his cool as he overcame a 17-6 deficit against the number 1 ranked defence in the league to lead his Indianapolis Colts to the Superbowl with a 30-17 victory over the New York Jets.

Manning struggled to read the Jets on his opening 2 drives that included being sacked twice. A touchdown drive in the final 2 minutes of the first half to narrow the Jets lead to 17-13 at half time and a missed field goal on the Jets opening drive of the second half were the two game changers after the Jets made a positive start.

The touchdown drive before half time consisted of 4 plays that went for 80 yards, culminating in Manning's first of 3 touchdowns, 16 yards to Austin Collie. Peyton Manning was looking comfortable at that point and I couldn't resist jumping on the Colts who were 3 point favourites at this point at evens. Thank you very much.

The Jets didn't score in the second half as the Colts defence kept their running game in check and didn't give Mark Sanchez much downfield. Interestingly, the Colts had more rushing yards (101) than the number 1 rushing Jets (86) in this game. Our NFL Betting Expert correctly picked the Colts for this one, rightfully saying the Jets lack of big plays will ultimately hurt them. The turnovers were equal at 1-1 which played into the Colts hands who were able to rely on Peyton Manning to win the game for them.

Manning was 26/39 for 377 yards and 3 touchdowns as he had no problem picking apart the Jets defence in the second half. 2 sacks in the opening 2 drives from David Harris was the only success they had; drying up after a quick start. Reggie Wayne was held to 55 yard on 3 catches, leaving Pierra Garcon to catch 11 passes for 151 yards and Austin Collie 7 catches for 123 yards. As well as Darrelle Revis, he didn't cause a turnover that the Jets required.

Now to sit back and hope the New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game so that I have two teams I have previously backed to win the Superbowl! I've also backed over 53.5 points tonight in what everyone expects to be a shootout!

Wayne Rooney Fires Manchester United Top

2010-01-23T16:54:00.002Z

Wayne Rooney was inspirational form at Old Trafford today as he scored all 4 goals in their 4-0 thrashing of Hull City to fire Manchester United to the top of the Premier League.

Boaz Myhill was inspired last weekend as he made save after save to help Hull City come away from a White Hart Lane with a 0-0 draw. However it took Wayne Rooney and Manchester United 8 minutes to break the deadline today. To think Hull were to fold at this point, they took the same scoreline into half time. In fact, it wasn't until the 82nd minute before United doubled their lead. And before you know it Rooney was completing hattrick and then adding a 4th.

Rio Ferdinand played his first game in 3 months due to injury and played the full 90 minutes alongside Jonny Evans. His fitness and a clean sheet for Manchester United will be a boost ahead of their Carling Cup final second leg with Manchester City on Wednesday, and then a big game at Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Arsenal's time at the top of the Premier League was short-lived, but travel to Aston Villa midweek looking to restore their lead. Chelsea are down to third, 2 points behind Manchester United, but with 2 games in hand. The first of those is at home to Birmingham City on Wednesday.

With Manchester City and Arsenal to come over the course of the week, it's really a crucial stage of Manchester United's season despite only being at the end of January. While the Carling Cup has never been one of Sir Alex Ferguson's priorities, they don't want to go out to their closest neighbours, having already gone out of the FA Cup to Leeds. Defeat to Arsenal in the league could see them fall far behind both Chelsea and Arsenal and potentially kill off their Premier League title chase.

Hopefully for England fans, Wayne Rooney can maintain his form over the summer after he took his goal tally up to 19 in the Premier League this afternoon.

After another 100% record with out Premier League Betting Tips this weekend we hope you come back for more. Ok, there was only 1 game, but we hope you took at least 1 of the 3 winning tips :)

Roger Federer Hitting Full Stride in Australia

2010-01-23T09:38:00.001Z

Roger Federer put on a tennis master class on Saturday morning (GMT) as he defeated Albert Montanes to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open.

The 15 time Grand Slam champion required just 1 break in each of the 3 sets to win 6-3 6-4 6-4 as his Spanish opponent never came close to causing Federer problems on his own serve.

While Albert Montanes was never considered a big threat to Federer going into this match, he has hit form heading into the second week of the competition. While the level of opposition may raise from now, these dominant performances will give him the confidence he thinks he needs to win his fourth Australian Open title. His odds are down to 5/2 favourite to win the Australian Open.

Federer faces Lleyton Hewitt in round 4 after the Australian progressed leading 6-0 4-2 when opponent Marcos Baghdatis withdrew with a shoulder injury.

In the other men's singles matches completed this morning, Novak Djokovic came through as a comfortable straight set winner over Denis Istomin. Fernando Verdasco booked his place in the next round after his opponent, Stefan Koubek retiring after the first set with the Spaniard leading 6-1. Nikolay Davydenko beat Juan Monaco 6-0 6-3 6-4 and Nicolas Almagro saw of Alejandro Falla in 3 sets. Mikhail Youzhny pulled out of his match with Lukasz Kubot with a wrist injury.

Rising Tennis Star: Sabine Lisicki

2010-01-20T22:17:00.000Z

It's been over a decade since Steffi Graf won her 22nd and final Grand Slam. Since then no German has come close to winning a Grand Slam (well apart from Steffi herself, losing her final Grand Slam to Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon in 1999).

It's been over a decade since German tennis fans had someone successful to cheer on. Both Nicolas Kiefer and Tommy Haas have had moderate success, but nothing in the majors. And there's been a lack of promise in the women's game for some time.

Today, Germany boasts a number of young female tennis players, 6 of them currently ranked inside the top 100. There's Kristina Barrois (81), Julia Goerges (76), Tatjana Malek (70), Anna-lena Groenefeld (65) and Andrea Petkovic (49). But the brightest spark of them all is the youngest.

At 20 years of age, Sabine Lisicki ranks number 24 in the WTA rankings. She made immediate impact when she defeated Dinara Safina in her Grand Slam debut, at the Australian Open in 2008. But her breakout year would be 2009. First she won her only WTA Championship to date in Charleston, South Carolina, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. And then at Wimbledon she defeated both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets, only to be eliminated in the quarter finals by Dinara Safina after taking the opening set. She got nervous in that position when with a little more experience she could have progressed to the semi finals that day.

I also recall the tears and pain for Sabine Lisicki when she slipped over on Anastasia Rodionova's match point in the second round of the US Open last year, delaying the warm up of a men's singles match before being carted off in a wheelchair. Apart from that she's generally smiling on the court.

On the court, Sabine brings a powerful serve with her. She also has a very powerful single-hand forehand that can play winners from all over the court, especially behind the baseline. Her double-handed backhand is well-controlled too strikes with power on occasions too. Very good at rushing the net, her weak points would be a poor return of serve and an inconsistent serve of her own. A few more years of practice and experience will only make her game better. She has the hardwork and dedication to step up a few more levels.

While I definitely won't be comparing her to Steffi Graf, as there is only one Steffi Graf. Sabine Lisicki is one of a number of top young talents coming through in the women's game. While Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Agnieszka are all more-likely to win a Grand Slam before Lisicki ever does, this young German girl is one for the future. She will cause a few more upsets in her career, win some more WTA events and play the 2nd week at a number of Grand Slam events. First task for her is to crack the top 10 and she can start by having a good run this week at the Australian Open.

Arsenal Go Top of the Premier League

2010-01-20T21:58:00.002Z

A 4-2 come-from-behind victory for Arsenal over Bolton this evening sent the Gunners to the top of the league on goals scored.

Gary Cahill and a Matt Taylor penalty gave Bolton a surprise 2-0 lead at the Emirates this evening before Tomas Rosicky pulled an important goal back just before half time. I took a risky bet with their odds of 11/10 being very tempting at half time. Goals from Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Vermaelen and Andrey Arshavin in the second half won my bet and handed Bolton a second defeat to Arsenal in 4 days.

Manchester United can return to the top of the league on Saturday if they beat Hull. Although United would have played 1 more game than Arsenal and 2 more than Chelsea who are currently 1 point ahead of them.

Despite Robin van Persie's long-term injury, goals from midfield have aided Arsenal's run that has got them in the position they are in. Cesc Fabregas is in a run of form that puts him amongst the Player of the Season award. His fitness and form are vital for Arsenal's title challenge that has become serious over the past few games.

Arsenal's next 4 Premier League games are crucial to them are their competitors for the title, as they visit Villa Park in a week's time, having beat Villa 3-0 on boxing day. Hosting Manchester United is their next game before a trip to Chelsea and back home to play Liverpool.

Liverpool tonight got their chances of a top 4 finish back on track and eased the pressure on Rafa Benitez with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham to put them within 1 point of their opponents who hang on to 4th spot. Dirk Kuyt scored both goals. Liverpool's next Premier League game is a trip to Wolves on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa beat Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in their second leg of the Carling Cup semi final, winning 7-4 on aggregate and booking their place in February's final.

Andy Murray Set for Round 2 of the Australian Open

2010-01-19T22:20:00.000Z

Britain's number 1 tennis player, Andy Murray is scheduled to face Marc Gicquel in the second round of the Australian Open tomorrow morning, not before 8am GMT.

Having cruised past Kevin Anderson in round 1, 6-1 6-1 6-2, Murray shouldn't have too many difficulties in seeing off his French opponent tomorrow. Gicquel did make a surprise run to the quarter finals here 2 years ago but hasn't produced a similar performance in any Grand Slam since.

Andy Murray will be looking for another straights set victory to march him into round 3. Currently on course to face Rafael Nadal as early as the quarter finals, with the winner expected to meet Andy Roddick in the semi final; it's a difficult road to success in Melbourne.

The world number 4 was eliminated here in round 4 by Fernando Verdasco here last year. This is the only major he hasn't made it past round 4 in and has a good chance of achieving that this year. There's no way Marc Gicquel will eliminate a fully fit Murray tomorrow (feel free to quote me on that).

Andy Murray has a narrow lead over Juan Martin Del Potro in the ATP World Rankings, restored to number 4 at the beginning of this week. Del Potro made the quarter finals here last year and is already struggling with a wrist injury in Australia. With Marin Cilic and Andy Roddick en route to the semi finals for the US Open winner, a quarter final appearance for Murray should be enough to maintain his current world ranking.

Britain's number 1 female, Elena Baltacha faces 30th seed Kateryna Bondarenko in round 2 tomorrow, while Katie O'Brien has the daunting task of facing former world number 1 Jelena Jankovic. Baltacha defeated older sister, Alona Bondarenko in the first round of Wimbledon last year. By causing an upset against Kateryna tomorrow would see her equal her best performance here, having made the 3rd round back in 2005. This is only the second time in her career that Katie O'Brien has made it past the 1st round of any Grand Slam, having made the 2nd round of Wimbledon back in 2007. O'Brien defeated Patricia Mayr 6-3 6-3 earlier today.

Carlos Tevez Haunts Manchester United

2010-01-19T21:59:00.000Z

Former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez haunted his former club as he helped rivals Manchester City to a 2-1 victory in their semi final first leg of the Carling Cup this evening.

Manchester United looked on top when Ryan Giggs tapped in a rebound, with Manchester City's midfield sitting deep and giving little support to Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez up front. Tevez had a good chance to equaliser but a mistimed diving header saw him head the ball down into the ground.

Craig Bellamy won a controversial penalty when Rafael appeared to tug him outside the area. The turning point in the game as Carlos Tevez stepped up and belted in the equaliser. Expect Sir Alex Ferguson to criticise referee Mike Dean.

The referee made a great spot for the slightest of deflections off Rafael to setup the corner from which Tevez scored the winner. Edwin van der Sar could only palm the ball to the edge of the area and when it was knocked back in, both centre backs Wes Brown and Jonny Evans ran to the ball, leaving Nigel De Jong to chip it into an unmarked Tevez to head home his second.

The whole Carlos Tevez story continues to grow. From saying United didn't try hard enough to sign him permanently, to the Welcome to Manchester billboard erected with his picture on. Continued with his inspired form that Manchester United are missing and now a brace that gives City the advantage when they go to Old Trafford for the second leg a week tomorrow.

Blackburn Rovers travel to Aston Villa tomorrow with a 1 goal deficit to make up at Villa Park in the other semi final. The Carling Cup final is scheduled for the 28th of February at Wembley Stadium.

How much do you think Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United fans are regretting their weak attempt to sign the Argentine international in the summer?

Williams Sisters Breeze Through in Australia

2010-01-19T18:04:00.004Z

Serena Williams began the defence of her Australian Open championship in fine form by crushing Urszula Radwanska 6-2 6-1.

The younger of the Williams sisters was only tested once on her serve, saving the only break point her Polish opponent forced upon her. Serena hit 26 winners compared to Urszula's 13, but the American will be looking to cut down the 27 unforced errors in future games. While it's only after one game, Serena is already playing high quality tennis compared to some previous tournaments where she has made slow starts.

The defending champion is a 4-time winner of this event although has never successfully defended her title. Serena Williams has won the 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 events, last year defeating Dinara Safina in the final. With Maria Sharapova's exit on day 1, Serena is even more strongly favoured to defend her title. Now 3/1 favourite.

