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Friday, December 29, 2006

TheSheet - England - Dec 30th



(Click the image to see the sheet in full size)

DISCUSSION
No-one should be too surprised by what you see there ...

Three home win picks in :
- Chelsea (74%) to beat Fulham @ 1.22 at Ladbrokes
- Bolton (62%) to beat Portsmouth @ 2.05 at Canbet
- Man United (71%) to beat Reading @ 1.21 at Globet

(oops - apologies for the earlier typo)

Theoretically the sheet says that both Chelsea and Manchester Utd are not at fair value (rated at 86% and 90% value respectively) when it compares their dominance to a 9 year history of similar games - as the favoured team only wins about 7/10.

But I still expect to see a huge number of accumulator bets with these two teams paired up - and it will probably payoff too.
(which makes it twice as hard to preach about value betting on the forum)

Three possible value plays in :
- Tottenham (49%) to beat Liverpool @ 2.70 at PaddyPower
- Sheff_Utd(22%) to surprise Arsenal @ 7.50 at SportingOdds
- Everton (51%) to beat Newcastle @ 2.25 at Betsson

OTHER GAMES :
Arsenal (57%) are the only away side given a good chance of winning when they travel to face Sheffield United but the price of 1.53 (at Ladbrokes) is very bad value - as the bookies anticipate plenty of money following the Gunners and have offered a lousy price.

However one other away side worth a possible punt is Wigan Athletic (40%) to win at Watford because the 2.70 price (at PaddyPower) is better than the 2.50 fair value price.

Good luck with your Saturday punts.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Undercover agent Ashley Cole strikes back ?

Is Ashely Cole really a loyal Gooner working undercover to screw Chelsea's season from the inside ???

Crazy?
Watch the video and then see what you think !


Nah - he's just a useless c*nt !!
55K per week! You're having a laugh ...

Another nice buy by Abramovich !!
Hah haha haha haha ha haa

Liverpool to be milked as a "cash-cow" ?

Dubai International Capital, the investment company behind the proposed takeover of Liverpool, are reportedly already planning to sell the club in seven years time having made a huge profit from their ownership of the Anfield club.

According to The Daily Telegraph, "DIC see their investment in Liverpool as purely a business deal built round the new stadium Liverpool are planning at Stanley Park. When they sell in seven years time they are hoping to make a huge profit, providing a return of around 25 per cent on their investment for every year of ownership. There appear to be no plans to invest in new players."

The newspaper claims to have seen a confidential document circulated among possible investors in order to persuade them to join a consortium and that DIC plan to borrow around £300million of the £450million required to buy Liverpool and are actively pursuing new partners.

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To me - this seems to be the death knell of the football model as we know it in Europe. And seems to be one step away from franchising "Liverpool FC" and taking them anywhere at all.

Why not just be done with it and rename them the Liverpool Shieks and they can play the Manchester Rowdies for the "Soccer SuperBowl" somewhere in Arabia or Asia and play a whole round of meaningless "exhibition" games all year round.

While there is a lot of money in football - it is not a business! Companies do not attract loyalty and a following like football clubs do. This whole "super-owner" thing is going to end in tears ... eventually.

The English FA, or UEFA, or FIFA need to put an end to these deals - or the competitive fabric of football is gongi to be permenantly damaged.

Monday, December 25, 2006

The Sheet - English Premier league - Dec 26/27



(Click the image for the full size sheet)

Here is the sheet for Boxing Day - and there is a good mix of obvious bets - and less obvious bets at tasty prices.

The obvious is Home wins for
- Chelsea 75% to beat Reading (1.20 @ VCBet)
- Man Utd 73% to beat Wigan (1.20 @ Interwetten)

The less obvious (and better priced) choices are :
- Bolton 62% to beat Newcastle (1.95 @ VCBet)
- Tottenham 53% to beat Aston Villa (1.83 @ SportingOdds)

Value Bets has two good options :
- Sheff Utd 49% to beat ManCity (2.35 @ Canbet)
- West Ham 50% to beat Portsmouth (2.35 @ Betsson)

So that's six games where the home team can be backed with some expectation of success ...

