Category: Featured

Champions League Betting: Manchester United v AC Milan

AC Milan have a mountain to climb in the second leg after their 2-3 reversal at the San Siro and despite the fact that Leonardo’s side are likely to crash out at this stage, they are over-priced to win on the night, says Dave Farrar. “United are a good football side, but not a great one, and they have thrown in some shocking performances this season. If they aren’t at their best on Wednesday, then they could be caught cold, particularly given that Marco Borriello will be back to lead the line for Milan.” We’re left with an interesting conundrum ahead of Manchester United’s attempt to seal their quarter final place against Milan. By far and away the likeliest outcome on Wednesday evening is that United will end up qualifying, but they are unbackable to do so at 1.09 , so we have to ask ourselves where the value may lie. Milan’s second goal at the San Siro made a big difference to this game. If the task facing Leonardo’s side had been a three goal win, then you’d have felt that the Rossoneri would have pretty much given up the ghost, but now they know that a 2-0 scoreline would take them through, Milan’s very experienced squad can see light at the end of the tunnel.

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Mar 09, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Ante-Post Betting: Cheltenham Festival lay special

Brondesbury has a trio of lay tactics for next week’s Cheltenham Festival “Once again I can envisage Schindlers Hunt strolling to the home turn going well, but just not staying on as as well as his market rivals. Set the lay at around 1.6 or slightly bigger and I suspect you could emerge with a decent profit on the Irish charger. “ With less than week to go before the National Hunt Festival at Cheltenham it’s time to hone in on the horses that you need to consider to lay for the NH showpiece following on from our value horses from last week. Remember though all through the week that the main factor on all four days will be the state of the ground . Throughout the season, the majority of NH horses have been racing on hock deep going and now it seems long odds-on that we will get vastly different conditions at Prestbury Park even if watering does take place to ensure there is no jar in the turf. I have long been a supporter of Rite of Passage but I have been desperate to see him take on Dunguib in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle as he has both the cruising speed and turn of foot to put that rival to sleep.

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Mar 09, 2010 | 1 comment | View Post

Monte’s Multiple: Kolkata’s year to shine

After a big-priced treble came agonisingly close last week, Jaymes Monte hopes to go one better with this week’s trio of selections… Back Kolkata to beat Deccan @ 2.4 Back Birmingham to beat Portsmouth @ 3.1 Back van Barneveld to beat Jenkins @ 2.2 Treble pays @ 16.3 Bet 1: Cricket – IPL, Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders The Indian Premier League has returned to its spiritual home for its third year and in doing so it promises to be another huge spectacle. On Friday, once all the fireworks and PR gurus have had their moment, last year’s champions, Deccan Chargers , will kick off proceedings against the IPL’s biggest under-achievers, the Kolkata Knight Riders . Kolkata have never made it past the group stages of this event despite having one of the most explosive teams on paper

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Mar 09, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Champions League Betting: Fiorentina v Bayern Munich

Tobias Gourlay saw enough in Bavaria a fortnight ago to think there might be a Florentine renaissance on Tuesday evening.

Recommended Bets: Back Over 2.5 Goals at 1.95; back Fiorentina at 3.55 To Qualify

Ahead of the first leg of Fiorentina’s Last 16 tie with Bayern Munich, the Italians were in no sort of form. In the end they got no sort of result, but that’s not to tell the full story. With just over a quarter of an hour left, Massimo Gobbi was sent off, when he might easily not have been. It was 1-1 at that point, but if anyone deserved to be ahead it was the visitors. With a minute left, Bayern’s Miroslav Klose scored from an offside position. The goal was allowed to stand and the Germans had a 2-1 win to take to the Artemio Franchi this week.

Just a fortnight after he played ‘the biggest game for us in five years,’ La Viola’s captain, Riccardo Montolivo, is preparing for ‘truly the game of our lives.’

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Mar 08, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

New Zealand v Australia ODI Betting: Have good neighbours stopped being good friends?

Frank Gregan discusses how the previous good relationship between Australia and New Zealand on the cricket field has all of a sudden turned to animosity… “Trans-Tasman rivalry has always existed, there have been some belting incidents in the past (the Chappell brothers gave a whole new meaning to the term underhanded!) but New Zealanders are usually quick to forgive and forget. This time however, there seems to be a slow fuse burning.” Whilst rummaging around iTunes trying to find a track or two to make my daily jog with a limp a bit more bearable I stumbled across the classic – ‘It’s not easy being green’ – ah Kermit the Frog, a much underrated musical genius! Like many other creative types the Frog lacks perception of the real world, being green might be difficult but it’s much better than a lot of curses that are bestowed upon one at birth. Being English for example! We English are hated in the sporting world and for some reason the most venomous critics are our near neighbours, the Gaelic clans from North of the Border, across the Severn bridge and from the Emerald Isle.

