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The pressure of a Merseyside derby could be coming at the wrong time for Liverpool, but Everton fans must be looking to heap more misery on their struggling city rivals.



Both teams have had disappointing starts to the season, but few football fans expected Liverpool to be sitting in the bottom three after seven games, with just one Premier League victory so far this season. Everton sit just one place above them on goal difference, after their win over Birmingham last time out – but this clash at Goodison could have added importance for Liverpool as they have already drifted out to 8/1 with Betfred in the football betting to finish the season in the Premier League top four.



Liverpool are going to be without Dirk Kuyt, but could have Fernando Torres back in the side after recovering from an adductor strain. Although he has disappointed this season there is no doubting his quality, and as a big-game player Reds fans may fancy the 11/2 on offer for Torres to score the first goal of the derby.



One man who has scored in a winning Everton side over Liverpool is Danny Cadamarteri, and he believes the Toffees are "more than capable" of piling even more pressure on Roy Hodgson's shoulders and indeed the Toffees are many people's Premier League tips to win on Sunday.



Cadamarteri claimed the Reds look "rock bottom" and the blue side of the city could "put one over" on their more illustrious rivals.



He went on to say: "They're obviously going to be up for the derby but I think confidence in the Liverpool camp is low, and I just have this sneaky feeling that it could turn out to be one of those weekends where Everton have an opportunity to brag about a big win against the Reds."



Everton's defender Leighton Baines has told BBC Radio Merseyside that he thinks Tim Cahill could be the match-winner at Goodison Park. He is hoping the Australian midfielder can be the "man on the spot" for Everton, as he has been so often in the past, at the most crucial of times – and Cahill is 15/2 to open the scoring on Sunday.



My Tip of the Weekend:



With both sides struggling for form and goals, it's likely neither team will come away from this game happy, and as such 9/4 for the game to be a draw looks like the value bet.

Referees are also likely to be cracking down on bad challenges after the storm about dirty tackles - fuelled by former Kop star Danny Murphy's comments. So the 9/4 on offer with Betfred for a red card at Goodison Park looks tempting.



Sunday 17th October: Everton v Liverpool, kick-off 1.30pm - Live on Sky Sports 1.



By Drew Swainston

(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Will Stoke Play the Role of Villains? - Betting News with Betfred

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Aston Villa fans will be hoping the classic 'new manager' syndrome kicks in when they face Stoke City in the Premier League on Monday night.

Despite the season being only a few games old, it has been a rollercoaster ride for Villa fans. Firstly Martin O'Neill unexpectedly resigned just five days before the opening day of the season.
Then caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald went from hero after victory on the opening day, to villain following a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of newly promoted Newcastle United, all in the space of a week!

Now former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier has been 'unofficially' handed the reins at the club.

Although Houllier has been announced through the media as the new Villa boss, and unveiled as the new man at the helm of the Birmingham based club via a press conference this afternoon - it has become apparent that his tenure does not in fact start this Monday night.

As Houllier 'negotiates' his exit from the role as the French Football Federation's (FFF) technical director, he will not be in the dugout for Monday's trip to Stoke in the Premier League, with caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald running the team in his absence.

Villa are currently sitting in the Premier League top four and their powers of recovery were evident in their win over Everton last time out. To get a win against the Blues after being trounced by Newcastle, and then going out of Europe in calamitous style to Rapid Vienna only days earlier, showed the fighting spirit among the team.

Struggling Stoke who have not won a point all season are 13/8 in the Premier League betting to stop the rot on Monday night.

If Villa can show a similar resolve against The Potters, who are always tough to beat at the Britannia Stadium, then the 15/8 on offer for Villa to take all three points could well be seen as a good football bet by many punters.

Many football fans will be wondering what effect Houllier will have on the players at Villa Park. It has been a long while since he was a Premier League manager and his success at Liverpool came a decade ago.

It will be interesting to see how the players perform for the new man and how they feel about him replacing MacDonald, who is clearly highly thought of by the players, and has spent many years at the club.