-------------------------

Then there are two bets to consider laying the away favourites as they are at such lousy prices :

Arsenal (51%) at Watford are just 1.45 !!

I don't care how poor Watford are - the Arse are still very consistant and the 6-2 over Blackburn was not totally convincing - as it was just 3-2 with 5 minutes left.

Take Watford +1.25 goals start(1.90 @ PinnacleSports) as I make it about 60%-65% likely that you'll get some sort of payout as an arsenal winning by 2+ goals is only about 35-40% chance.

Liverpool (31%) at Blackburn are only 1.95.

But Rovers are much better at home and will surely have a reaction to the 2-6 thrashing by Arsenal. I much prefer taking Blackburn on +1/2 handicap to avoid defeat than backing Liverpool here.

Take Blackburn +1/2 goal start(2.15 @ PinnacleSports) rather than Liverpool -1/2 at 1.80 - as this game will be fairly even.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn

... And THAT was a game to be added to the video archive of all Gooners - as the game summed up this current Arsenal side completely.

GOALS AT THE WRONG END.
Arsenal gave up a goal inside three minutes after Kolo Toure knocked over ex-Gooner David Bentley in the penalty area and Blackburn's Shabani Nonda put the visitors 1-0 up.

SLICK PASSING GOONERS.
That seemed to strike a nerve within Arsenal and the next 30 minutes we were treated to some of the slickest passing that I've seen in the Premier League as Fabragas Cesc pulled the strings and really made Arsenal play some beautiful stuff.

Surprisingly though Arsenal's equaliser came through the air, as Toure headed onto the crossbar and from a second corner Gilberto Silva was left free to head in from the back post. 1-1

Then Robin Van Persie and Adebeyor created a goal chance for Alexander Hleb who converted sweetly (2-1) and then Lucas Neill bundled over Van Persie for a home penalty which Adebayor stroked home. (3-1).

COASTING INTO PROBLEMS
The second half started well with Tomas Rosicky almost scoring when his effort was deflected onto the woodwork, but then Arsenal seemd to relax and Blackburn got back into the game - this time through an overhead kick by Nonda. (3-2).

Then Arsenal were grateful for the agility of Jens Lehmann who saved brilliantly from Pedersen to preserve the lead and it looked like it was gonig to be a nervous last 5 minutes.

GOAL RUSH SHOWS WENGER KNOWS HIS FOOTBALL
But Arsene Wenger does seem to know how to produce a side full of invention, and suddenly the Gunenrs switched back on to score three more goals in five minutes (plus injury time).

Van Persie started it with a great shot after running around several Blackburn defenders (4-2), before Arsneal and Cesc produced a magnificent move to set up Van Persie again (5-2), and there was even time for Mathieu Flamini to make it six, after he reacted to the rebound off a Cesc shot (6-2).

ALL WELL THAT ENDS WELL - THIS TIME
So Arsenal dish up a Christmas treat for all Gooners, and all neutral viewers, but in several patches they just seemed to drift off and on another day we could possibly have been cursing our luck and staring at a 3-3 draw !!

MERRY XMAS
All that remained was for the home fans to stream out of the stadium happy - and for Arsenal fans everywhere to remember to raise a glass (of French Claret?) on Christmas Day and toast what was - in the end - a hugely enjoyable match.

Have a great holiday period guys - see you all on Boxing Day.



Here's a video of the highlights (10 minutes or so).

Friday, December 22, 2006

The Sheet - Italy Serie A - Dec 23rd



( Click the sheet to see the full image )

And here is the second of the Saturday sheets as we take in the Serie A action - which plays it's last round before a short mid-winter break.

In midweek the Italian Sheet went 3-0 on it's recommendations - but as always I will remind you that past performance is not guarantee of future returns so you always need to make up your own mind and not bet blindly.

We have three very strong home win recommendations here - with all teams rated as 75+ likely to win - and also considered to be at fair value too.
- Fiorentina to beat Messina (1.30 @ BetFred)
- Inter Milan to beat Atalanta (1.25 @ Bet365)
- AS Roma to beat Cagliari (1.25 @ Bet365)

There is also a half recommendation for
- AC Milan to win at Udinese (2.20 @ Bet365)

If you like value bets - where the odds seem to be greater than the risk then there are two other matches to take a look at :
- Liverno are considered 51% likely to beat Torino (2.25 @ Bet365)
- and the Draw between Parma and Lazio is a 39% chance and paying 3.00.