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Mar 08, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Champions League Betting: Arsenal v Porto

Tobias Gourlay is happy to stick with Porto ahead of their second leg with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Recommended Bet: Back Porto +0.5 on the Asian Handicap at 2.4 v Arsenal Two weeks ago, a couple of mistakes by Arsenal’s reserve goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski , helped Porto to a 2-1 win in Portugal. The result has helped bring the Portuguese champions’ To Qualify price in from 3.0 at the kick-off of that match to 2.26 ahead of the second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening. Backing Porto To Qualify at 3.0 was suggested in these parts and you can now lay them off for guaranteed profit if you feel this is as good as it gets for Jesualdo Ferreira’s team. Need you be so cautious though? Historical precedents for this match have been investigated elsewhere on the website and suggest the value still lies with Porto

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Mar 08, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Cheltenham Head-to-Heads: The Champion Hurdle

Will Hayler may not know who is going to win the Champion Hurdlue but he has strong views about who isn’t. Meanwhile, Graham Cunningham has come up with a prime back to lay option. “No matter how the race pans out this year, I’ll be frantically pressing the ‘lay’ button if Starluck gets down to anywhere like 3.0 in-running.” Will Hayler : As I write, I’m still reeling from the defection of Sublimity from the race, having backed him about 15 minutes before he was found to have an injury. I might not know the winner of this year’s race. In fact, at this stage I’d be struggling to choose between Go Native, Punjabi, Medermit and Celestial Halo. But I know the horse I wouldn’t want on my side in the Champion Hurdle and happily he’s towards the head of the betting and can be laid on the win market. At 6.2 Solwhit has been a popular choice for this race ever since beating Punjabi at Punchestown last May, but there is a world apart between the conditions of that race and this and I don’t really buy the arguments that he was more unsuited by the slow early gallop at Newcastle than the likes of Go Native and Sublimity, who he finished behind.

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Mar 07, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Cheltenham Head-to-Heads: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

For the biggest races Betting.Betfair rolls out the best as Racing UK analyst Graham Cunningham and Guardian correspondent Will Hayler go head-to-head to discuss the main races at Cheltenham. First up is the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle which takes place on Tuesday March 16.

“Would I back Dunguib at 2.5? Probably. Would I back him at 2.2? Probably not. And would I back him at his current price of 1.9? Like heck I would.”

Graham Cunningham: It would be the easiest thing in the world to go for a cheap early score by tipping Dunguib for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. But I have no intention of taking the easy option for the simple reason that I think Dunguib is the wrong price.

Would I back him at 2.5? Probably. Would I back him at 2.2? Probably not. And would I back him at his current price of 1.9? Like heck I would.

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Mar 07, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Cheltenham Head-to-Heads: The Arkle Chase

Once a bottler always a bottler, says Will Hayler of Sizing Europe’s Arkle prospects. Graham Cunningham disagrees, arguing that the Henry de Bromhead-trained gelding can beat the hill in a day one crackerjack.

“Hill me no hills, Mr H. Sizing Europe might not win the Arkle – but it won’t be the gradient that beats him.”

Arkle

Will Hayler: Surely nobody in their right mind could be backing Sizing Europe for this return to the scene of his greatest ignominy in the Champion Hurdle two years ago. Sent off the 2-1 favourite after beating Hardy Eustace in Ireland, he came swinging on the bridle two out, turned to come up the hill and went from hero to zero in about three strides, eventually finishing more than 100 lengths behind the winner.

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Mar 07, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post

Premier League Betting: Wigan v Liverpool

Liverpool will be looking to take advantage on a weekend when none of their rivals in the race for fourth place have been involved in Premier League action. Jaymes Monte reports… “It was a familiar duo that secured the victory over Blackburn last week and having Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres on the score sheet will have been music to the ears of the Anfield faithful. With those two on song Liverpool are a match for any team in the Premier League and if they can get back to their form of last season then Benitez’s guarantee of a fourth place finish may not be so ludicrous after all.” Sometimes in football the psychological battle can be almost as important as the material act of picking up points

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Mar 07, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post
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