Other serious challengers to her title are widely expected to be Kim Clijsters (defeated Valerie Tetreault 6-4 6-0) and the returning Justine Henin (defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-4 6-3). Both Belgians are on the opposite side of the draw and are on course to meet in the quarter final. Victoria Azarenka is the strongest opponent Serena Williams could meet in the quarter final.

On the same side of the draw is older sister, Venus who came through her first round match today more comfortably that expected; defeating Lucie Safarova 6-2 6-2. Williams only hit 2 aces in this match, but the 34 unforced errors from her Czech opponent helped the American to victory. Venus Williams is 12/1 fifth favourite to win her first Australian Open championship this year.

Seeds Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, Sam Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Nadia Petrova, Ana Ivanovic, Sabine Lisicki, Aravane Rezai, Alona Bondarenko and Carla Suarez Navarro all safety progressed through to round 2 today.

What has happened to Maria Sharapova?

2010-01-18T22:39:00.002Z

Another low point in the career of Maria Sharapova this morning saw her eliminated from the first round by Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open.

The former World Number 1 and winner of this tournament just 2 years ago was out-of-form and couldn't even rely on her serve to get her out of trouble as she went down 6-7 6-3 4-6 to an opponent ranked 44 places below her. Her serve was part of the problem as she produced 11 double faults to her 9 aces. More alarmingly were her 66 errors to 45 winners.

In the past Maria Sharapova has got away with avoiding tournaments before big events, but it clearly wasn't the case this time. Her serve was unreliable, her forehand was erratic and her loud screams didn't phase her opponent. The consistency she used to produce has gone from her game. While Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin can seemingly roll out of bed and win matches, Sharapova cannot.

The surprise winner of Wimbledon in 2004, aged just 17. She was hard working and well-prepared back then. Powering her way through opponents. The US Open title followed 2 years later and then the Australian Open in 2008. Last year the 22 year old Russian lost to Gisela Dulko in the 2nd round at Wimbledon and Melanie Oudin in the 3rd round of the US Open. The latter aided by a host of unforced errors from Sharapova. Those results would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago.

Maria Sharapova missed last year's Australian Open with that long shoulder lay off that took her a long time to recover from. Even making her way through to the quarter finals of last year's French Open, the shoulder seemed to be bothering her. While she denies it causing her any pain now, the service game and her game isn't near where it use to be. Not being the quickest player around the court, she needs to outpower her opponents and it's not happening as often anymore. The quality of opposition has raised in recent years and Sharapova doesn't rank among the top players now.

It was only last week that Maria Sharapova signed a record-breaking deal with Nike - $70,000,000 over 8 years – the largest ever endorsement deal for a female athlete. At least that means we should see Maria around for a long time to come. For one who has worked so hard in the past and showed determination after all the money she has earned, a lack of motivation can easily set in with a deal that will ensure she can live a luxurious lifestyle for the rest of her life. Off the field distractions and a glamour lifestyle outside of the sport haven't helped her. Not to mention limiting her practice.

Defence Wins Championships

2010-01-18T17:42:00.003Z

Or missed field goals help you to the AFC Championship game. At least if you're the New York Jets. 3 missed field goals (the one from 57 yards can be excused) from the normally reliable Nate Kaeding saw the in-form San Diego Chargers go crashing out of the playoffs last night to the New York Jets, 14-17.

While the New York Jets can be thankful for the missed 9 points, they played the game they wanted to and came out deserved winners. They wanted to keep the score close as the game went on, create turnovers and turn them into points. While Mark Sanchez once again didn't have a great games by any means, he was moderately efficient and more importantly he got it done in the crucial moments. This included a play-action touchdown pass on 3rd down by rolling out of the pocket. Sanchez finished the game 12/23 for 100 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception.

Shonn Greene was a big factor on offence for the New York Jets, running for 128 yards on 23 carries and a 53-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter that extended their lead to 10 points at the time. 2 interceptions of Philip Rivers were also key points in this game.

Despite the number 1 rushing game in the NFL, the Jets are considered a defensive team. Just like the Baltimore Ravens, who were eliminated on Saturday by the Indianapolis Colts. The AFC playoffs have certainly seen a lot more defence than the NFC, with the average points per game at 35 in the AFC, compared to the 60 points per game average in the NFC playoff games so far. Which means if the saying “defence wins championships” holds up, the Jets are a shoo-in for the Superbowl! I think the Indianapolis Colts will have something to say about that this Sunday.

Be sure to tune into what our NFL Betting Tipster has to say about the Championship games this weekend after a successful 3-1 record this past weekend after a hugely profitable regular season.

Should Ashley Young Go to the World Cup?

2010-01-17T15:31:00.000Z

With Fabio Capello selecting his teams based on forms, I admit it's too soon to be debating whether specific players should or shouldn't be going. In the 5 months between now and then, we can expect a few injuries and even a player or two come out of the blue into some hot form.

But after watching the stalemate between Aston Villa and West Ham just now, Ashley Young doesn't look like the player he was 12 months ago when he was linked to Real Madrid.

Back then, manager Martin O'Neill was claiming Ashley Young was a “world class” player, a statement that I never agreed with, even when he was banging in goals for many fantasy team in the first 4 months of the 2008/09 season. Since then, over the last 12 months he's not been scoring and setting up goals as frequently as he was, and hasn't come into consideration for my fantasy team since.

In today's game, the third consecutive Premier League game in which Aston Villa haven't scored (and the fourth in a row that has been 0-0 at half time), Ashley Young was ineffectual. His work on the wing reminded me of Joe Cole in the last world cup... predictable. He didn't want to take on players and get the cross in from the byline, but to cut inside to cross it. West Ham's defence read and dealt with this effectively. Today was Young's 9th straight league game without a goal, although he does have 3 assists during that time.

Ashley Young has half a season to get back into form and should he, I will be supporting him for the world cup squad selection. But right now, he's far from the form he needs to be at to be selected. He's not a match winner now and England have a number of players who can deliver the good quality set pieces that Young offers.

No Surprises in Saturday's NFL Playoffs

2010-01-17T12:48:00.002Z

You won't be surprised to hear that I won bets on both the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts last night, and thankfully so did our NFL Expert.

I was surprised how good the New Orleans Saints were though, especially on defence. The Cardinals converted just 1 of 8 third downs, a key stat in the game as the Saints didn't have a problem scoring. Kurt Warner threw 0 touchdowns and took a big shot on an interception return that gave Matt Leinart some playing time. Warner said in his post-match interview that he will decide his future when he's had a chance to think about it away from the football field.

Drew Brees put in another MVP-like performance, completing 23 of 32 pass attempts for 247 yards and 3 touchdowns. Reggie Bush had the biggest day of his career, scoring on a 46 yard touchdown run and later an 83 yard punt return for a touchdown. He looked fresh and agile and the running back many were expecting him to be when he was drafted 2nd overall by the Saints in 2006. The Saints will host the NFC Championship game next Sunday. The Dallas Cowboys face the Minnesota Vikings this evening to decide who will meet them.

The Baltimore Ravens were tied with the Indianapolis Colts just before the 2-minute warning in the first half. But the Colts took a 17-3 halftime lead with some aggressive and efficient plays. Some costly penalties on the Baltimore defence hurt them, something that was constant throughout. Ed Reed had a 2nd interception ruled out for a defensive penalty, that if avoided could have got the Ravens back into the game. Reed fumbled his first interception, giving the ball back to the Colts. The Ravens had nothing going on offence following their opening drive that resulted in 3 points.

I took the Colts -6.5 because I didn't think Joe Flacco would be able to pass his way to victory. Of course I was keeping my fingers cross that the speed of the Colts defence would keep the Ravens run game in check. They done that better than I expected. The Ravens secondary played better than I expected, despite playing very well in recent weeks. Peyton Manning was able to thread several perfect passes, including their first touchdown. When Manning is playing like this, no one can stop him. He looked comfortable in the pocket with the Ravens pass rush not as effective as they needed to be.

I'm leaning towards the Dallas Cowboys tonight, but won't have any money on it because it's too tough for me to predict. While some people are thinking the New York Jets will upset the San Diego Chargers tonight, I don't see it happening. At some point Mark Sanchez will need to pass the ball and that's where the Chargers with aggressive blitzing can hurt the Jets. Philip Rivers can and will hurt the Jets pass defence.

Rafael Benitez: The Premier League Would Miss Him If He Left

2010-01-16T14:43:00.004Z

Rafael Benitez is the favourite in the Premier League sack race following the horrible form that is constantly repeated in the media and myself.

His side took the lead at Stoke today when Fabio Aurelio's free kick was forced over the line by Sotiris Kyrgiakos before the hour. In what was a dreadful game to watch, perhaps we should have been looking towards set pieces to open the scoring. The free kick given that lead to the goal was harsh on Danny Higginbotham and Stoke as the defender won the ball.

But Stoke cannot look to the referee for excuses, in fact it's what Liverpool will be doing after Lucas was booked after being brought down in the penalty area in what was the only incident worth talking about in the first half.

Then Stoke's equaliser came from a corner that shouldn't have been; Robert Huth tapping in at the back post. It was the only set piece Liverpool failed to deal with, with Sotiris Kyrgiakos worth mentioning for dealing with them prior to the last minute. The big Greek defender was a good selection from Rafa Benitez, with his aerial ability a match for Stoke's tactics. Deep in stoppage time Dirk Kuyt hit the post when he should have done better, but Liverpool could have been awarded a penalty in the build up as Lucas was knocked down in the penalty area. Perhaps Rafa Benitez won't be calling Lee Mason perfect this week ;)

Thankfully that late goal won my bet I mentioned earlier and made a good start to my Premier League betting tips this weekend.

It's Rafa Benitez's personality that you have to like. He's a character and the Premier League doesn't have enough characters. From his famous January rant last year to all his action on the touchline, what can you not love about the Spaniard?

His selection was strange today, with numerous defensive players in the starting lineup. Philipp Degen had a shocker and lasted nearly 80 minutes before their new, exciting signing Maxi Rodriguez was introduced. If he was given more time on the pitch, maybe Liverpool would have scored from open play and won the game. That's easy to say, but they looked poor going forward and created few chances. Players who were wide open at times weren't passed too and a number of crosses were poor. David N'Gog should have been subbed earlier as he continues to offer little in attack.

January is a big month for Rafael Benitez and Liverpool. He has received good money for Andrea Dossena and sold Andriy Voronin. Maxi Rodriguez has come in, but they still need a few more signings this month as well as shipping a few out.

Rafa Benitez's personality would be missed by me and many Premier League fans should he lose his job at Liverpool.

Selection Problems for Rafa Benitez Today

2010-01-16T09:57:00.000Z

The misery continued to pour of Liverpool fans on Wednesday. Firstly a premature email for their “4th round FA Cup game” were sent out prior to being eliminated by Reading from the 3rd round. And then it came out a day later that Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun all face spells on the sideline. There was also talk of a pre-match bust up before that game.

Yes, we've all heard the problems for Liverpool, and today they travel up to Stoke for the lunch time kickoff to open this weekend's round of Premier League games. They also host Tottenham midweek. 6 valuable points on offer with Liverpool currently 5 points off that 4th spot they desire.

Will they win both games? I don't see that happening. Going forward they are set to struggle without Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun. Who else is left? David N'Gog's bright spell was short-lived and he isn't looking capable of playing the lone striker role. Dirk Kuyt isn't scoring or even playing well. Ryan Babel confirmed on his twitter account that he has not made the Stoke squad for today's game; still unable to start 3 games consecutively in a Liverpool shirt. Alberto Aquilani has shown some good passing abilities but we're yet to see his long range shooting abilities that we were told off. His heading leaves something to be desired. Javier Mascherano and Lucas aren't attacking players. Lots of pressure on Maxi Rodriguez today then if he plays!

Defensively they're not playing well either and Stoke could enjoy some success down the wings today. It's been a while since Rory Delap's long throws were in the spotlight – but do you sense one of them leading to a goal today?

Stoke City's odds have dropped from 4/1 earlier this week to currently 11/4 a couple of hours ahead of kickoff. Will Liverpool really lose again? There's selection problems in the side that suggest they do so. However Stoke haven't been at their best of late, but there were some good signs of getting back to form in their 3-2 victory over Fulham in their last game. I'm going with the safer option on double chance today because the odds were good when I got them!

Tennis Season Heats Up: Australian Open Preview

2010-01-13T20:01:00.004Z

The tennis season kicks into action this weekend with the start of the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia.

With the weather the way it is in England at the moment, I wish I was over there! Instead, I'll be watching from home as ever and will be happy to win half of what I did thanks to the tips giving by our Tennis Tipster. Actually, that's a lie – I want to double what I won in this competition last year!