Ok ... that's the lot for Saturday good luck with it.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

The Sheet - England Premier League - Dec 23rd



( Click the sheet to see the full image)

The sheet is up for the fixtures this weekend - and with a full round of games on Saturday it seems like the old days too!

And this time it seems that we've got plenty of potential bets to conisder as well.
- Fulham to beat West Ham (2.45 @ Betsson)
- Arsenal to beat Blackburn (1.36 @ PaddyPower)
- Man United to win at Aston Villa (1.65 @ Gamebookers)
- Liverpool to beat Watford (1.22 @ SportingOdds)
- Middlesbro to beat Charlton (1.80 @ PaddyPower)
- Chelsea to win at Wigan (1.45 @ VCBet)

Phew !! That's 6 games out of 10 that look worth a punt.

Additionally - value hunters might like the look of :
- Man City at home to Bolton (53% rating at 2.50 @ Eurobet)
- Newcastle at home to Tottenham (44% rating at 2.50 @ Bet365)

So there seems plenty of option for punters on Saturday afternoon.
Good luck.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The Sheet -> Italy Serie A - Dec 20th




(Click the sheet image to see the full size version)

Here is the sheet for all the Wednesday night Serie A football in Italy, but once again there is nothing too stunning is what the maths have to say.

There are 3 picks that look like probably winners - but annoyingly they are all at less than fair value :

- AC Milan to beat Catania -- Odds 1.36 at BetFred
- Palermo to beat Ascoli ---- Odds 1.29 at BetFred
- AS Roma to win at Torino -- Odds 2.00 at Interwetten

Note that there is a bit of anamoly with the AS Roma pick, there are just 7 other games where the away side has been favoured this much, and it's gone badly for them with a 2-3-2 record.

I still go with AS Roma here as that -300 point margin equates to a whole goal advantage and I'd make this about 55%-60% likely to finish in an away win.

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Elsewhere the sheet sees potential value in big underdogs playing away from home - but I think that's not a likely scenario - and the bookmakers know it too which is why they're offering such big prices.

However, there might be a bit of value in taking home side Cagliari when they face Fiorentina. I know that Fiorentina are 4th but they're just 3-2-3 on the road ... while Cagliari are 2-5-1 at home.

A draw is very possible (Cagliari have drawn 10 of 16 games in Serie A) and I'd rather make sure it was on my side in any bet - so let's take the asian handicap bet and back Cagliari with a start of +1/4.

(Best price is 1.83 at PinnacleSports)

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Carling Cup - Liverpool v Arsenal Postponed

Ref Martin Atkinson's made the decision to postpone Liverpool's Carling Cup tie with Arsenal.

Yorkshire official Atkinson felt foggy conditions at Anfield on Tuesday night left him little option but to call off the quarter-final.

Both Reds manager Benitez and Gunners counterpart Arsene Wenger wanted to play and Atkinson said he did all he could to keep the match on, but felt the conditions could compromise safety.

"We are all disappointed the game could not go ahead," said Atkinson. "It's a massive game and from an official's point of view we want to be officiating.

"From the situation, we can't do that. For us to start the game and then have an assistant not being able to see an offside decision would bring the game into a farce."

Wenger admitted he had been keen to see how his side, which was to have included a number of fringe players, would cope against an expected stronger hosts' line-up.

"It's very much disappointing because the young players had a good opportunity to play tonight," he told Radio Five Live. "We had a good mixture of experienced and young players and I think it would have been very interesting."

Wenger said he would have happily played the match on Wednesday night but there was not enough time to put everything in place."It is impossible in 24 hours to rearrange a game," he added.

Anfield stadium manager Ged Poynton explained: "You need 10 days' notice minimum to inform Merseyside Police for their requirements."

