Search This Blog

Sunday, March 29, 2009

FYR Macedonian club FK Pobeda charged with "manipulation"

UEFA have charged FYR Macedonian club FK Pobeda for "manipulating the outcome of a UEFA match to gain undue advantage for themselves and a third party".

The charge relates to a 2004 Champions League first qualifying round match against FC Pyunik in Skopje, which the Armenian side Pyunik won 3-1.

The charge also implicates the president of FK Pobeda, as well as a player, with UEFA's Control & Disciplinary Body set to deal with the case on April 17.

UEFA revealed in a statement they had brought the charge, almost five years after the game was played, based on reports of irregular betting patterns and declarations from witnesses.

A statement on UEFA's website read: "UEFA has announced today that the Macedonian club FK Pobeda, its president and one player have been charged for being in breach of the principles of integrity and sportsmanship by manipulating the outcome of a UEFA match to gain an undue advantage for themselves and a third party."

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Anelka injury re-opens Premier League golden boot race

The race for the English Premier League golden boot tightened on the weekend as Steven Gerrard grabbed a hat-trick and leading scorer Nicolas Anelka was ruled out for three weeks with injury.

Anelka (15 goals) leads by two from Cristiano Ronaldo (13) and Steven Gerrard (13) with Peter Crouch (11) and Robinho (11) further back in joint 4th spot.

The Frenchman continues to head the Golden Boot betting, but only just as Anelka looks likely to miss Chelsea's next game at Newcastle on April 4th.

LEADING TOP SCORER ODDS :
Anelka - 15 goals - 3.00 at Bet365
Ronaldo - 13 goals - 3.00 at Eurobet
Gerrard - 13 goals - 5.00 at Victor Chandler
Robinho - 11 goals - 21.00 at Betfred
Crouch - 11 goals - 50.00 at BetFair

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Manchester United odds drift in title race after 2nd straight loss

Manchester United have drifted from 1/9 to 2/7 to win the Barclays Premier League with bookmakers following their 2-0 defeat at Fulham on Saturday.

Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were both sent off at Craven Cottage as a Danny Murphy penalty and late Zoltan Gera strike earned Fulham all three points.

It means Manchester United are now just four points clear of Liverpool, with both teams having played 29 games.

Monday, March 16, 2009

West Brom, Stoke and Middlesbrough all odds-on to be relegated

While the Premier League title looks done and dusted (despite Liverpool's stunning 4-1 win at Old Trafford on the weekend) the battle at the other end is attracting plenty of betting attention.

Stoke lost 3-1 at Everton and are in 18th spot, Middlesbrough needed a late Marlon King goal to earn a 1-1 home draw against Portsmouth but sit 19th, while the Baggies are away at West Ham on Monday and are rooted at the foot of the table.

As a result Middlesbrough are now 3rd favourites at evens (2.00) at Paddy Power for the drop while Stoke are second favourites for relegation at 10/11 (1.91) at Bet365.

West Brom seem doomed, and the best price is just 1/10 (1.10) at PaddyPower ahead of the Monday night game.

If you are looking at teams outside the bottom three to become entangled in the battle then there are some good prices available.

english Premier League relegation standings
Newcastle are only clear of relegation by goal difference and are at 15/8 (2.88) at PaddyPower while Portsmouth are in the same situation and are priced at 10/3 (4.33) at VCBet.

Blackburn lost 4-0 at Arsenal on Saturday and have significant injury woes, and are just one point clear, making the 6/1 (7.00) at VCBet quite appealing.

Sunderland are only three points clear of the drop zone after losing to Wigan at the Stadium of Light and are priced at 15/2 (8.50) at PaddyPower

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sunderland and Tottenham easing clear of relegation worries

The bookmakers reckoned Sunderland and Tottenham both eased their relegation worries with their 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland had taken the lead through Kieran Richardson's third-minute strike, and looked to have eased themselves seven points clear of the drop zone before Robbie Keane rescued Spurs with a last-gasp equaliser

Both clubs are now on 32 points, and are five points clear of the bottom three.

Sunderland are out to 11/1 (12.00) for the drop with Bet365 while Tottenham are 22/1 (23.00) at PaddyPower.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Madrid and Turin derby matches centre stage this Saturday

Real Madrid are trying to make makes el Derbi Madrileno their 11th successive league win in the Primera this weekend.

Real Madrid host Atletico Madrid, well aware that Atletico devlivered a heavy blow to title rivals Barcelona last weekend, with a 4-3 stunning victory that cut Barca's lead at the top to a mere four points.