As a biased spectator I will be cheering on Andy Murray as ever, Britain's only realistic hope of producing a winner. He will be expected to make the second week, but few will be expecting him to get much further than the quarter finals. He did only make the 4th round here last year, losing in five sets to Fernando Verdasco. We will look forward to Friday when the main draw is released and make our own personal predictions how far he will go and who will eliminate him.

Last year's runner up Roger Federer is the pre-tournament favourite, with odds slightly shorter than the defending champion, Rafael Nadal. Andy Murray is 6/1 himself, while Nikolay Davydenko is also shorter than I like at 10/1 with his end of last season and start of this season form.

Defending champions Serena Williams is rightfully the favourite on the women's side. If she's at her best (and often she doesn't need to be at her best), no one can beat her. US Open champion Kim Clijsters is second favourite here, while returning Belgian star Justine Henin is making her first Grand Slam appearance in 2 years. Winner here in 2004, I find her odds to be too short at 9/2 third favourite. She did beat both Nadia Petrova and Ana Ivanovic on her way to the final of the Brisbane International last week. 2008 winner Maria Sharapova should not be overlooked at 11/1.

As ever, out Tennis Expert will be giving his Australian Open tennis picks throughout the upcoming fortnight. Be sure to check them out as he makes a living from tennis betting.

Should Manchester United Sign Sebastien Frey?

2010-01-12T19:25:00.001Z

Talk has been on the cards since pre-Christmas that Manchester United are looking to sign Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey.

With a reported £16,000,000 buy out clause in his contract, it should depend on whether United want to pay that much and whether the Frenchman wants to play outside of Italy for the first time in over a decade.

Frey made a name for himself, at least in my eyes at Parma from 2001. They signed him after a season as Inter Milan's first choice. Frey has been a star for Fiorentina since joining them in 2005, originally on a loan spell during Parma's days of financial problems.

He's been an underrated goalkeeper for many years, despite playing for a Champions League side. Amazingly he only has 2 international caps for France, but the Lyon number 1 looks very good from what I have seen of him, I will give him that. Now one of the biggest teams in world football is looking at him, finally he is being linked to a club as successful as one he belongs at.

Frey is very agile and does have a decent commanding presence in the area from set pieces, something that Tomasz Kuszczak lacks. With Edwin van der Sar only fit enough to have played 5 of Manchester United's 21 Premier League games this season, aged 39 and having considered retiring for a few seasons now, looking towards the future is the only thing Sir Alex Ferguson can do. He seems to have lost faith in Ben Foster, while Kuszczak who's currently their first choice isn't reliable enough to be playing with the top 4 in my opinion.

Sebastien Frey would be a great asset to the Premier League and one I would like to see happen. Arsenal have also expressed interested, but can we see him leaving Fiorentina any time soon? He would be cup tied for the Champions League should he switch this month.

Sol Campbell... Returning to Arsenal?

2010-01-12T18:54:00.004Z

First Patrick Vieira returns to the Premier League. And now Sol Campbell is poised for a return to Arsenal. Yes, this is a blog being written in 2010 and not 2004!

According to Sky Sports, the former England international and Notts County centre back is playing for Arsenal in their reserve team match against West Ham this evening. Presumably he has been training with the side recently too.

Sol Campbell played for Arsenal between 2001 and 2006, winning the FA Cup 3 times, the Premier League twice and a Champions League runner up in his final season with the Gunners. He then moved to Portsmouth for three seasons.

In his day, Campbell was one of the top English defenders in the league. His strength mixed with his heading and tackling abilities were a big part of the Arsenal invincibles in 2003/04. While you would expect him to retain those abilities, his pace and fitness will be the big questions, now 35 and having been without a club since leaving Notts County in September. Campbell only played once for Notts County, a 2-1 defeat at Morecombe before walking out on the club.

Everyone who is freaking out about this trial should calm down and look at the big picture. Campbell would only be signed as backup to William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen who have paired up in every one of Arsenal's Premier League games this season. Campbell's services would then likely be limited and his experience could help their young reserves whom he plays with tonight. But Campbell is only on trial for now.

Carlos Tevez is Welcome in Manchester

2010-01-11T23:32:00.003Z

One of the hottest strikers in the Premier League currently, Carlos Tevez continued his excellent form with a hattrick for Manchester City in their 4-1 demolition of Blackburn Rovers this evening.

The first came courtesy of Paul Robinson's flap on a City corner with Tevez deflecting in Benjani's wayward effort. His second two were top class. One first time into the corner from 20 yards and the second, to complete his hattrick in stoppage time, from a similar distance and the same corner, only from a stationary position as he showed great technique to guide it past the defender and goalkeeper.

Carlos Tevez now has 12 goals this season; Manchester City's top scorer with as many goals as Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy combined (6 each). Benjani was involved in all 3 of Manchester City's goals whilst he was on the pitch in the absence of Adebayor. Robinho was an unused substitute for anyone interested.

4 wins in 4 games now for Roberto Mancini that boosts City up to 4th in the Premier League table. Who thought they made the wrong decision in firing Mark Hughes? I bet all those City fans who complained just a few weeks ago are keeping quiet now. But there is still along way to go.

A heavy first touch from Vincent Kompany allowed Morten Gamst Pedersen to score a consolation for Blackburn; the first goal Manchester City have conceded under their new Italian manager.

What must Sir Alex Ferguson be thinking at Manchester United for not perusing Carlos Tevez after his loan expired at the end of last season? Manchester United are really lacking another high goalscorer other than Wayne Rooney this season and could do with the skillful, hardworking and goalscoring Tevez. We will wait to see if Mame Biram Diouf turns out to be that after their new signing made his debut in the closing stages of their 1-1 draw at Birmingham on Saturday, leaving Michael Owen as an unused substitute.

Tonight's result and Manchester United failing to beat Birmingham on Saturday left me with 2/3 correct tips this weekend. With the weather getting better and the likelihood of the Premier League returning to it's normal ways this weekend, please come back to check out my Premier League Betting Tips in a few days time as I aim to make you more money from gambling.

Kurt Warner: Future Hall of Famer

2010-01-11T17:44:00.001Z

Kurt Warner's performance in Arizona's 51-45 overtime victory over Green Bay made me pay for doubting the Cardinals in the playoffs for the second year running.

He played a near-perfect game, completing 29/33 passes for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns, although it was a defensive touchdown from Karlos Dansby that won them the game.

Kurt Warner's post-season record is now 9 wins and 3 losses. We were wrong to write them off, although it must be said if Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers hadn't started so slowly they could have won the game. They battled back from a 21 point deficit in the third quarter to force overtime, despite Warner connecting with his receivers on nearly every pass attempt. I didn't expect him to have as much time in the pocket or for his receivers to get open time after time as the Packers defence didn't show up. This no show from the Packer defence ultimately cost them as Warner threw passes onto his receivers numbers in what was an excellent display at quarterback. Turning 39 in the summer, this is expected to be his last season with the concussions he has received over the years. He has also said in the past he wants to see his 7 children grow up.

If this is to be the last season we see Kurt Warner, he will retire a well-respected and successful player. Aiming to lead the Arizona Cardinals to their second consecutive Superbowl, and his fourth, Kurt Warner's experience and ability is second-to-none on this team. It's hard to think where they would be without him. Or shall I just remind of you the long, unsuccessful seasons of the Cardinals pre-Warner?

The former Northern Iowa Panther fought for a job in the NFL by impressing for the then-NFL Europe Amsterdam Admirals before being signed by the St Louis Rams in 1998. He relied on an injury to Trent Green to get him the starting job and the rest is history. A failed spell at the New York Giants saw him move to the Arizona Cardinals after several teams refused to touch him. Since joining the Cardinals in 2005, Warner had slipped behind Josh McCown and Matt Leinart before establishing himself as the starter in 2007. Two years and two post-seasons later he has become a strong contender for the Hall of Fame.

A holder of several regular and post-season NFL records, 1 Superbowl ring and a 2-time NFL MVP. He also has the 3 highest passing yards totals in Superbowl history. He has got all the credentials, he now just needs the votes when his name enters the ballot.

Cowboys Destroy Eagles as Expected

2010-01-10T11:34:00.003Z

As ever, our NFL Tipster gave me a personal tip on the Dallas Cowboys to thrash the Philadelphia Eagles last night, as he also hinted in his wildcard previews. The usual “bet all you can afford on it”, “sure bet”, “easy money” and similar quotations followed as he tried to reassure me of what was about to happen. Not only did I trust him, but my own knowledge of the NFL lead me to believe the Dallas Cowboys would handsomely beat the Philadelphia Eagles last night/this morning. And so I placed my bet.

Unfortunately for the legend that is our NFL expert, he predicted the Cincinnati Bengals to beat the New York Jets. Fool! I couldn't help but joke around with him last night about how I was correct in backing the Jets, but he can be forgiven. Here's a screenshot of that bet, mainly aimed towards our NFL Tipster, that I don't mind sharing to the world either ;)

He'll soon shut my mouth when he shows me how much he won from the Cowboys alone, which I estimate to be at least 10x as much as mine. And I thought I had a large wager on it! The man is risky, successful and I can't resist using the word genius to describe him. He knows his NFL believe me. He makes a living from it.

It was a mismatch as expected, with Donovan McNabb struggling once again against the Cowboys defence while Tony Romo was connecting with his receivers even if the blitz was getting close and forcing him out of the pocket on occasions. The Eagles could only muster 62 yards from their running game as the Cowboys racked up 198; 148 alone from Felix Jones, whose 73 yard touchdown midway through the third quarter collapsed any doubts of the Eagles making the score close.

A few mishaps in the first half from the Eagles allowed the Cowboys to bridge a gap in the scoreline and one they never looked back on. Firstly a Michael Vick fumble was recovered by the Cowboys deep in their own half and when they got the ball back again, Leonard Weaver fumbled shortly after making a grab. The Cowboys had made a slow start to the game, by making effective starts to their first two drives only to slow down and end up with 0 points. But their defence was too good and ultimately the offence came through.

Tonight, I'm with our tipster in picking the Patriots and Packers, but I don't have enough faith in either of these to make a worthwhile bet on them this evening!

Surprised Manchester United Dropped Points at Birmingham?

2010-01-09T19:28:00.003Z

Back on Christmas Day I read smug Manchester United fans tweets, laughing at Chelsea dropping points at Birmingham. I even had to console a Chelsea fan that evening with the words “Manchester United go to Birmingham in early January – they're not going to win there”. He looked back at me like I was an alien. Yes, it's easy to be smug now as Manchester United failed to win at Birmingham, leaving me with a winning bet on laying them and for backing the game to have under 2.5 goals. But who really thought Manchester United were going to win at Birmingham today?

Birmingham City set a club record unbeaten 12 games in a row in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United. It was actually the first time Birmingham have dropped points from a winning position this season, but if a draw with the reigning champions leaves you disappointed, it's always a sign of how good they're playing right now. Pre-season relegation contenders; their Premier League status can be all-but secured in the next few games!

Manchester United started the game well, but failed to take advantage of all their possession and eventually fell behind to a Cameron Jerome goal after some poor Manchester United defending. United grabbed a second half equaliser, but didn't look like winning especially after Darren Fletcher's second yellow card in the final minutes, before the 6 minutes of stoppage time.

With Arsenal 2-2 Everton the only other game played today, Chelsea are big winners at the top of the table, now 1 point ahead of Manchester United with a game in hands (away to Hull). Laying the favourites as mentioned in my blog earlier today, including Derby in that (ok, I got Leeds wrong today, sorry) was where the money was to be made in betting on the Premier League today.

The West Ham-Wolves game was called off today too which means there is no Premier League football tomorrow. Manchester City vs Blackburn Rovers hasn't been called off as of yet, a Monday night game at Eastlands.

Hopefully football will return to normal next weekend and that my weekly Premier League Tips will be worthwhile. As for today, I hope you made money on the lays!

A Season of Lay Betting

2010-01-09T14:18:00.003Z

Half way through the English domestic football season, I notice it's been the best season so far for lay betters.

The top 4, odds on favourites for the majority of their games have lost more at the half way point than they usually do in a full season. This has left many punters disappointed, but may lay betters with a huge smug smile on their face.

Last night I enjoyed more success myself as out-of-form West Brom were odds on to beat the in-form Nottingham Forest. While I wasn't expecting a route I was confident in laying West Brom, and I was never in doubt after Dexter Blackstock gave the visitors an early lead. I've noticed this season so far, more than any previous has been the best time for lay betters to enjoy success laying the favourites.

The weather has corrupted the fixtures this weekend, with only Arsenal vs Everton and Birmingham vs Manchester United going ahead today in the Premier League. While the number of games to lay is down to a minimum (and I wouldn't recommend laying Leeds or Norwich either! Maybe Derby, but that's another story), there's a number of punters laying Manchester United at in-form Birmingham. I myself think Manchester United's odds are far too short to justify both side's performances of late.

For any newbies to this type of betting, we have a guide to lay betting on our website, and a review of Betfair, the most popular and well-known bookmaker for lay betting. These will help you make a great start.