US Poker Players Still Playing Online

Although the US senate attempted to put the block on US players playing poker online there are still plenty of good places that are prepared to accept US players.

The PokerLabrat.com website keeps their eyes on the ball, and one of their main contributors over their is our own "Gambling Gal" Elle - who also looks after our poker section on the main Guide site.

She has blogged on the topic today.

If you're looking for a good place to play then see her poker lab rat blog piece here or go straight to her list of top 3 poker sites for US players.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

The Sheet - England - Dec 16/17/18



( Click the image to see the full sheet )

Picks for :
Arsenal to beat Portsmouth
Newcastle to beat Watford
Manchester Utd to win at West Ham

Good value (but risky) on :
Charlton (226%) at home to Liverpool @ 6.00
Everton (175%) at home to Chelsea @ 7.00
Man City (130%) at home to Tottenham @ 2.50

Also worth considering :
Sheff Utd (168%) away at Wigan @ 4.70

The Sheet - Italy - Dec 16/17



Click to see the full size sheet.

Very tricky in Italy this week with 6 of the 10 games within 100 ranking points so many of the games are rated as high draw chances.

The picks :
- Inter Milan to beat Messina
- Udinese to beat Cagliari (just 5 pts off)

Possible value in :
- Ascoli (124%) to beat Torino @ 3.00
- Catania (114%) to beat Empoli @ 2.20

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wigan 0 - 1 Arsenal

Late Adebayor Strike Reminds Gooners of the Old Days.

There was a familiar chant last night, as "one-nil to the Arsenal" rang out, but it's been a while since this current crop of Gunners has heard it.

Arsene Wenger's skillful side moved back into 3rd place with a display of tenacity and resilience against Wigan - to suggest this young team in transition is rapidly toughening up.

This match was drifting towards its final minute still goal less, when the substitute Cesc Fabregas conjured a flash of genius to arc a sublime pass over the hosts back-line for Emmanuel Adebayor to gather.

The Togolese striker had missed two clearcut chances earlier but now the big man steered his shot accurately beyond the distraught Chris Kirkland and into the corner of the net to secure Arsenal's first away win in five attempts.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Man United now Premier League favourites !!

It was another frenetic weekend of Premiership action with Manchester United beating their local rivals 3-1, Bolton writing the final chapter of the Alan Pardew story at West Ham and Arsenal earning a point at Stamford Bridge.

It’s also been a significant weekend for Premiership odds because for the first time since December 2004 we see that Chelsea are no longer favourites to win the Premiership !

Sportingodds.com are now giving Chelsea away at 19/20 for the Premiership.

Is this an early Christmas present - could this be one of the bets of the year by the time May rolls around ?

Gavle Goat Form - Last 20 years.

Here is a "form guide" on the Gavle Goat over the last 20 years.

In 1985 the 12.5-metre high goat first made the Guinness Book of World Records. Burned down in January.

In 1986 the local merchants took over building the goat again. From this date on, two goats are built each year, one by the merchants and one by Vasaskolan. The big goat was burned down the night before Christmas Eve.

In 1987 the goat was carefully treated with fire-proofing. It still burned down the week before Christmas.

In 1988 the goat was spared. Its survival was now included on British betting lists.

In 1989 the goat burned down before it was even built. A public collection was taken up and a new goat was built, which burned down in January. In March 1990 another goat was built for the premiere of the film "Black Jack".

In 1990 the goat was spared. Many volunteers guarded it.

In 1991 the goat was accompanied by an advertising sleigh - which turned out to be an unauthorised construction. It burned on Christmas Eve morning. It was rebuilt to be sent to Stockholm in a campaign to stop the closing of the I 14 regiment.

In 1992 the goat burned after eight days. The Vasaskolan goat burned the same night. It was built again, but burned again on 20 December. The starter of all three fires was arrested.

In 1993 the Vasaskolan goat made the Guinness Book of World Records, measuring 16 metres high. It was spared this year.

In 1994 the goat was spared.

In 1995 the goat burned down on Christmas Day morning. It was rebuilt for the town's 550th anniversary.

In 1996 the goat survived. For the first time it was monitored by a web camera.

In 1997 the goat survived with minimal damage by fireworks.

