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Betting Review
Not much to report this week - Cape Cobras excellent 175-5 still wasn’t enough to beat Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions League Twenty20, Liverpool comprehensively outplayed Manchester United, Bart Cummings won another Cox Plate and the less said about Michael Lorenzo-Vera’s performance at the Castello Masters, the better…
1pt Getafe to beat Real Madrid at 6/1
You’d have thought that spending £226million might have gone some way towards Real Madrid re-establishing themselves as Spain’s premier footballing force. The reality has been very different, however, and Manuel Pellegrini’s team go into Saturday’s crunch fixture with only one win in the last five games and the manager’s job already on the line.
Recent defeats to Sevilla and AC Milan, a draw with Sporting Gijon and a humbling 4-0 defeat to third tier village side Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey this week has forced Real director general Jorge Valdano to issue a dreaded vote of confidence in the under fire manager.
Real host Getafe on Saturday and the visitors sit comfortably in mid table having already registered a good away win at Racing Santander this season as well as comfortable victories over Valencia and Athletic Bilbao. Winning in the Bernabeu is never an easy task, but Getafe can take advantage of Real’s brittle confidence to pile further pressure on manager Pellegrini.
Football Betting
1pt Paul Casey to win the Volvo World Matchplay at 9/1
A strong field heads to the Finca Cortesin club this weekend as the World Matchplay returns after a break in 2008. It’s barely recognisable from the tournament Ernie Els won in 2007 with both a change of location and format this time around.
With four round-robin groups, Lee Westwood is the favourite as his good form and the luck of a draw which pairs him with Camilo Villegas, Jeev Singh and Ross Fisher should see him through to the knockout stages.
Despite not featuring in a tournament since August, I like the chances of the world number three Paul Casey as he returns to competitive action. After suffering a rib injury Casey has been passed fit to play in Spain and with one World Matchplay title already under his belt (in 2006) he has the matchplay experience to see off Scott Strange, Antony Kim and Retief Goosen in his group. With good form Casey is excellent value at 9/1 to triumph on the Costa del Sol.
Golf Betting
1pt James Beattie to score first and Stoke City to beat Wolves 2-0 at 25/1
Stoke have yet again managed to reach the top half of the Premier League without anyone really noticing and sit in ninth place, just two points behind Aston Villa. One of the secrets of Stoke’s success has been their home form and the passionate Britannia Stadium support has often acted as a twelfth man. They face Midlands rivals Wolves on Saturday in the sort of match that the Potters have managed to win regularly since their promotion back to the top flight.
James Beattie was an inspired winter signing by Tony Pulis last time out and the big England striker can continue his good form by providing the goals in this one. Not only have Wolves conceded ten away goals so far this season but they have also conceded three penalties, and with Beattie on penalty duty he looks good value to fire Stoke to their third home win of the season.
Football Betting
0.5pts each way Steve Beaton to win the European Darts Championship at 125/1
The European Championships moves to Holland this year after its successful inaugural staging in Frankfurt last November. Thirty two of the continent’s best darts talents head to the Claus Hotel and Event Centre in Hoofddorp for four days of scintillating arrows.
2008 champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor is unsurprisingly the favourite to take the title and his main challengers are likely to be, once again, Raymond van Barneveld and James Wade - the second and third seeds respectively.
Picking a likely final opponent for Taylor from the bottom half of the draw is a tricky business. van Barneveld has yet to win a title in 2009 and so despite a passionate home support I don’t think he will start here. That leaves the likes of last year’s beaten finalist Adrian Lewis, Wade and Mervyn King to provide the main opposition.
Saying that, I like the chances of a man whose first title since 2001 last week has given him a tangible reward for his recent improved form. The Midlander Steve Beaton took the Players Championship title in Nuland with wins over Wayne Mardle, Vincent van der Voort and Kevin Painter. Beaton also reached the Players Championship final in Austria in September and so is on a very good recent run of form.
He faces Lewis in his opening match but with a morale boosting win the likeable 45 year old could well negotiate the bottom half of the draw at very tasty odds.
Darts Betting
Performance to date: -15 pts