As the season goes on there will be many more great lay betting opportunities. I will help you identify these in the Premier League though our weekly Premier League Tips.

Will An African Nation Win the 2010 World Cup?

2010-01-07T22:39:00.002Z

While African nations failed to make Pele's infamous quote in 1977 of “An African team will win the World Cup before the end of this century“ come true, there's more belief than ever that one of the six participating African nations will win this year's World Cup.

And those believers have every reason to be optimistic. Although nations from Africa have disappointed in pretty much every World Cup since Cameroon reached the quarter finals of the 1990 tournament (Roger Milla and co). This time they come better prepared.

It goes without saying the home field advantage. The world cup is hosted in South Africa. It's been common pub knowledge in the past few months that Brazil and Argentina are the only two nations to have won the tournament outside of their own continent (Brazil winning in Sweden in 1958 is the only European hosted world cup that didn't have a European winner). Whether you class it as history or environmental factors, it's in the African nations favour.

Home support has proven to be a key factor in World Cups too, with the hosts always making it past the group stage since its invention. South Korea making the quarter finals in 2002 is a key example of that. England's only final appearance and victory, back in 1966 was their hosted tournament also. South Africa have a tough task with Mexico, Uruguay and France in their group. But they will be aided by the overwhelming support expected for the home nation and the five other African nations.

Those five others are Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. All of which will be on display in the African Cup of Nations that begins on Sunday. However South Africa did not qualify for this year's tournament. For these five, it's a competitive tournament in a World Cup year which should prove to be a big advantage for them, while the other 27 qualifiers have the occasional friendly between now and June.

In previous world cups, perhaps the African sides haven't had the experience or tactical input of the Europeans that has proven to be successful. Former Lyon and Rangers manager Paul Le Guen is currently the national coach of Cameroon; Serbian Milovan Rajevac is in charge of Ghana; Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic of Ivory Coast; and Carlos Alberto Parreira is in charge of South Africa. The Brazilian brings a wealth of experience, coaching in 5 previous World Cups (21 games) including leading Brazil to glory in 1994.

Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o are two of the highest-rated strikers in the World, both Champions League finalists. Eto'o, along with Yaya Toure won the competition last season. Michael Essien and Emmanuel Eboue are also Champions League runners up and Premier League regulars. There are no excuses for lack of experience, facilities or quality when they head into this year's tournament.

The bookmakers haven't been so kind, with the Ivory Coast only as 9th favourites at 28/1.

Will one of these African sides lift the world cup trophy in Johannesburg on July 11th?

Which Team Suffers the Most from the African Nations?

2010-01-06T21:11:00.007Z

A lot is being made of Didier Drogba and a few of his team mates missing for Chelsea over the coming weeks as they have flown out to Angola for the bi-yearly event known as the African Cup of Nations. But Chelsea won't suffer the most from their absentees.

Yes, Didier Drogba is one of the best strikers in the Premier League and his boots are too big to fill for anyone. Michael Essien is one of the best central midfielders in the world in my opinion and he's another blow to this Chelsea side. But with the gulf of World Class talent they have throughout their ranks, they should be able to cover to some degree, especially with their fixtures this month being against teams they are expected to comfortably beat. John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou are also at this tournament, but Chelsea have players capable of covering them adequately.

Pressure maybe on the shoulders of the young Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini to provide goals while Drogba is still away on international duty. I haven't seen Sturridge as a regular scorer, but he has the best players around him to learn from and scored 2 at the weekend to say otherwise.

Going from the top of the Premier League to the very bottom, is where the problems lie. Portsmouth, already 4 points adrift, failing to pay their players Decembers wages and under a transfer embargo. They could have done without 4 of their players making the trip to Angola this month. The experienced Kanu is representing Nigeria while fellow striker Aruna Dindane represents the Ivory Coast. Frederic Piquionne has found a bit of form of late, but if manager Avram Grant is to support him with another striker this month he is going to have to chose between Danny Webber and Tommy Smith. Neither with a respectable goal scoring record in the Premier League.

Portsmouth have also lost left winger Nadir Belhadj and central midfielder Hassan Yebda. They can be grateful Kevin Prince Boateng's papers haven't come through in time to switch nationality from German to Ghanaian and therefore he has had to stay in England for the duration of the African Nations.

Manchester City will be without captain Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, while Arsenal will be without Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue. A full list of Premier League players selected for the African Nations is as follows:

Alex Song (Arsenal)
Andre Bikey (Burnley)
Aruna Dindane (Portsmouth)
Daniel Cousin (Hull City)
Danny Shittu (Bolton Wanderers)
Dickson Etuhu (Fulham)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City)
Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)
Hassan Yebda (Portsmouth)
John Mensah (Sunderland)
John Obi Mikel (Chelsea)
Joseph Yobo (Everton)
Kanu (Portsmouth)
Kolo Toure (Manchester City)
Michael Essien (Chelsea)
Moustapha Salifou (Aston Villa)
Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth)
Richard Kingson (Wigan Althetic)
Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)
Seyi Olofinjana (Hull City)
Yakubu (Everton)

The Record of a Professional NFL Gambler

2010-01-05T19:17:00.001Z

As you may be aware, our NFL Tipster is a full time professional gambler. He specialises in the NFL, as you will be aware of. This season we've got him to give us his tips for each of the week's regular season games (playoffs to come!). If you followed them weekly as I did, I would have expected you to also have made a substantial profit this season.

To get to the main details, his record was 165-80-2 – he didn't help us with the Thursday night games. While you are probably about to rummage around the internet to find a better record or too, it is worth mentioning our tipster provides tips with a mixture of the spread and not. So do your best not to compare him to someone who picks the outcome and someone who picks only on the spread. But of course I like to point out when he gets some wrong too (as long as I didn't have money on them). Though be careful not to abuse him too much, he does make a living off this!

He has promised me an interview in the near future to help any wannabe professional gamblers and such. He will also continue his tips throughout the post-season including the Superbowl itself. Next season I am hoping to get more out of him for this website, as I am sure you are hoping for too, whilst remaining grateful for all the work he has done this season.

Who Should Liverpool Buy This Month?

2010-01-04T16:41:00.000Z

4 points off a top 4 finish, Liverpool aren't out of the Champions League race just yet. While Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa look stronger at this point, there's nothing to say those teams won't have a blip between now and the end of the season and allow Liverpool back into top 4 contention.

For Liverpool to make a serious run at the top 4, they need to strengthen their squad during this transfer window.

They haven't played well in defence this season, but the potential to do well is there. They have been able to rely on Jamie Carragher for many seasons now, and alongside him is Daniel Agger who isn't as good as other defenders in top teams. Both both are solid in the air. When either of them is missing, I don't think Martin Skrtel is good enough to fill in the gap admirably, and Sotirios Kyrgiakos is too slow for the Premier League. He is more of a hindrance than an asset when he plays. Glen Johnson is a solid right back, even if he is caught out of position one too many times. Help from the player in front of him, usually Dirk Kuyt would help out defensively. Emiliano Insua receives a lot of credit at left back but I still think he is a bit suspect. Even against Reading in the FA Cup at the weekend, Rafa Benitez played Fabio Aurelio in front of him to help him out, instead of playing an attacking player on the left side of midfield to show intent for winning the game.

Their midfield was downgraded over the summer with the sale of Xabi Alonso. A tough one to replace. Alberto Aquilani hasn't had enough playing time for us to say he cannot fill those boots. But on the few occasions I have seen him it is clear he is taking his time to adapt to the Premier League. Javier Mascherano protects the back 4 well, but too many times this season has he played alongside Lucas. We're all very critical of the Brazilian, who's role at Liverpool still remains undefined. It appears he should be protecting the back 4 because he creates very little chances and doesn't score himself. But Benitez should not be playing these two side by side, especially when you're playing the likes of Portsmouth. Lucas needs to be moved on and Mascherano can be left to protect the back 4. His range of passing is also an asset to the side. I cannot criticise Steven Gerrard. The team should be built around him, but Benitez is doing a poor job of that. He works well with Fernando Torres, while he helps out his defence well too.

On the wings, Albert Riera hasn't lived up to his early promise. He is still their best left winger though and adds natural width. Dirk Kuyt has been forced out on the right wing which he should be better adapted too by now. He's not suited to it there with his lack of pace and skill to create chances for the strikers and most right wingers do. He needs to be replaced. Ryan Babel shows glimpses of what he is capable of but his lack of effort lets the team down. Liverpool may be able to get a decent price for him if they wanted, but it seems Benitez is happy to keep him. Yossi Benayoun is a top player but needs to be settled in at one position. Preferably behind the striker, but Benitez doesn't know where to play him and sometimes doesn't play him at all.

Up front, Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers in the world. Unfortunately he is struggling with injuries and fatigue. He needs a few weeks off to recoup but the manager seems unwilling to do so. The lack of quality in this position has given him no other choice. David N'Gog runs around like a headless chicken despite showing potential. He's certainly not a top 4 striker at the moment, but with more experience he could live up to his potential. Andriy Voronin needs to be sold on.

Liverpool have a few youngsters breaking into the first team this season. Hoping to find the next Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher, it is important they do so and not need to spend big money again in positions where Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have brought through talent from their youth systems.

Who would I bring in this January?

It's easier said than done. And too many changes in January could unsettle the squad. Liverpool have been linked to both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roman Pavlyuchenko already this month. The first is an ageing star of the past. If they can get him cheaply and his fitness holds up, then van Nistelrooy will be a great snip. But whether they can do either remains to be seen. Pavlyuchenko has been a flop at Spurs and would be a bad gamble. Already in a crisis, the amount of criticism from pundits and fans alike would only make the task more difficult. Benni McCarthy has been linked to Celtic for £2,500,000 this month – I would see him as a good acquisition for Liverpool. A Champions League winner and proven goalscorer. With the World Cup in his home country approaching, he'll want to get in form for that. At a small price he could knock in a good number of goals for Liverpool for the remainder of this season at least.

With reports that Liverpool don't have much money to spend, building quality on a budget won't be easy. West Ham are in a financial problem themselves and because of this they may be able to poach Scott Parker from the Hammers for a reduced fee. He has top 4 experience at Chelsea, if somewhat limited. An experienced player in the Premier League, Parker is good at both protecting his defence and creating chances. I wouldn't compare him to Steven Gerrard, but adding him into the same midfield would make their team much better. If the price is too high for him, Jack Collison and Mark Noble wouldn't be bad options, also from West Ham.

To add attacking flair to their midfield, Liverpool have been linked to Real Madrid's Rafael van der Vaart and Atletico Madrid's Maxi Rodriguez. I couldn't argue with either of these signings as they're both big upgrades on what they currently have.

Raiding West Ham in defence would be for Matthew Upson. He's previously been linked to Liverpool, has experience at International level and is one of the best defenders in the Premier League. He alongside Carragher would strengthen Liverpool's defence immediately.

There's a lot of building work to be done at Liverpool and it must start immediately. Looking at the 11 they fielded against Reading on Saturday, there is plenty of room for improvement as they aim to finish in the top 4 this season.

Who do you think Liverpool should buy this month?

What Happened to the Pittsburgh Steelers?

2010-01-03T21:12:00.001Z

Coming into the season as defending Champions and rightfully amongst the early-season favourites, the Pittsburgh Steelers opened the season with a tough-thought overtime victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Troy Polamalu suffered a knee injury in that opener and would miss the next 4 games. They would lose the next two games very late in Chicago and Cincinnati but rebound with 5 straight victories, including wins over San Diego and Minnesota to seal a 6-2 record at the halfway stage of the regular season. They were looking good despite being in a tough AFC North division with the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens playing well.

It would be the Bengals who ended the Steelers winning streak, in Pittsburgh on November 15 to top the division and a season sweep over last season's Superbowl Champions. That loss started a shocking run of form for the team lead by two-time Superbowl winner Ben Roethlisberger, losing in overtime to both the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, a home defeat by the Oakland Raiders and then a shocking performance in defeat to the Cleveland Browns on December 10th.

5 of their 7 defeats this season came after leading in the 4th quarter. Something that you don't associate with Superbowl champions and contenders. These defeats, especially to some of the weaker teams in the league have cost them their chance of defending the Superbowl.

Their basic offence doesn't utilise all of their weapons effectively. The likes of Santonio Holmes and Mike Wallace could be effective in trick plays and reversals with their speed. Although the offensive line hasn't performed too well this season. Ben Roethlisberger is constantly scrambling around and trying to avoid sacks, as well as taking many too. Defensively they have a solid corpse, with Superbowl MVP James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley at outside linebacker, both great in run stuffing and blitzing. Polamalu, when fit is an elite safety and playmaker.