In 1998 the goat burned on 11 December, despite a snowstorm. It was built again.

In 1999 the goat burned a few hours after being built. A new one was in place for St. Lucia Day.

In 2000 the goat burned a few days before New Year's. In 2001 the goat burned on 23 December. The starter of the fire, a 51-year-old man from USA, was arrested.

In 2002 the goat survived.

In 2003 the goat burned down two nights before St. Lucia Eve. A new goat was in place about a week later and it survived in one piece.

In 2004 the goat burned down on 21 December, three days before Christmas. The goat was not rebuilt.

In 2005 the goat burned down on 3 December. A new goat was in place on 8 december and managed to survive.

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Note that most companies have suspended all betting on this now - with only SportingOdds offering a tiny odds of 1/5 on the NO (the goat will survive).

Here is the Gavle Goat Webcam link again - if you want to see how it's going.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Arsenal unlikely to get Chrismas Wish

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that Thierry Henry will miss all of Arsenal's Christmas programme and is unlikely to be available until after the New Year because of a hamstring injury.

Henry has been sidelined recently with a neck problem but Wenger is more worried by the new setback. "Thierry Henry has started his rehabilitation," Wenger said. "He's still not completely free with his hamstring but he starts to work again.

"We hope we can build him up and make him competitive again. The neck problem is sorted out. It was sciatic nerve problem but the hamstring is the most troubling at the moment."

Asked if Henry would be out until the New Year, Wenger said: "Realistically, certainly yes. I wouldn't set a precise timescale as it's difficult to predict but Christmas certainly we will miss him."

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal

Mathieu Flamini gave Arsenal a surprise lead with 12 minutes to go before Michael Essien levelled with a stunning 35-yard strike six minutes later.

Chelsea then hit the woodwork twice as they searched for the winner but the game finished even.

So Arsenal exported our Emirates curse to Stamford Bridge - let's hope we left it there.

Consider :
- home side dominates
- concedes the first goal against run of play
- hits posts
- eventually gets equaliser
- pushes for winner
- has to settle for a point

... sound familiar at all?

Much better to be on the giving end this time.

The Sheet - Italy - Dec 10





(Click the image to view the full sheet)

Saturday proved to be a good day for the sheet in England - so here is the sheet calculations for Sunday in Serie A.

Two games are chosen by both halves of the sheet - with Atalanta and AC Milan seen as likely winners and the price on Atalanta is a good one too.

Elsewhere Inter Milan are seen as likely winners - but the price is awful - so value punters may actually be tempted on Empoli at prices higher than 7.00 and a 30% win chance.

Finally - the SONAS half of the sheet thinks that Cagliari are worth a shot at home to Parna ... although the vlaue calculation says that it's only fair value at best.

OK .. I hope that helps you on Sunday.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

The Sheet - England - Dec 9/10/11






( Click the image to see the full sheet )

The sheet is back for the weekend - and we will be hoping that it can follow last weeks example when it went 3-0. (see Forum thread )

This week the sheet picks as many as five games to have a punt in - and all the picks seem to be around fair value or better.

Manchester United vs Manchester City
The first game is the lunchtime derby game with Manchester United given a huge edge in home/away form - and although City have traditionally done very well in avoid defeat in this fixture (4 draws in the last 5 seasons) they've never had to overcome such a large ranking difference of +474.

The sheet takes Manchester United to win and probably by a 2+ goal margin.

Liverpool v Fulham
Less controversy about the next pick as Liverpool have been very good at Anfield this season and Fulham always seem to struggle when travelling.

Again the sheet says Liverpool are likely to be big winners by a 2+ goal margin.

Tottenham v Charlton
Also favoured is North London side Tottenham who have been pretty good at the Lane this season - and there is not reason to think that they won't beat relegation threatened Charlton. The price of 1.60 at Interwetten is very good.

Bolton v West Ham
Home comforts is the key to pick number four - although this one is only expected to be by a one goal margin - but the best price of 1.85 at Canbet is well worth chasing as good value.