The two city rivals meet on Saturday at Santiago Bernabeu.

RELATED LINKS :
Real Madrid 1.79 at Globet, Atletico Madrid 5.10 at PinnacleSports
See all the Live Spanish football betting Odds at Bookielabrat.

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

Serie A will share the derby spotlight over the week-end, when Juventus will face historic rivals FC Torino.

The Old Lady will need every win they can get, to close the seven-point gap that separates them from league leaders Inter Milan.

But Torino's run of five matches without defeat may spell trouble for Claudio Ranieri's men, who are also preparing for Chelsea's Champions League visit next week.

Expect plenty of tension at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday evening.

RELATED LINKS :
Torino 3.49 at PinnacleSports, Juventus 2.35 at Centrebet,
See all the Live Italian football betting Odds at Bookielabrat.

Betting Alert on Serie A - Canbet offer big price on Inter Milan

A potential price alert ... as Aussie bookmaker Canbet have a big price on Serie A Leaders Inter Milan.

Canbet go 2.75 on Inter Milan in thier Saturday afteroon fixture at Genoa this weekend - where most bookmakers are 2.38 to 2.40.

It's true that Inter Milan might decide to field a weak side - due to their upcoming Champions League game at Old Trafford against Manchester United (first leg 0-0).

So either Canbet have news that Inter are going to field a weaker than expected side in advance of everyone else - or they're offering a great price.

My spreadsheet ratings for this game ( Genoa v Inter Milan ) have Inter Milan as 52$ likely to win and so calculates this price as an outstanding 143% of value.

RELATED LINKS :
Canbet Bookmakers
Live Serie A Odds from Bookie Lab Rat.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Jose Mourinho now favourite to be next Manchester United coach

Jose Mourinho has been cut from 8/1 to 9/4 favourite by William Hill to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as permanent manager of Manchester United following comments from current Red Devils skipper Rio Ferdinand.

"There are very few people who could take over," Ferdinand said in an interview in GQ magazine out this Thursday. "If you're talking about someone with the ego and personality to do it, then Jose Mourinho is the name that jumps out at you."

However Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "Whether Mourinho would want to accept what could be seen as a poisoned chalice, as the successor to Sir Alex would have his work cut out emulating or outdoing his predecessor, remains to be seen."

Martin O'Neill is 7/2 second favourite and it's 9/1 bar.

Beware the banker bet - Stoke City sting punters at Betfair

The draw was backed at a high of 349/1 (350.00) in-running on Betfair before Stoke salvaged a point against Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Potters struck twice in the final three minutes to snatch a dramatic draw and put a massive dent in the betting accounts of punters who like to lay off "sure things" in order to cash in on "easy money".

Stiliyan Petrov's first Barclays Premier League goal for 11 months and a spectacular effort from John Carew had helped Villa take into a 2-0 lead.

As is usual the price on the draw drifted to stratospheric levels at in-running specialists Betfair, especially as time ticked away with no sign of a recovery.

But Ryan Shawcross reduced the arrears in the 87th minute and substitute Glenn Whelan equalised in injury-time for the visitors.

Job done for Stoke - and someone has a lot of explaining to do to the wife - as trying to hoover up a fiver cost him £1750 inside 3 minutes.

Hull City slip to another defeat

Hull City are now as short as 11/8 to be relegated from the Premier League following Sunday's defeat by Blackburn Rovers.

The Tigers are still in 13th spot but are winless in their last 11 Premier League games (0-3-8) after their 1-3 home loss against Sam Allardyce's improving Rovers.

Stephen Warnock and Keith Andrews struck within two first-half minutes for Rovers before the Tigers' Dean Marney and Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen were dismissed.

Ian Ashbee scored with a crisp volley late on to give City hope but it was too late to make any difference to the final result.

Hull are now priced at 15/8 (2.63) at Bet365 to make an immediate return to the Championship.

LATEST RELEGATION ODDS :
West Bromwich Albion 1.13 @ [Bet365]
Stoke City 1.62 @ [Bet365]
Hull City 2.63 @ [Bet365]
Middlesbrough 2.88 @ [Paddy Power]
Newcastle United 3.25 @ [Bet365]
Portsmouth 4.33 @ [Bet365]
Blackburn Rovers 5.50 @ [Paddy Power]
Sunderland 11.00 @ [Bet365]
Tottenham Hotspur 15.00 @ [Bet365]

Source : BookieLabrat.com Live Premier League Betting Odds