Mike Wallace's winning touchdown catch against Green Bay in week 15 ended their losing streak and then they pulled out the stops to beat Baltimore last week giving them some chance of making the playoffs. While our NFL Tipster correctly told me Pittsburgh were the “best banker” this weekend (they just about hang on, beating the Miami Dolphins 30-24, despite the Dolphins being down to their 3rd choice quarterback, Tyler Thigpen in the 4th quarter). The Houston Texans victory over New England not only ensured their first winning season record, but should mean the Steelers won't make the playoffs (they require Baltimore, New York and Denver all to lose in their late game kickoffs – all are favourites).

I would expect the Pittsburgh Steelers to bounce back, although it's too early to say. Now we have the NFL playoffs to look for before the Superbowl itself on February 7th. Our NFL Tipster and pro gambler will provide you with tips throughout the post season. He has also promised an interview on this blog in the near future.

How Many Records Will Chris Johnson Break on Sunday?

2010-01-02T13:05:00.001Z

This has hardly been a season to remember for the Tennessee Titans; starting 0-6 and being eliminated from any playoff possibilities in their own stadium on Christmas Day.

There are some positives for them to take out of this season though. First, Vince Young coming back in and being a much more matured leader than the one he was before losing his job to Kerry Collins. They still have one of the best offensive lines in the league. They can still stop the run. Oh – and Chris Johnson is one of the elite running backs in the league now.

Tennessee have two missions when they travel to Seattle for their final game of the season on Sunday. 1) Get the win. 2) Get Chris Johnson into the record books.

The 2nd year running back out of East Carolina is the first Titan to be voted to Pro Bowls in each of his first two seasons since Jevon Kearse did so a decade ago (1999 and 2000). Last season he ran for 1,228 yards and 9 touchdowns, splitting time with LenDale White. This season White has had only 63 carries since being their lead runner with 303 carries, 2 seasons ago.

Chris Johnson has blown by defences this season, as early as week 2 when he ran for 197 yards on 16 carries and caught 9 passes for 87 yards in defeat to the Houston Texans. He is currently on a 10-game streak of 100+ yards. He needs 234 rushing yards on Sunday to beat Eric Dickerson's rushing record set back in 1984. His single best performance is 228, set in week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As he has been a threat at both running and receiving, Johnson is only 75 yards short of Marshall Faulk's all-purpose yardage record of 2,429 yards, set in the 1999 season when his St Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans in that infamous Superbowl.

If Chris Johnson gains 128 rushing yards on Sunday, he will become only the sixth player in NFL history to run for 2,000+ yards in a single season.

Johnson has been a big hitter this season. While he has been stuffed in the backfield on a number of occasions or brought down for a minimal game, one missed tackle or perfect blocking has sprung him big runs this season. He is the quickest player in the NFL, added with his power makes him one of the elite running backs in the NFL.

Seattle's goal on Sunday is to quite simply stop the run. They didn't do so well last Sunday, when Ryan Grant of the Green Bay Packers average 6.1 yards per carry. While they rank 14th against the run this season, allowing an average of 109.5 rushing yards per game, they look like a team eagerly waiting for the off season to come. Thus giving Chris Johnson every ounce of confidence to break the 2,000 mark barrier. Whether they come out to crash the party and run blitz for the majority of the game remains to be seen.

Check out our NFL Tipster's picks for the final weekend of the regular season.

Hands Up: Who Wrote Off Newcastle United?

2010-01-02T12:00:00.001Z

After the mess they were in at the end of last season, relegated on the final day under the management of Alan Shearer, there was a dark fog on the Tyne at St James' Park.

Over the summer, Newcastle United were up for sale and no permanent manager was in place. They were in a mess to say the least.

Half way through the Championship season and Newcastle are 6 points clear of the division and one of the strongest sides in the division. They're scoring plenty and conceding few. Just ignore those last two games that saw them draw 2-2 against a manager less Sheffield Wednesday side and then 0-0 at home to an injury-ridden and poor-performing Derby County side. Apart from those results, they've performed above expectations in most peoples eyes. They've lost just 3 of their opening 24 games; 1 at in-form Nottingham Forest and the other 2 were midweek away games.

On paper they arguably have the strongest squad in the division. But credit needs to go to manager Chris Hughton for getting them to play well together. He failed to get them playing like this during his short stint as caretaker manager in the Premier League, but has quickly turned them into one of the most feared teams in the league. Shola Ameobi is scoring goals, Kevin Nolan is getting back to somewhere near his best after looking like a poor £4,000,000 signing a year ago. Alan Smith is their tough-tackling midfielder whom they need in this division (even if Robbie Savage did outshine him in their last game). At the back, Steve Harper is a dependable goalkeeper. And in front of him are Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini who head every ball back from where it comes from (although are suspect if teams decide to run at them). They have strengths all over the park and Chris Hughton is getting the best out of them.

January is a big month for Newcastle as they look to hold onto their key players during the transfer window. With their huge wage bill and previous rumours of administration, sales may be inevitable. But if Hughton still has the core of his team come February, Newcastle will rightfully remain favourites for promotion.

Today, Newcastle travel to Plymouth for their 3rd round FA Cup tie.

Wayne Rooney Shows the Right Attitude

2009-12-28T11:01:00.004Z

Since he began playing professional football, Wayne Rooney's attitude has come into question. Some previous foul tempers, continuous arguments with referees and the odd nasty challenge.

Yesterday, his attitude was perfect in Manchester United's 3-1 victory over Hull City that moved the defending champions within 2 points of leaders Chelsea.

Rooney scored the opening goal in first half stoppage time to give Manchester United the lead against relegation-placed Hull City. But 15 minutes into the second half a Steven Gerrard-like backpass was intercepted by Craig Fagan who's cross ended with Rafael giving Jozy Altidore a slight nudge in the back to which referee Alan Wiley awarded Hull a penalty. Craig Fagan tucked it in as Tomasz Kuszczak dived the wrong way.

Watching on TV, it was clear to see Rooney's disappointment with himself. Rooney admitted after the game he felt he'd let the team down and didn't want to be on the end of Sir Alex Ferguson's wrath. So he went about a changed it. Helped by Andy Dawson keeping him onside from a through ball, Rooney sent the ball across goal in the path of Park Ji-Sung only for Dawson to slide home and restore United's lead. And in the final 10 minutes, Rooney played a perfect pass into the path of Dimitar Berbatov who tucked the ball into an unguarded goal and give Manchester United a 3-1 victory.

This was the attitude and leadership Wayne Rooney is capable of showing. Steven Gerrard has a reputation of dragging results out for Liverpool, and Wayne Rooney provides the same for Manchester United. People doubt his world class status, but he is up there in my books. That's 13 goals in 18 league games for him this season. He does need to put in similar performance against the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool when they meet again this season. He was ineffectual against Liverpool in their 2-0 defeat earlier this season, and similar in Manchester United's 1-0 loss to Chelsea. Though there is one thing you can't question about Rooney is his desire to win.

It wasn't a vintage performance from Manchester United yesterday, but you'd have to question if they would have won the game without Wayne Rooney. Defensively they were much stronger with the returning pair of Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown.

Chelsea face a tough Fulham side today as they try to extend their lead to 5 points before Manchester United host Wigan Athletic on Wednesday. Arsenal travel to Portsmouth that same evening before a home game against Bolton the following Wednesday as they catchup the number of games over the 2 teams above them.

With the number of dropped points this month in particular from the top teams, it has made for a very exciting season so far with the order of the top 4 hard to predict. Make sure to check out our regular Premier League Tips to keep on top of all the action.

San Diego Set to Spoil Tennessee's Christmas Party

2009-12-25T21:32:00.004Z

The Tennessee Titans entertain the San Diego Chargers with kickoff only a few hours away. After seeing our NFL Tipster's Picks for this week's games, I couldn't resist elaborating on this matchup, being a keen admirer of the Titans myself.

I'm surprised the Titans are favourites for this match, albeit just by 3 points. Perhaps a long journey on Christmas day for the visitors had something to do with the bookmakers odds, because I am one of many backing the underdog tonight.

Preparation could be a key I have not taken too seriously. Jeff Fisher's side are always well-prepared, but I remember them losing 37-16 at home to the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day 5 years ago.

The San Diego Chargers are one of the best teams in the NFL right now and a genuine contender for the Superbowl. A 9-game winning streak has seen them take the AFC West after a gloomy 2-3 start that saw them far behind the 6-0 Denver Broncos. Both teams have gone in different directions since Broncos won the first battle in week 6. The San Diego Chargers were confirmed as division champions last weekend when the Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos. If the Chargers win tonight they will wrap up a bye week as the number 2 team.

A dreadful 0-6 start to the season for the Tennessee Titans seemed to eliminate any post season opportunity in the opening weeks of the season. Only 2 of those sides they lost to are sitting in a playoff position currently. Since then they've been on a long recovery, winning 7 of their last 8 matches. Only one of those victories came against a playoff-bound team and that was thanks to a magical drive and final play touchdown pass from Vince Young against the Arizona Cardinals. Truth be told, they're beating the teams they can be expected to beat. But they're not beating the good teams. And the Chargers are a good team.

If San Diego can give Philip Rivers time in the pocket he will have a big game tonight. The Titans defence has already allowed 300+ yard passing games from 7 quarterbacks this season, including 349 yards by Chad Henne last weekend in their overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins after letting slip of a big 4th quarter lead.

Keith Bulluck, one of the best all-around linebackers in the league is gone for the season now and his loss may well be exposed tonight. He can play both the pass and running games very well and Tennessee can't replace him. Antonio Gates is already over 1,000 yards on the season and will benefit from Tennessee's loss. LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles will also benefit in the running game.

As for Tennessee's offence. Chris Johnson needs another 270 yards in his final 2 games to reach the 2,000 yard mark. He will find it tough against the Chargers defence that will load the box. Johnson is always one missed tackle away from a big gain, so the Chargers will need to play it perfectly. Johnson is looking for his 10th straight 100+ rushing yard game this evening although his numbers have come down in the past 3 weeks. This defence are setup to bring that run to an end.

That leaves work for Vince Young to do. A mobile quarterback, he may have a hard time finding room to run when nothing's opened downfield against this defence. He has shown good touch on deep passes and limited the number of bad decisions this season. He will need Nate Washington to catch the deep passes this week as they may look to stretch the Chargers defence if the running game is taken away. Justin Gage has been a reliable receiver for Young, and dumping the ball off to Chris Johnson has always been a good option.

This match pits two of the in-form teams going face-to-face. As optimistic as I have been in recent weeks, I think this is the game that ends any final hopes of a playoff spot for the Tennessee Titans. I can't look past the San Diego Chargers and am taking them at 13/10. You can also take them at 10/11 with +3 on the points spread, with Tennessee very unlikely to win by more than 3 points in anyone's optimistic mind.

Premier League Boxing Day Special

2009-12-24T19:51:00.001Z

As 2009 draws to a close, the Premier League season is cram packed with a few additional games in what is meant to make the Christmas period even more exciting.

Perhaps it is for fans with the usual increase of attendances expected over the next couple of games. But some players don't handle this period too well. Remember the 3 Brazilians at Manchester City last season who wanted to go home for Christmas? Or the Dennis Wise/Robbie Savage, Hayden Foxe and Joey Barton Christmas party incidents to mention a couple.

While we can expect a couple of games to be lacklustre as we occasionally get in the Premier League, I am expecting a number of exciting games once again from your usual weekly Premier League schedule. Hopefully the ones on TV!

And the Premiership Tips team have been working hard again this year to provide you with our weekly tips. Expect to see previews of all the games over the Christmas holidays in time for you to place your bet pre-kickoff for each game.

Our NFL Tipster has also promised me to have his tips up for week 16 of the NFL schedule before the San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans kickoff on Christmas Day. He has a fantastic record this season and continues to make a living off NFL bets. I plan to sit him down and interview him for some tips to becoming a professional gambler next year. All for your benefit!

For now, seasons greetings. Enjoy the festive period, whether it be with the football, NFL or whatever you may be up too!

Barrie

Where Did It All Go Wrong for Mark Hughes?

2009-12-19T18:35:00.001Z

Manchester City fans who went to today's game may not have been aware they were seeing Mark Hughes final one in charge of their club. With Roberto Mancini in the stands today and an announcement set to made shortly after the match, it was clear what was about to happen.

Guus Hiddink had been linked with a move to the City of Manchester Stadium but he seemed more keen on staying with Russia. Jose Mourinho wasn't a write off but the big money spenders went with the former Inter Milan manager and not with his replacement.

Mark Hughes had spent over £200,000,000 in a season and a half at Manchester City, finishing in a disappointing 10th position and currently lying in 6th with 2 wins in their last 11. They were performing below expectations with the owners presumably wanting at least a top 4 finish. There were signs of the club moving in the right direction with signings of Shay Given, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong and Carlos Tevez. However, inconsistencies lead to his downfall.

The only consistency Manchester City have had this season was when they tied the Premier League record of 7 straight draws. They looked good in victories over Arsenal and Chelsea this season, but the team in whole have looked disinterested in games against lesser sides. With Liverpool struggling this season and even Manchester United losing 5 already, Manchester City have had the opportunities to be in the top 4 right now and haven't taken it.