The final pick is one that I personally did not want to see - but cannot disagree with as it looks at the Sunday game:

Chelsea v Arsenal
Chelsea have gone 2.5 seasons in the league without a home defeat (Arsenal won 2-1 there in 2004) and it's hard to see the Blues being beaten this time either.

The sheet says that this will be the tightest of the 5 picks this weekend in England but still sees enough in the numbers to make Chelsea a 56% favourite to win and the price of 1.75 (available generally) is fair value.

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OK - lets see if we can get 4 out of 5 and ensure a profit - you'll understand if I say that I'm personally hoping that Sunday's game DOES NOT go to form.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Gavle Goat Watch : Some Background

Day two of the Goat watch and so far ... nothing has happened !!

The Gavle Goat (known in Swedish as the Julbocken i Gavle or Gavlebocken) is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw that stands in (Slottstorget) Castle Square in central Gävle. So here is a bit of background - from the Wikipedia entry :


It is erected each year by a local association called the Southern Merchants, and another version is erected by a group of students from the Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa.

The Natural Science Club's goat holds the world record for the largest Yule Goat, but since 1994 the Southern Merchants' goats have been larger and had more publicity afforded them.

Both goats have famously been the targets of frequent arson attacks and vandalism, so much so that over the years they have been guarded by the police, webcams, soldiers, volunteers and dogs, and whilst the city officially discourages the attacks on the goats they have brought it recognition and tourism from around the world.

The goat has since had a history of being burnt down almost every year, 2005 being the 22nd time and price tag for constructing the goat is around 100,000 Swedish kronor.

So as of Dec 7th - the goat is still standing - and the bets are still on.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

UEFA Champions League - Last 16 Found

The draw for the UEFA Champions League first knockout round will take place on Friday 15 December at 12.00CET after Manchester United, Arsenal, Porto and newcomers Lille sealed the final four spots in the last 16 on Wednesday night.

Group winners were :
Chelsea (ENG), Bayern Munchen (GER), Liverpool (ENG), Valencia (ESP), Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), Manchester Utd (ENG), Arsenal (ENG), AC Milan (ITA)

Runners-up :
Barcelona (ESP), Internazionale Milano (ITA), PSV Eindhoven (NED), AS Roma (ITA), Real Madrid CF (ESP), Celtic FC (SCO), FC Porto (POR), LOSC Lille Metropole (FRA)

Draw conditions :
* Clubs from the same association must not be drawn against each other.
* The winners and runners-up of the same group must not be drawn against each other.
* Group winners must not be drawn against each other.
* Group runners-up must not be drawn against each other.
* All group runners-up will play their first-leg matches at home.

The next set of games will be a two-legged knockout round of 16 - to be played 20/21 February and 6/7 March

Goat of Gavle - Will it Survive ?

Arsonists who enjoy burning down a festive Swedish straw goat may have met their match this year.

In the 40 years since the tradition started, the giant goat of Gavle has often gone up in flames within days.

But this year the 13-metre (43ft) high goat has a coat of flame-resistant chemicals, and the authorities are determined it will see in the New Year. "No-one is going to get our goat this year," says a local spokeswoman with confidence.

But Curacao bookie PinnacleSports.com is allowing people to bet on whether the giant goat of Gavle will survive through Christmas Day.
Last year's goat did not survive
Will The Straw Goat Of Gavel Last Through Christmas?
No, goat will not survive 2/3 (1.66)
Yes, goat survives until Christmas 7/5 (2.40)

Last years goat (shown right) did not survive after two culprits dressed as Father Christmas and a gingerbread man got close enough to the goat to burn it down using flaming arrows.

And since 1966, just 10 of Gavle's giant goats have survived beyond Christmas Day. Aside from being burned, several were beaten down and the 1976 goat was hit by a car.

RELATED LINKS :
WantaWinner.com Forum : they had the original post.
PinnacleSports.com : offering odds on the event
Gavle Goat WebCam : To keep an eye on your bet.

:)

Champions League Outright Markets

Barcelona eased through to the knockout stages of the Champions League after a regulation 2-0 win over Werder Bremen at the Nou Camp, and are now 3/1 favourites with bet365 to retain their title.

