Chelsea ended Arsenal’s interest in winning the Premiership at the weekend, with a convincing 2-0 victory. Manchester United had put the Gunners intentions into serious doubt the week before, with a top-class display on how to finish, especially from that man, Rooney. There has been widespread rumours that John Terry’s far from persil-white public life could derail Chelsea’s title ambitions, so far that’s not happened, or better yet, so far no-one’s told Drogba.

How these two players, Rooney and Drogba, perform in the run-up to the end of the season will settle whose cabinet will hold the Premiership trophy, of that I have no doubt.
Read the rest of this entry »

After Manchester United’s surprise exit to Leeds in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, Alex Ferguson will be wanting more from his players over the 2 legged affair of the Carling Cup Semi-Finals. Only Ferguson will be up against city rivals, Machester City, who would like some bling in the trophy cabinet to show for all those millions spent.

Ferguson has promised to ring the changes ahead of the Manchester derby, after slating his players for their poor performance in the Leeds game. Obviously, Ferguson, needs this game like a hole-in-the-head. United’s players seem to have their eyes on bigger things, much to Ferguson’s annonyance and a defeat to City will chip away at the shield of confidence that United have built around them over the years.

It is no doubt a very tricky tie for United and one which City feel they have a great chance in progressing to the Carling Cup final. It certainly has whetted the appetite for Carling Cup betting punters as to which way the outcome of both these games will go.
Read the rest of this entry »

There are fewer big sporting stories around this morning than Thierry Henry’s France qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa next summer. I watched the game live on Sky while monitoring the real time feed coming from Twitter (this is turning into my favourite pastime, I do it with X Factor and I’m A Celebrity as well, it adds an extra dimension to the shows).

Ireland courageously took the game to France in their own backyard and really should have won the match if they hadn’t squandered their chances. As it was, the game was fast approaching penalties when Thierry Henry controlled the ball with his hand before setting-up Gallas for the crucial equaliser and ultimately sending France through 2 – 1 on aggregrate.

Henry has since admitted that, yes the ball hit his hand as he said, “The ball hit my hand and, I will be honest, the ball hit my hand. It was a handball!” But then goes onto say, “I know, the ball hit my arm, I played it, and the ref allowed it.”
Read the rest of this entry »

A new era is due to begin with the Scottish International football team. Yesterday, the SFA terminated George Burley’s contract and you can be assured there was no tear wept by this Scotsman. Harsh perhaps but when it comes to supporting your country there can be no mild-mannered decisions when it comes to the Scotland managers job.

Which now brings us full circle prior to Burley’s appointment 22 months ago. Back then Scottish football was in a much more healthier state, the mood of the nation was one of optimism for the future. Today, however, after Burley’s reign, the mental state of Scottish football is more akin to depression than optimism, although the news of Burley’s exit, welcome as it was, offers some Prozac induced moment… we still have a very tough time ahead to overcome before we can escape International football’s sick list.
Read the rest of this entry »

Liverpool are playing for Champions League existence tonight at Lyon’s Stade de Gerland. Rafa Benitez’s team are on their knees and are a poor shadow of the team that played other teams off the park last season. Liverpool quite frankly are a team in crisis. They have lost 6 of their last 7 games (the 2-0 home win against Man U being Liverpool’s only crumb of comfort.) Fact is, anything apart from a win against Lyon will see their Champions League dream become an impossible task.

With both Gerrard and Torres injured, Liverpool m,ust look elsewhere within the team for players to win matches and that seems the sticking point, because no-one looks likely at the moment to step into their boots and deliver the performances that win matches.
Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine, if you will, Manchester United and Chelsea playing week in, week out in The English League 1. No matter if they won the league or finished second they didn’t get promoted. What affect would this have on the clubs?

How could you expect the grounds to be full for every home game? Do you think the top players of world football would be attracted to the clubs, if this was the scenario? Finally, how would the other teams in the league feel towards Man U and Chelsea, if they released a press statement every couple of months complaining of their predicament and their longing to be accepted into the Championship or Premiership and escape their purgatory?

Now, look at Rangers and Celtic and you can understand why these two Scottish giants are in football freefall!

It’s not just hurting the Old Firm, it’s hurting Scottish football in general. Expectancy levels in Scottish football are hurtling towards an all time low. Most football betting punters have seen this coming for a good few years. The Old Firm have a domestic stranglehold on the game which is slowly choking it to a slow and painful death.
Read the rest of this entry »

Four more European teams will be looking to secure a World Cup 2010 place alongside England, Holland, Italy, Spain and co. Between the 14th and 18th of November, over home and away ties, the 8 best runners-up from the European qualifying groups will go head to head to secure their ticket for South Africa next year.

The draw has been made and some tasty ties will ensure that many football betting pundits will be licking their lips at the prospect of some great games to be had. Of course with it being a two-leg affair, it makes it even more exciting. Here we highlight the remaining teams chances and also their current betting odds for progression.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Champions League group stages draw has been pretty kind to all particpating British clubs. Arsenal, Man Unt, Chelsea, Liverpool and Rangers can breathe a sigh of relief that although they still face tough opposition it could have been a lot more difficult.

Read the rest of this entry »

It seems Celtic have little chance of doing anything other than turning up at The Emirates Stadium tomorrow night (Wednesday, August 26, 2009) and going through the motions to keep the score respectable. Arsenal need another professional display to match their quality performances so far this season to proceed into the group stages of the competition. Celtic, already trailing 2-0 from the first leg of the Champions League qualifier, really have nothing to lose but to go out and play football and this is why this tie remains a potential hazard for the men from North London.

Read the rest of this entry »

The new Premiership season gets underway at last this weekend and finally it is business as usual. There are many questions waiting to be answered upon the start of the new 09/10 Premiership and football betting fans will be rubbing their hands in anticipation.

Read the rest of this entry »