Getting the best out of his team had been a problem for Mark Hughes. While it was obvious from his early days that Robinho was interested, with his lacking away performances coming to the media's attention last season, Hughes stuck with him. Whether Robinho had promised him better performances behind closed doors, I haven't heard. Maybe there was pressure on Hughes from the owners to play him. Emmanuel Adebayor was another gamble, on a striker who looked disinterested when he was at Arsenal. Since scoring against his former team against Arsenal, Adebayor has given little effort and was part of the problem at City. Hughes seemingly couldn't motivate Robinho or Adebayor but they were still playing.

Other problems Hughes had at City were defensive. Over £30,000,000 was spent on their centre back pairing of Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott. Toure had looked good when the rest of Arsenal's defence was poor and Lescott had an outstanding season with Everton the year before. For a team aiming to compete for the title these were questionable signings. They've proved this season to be bad ones. The sale of Richard Dunne also proved to be another bad decision but how much control Mark Hughes had over that was questionable.

Building a team overnight is just not going to happen in the Premier League. Claudio Ranieri didn't do it with the money he had in one season at Chelsea. Jose Mourinho then had a building block to work on. Tottenham and Aston Villa have been working on their squads for a few years to get in this position of competing for a top 4 spot. Arsene Wenger is continually building a team to challenge for the title again.

Manchester City are taking a gamble on Roberto Mancini. He has won trophies with all 3 Italian teams he has managed. First was the Italian version of the FA Cup with Fiorentina in his first season as a manager. He did lead them to relegation however with a team struggling financially. He also won the same trophy with Lazio in his 3rd season. Lazio finished between 4th and 6th during his tenure and have only done better once since he left. Mancini guided Inter Milan to 3 straight titles helped by the problems at fellow title contenders at Juventus and AC Milan. He was sacked after not getting to the latter stages of the Champions League.

Mancini certainly has a good history in a short spell back home. But what can he do under the pressure of Manchester City having only spent a few weeks in England as Leicester City player 9 years ago?

What Manchester United Lack This Season

2009-12-19T16:53:00.003Z

I was hoping/planning to write this before Manchester United lost another game this season and start fading out of the title race, but waiting until midweek proved to be too long. I don't mean to sound like I'm writing United off just yet but they are looking weak right now.

To say Manchester United relied on Cristiano Ronaldo last season would be unfair. Yes he was involved in just about every goal they scored last season. And yes it was impossible for Sir Alex Ferguson to replace him after he left for Madrid in the summer.

Instead Ferguson brought in Antonio Valencia to play on the right wing. Valencia had previously looked very good in an average Wigan side. But the Ecuadorian was never a goalscorer at Wigan. After taking his time to settle into the squad he's looking ok now, but far from a world beater and more importantly he hasn't proven to be a game changer. That's what Manchester United are missing this season.

When things were going for them last season, they looked unstoppable. When things weren't going for them, Ronaldo was able to step up and make things work. And in one game he had already scored twice in but not given Manchester United the lead, Federico Macheda came off the bench and scored the winner.

Wayne Rooney in the past has been a match winner for Manchester United, and continues to do that but the supporting case is lacking this year. Valencia as stated doesn't replace Ronaldo. Dimitar Berbatov doesn't replace the hardworking Carlos Tevez. And while Michael Owen is making the runs, no one is playing him the balls to slide him through on goal and tap in from close range.

Everyone was singing the praises of Michael Owen following his Champions League hattrick earlier this month. He hasn't done anything since. I'm not putting the fault on him, Michael Owen can still be a great striker, fitness permitting. He needs players to give him the chances because when you see him play, he still makes great runs off the ball and gets in space. His teammates aren't getting the ball to him enough when he is open though.

Recently their defensive injuries have hit them hard. Darren Fletcher has slotted in at right back this month and Michael Carrick at centre back for 5 games in succession now. While the aforementioned have slotted in well, there has been a big hole in their midfield. Carrick's creativity has been missing, and Fletcher's ability to break up opposition attack's would probably have prevented Danny Murphy scoring today (“probably” means I haven't watched it and am assuming).

I feel embarrassed to have tipped Manchester United on Thursday ahead of today's game. As soon as I saw Nemanja Vidic was missing today I had a feeling they wouldn't win today, but it was too late to change my mind and I apologise (please forgive me with my correct Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City tips today)!

United will recover from their defensive injuries and will sharpen up at the back in the process. In doing so, Fletcher and Carrick can come back into midfield and improve that. As for creating chances, they haven't proven they are capable of doing that. An example was in their 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in November, where they had lots of possession and didn't create much from it.

The January transfer window is coming up. While Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't usually spend much in this period, he should seriously be looking to add some attacking flair to his side. Franck Ribery has previously been linked to the club and would be a good acquisition in my book. As would his Bayern Munich teammate Arjen Robben who was once linked to Old Trafford, before moving to Chelsea. He is unlikely to move considering he only moved to Germany this summer.

Currently in the midfield, they have Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes whom are both capable of winning a game, but at they don't have the fitness anymore to play week in, week out at a high level. Scholes has been inconsistent for over a year now to add to that. Anderson isn't a creator of goals, neither Darren Fletcher. Michael Carrick hasn't been a regular starter this year but should be in the centre of the park every week in my opinion. Park Ji-Sung doesn't create enough chances and Nani isn't consistent enough to play at this level. Darron Gibson is still young but I feel Ferguson will put pressure on him to step up to become a Frank Lampard-like player in their midfield. It's too early to say whether he will be that or not but he looks to have a bright future ahead of him at least. He is not an immediate answer for the problem however. Manchester United are lacking in that area and I see it preventing them from winning the Premier League right now unless they can raise their levels immediately.

Portsmouth Add to Liverpool's Worries

2009-12-19T14:39:00.003Z

Troubles continue at Liverpool after they suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth today.

In today's early kickoff, Liverpool started the brighter team but didn't take advantage by scoring and allowed Portsmouth to grow into the match halway through the first half.

On 34 minutes Liverpool paid the price as Nadir Belhadj struck a sweet shot to give Portsmouth a 1-0 lead. Things got worse for Liverpool on half time as Javier Mascherano was sent off and injured in a bad tackle. A red card may have been harsh but he looked far from comfortable leaving the pitch and may have picked up a long term injury.

Rafael Benitez stuck with him and Lucas, two holding midfielders in the starting lineup against the team bottom of the league and whom they should be attacking. Yossi Benayoun was left on the bench until early in the second half while big summer signing Alberto Aquilani was left out with a reported calf strain.

Liverpool created little throughout the match as their long ball style didn't affect the Portsmouth defence. Portsmouth with Asmir Begovic in goal today kept just their 4th clean sheet of the season and move level on points with West Ham before the 3pm kickoffs and can move up to 19th if West Ham lose at home to Chelsea tomorrow.

Liverpool are 5 points behind Aston Villa in 4th, whom have a winnable game at home to Stoke from 3pm and Arsenal host Hull in the evening kickoff. If both teams win as expected, Liverpool will be 8 points off a Champions League spot after Rafa Benitez guaranteed a top 4 spot earlier this week.

Can things get any worse for Liverpool this season? Now losing to the side bottom in the league, it's 7 defeats in 18 league games for them this season.

Portsmouth, with their transfer embargo have given themselves a massive boost for avoiding relegation with this result. However if they can't sort themselves out financially players may need to be sold in January, wages may not be paid and then the side will surely fall apart.

Champions League Draw Looks Good for English Sides

2009-12-18T20:43:00.003Z

The Champions League is heavily favoured to come down between the English and Spanish sides once again as they were all kept apart in today's 2nd round draw.

The 3 remaining English sides and 2 of the 3 remaining Spanish sides make up the 5 favourites, with Barcelona being 3/1 favourites to become the first team to defend the Champions League. They were drawn out with Stuttgart in the second round today.

From the English perspective, 2nd favourites Chelsea have Inter Milan in their first knockout round match which will be one of top two most hyped matches in this round as it sees the current leaders of the Premier League facing the current leaders of Serie A and Jose Mourinho returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time since leaving.

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan have been knocked out by Liverpool and Manchester United in his two previous Champions League campaigns. He has faced pressure because he hasn't taken them far in this competition and this unfortunate draw is likely to see his side eliminated in round 2 after struggling through the group stage.

While his side possess some world class talents, including Samuel Eto'o, Wesley Sneijder, Julio Cesar, Lucio and Esteban Cambiasso, they still have weaknesses in their first team and aren't up to the pace of the likes of Chelsea. The Italian league is behind in that sense and that goes some way to explaining why they haven't been competitive in the latter stages of the competition recently. Patrick Vieira was too slow to keep up with Manchester United last season, suggesting Arsene Wenger sold him at the right time.

Jose Mourinho's management skills should make this a competitive two legged affair, but I don't see Inter being able to eliminate his former team. This match may also see someone falling to the ground easier than Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge, if Mario Balotelli plays.

To continue the Anglo-Italian affair, the teams currently positioned second in their respective leagues also meet head-to-head in this year's Champions League as Manchester United take on AC Milan. With David Beckham set to move back on loan to Milan, he is likely to play at Old Trafford once again. His Milan team weren't impressive in the group stage but for a comeback win against Real Madrid. While they too have some talent, they don't match up too well 11 on 11 on paper against any of the 5 favourites. Manchester United will need to improve their attack by then. They have 2 months to do that. Whether it's getting Michael Owen back into shape, a youngster breaking through or a surprise January signing, something needs to improve. Other than that they should be comfortable winners in this match against a what I call overrated AC Milan side, from the few times I've see them this season at least.

Arsenal got FC Porto in their match and are clear favourites to progress. Porto are an experienced side in this competition but have looked weaker season on season since Jose Mourinho lead them to glory in 2004. They took 6 points off both Atletico Madrid and APOEL Nicosia in the group stages but didn't score a single goal in their two defeats to Chelsea. As long as Arsene Wenger doesn't take them too likely or his side aren't going through one of poor runs and William Gallas throwing tantrums, they will qualify with ease for the quarter finals.

All-in-all, injuries permitting, as of now our 3 remaining English sides look set to qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions League. This treble is currently 3.30 at bet365. Check out our Betting Blog for all of the Champions League odds following today's draw.

One final thing. If you're like myself and are relatively sure it's between the Spanish and English sides once again in this year's competition, there's a nice little arb currently available with any English side winning the Champions League at 13/8 with bet365 and any Spanish side winning the Champions League at 7/5 with Sportingbet.

Taking Advantage of Live Betting

2009-12-17T19:50:00.004Z

I had little interest in the Austria Vienna-Celtic match at kickoff this evening, in their final Europa League game each, with nothing more than pride at stake themselves.

I had caught the Austrians earlier this season when they eliminated Aston Villa on away goals. They didn't look like much more than an average team then. And after taking an early 3-0 lead against a lackadaisical Celtic side they reverted to their little-more-than-average ways.

Fortune pulled one back halfway through the first half as Celtic maintained most of the possession with the home side creating very little. It took a couple of minutes into the second half and another Celtic threat before I decided to log into my online gambling account and back Celtic double chance win or draw at a handsome 8/1.

There was no looking back after that as Marc-Antoine Fortune pulled another back with 20+ minutes remaining and with all the momentum. Austria Vienna didn't have another chance, although that could have been different if Nikica Jelavic had have shot first time instead of controlling the ball as Celtic's keeper Artur Boruc dived at his feet.

I thought Tony Mowbay made a bad decision going into stoppage time by substituting hattrick-searching Marc-Antoine Fortune, but it mattered little in the end as youngster Paul McGowan struck home a stoppage time equaliser and puts me in a position to buy more than the first round this weekend.

It was only last Saturday I mentioned how backing Manchester City double chance in-play at Bolton turned a losing bet into a winning one. I cannot advise in-play betting enough in games like these. Of course they don't always turn out the way you want them too, but some odds you can't turn down.

We have a live betting strategies page amongst our betting guides on our main website if you want to read more and start taking advantage of these opportunities. Now to watch Everton's backups against BATE Borisov in their final Europa League group game...

Chelsea Avoid Scare on Avram Grant's Return

2009-12-16T21:55:00.003Z

Chelsea were thrown a lifeline after Marc Wilson's lunge on Branislav Ivanovic inside the penalty box gifted the Blues a winning penalty to maintain their 3 point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Nicolas Anelka had given Chelsea an early lead, but they were pegged back at the start of the second half by Frederic Piquionne and were made to work for their victory in the second half. This put similes on the faces of several gamblers worldwide I'm sure as their odds to win went up to evens with 15 minutes remaining. Less than 5 minutes later Frank Lampard's penalty sealed the deal. Avram Grant had made 7 changes to his Portsmouth side from their game at the weekend but they didn't rollover.

Yesterday, Manchester United had temporarily levelled Chelsea's points tally with a 3-0 victory over Wolves. This victory for Chelsea may get their momentum started ahead of their trip to Upton Park on Sunday. Potentially a tricky task on boxing day as they travel to Birmingham, but their defence will be up against it when they face Didier Drogba in particular. Other than that, there is potential for a few comfortable wins between now and they end of January.