Ronaldinho opened the scoring with a 13th minute free-kick, and Eidur Gudjohnsen doubled Barca's lead five minutes later to send Bremen into the UEFA Cup.

Barcelona dislodged Chelsea from the head of the betting despite the English champions topping Group A following an equally comfortable 2-0 win over Levski Sofia.

Andriy Shevchenko scored the first for the Blues on 27 minutes, before subsititute Shaun Wright-Phillips sealed the win late on.

Chelsea are now 7/2 shots with bet365 to triumph in the Champions League final.

Paddy Power can't choose between the two market leaders and offer them both at 7/2, while Skybet have Chelsea as 3/1 favourites with Barcelona next best at 4s.

There were no shocks with most teams already through to the knockout stages, and Roma progressed from Group D with Valencia who they beat 1-0. Roma remain 25/1 outsiders with most firms.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Tuesday Football

There is a wee bit to choose from on Tuesday, with the Champions League and the Premier League playing at the same time as fixture congestion (due to a late start after the World Cup) starts to bit.

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In England we have Blackburn travelling to Charlton is a game that they COULD win - but it's hard to be confident about a Blackburn side that are just 1-2-3 so far on their travels.

Consider taking Blackburn on the level ball asian handicap bet which works like a Draw-No-Bet option - return your stake if it finishes all-square.

Best Price is at PinnacleSports (as usual) here you can get Blackburn at 2.04

We also have Tottenham hosting Middlesbro and I'm more confident about going for a winner there as Spurs should have enough firepower and desire to get past Boro team that does not travel well.

Take Tottenham at any price over 1.70.
Best price is 1.75 @ Austrian bookmaker Interwetten.

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In Europe both Barcelona and Chelsea should win - but you don't need me to tell you that or find you prices although you can read Cruiser's preview of the Barcelona v Werder Bremen game here.

Perhaps Olympiakos are worth a shot in their game with Shaktar Donetsk? The Greek side need to win - and the Ukrainian side has lost all 8 of their previous away games in the Champions League.

Take a look at RedLine's preview of this game as see what you think.

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Good luck with whatever you're betting on tonight.

Monday, December 04, 2006

UEFA CL : Porto v Arsenal - is the "fix" in ?

So we have an important match in midweek for Arsenal and Porto in Europe's biggest competition, with both sides looking for qualification, and either side could be eliminated if they lost ...

..or could they?

A draw suits both teams as they'll qualify at the expense of CSKA Moscow - who will be eliminated on head-to-head record - so then the draw has to be the cynics choice.

Let's assume that the "fix" has not been officially agreed between the two clubs, but that both sides start off playing tentatively and if the scores are still level after 70 minutes then I expect to see both sides start playing a 5-5-0 formation.

And certainly the bookmakers agree as I've just nipped off an checked the prices and the draw is an extremely short 4/5 (1.80).

Best prices :
Porto win - 3.75 @ Bet365
Draw ------ 1.80 @ Ladbrokes and BetFred
Arsenal win 4.30 @ PremierBet and SportingOdds

Hmmmmmm ... deal done eh?

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Arsenal beat Tottenham 3-0 : VIDEO

Arsenal put an awful week behind them with a 3-0 win over Tottenahm in the first North London derby to be played at the Emirates Stadium.

A 20th minute goal from Adebeyor put the Gunners on their way, followed by 2 penalties from stand-in captain Gilberto Silva.

Here's a video of the Gooner highlights that I found online.

It was a result borne out of hard work from the Arsenal side - rather than a stunning passing display - but that seems to be true of all derby games these days eh?

And after the disappointment at both Bolton and Fulham it was good to get back to winning ways.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Friday CRACKER - Aussie Football

The first pick of the "weekend" is the Australian A-League pick by Money-Man on the main site.

He makes a good case for taking Melbourne to win and I'll go for the league leaders on the AH+0 bet (which works just like a draw-no-bet play) for 20 points.

Best prices are :
- 1.91 @ PinnacleSports
- 1.88 @ Bet365

If you prefer Melbourne to win straight up then you can get a price of 2.50 @ Gamebookers

This one kicks off around 9am in Europe - so get on it sharpish if you're about.