Football
The battle for the Premier League title continues this weekend with Manchester City once again facing a tougher test than rivals Manchester United.
City travel to Stoke City in Saturday evening’s late kick-off and the home side are excellent value at 5/1 to put a dent in City’s title hopes. United host Fulham on Monday evening and are just 1/4 to win.
It is sure to be an emotional afternoon at the Reebok Stadium after the events of last Saturday and Bolton are 13/10 to beat Lancashire neighbours Blackburn Rovers. Arsenal can continue their push for third place by beating Aston Villa while I fancy Chelsea to do the Gunners a favour by beating Spurs at 10/11.
Swansea are excellent value to beat Everton at 5/4 at the Liberty Stadium while I expect West Brom to beat Newcastle on Sunday at 11/8.
Celtic can win the Scottish Premier League title on Sunday if they beat Glasgow rivals Rangers in the Old Firm and Motherwell fail to beat League Cup winners Kilmarnock on Saturday. Neil Lennon’s side are just evens to win the game and heap more misery on their cash-strapped neighbours.
There’s also a big match in Serie A on Saturday evening with Inter Milan 4/1 to win at Juventus and a top of the table clash in Holland as second place Ajax welcome rivals PSV Eindhoven.
Golf
After his excellent second place finish in Andalucia last week, Italian teenager Matteo Manassero is the 12/1 favourite for this weekend’s Trophee Hassan II.
The Golf du Palais Royal is situated inside the Royal Palace of Agadir and, aside from this tournament, is reserved solely for use of King Mohammed VI. Rhys Davies won the tournament two years ago and lost in a play-off last year and can be backed at 50/1. Last year’s winner David Horsey is available at 40/1 while I like the chances of Robert Rock at 25/1.
Tiger Woods has returned from his Achilles injury and is the 7/1 favourite for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods is a six-time winner at Bay Hill and looks to be returning to some good form. Justin Rose won the WGC-Cadillac Championship a couple of weeks ago and finished third in this tournament last year. The Englishman can be backed at 16/1.
Bubba Watson (28/1) has finished in the top 20 in his last nine tournaments while Webb Simpson is also one to watch at 16/1.
Cricket
There’s just one international cricket match this weekend, and that’s in Gros Islet on Sunday. West Indies take on Australia in the fifth of their one day international series.
A reminder also that England’s first Test match against Sri Lanka starts in Galle on Monday. The hosts look good value at 9/4.
Tennis
There’s a strong field in Miami this week for the Sony Ericsson Open. Roger Federer is in great form and, having won last week’s tournament in Indian Wells, the Swiss player is the 3/1 second favourite.
Novak Djokovic won this title in 2011 and is the 17/10 favourite despite his semi-final defeat to John Isner last week. Rafael Nadal reached last year’s final and can be backed at 7/2 while Andy Murray may be a good each way bet at 11/2.
Victoria Azarenka is the player to beat in the women’s event, coming into the tournament with a perfect 23-0 record in 2012. The Belarusian has won all four tournaments she has played this year and her closest challenger is once again expected to be Maria Sharapova who she beat in the final in Indian Wells last week.
Last week’s semi-finalists Angelique Kerber and Maria Kirilenko are worth watching, as are Caroline Wozniacki and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
Rugby League
The four sides that have dominated the Superleague meet this weekend. There’s a mouthwatering tie at the DW Stadium on Friday night as Wigan take on rivals Warrington. Both teams come off the back of high scoring wins last weekend, although the Wolves were pushed surprisingly close by struggling Wakefield. I expect the Warriors to win this one.
St Helens’ worst run of form for 23 years cost coach Royce Simmons his job this week and Saints will be looking to end their four match losing streak by beating Leeds Rhinos on Sunday.
League leaders Huddersfield can consolidate their position by winning at Hull KR while the Catalans Dragons can continue their good start with victory at Wakefield. Elsewhere Bradford play Salford, Widnes welcome the London Broncos and Castleford face Hull.
Rugby Union
After Wales’ Grand Slam win on Saturday, the focus returns to domestic rugby this weekend.
There’s a great RaboDirect Pro 12 match to look forward on Friday night. Leaders Leinster have only lost twice this season and welcome the Ospreys who are currently in third place. Second place Munster travel to Connacht on Saturday while fourth place Glasgow should beat bottom club Aironi. Fifth place Ulster travel to Treviso.
Aviva Premiership leaders Harlequins can consolidate their position by beating Bath on Saturday while second place Saracens face a tricky trip to Sale on Friday night. Leicester are the form team in England and should win at struggling London Irish on Sunday while bottom side Newcastle desperately need a win at Worcester.
Horse Racing
Established in 1998, the Winter Derby is a Group 3 flat race in Great Britain for four year olds or over. It is run at Lingfield Park over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) this Saturday and Premio Loco is the 7/2 ante-post favourite from Junob and Cai Shen.
Elsewhere there is racing on Saturday from Kelso, Bangor, Newbury and Stratford-on-Avon.