Aston Villa's move up into 3rd place following their 2-0 victory at Sunderland yesterday was only temporarily, but they are in a better position than when they week started after Arsenal were held 1-1 at Burnley. Cesc Fabregas gave Arsenal an early lead but failed to take several chances to double their lead shortly after and were made to pay when Thomas Vermaelen gave away a penalty from which Graham Alexander equalised. After Fabregas departed before half time, Arsenal failed to create any real threat to Brian Jensen's goal.

Liverpool returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Wigan that saw goals from David N'Gog and Fernando Torres. This moves Liverpool up to 6th in the league after Manchester City were stuffed 3-0 at Tottenham. Mark Hughes' decision to start Robinho backfired and we apologise for a poor tip on that match, although we did warn Hughes not to play the Brazilian! This is only City's second Premier League defeat of the season. Birmingham's victory over Blackburn moves them above Manchester City and into 7th; making up part of our 100% record on Tuesday.

Arsenal look to get back to winning ways this weekend when they host Hull, looking for revenge after last season's shock result. Manchester United face a tricky trip to Fulham who will feel warmer at home on Saturday after winning in sub-zero temperatures in Basle, Switzerland this evening to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Be sure to check out our Premier League Tips for these games and the full Premier League schedule from tomorrow.

Mick McCarthy Doesn't Need to Explain Anything

2009-12-16T18:10:00.005Z

Picture this: Your first season back in the Premier League. You've just escaped the relegation zone at the weekend and have a big home match against fellow relegation contenders on Sunday. In between that, you have a midweek trip to Manchester United. What do you do?

What Mick McCarthy done last night was good man management, good tactical decision, call it what you want. He made a good choice. He knows who his side needs to beat to avoid relegation and he's realistic about it. He knows he has to beat the Bolton's and Wigan's of the Premier League. The long term goal is in mind. A trip to Old Trafford isn't a possibility for picking up a point even in his most optimistic mood.

Giving 10 fringe players the run out last night gave them the opportunity to impress their boss and gain top flight experience and match fitness in the process. In the meantime, the first team got a rest from their hardworking result on Saturday and time to rest any niggles and get back to 100% before a big match with Burnley at Molineux on Saturday. What's the big deal?

I recall West Brom and Liverpool doing similar previously. And how many regulars played for Manchester United at Hull on the final day of last season? I don't recall these teams receiving the same treatment as Wolves who now have to explain to the Premier League his decision to make substantial team changes. What a joke.

The Premier League, fans and journalists alike who are claiming McCarthy has “cheated football” don't know what they're talking about. The 10 outfield players selected by Wolves were under full time contract. They weren't trialists or the kitman. They were players like Ronald Zubar who was returning from injury, Chelsea loanee Michael Mancienne making his 10th start of the season, former Everton loanee Segundo Castillo and Stefen Maierhofer, an ideal fit for a big target solo striker, making his first start after several substitute appearances. Would the likes of Richard Stearman, Karl Henry and Kevin Doyle really have made a big difference for them on Tuesday?

Extra pressure will be on Mick McCarthy and Wolves to get a result against Burnley on Sunday now. Be sure to check out our Premier League previews for this game and the 9 other Premier League games this weekend when they go up from Thursday.

That Man Klasnic Scores Again

2009-12-15T21:53:00.000Z

Ivan Klasnic scored the second goal as Bolton Wanderers picked up a valuable victory over West Ham this evening to move them out of the relegation zone.

It was less than a week ago I was talking to a friend and saying Bolton looked like strong relegation contenders and value at (then) 4/1. I described them as a team looking very poor at the back and not scoring too many. There were 2 players I suggested could be their lifeline.

The first was the obvious choice of Jussi Jaaskelainen – one of the most reliable Premier League goalkeepers of the last decade. He's still got it, even if he doesn't get the best help from his defence.

The other was Ivan Klasnic. Although I haven't seen a great deal from home, what I have seen looks to be a shining light for Bolton. While Kevin Davies can win Bolton free kicks, score the occasional goal and hold the ball up, and Elmander can hold the ball up too and create chances, he is struggling to score in the Premier League. Klasnic offers a different threat. He's scoring goals. 3 in his last 2 now.

Klasnic doesn't have an outstanding scoring record in Germany or France at Werder Bremen or Nantes respectively, but if he can get into double figures for Bolton this season it will be a good return.

The Croatian striker, who some may remember scored Croatia's only goal in their final group game against Poland at Euro 2008, has great technique as demonstrated with his first goal for Bolton, against Fulham where he got infront of the ball before Brede Hangeland and spun 180 degrees to smash home. His instinct was shown in his first goal against Manchester City at the weekend, but don't mention that infront of Mr. Hughes ;)

This evening's goal is described as a howler from Robert Green in the West Ham goal, but I haven't seen it yet, so cannot comment. Either way, he has scored in 3 of his last 4 games in which Bolton have picked up 5 points in those fixtures and moved out of the relegation zone.

Where would Bolton be right now without Ivan Klasnic? I admire the start he has made to his Bolton career and I believe he is more capable of keeping this team up than Gary Cahill, Tamir Cohen and Kevin Davies who are doing well for Bolton.

Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints Remain Perfect

2009-12-14T17:30:00.001Z

The Indianapolis Colts made it 13-0 for the season after seeing off a resilient Denver Broncos at the Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday; 28-16.

The game saw a number of landmarks broken, most notably becoming the first team in NFL history to win 22 straight regular seasons; 1 more than their biggest rivals of this millennium, the New England Patriots. This record was started last season under head coach Tony Dungy who has been the cornerstone of the franchises success over the past half-dozen years or so. Last season was the only season the Indianapolis Colts have not won the AFC South since the league spilt into 8 divisions following the arrival of the Houston Texans in 2002. This season the Colts reclaimed the division as early as week 12.

Sunday's victory was the Indianapolis Colts' 114th win this decade; the most by any one franchise in a decade, eclipsing the San Francisco 49ers team of the 1990's that were 113-47. The 49ers won 2 Superbowl's during that decade, the Colts have one during this decade.

The success of the Indianapolis Colts can be put on the shoulders of Peyton Manning who has arguably been the best quarterback this decade, but there's a lot more to it than that. Starting with Tony Dungy and Tom Moore, there has been some top coaches working on the sidelines and scouting crew bringing in top rookies. Look at their cornerbacks who were low draft picks but capable of playing with the best receivers in the league. That wasn't the case yesterday however, as Brandon Marshall set an NFL record 21 catches in 1 game (200 yards, 2 touchdowns); 1 more than the previous record set by Terrell Owens, set as a 49er back in December 2000 against the Chicago Bears. While the New England Patriots are the team of the decade, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have added another 2 Superbowl reigns during it, the Indianapolis Colts have been a model franchise amongst a number of elite teams this millennium.

Before yesterday, only 5 teams in the history of the NFL had started the season 13-0. While the Colts looked comfortable in victory, the New Orleans Saints made hard work of theirs over the Atlanta Falcons to maintain their unbeaten record. Closing in on homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, the Saints are the team to beat in the NFC despite others ranking the Minnesota Vikings as the number 1 team in the NFC and even NFL.

The Saints secondary has been beat up in recent weeks which even allowed Chris Redman over 300 yards on Sunday. But as has been the case in many games recently, they just do enough to win. And winning the close games is key. Losing them was why they finished bottom of the NFC South last season. If you want a shootout with the Saints, you're going against one of the best offences in the league. Built around Drew Brees, who completed 31 of 40 passes for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns. He has a number of great receivers he has trust in, including Reggie Bush who caught a personal best 2 touchdowns in their 13th victory of the season.

While there is some excitement about the thought of the Indianapolis Colts facing the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship game, much more excitement has been built around the New Orleans Saints facing the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship. It's been a mouth-watering thought for some time now, but there's a long way to go and the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals are still to have their say as they top their respective divisions.

Be sure to check out our regular NFL Tipster for the remainder of the regular season and post season after another impressive performance this week.

Chelsea Extend Lead in Unpredictable Premier League Weekend

2009-12-12T19:25:00.004Z

Aston Villa won at Old Trafford for the first time since 1983 moving them into 3rd in the Premier League and leaving Manchester United 3 points behind Chelsea.

Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the only of the game, early in the first half, when Ashley Young was able to get a cross in on his right foot from the left wing.

Manchester United dominated the possession but barely tested Brad Friedel in the Aston Villa goal. Dimitar Berbatov the only player forcing a good save from the experienced American.

It was arguably Aston Villa's best performance this season as they defended well as a team. This game last season infamously saw Federico Macheda score a vital stoppage time equaliser in their successful title run. But it was not to be this evening as neither Wayne Rooney or substitutes Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov failed to register a goal for Manchester United.

This has been the most unpredictable weekend in the Premier League this season, ourselves only getting 2 tips correct today. Chelsea were held by Everton, Manchester City were held at Bolton while Tottenham suffered a home defeat to Wolverhampton.

Arsenal can move back into 3rd position with a point at Liverpool tomorrow, while they can move into 2nd by winning their 2 games in hand on Manchester United.

Both Chelsea and Manchester United have great opportunities to get back to winning ways during the week as they host Portsmouth and Wolves respectively. Be sure to check out our Premier League Tips for those games and the other half dozen games midweek.

Manchester City and Chelsea Prove to be Bad Bankers

2009-12-12T16:58:00.006Z

Manchester City were suppose to be the bet of the day today. Back-to-back victories against Arsenal and Chelsea last week done them a world of good and a fixture with out-of-form and dire looking Bolton Wanderers looked to give them a great opportunity to string back-to-back victories in the Premier League as they maintain their push for a Champions League finish. While the argument not for backing City coming into this match was their poor form against sides outside the top 4, I really felt the Bolton defence wouldn't be able to cope with City's attack after the way they'd been playing lately. I didn't see their attacking being able to keep up, but I was proven wrong. I was talking to a friend last night about Ivan Klasnic being Bolton's hope of a bright spark and someone who may be able to keep them up. He scored 2 goals today that helped them get an unexpected point. While I bit on City's odds of 4/5 to win prior to kickoff, I did take them at evens and later 12/5 (after Craig Bellamy's red card) on a double chance to make a profit from this match.

A Champions League finish is going to take a lot of work after they drew 3-3 at Bolton today. While proving they can score, Manchester City failed to defend adequately as they conceded 3 goals to the relegation-threatened side. Selling Richard Dunne has proven to be a big mistake so far for Mark Hughes as he has got his form back at Aston Villa. Carlos Tevez scored a brace today as he

Further up the table, Chelsea were held 3-3. It could have been seen as one to spoil accumulators, but with Tottenham's shock home loss to Wolves, it was a bad day for the short-odds accumulators today. The Blues were made to pay from bad set piece defending once again, and bad, unorganised defending in general as they handed Everton 3 goals. I took Chelsea at 4/6 when 1-0 down after a Petr Cech goal and later at 6/4 when at 3-3 but this turned out to be a loser. After Chelsea looked like Champions a few weeks ago, it's now 4 games without a win in all competition and Manchester United can go level on points later this evening if they beat Aston Villa.

Not only has Chelsea's draw with Everton opened the door for Manchester United, but Arsenal could get right back into the chase, now 9 points behind the leaders with 2 games in hand. Arsenal play at Liverpool tomorrow, with a good record recently at Anfield and playing a side in dire form and pressure on their manager that Arsenal could increase with a victory.

At the bottom of the table, it was a bad day for West Ham who lost 1-0 at Birmingham, while Younes Kaboul rescued a late point for Portsmouth at Sunderland, Hull drew 0-0 at home to Blackburn, and Wigan took a point back home from the Britannia Stadium in the early kickoff today. Wolves' victory at Spurs moves them out of the relegation zone at West Ham's expense. Birmingham's victory moves them level on points with Liverpool. Burnley and Fulham drew in the other Premier League 3 o'clock kickoff.

Arsenal's Kids Fail to Score

2009-12-09T21:38:00.004Z

Arsene Wenger fielded a lot of youngsters in his starting lineup for their trip to Olympiakos in the Champions League this evening, where they put on a good performance in terms of confidence and possession, but came away 1-0 losers.

They had already won the group before tonight, and Wenger, as he does fielded a very young side to give them experience on the big stage. When he done this last season, he came under criticism after a 2-0 defeat in Porto where they were overawed and the result saw them finish 2nd in the group. It hurt even more the following weekend when they drew at Middlesbrough in the Premier League.

But little criticism will head the way of the manager after this result. His side showed no fear as they passed the ball around freely and weren't intimidated by the Greek atmosphere. However they were made to pay for not creating many efforts, and not putting any away. Within 2 minutes of the restart, Olympiakos caught Arsenal's defence out as Leonardo raced past Kerrea Gilbert to roll the ball under Lukasz Fabianski for the only goal of the game. Gilbert was caught out on more than one occasion this evening. At the other end, Carlos Vela wasn't 2 one-on-one's as Arsenal failed to test Antonis Nikopolidis in the Olympiakos goal.

