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Football Betting
It is Arsenal’s second London derby in a week as they face local rivals Spurs in Saturday’s early kick-off. Arsene Wenger’s side were utterly dominant against West Ham before dozing off in the final fifteen minutes to leave with just a point, although at home they have scored consistently. Spurs succumbed to a late Stoke winner at White Hart Lane and Arsenal can condemn them to a second consecutive defeat on Saturday.
In a rare display of modesty, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his Manchester United side “weren’t good enough” at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. That would be something of an understatement as what looks like the weakest United squad in seasons continues to grind out results despite looking nowhere near their best. Saying that, they host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday teatime and if there was ever an opponent you’d pick when form and confidence aren’t sky high, Rovers are they.
Manchester City squandered a two goal lead against Fulham last time out and travel to a Birmingham City side who look to be improving under Alex McLeish. The Blues beat Sunderland last time out and could make life tricky for Mark Hughes’ team on Sunday.
In a bizarre piece of scheduling, Championship title hopefuls Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest meet on the BBC on Sunday teatime. Forest are the only English side to remain unbeaten away from home in the league, but Cardiff is a tough place to go and get a result and their proud record could well end this Sunday.
Rangers face Dundee Utd in the live Scottish match. Financial concerns and a whole squad up for sale are doing nothing to help confidence at Ibrox and despite their recent Old Firm win, form is also shaky. I wouldn’t be piling on them at 7/10 in a tricky away fixture at Tannadice, that’s for sure.
Football Betting
Golf Betting
After a break in 2008 and a change of location, the World Matchplay returns this week pitching sixteen of the world’s top talents against one another for a prize of 750,000 Euro.
The tournament moves from Wentworth to the Finca Cortesín Golf Club in Spain and the format has also changed to a ‘round-robin’ with four groups of four players.
Lee Westwood’s good recent form makes him the 6/1 favourite from Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy. I like the look of two men with recent success in this format - Paul Casey won the Matchplay in 2006 and Angel Cabrera is a tough competitor and was 2007’s beaten finalist. Cabrera is available at 15/1.
Golf Betting
Tennis Betting
It’s the finale to the women’s tennis season this week as the top eight players in the world head to Doha for the season ending Sony Ericsson Championships. Despite her US Open win, Kim Clijsters ranking isn’t high enough to grant her entry to the season end showdown which features a strong line-up.
Serena Williams is the favourite and faces sister Venus, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the round-robin stages. The other group features world number One Dinara Safina, Caroline Wozniacki, Jelena Jankovic and Victoria Azarenka.
Safina has much to prove in a year which has seen her remain number one for most of the season despite failing to win a Grand Slam title. I can see her qualifying from her group but the Williams sisters are the ones to beat here.
The ATP hosts two tournaments this week in Austria and Lyon, France. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks a good bet to provide a home triumph in Lyon whereas last year’s surprise winner Philipp Petzschner will take on the likes of Marian Cilic and Radek Stepanek in Vienna. Gael Monfils is battling for one of the remaining two places at the lucrative end of season Masters tournament and could do his chances no harm here.
Tennis Betting
Rugby Union Betting
The formbook of the Irish sides was turned on its head in the Magners League last week ahead of an all-Irish clash on Saturday afternoon.
Munster’s surprise defeat to Edinburgh coupled with Ulster’s excellent win over Heineken Cup holders Leinster has set up a fascinating clash at Ravenhill. Ulster surprisingly top the early season table with Munster having already lost half of their league games. As the away side re-integrate their international players following the Lions tour I expect them to improve, and they could kick-start their season with an away win on Saturday teatime.
Leicester’s defeat at London Irish was predicted by this column, and games get no easier for the Tigers as they host a talented Northampton at Welford Road on Saturday. With the likes of Shane Geraghty, Ben Foden and Courtney Lawes all vying to be picked for England in their autumn internationals, Northampton boast some excellent home-grown talent and recent victories against Munster and Sale has seen them score heavily. This will be a great barometer of how far Jim Mallinder’s side have come and an away victory is certainly not out of the question.
Rugby Union Betting
Rugby League Betting
The inaugural Four Nations tournament continues this weekend after an exciting first round of matches. England beat France 34-12 in Doncaster before a thrilling 20-20 draw between Australia and the reigning World champions New Zealand.
England face the Kangaroos in Wigan on Saturday before France take on New Zealand in Toulouse. England were poor in last year’s World Cup and will be looking to put in a good performance in front of a passionate home support whereas the Kiwis should see off France comfortably.
Rugby League Betting
Horse Racing Betting
The racing at Ascot this Saturday includes the williamhill.com Handicap Hurdle, a competitive two mile chase. Newmarket hosts the Ben Marshall and Montrose Fillies’ Stakes and Wetherby features the first major conditions event of the autumn, the Charlie Hall Chase.
The Melbourne Cup, known as ‘the race that stops a nation’ will do just that next Tuesday as the world famous race is hosted by the Flemington racecourse. There’s not much to choose between the three favourites Efficient, Viewed and Alcopop, all available at around 11/2.
Horse Racing Betting
