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Football Tips
Stoke City continue to confound critics by sitting in a comfortable mid-table position although their brand of no-nonsense, direct football doesn’t appeal to everyone. They face Wigan Athletic on Saturday, a team whose form is about as erratic as Tiger Woods’ driving. Stoke’s home form is pretty solid and so they should win this one comfortably at 21/20.
Rumours that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has asked Gary Pallister and Ronnie Johnsen to come out of retirement in order that he can field the requisite number of centre halves against Aston Villa on Saturday are unconfirmed. United continue to run up some impressive scorelines without actually playing particularly well whilst Villa have manoeuvred themselves into fifth spot with some excellent performances. This could be a tricky match for United and Villa have some appeal at 13/2.
There are some older Liverpool supporters out there who remember the last time the Reds won a league match. In all seriousness, Rafa Benitez’s side’s Premier League form has been pretty woeful this campaign and it gets no easier as Arsenal are the visitors on Sunday. Arsene Wenger has injury worries ahead of the match with a lack of attacking options but if he can put out a decent starting eleven the outcome of this could well be yet more misery for Liverpool.
Middlesbrough finally got their first win under Gordon Strachan with an emphatic 5-1 victory at QPR last weekend and face Cardiff in Sunday’s live Championship match.
Motherwell host Celtic in Saturday’s live Scottish Premier match and Tony Mowbray’s side can consolidate their top spot with a win at Fir Park at 3/5.
Football Betting
Golf Tips
It only seems like a couple of days since the Race to Dubai title was awarded to Lee Westwood, but the whole process starts again this weekend in the unusual location of the Leopard Creek club in South Africa.
Ernie Els is the star attraction at the Alfred Dunhill Championships in Mpumalanga this week and joins five former champions in the line-up. 2008 champion Richard Sterne returns to defend his title and will be joined by the likes of Thomas Bjorn, Edoardo Molinari and Anders Hansen.
It is Els’ only appearance on the Sunshine Tour this season and with four top ten finishes in his last five appearances at this tournament, the Big Easy is the man to beat. He is 6/1 to prevail.
Golf Betting
Rugby Tips
After the autumn internationals and return of the Magners League and Guinness Premiership last weekend it’s another change of emphasis with the Heineken Cup taking the limelight this week.
Munster bounced back from their opening day defeat to Northampton with a comfortable victory over Treviso and they face their most likely challengers, Perpignan, on Friday evening. A win will put the beaten 2009 finalists in the Pool 1 driving seat.
Stade Francais’ late show against Bath last time out elevated them to the top of Pool 4 although they face a tricky away tie to Ravenhill to face Ulster. Cardiff host a talented Toulouse side who ought to be too strong for the Blues.
Arguably the game of the weekend is on Sunday at the Stade Marcel Michelin where my tip for the Cup, 11/1 shots Clermont Auvergne take on a Leicester side whose form has been patchy of late. I think this could be a really tough afternoon for the Tigers.
Elsewhere, reigning champions Leinster travel to Wales for the second consecutive week. They will be hoping for a better performance against the Scarlets than they gave in a 30-14 defeat to the Dragons last Saturday.
Rugby Union Betting
Cricket Tips
With England finalising their Test preparations in South Africa after their unexpected 2-1 triumph in the One Day series, the focus of world cricket turns to Napier where New Zealand face Pakistan in the third and final Test.
The tourists had a comfortable win in the second test - a result which was, unbelievably, their first Test victory since January 2007. After New Zealand’s narrow in the first Test there is everything to play for and Mohamed Yousuf’s side can follow up their win in Wellington with another victory to take the series at 11/8.
Cricket Betting
Horse Racing Tips
There’s some great racing fare at Cheltenham this weekend with Friday’s Collection Novices’ Chase and Glenfarlcas Cross Country Handicap Chase whetting the appetite for Saturday’s main event, the Boylesports.com Gold Cup. This grade Three handicap is run over two-miles-and-five-furlongs and is generally one of the biggest betting events of the National Hunt season. Atouchbetweenacara is the early 5/1 favourite.
On Sunday the focus turns to the Cathay Pacific International Races at Sha Tin with the Hong Kong Mile, Cup and Sprint. Collection and Presvis lead the betting in the Hong Kong Cup whilst Good Ba Ba is the ante-post favourite in the Mile.
Horse Racing Betting