Theo Walcott, Mikael Silvestre and Alex Song were the most well-known players in the Arsenal starting lineup (is now the right moment to mention their left back, Tom Cruise?). Song won many a tackle for the Gunners as he does week in, week out. Theo Walcott wasn't as influential as Wenger may have been hoping. He miscontrolled a ball over the top that would have put him through one-on-one, while he didn't create enough goalscoring opportunities as Arsenal struggled in the final third of the field. It was similar to Manchester United when they lost 1-0 to Besiktas two weeks ago. Both Arsenal's and Manchester United's youngsters would have benefited from the experience of this and with the defeats being respectable scorelines it shouldn't have any negative impact on their confidence.

Liverpool were beat 2-1 at home to Fiorentina in this evening's Champions League, finishing 3rd in their group. They are now 7/1 favourites for the Europa League.

Last night Chelsea were held 2-2 at home to APOEL Nicosia in their final Champions League game, finishing as group winners. Manchester United were also group winners as Michael Owen stole the headlines in their 3-1 victory at Wolfsburg. The England international has been the talk of today with his performance, receiving endless praise and perhaps starting to payback those who doubted him at the end of the season. However, bookmakers aren't convinced by this one game performance. Michael Owen is 3/1 to make the England World Cup Squad.

The 16 qualifiers for the Champions League knockout stages are as follows:

Group winners
Bordeaux
Manchester United
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Fiorentina
Barcelona
Sevilla
Arsenal

Runners up
Bayern Munich
CSKA Moscow
AC Milan
FC Porto
Lyon
Inter Milan
VfB Stuttgart
Olympiakos

Domestic football returns at the weekend, so don't forget to check out our Premier League Tips, with previews going up tomorrow for Saturday's matches.

The Minnesota Vikings Were Found Out on Sunday Night

2009-12-07T21:35:00.003Z

Coming into Sunday's game with the Arizona Cardinals, many had the Minnesota Vikings as the best team in the NFL - with a 19 year quarterback playing the best he's ever played, the best running back in the league, one of the best pass rushes in the league and only 1 defeat. Then they got outclassed by the inconsistent Cardinals who got it right on the night.

Brett Favre came into this game with only 3 interceptions all season, but added an extra 2, and it could have been a couple more but for the ball not quite sticking to Adrian Wilson's hands on more than 1 occasion. Favre could not figure out the Cardinals defence that kept Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice in check. Minnesota's own defence couldn't stop the ball getting into the hands of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin who combined for 15 catches, 241 yards and 3 touchdowns. And this came after their offensive line gave Kurt Warner endless time in the pocket to pick his pass, as Minnesota's pass rush didn't get to him all game.

The Vikings other threat is Adrian Peterson. After Chris Johnson put up 154 rushing yards against this defence 1 week ago, many were expecting Peterson to have a good time against this defence. That was not the case as he could only hamper 19 yards on 13 carries.

It must be said, it was a near-perfect performance from the Arizona Cardinals that helped them pull off this result. But it's a lesson for future opponents of the Minnesota Vikings that both Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson can be stopped and they can be beat.

Interestingly, Minnesota are now 10-2 on the season, but only 3-2 against teams with a winning record, of which 2 of those victories are against the Green Bay Packers and the other against the Baltimore Ravens who will drop to .500 with defeat at Lambeau Field tonight. Are they really Superbowl contenders?

As for the Arizona Cardinals and the Superbowl. History is not on their side. While they are close to defending the NFC West, my fact of the day is Kurt Warner has made the Superbowl on each of the 3 seasons he has started all 16 games. Warner missed Arizona's defeat to Tennessee last weekend (yes I know history can change but I find that to be an interesting statistic)...

Make sure to check out our weekly NFL Tipster throughout the remainder of the NFL season, for free expert tips.

Chad Ochocinco Changing His Name Again

2009-12-06T21:01:00.005Z

Chad Ochocinco put in a big performance today as the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Detroit Lions 23-13 to go 9-3, with a big lead at the top of the AFC North.

The wide receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson caught 9 passes for 137 yards and 1 touchdown. Expect him to thank his fans on his Twitter when he next logs in after making his breakfast with the help of fans at 7am Ohio time. Live on Ustream.tv, Ochocinco asked for help boiling eggs for breakfast, along with his oatmeal. The last time he done this was before a game against the Chicago Bears in week 7 where he caught a then-season high 10 catches for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 45-10 victory.

This wasn't the only news Chad broke to his live viewers, as he revealed he is planning to change his name for the second time in his career. After a Japanese film crew turned up in Cincinnati a few weeks ago to record a piece on the Bengals, they made a suggestion to change his surname to “Hachi Go”; 85 in Japanese. Chad says he likes the idea and repeatedly said his future surname on air as he held up a custom made jersey with the name on.

Chad Javon Ochocinco changed his surname from Johnson on October 25th 2006 in honour of Hispanic Heritage Month and is one of the most charismatic players in NFL history. He has also been a leading receiver in the NFL for the past 8 years and is known for his antics on and off the football field. He celebrated his touchdown today with a snuggie. There is no one quite like Chad in the NFL; he is an honour to the league.

Manchester City End Draw Sequence with Impressive Victory

2009-12-05T19:48:00.002Z

Manchester City ended their 7 straight Premier League draws with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea this evening.

Mark Hughes' side had to do it the hard way after Shay Given's save deflected back in off of teammate Emmanuel Adebayor to give the visitors the lead after 8 minutes. Chelsea failed to build on that as Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott in the centre of the City defence held Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka's chances down to a minimum.

Emmanuel Adebayor fired home an equaliser before half time, and for the remainding 10 minutes of the first half and early in the second half they started to take control as their confidence was clearly flowing. And it paid off, in controversial circumstances after Howard Webb awarded the home side a free kick and a yellow card to Ricardo Carvalho after seemingly do nothing but connect with Carlos Tevez after clearing the ball. Tevez drove the ball low and into the net after Petr Cech moved the wrong way on instinct, seeing the ball late.

City created few chances after taking the lead, although Carlos Tevez had a chance on the counter attack and a better pass could have gifted either Shaun Wright-Phillips or Emmanuel Adebayor a one-on-one close to the end, but for playing it straight to the defender.

Chelsea pressed late, and were awarded a penalty when Nedum Onuoha's clumbsy tackle brought down Didier Drogba in the area. Frank Lampard stepped up to take it with less than 10 minutes remaining but a poorly placed penalty was saved by Shay Given. Aruna Dindane and Cesc Fabregas had penalties saved in earlier Premier League games today. 6 goalkeepers kept clean sheets in the Premier League today, not including Peter Kurucz who kept out Manchester United in the final 20 minutes after replacing the ill Rob Green who'd conceded 4.

A vital win for Manchester City that moves them up into 6th, 1 point behind 4th placed Tottenham Hotspur. Expect to hear complaints about referee Howard Webb today who booked all 5 Chelsea defenders in this game and who's strange decision to give Manchester City a free kick for the winner. Importantly for Chelsea, John Terry limped off injured late in the second half.

Manchester United's 4-0 victory at West Ham closes the gap to 2 points on leaders Chelsea. They kept a clean sheet with a patched up defence that saw Michael Carrick drop into central defence alongside Wes Brown after Gary Neville went off injured in the first half, and Darren Fletcher at right back.

Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Stoke City brings them to within 8 points of Chelsea with a game in hand to keep their chances alive, while Liverpool were held 0-0 at Blackburn with big summer signing Alberto Aquilani sitting on the bench for the whole match.

In the early kickoff, Portsmouth's vital 2-0 victory at home to Burnley brings them to 10 points and within 4 points of safety. Another team who picked up a crucial victory was Wolves; 2-1 winners over Bolton as they swap positions in the relegation zone.

Groups Drawn for 2010 World Cup

2009-12-04T18:26:00.002Z

England have been drawn against USA, Algeria and Slovenia in Group C of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with a potential match against Germany as early as round 2. England start their campaign with USA on June 12th, then play Algeria on June 18th and finish their group with Slovenia on June 23rd. England beat Slovenia 2-1 in a friendly earlier this year, while Slovenia eliminated Guus Hiddink's Russia in the playoffs on away goals.

Holders Italy will be strong favourites for their group, Group F, alongside Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia.

Co-favourites and the only nation to have qualified for every World Cup, Brazil have been drawn in Group G against North Korea, Ivory Coast and Portugal, which could be branded the "group of death".

The other co-favourites, Spain have been drawn in Group H with Switzerland, Honduras and Chile.

Hosts South Africa are actually the lowest ranked team in the tournament but were seeded for being hosts. They hope being the home nation has its advantages as they don't want to be the first host to be eliminated at the group stage. They have a tricky Group A, opening the World Cup against Mexico, with Uruguay and France also in the group.

With 188 days to go, there is plenty of time for more discussion and insight, but for now I will leave you with the group draw (seeded teams in bold)

Group A
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Group B
Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Group C
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia

Group D
Germany
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Group E
Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia

Group G
Brazil
North Korea
Ivory Coast
Portugal

Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile

Carling Cup Exit Plays into Chelsea's Hands

2009-12-03T21:03:00.005Z

I saw disappointed Chelsea fans last night as they were eliminated on penalty kicks by Blackburn from the Carling Cup.

The cup that most teams have had little interest in over recent years, but Chelsea fans were perhaps hoping to win this one in a desperate need for wanting to build a history, one things that they have been taunted for by opposing big 4 fans for having a bare trophy cabinet.

But this competition may play into their hands now that they've been eliminated. Just like our five senses, when one goes another improves. One competition is over for Chelsea, more focus can be paid on the other 3. And being that the second leg of the Carling Cup semi finals are played during the African Cup of Nations, and the first so close to the start of the competition, Chelsea players may already be on their way. These are two fixtures Chelsea wouldn't appreciate, having to make changes to their first team already during their Premier League campaign with the absentees of first team regulars Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel amongst others. Chelsea's Premier League fixtures however are kind during this tournament.

Not only has that been kind to Chelsea, but the semi final draw that sees Manchester United face rivals City. Will Sir Alex Ferguson stick to his reserves in those fixtures against a City first team? It will be a tough decision, with fan pressure for him not to add a few key and experienced first team players to those fixtures, that potentially upsetting his plans for the league in January. The good news for United is these fixtures come either side of games with bottom half and relegation-threatened sides, which may allow him to put stronger sides out in the cup without dropping points in the league. Although a weakened side at home to Sunderland earlier this season dropped 2 points and Ferguson cannot afford to do the same again.

Manchester United have a good run of fixtures between now and their Carling Cup fixtures which is the making of a long running streak for them to put pressure on Chelsea's lead at the top. The current leaders and Premier League favourites have a trip to Manchester City this weekend, before a run of fixtures they will be fancying their chances of maintaining and even extending their lead at the top before the African Cup of Nations in January.

2009: The Season of the Quarterback

2009-12-01T19:59:00.004Z

Drew Brees produced a perfect quarterback passer rating as he threw for 371 yards and 5 touchdowns in just 23 pass attempts against the New England Patriots last nights, as the New Orleans Saints maintained their unbeaten start, now sitting at 11-0.

Brees narrowly has the highest average passer rating (112.6), and is one of five over the 100 mark, alongwith Brett Favre (112.1), Aaron Rodgers (104.9), Peyton Manning (102.5) and Philip Rivers (101.6). Rivers was the only quarterback to finish the season above 100 last season. Other star quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer haven't got those ratings through 12 weeks, but help make a case for one of the strongest quarterback seasons in NFL history.

Brees and Favre are early suggestions for the NFL MVP this season, with only Chris Johnson the only possible non-quarterback candidate, but playing for a team below .500, it's very unlikely he will get it. Brees and Favre are favourites to face each other in the NFC Championship game this season with their teams looking a level above the rest and putting in consistent performances.

Brett Favre is arguably having the best season of his career, leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 10-1 record so far and on course to set an NFL record for touchdown/interception ratio, having thrown 24 touchdowns to 3 interceptions so far, despite missing training camp.

Peyton Manning is a candidate for the MVP once again this season as he looks to lead his Colts to an undefeated season. Sacked just 10 times so far, only Brees (27) has thrown more touchdowns than Manning (24) so far this season. He is making his receivers look good, while Brees genuinely has a top group of receivers at his disposal.

Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers' performances are going a little unnoticed this season, but both may lead their teams to the playoffs this season. Rodgers rating, and 22 touchdowns have come behind the a poor offensive line that has seen him sacked a league high 44 times this season. Another slow start from Rivers and Chargers has seen them win their last 6 games, and a 1 game lead over the Denver Broncos in the AFC West.

This season, the NFL has a lot of top quarterbacks putting up big ratings and viewer numbers. Which one will lead his franchise to glory this season?