Houllier said that he was disappointed MacDonald, who took over the reins following O'Neill's shock departure in August, had turned down the chance to work as his assistant. "I am working on naming an assistant manager," the Frenchman continued.
"Joint management doesn't work, but in some capacity as assistant manager he (MacDonald) would have been helpful. He could also have maybe learnt the trade and, who knows, taken over from me. But I understand his decision, he's a nice bloke so I won't hurt him - I told him I'd like him to stay at the club."

Once Houllier is 'officially' installed as Villa's new first-team manager, MacDonald will return to his job as reserve team boss.
Houllier could take charge of the team at Villa Park for the visit of Bolton in the league on the 18th September, or possibly for the midweek Carling Cup clash against Blackburn, or failing that the league trip to Molineux on the 26th September.

Meanwhile Kevin Macdonald will reside in the dugout on Monday night, and will continue to do so until further notice, OR when the contractual issues between Villa and the FFF are finally resolved.

My Tip for Monday night:

This is going to be a very close game and Stoke are notoriously tough at home, so Betfred's 9/4 for the match to end in a draw seems a logical outcome.

Monday 13th September: Stoke City v Aston Villa, kick-off 8pm - Live on Sky Sports

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Betting Scams - Rigging Football Matches

Upton Park, 4th November 1997, Crystal Palace are leading West Ham United 2-1 when in the 65th minute Frank Lampard collects the ball on the edge of the penalty area and drills home a well-earned equaliser.

Seconds later, as the West Ham players celebrate, the ground decends into darkness as, inexplicably, the floodlighs fail.
A quarter of an hour later, two of the floodlights on the North Stand flicker into life before going out once more. With the ground in darkness the referee David Elleray has no option but to abandon the game.

A month later at Selhurst Park, Wimbledon (who were ground sharing with Crystal Palace at the time) were holding Arsenal to a draw, when precisely the same thing occurred. Selhurst Park's floodlights died after just 13 seconds of the second half. On this occasion, engineers managed to restart them just 12 minutes later, only for them to go out again - this time permanently - while the players were warming up to go back on. Referee Dermot Gallagher immediately called the game off.

Again, nobody had the faintest notion of what happened. No one suspected anything suspicious, after all electrical problems did happen, and in the darkness fixing them quickly was almost impossible, so there was no option but to abandon the matches. So the blame was laid squarely at the feet of shoddy maintenance and dodgy wiring.

It would be two years before police finally uncovered what really occurred during those games and, when they did, they found a scam so devious that it stood to make the operators millions of pounds whenever they felt like putting it into practice!

The man behind it was Wai Yuen Liu, who Police suspected of having links with the Triad gangs of Hong Kong. Based in London, Liu was a notorious gambler and convicted credit card fraudster, and was the first point of contact for the syndicates in the Far East. With the help of two Malaysian henchmen, Liu set about targeting games that would reap the biggest dividends for the syndicate back home.

After their successes at Upton Park and Selhurst Park, the gang set about rigging the Premiership game between Charlton and Liverpool at The Valley. But first they needed a a contact at the ground.
They eventually approached Roger Firth, a 49 year-old security guard who had been working there for four years. With the promise of £20,000 in cash for his co-operation, the syndicate had now secured guaranteed access to the ground's power supply.
It only took a couple of hours to install a device capable of picking up a radio signal into the circuit controlling the flow of power to the lights. The device could then be used to switch off the lights using a hand-held remote control, similar to that used to open and close garage doors.

Under British betting rules, a match is considered void and all stakes are returned if it does not reach full-time. The crucial difference in betting legislation in the Far East is that if the game is abandoned after half-time, the result at the time of abandonment stands as the final score........and this is how the syndicate planned to make their millions, by stopping games in the second-half, when the scoreline stood at a point which would allow them to make the most possible money.

The syndicate's activities may have remained undetected, but for a loss of nerve on the part of security guard Firth. Firth still feared officials at The Valley might rumble the gang, and things fell apart when he tried to bribe another security guard. It was the man Firth tried to bribe that contacted the police.

As their investigation progressed, the police discovered a working remote control device in the car used by the men at Charlton and a further eight devices in their possession. The idea that 11 matches - each capable at the time of generating up to £30million - could be interfered with, gives you some idea of the kind of money they stood to make.

When the case came to trial in August 1999, Chee Kew Ong, a Malaysian businessman and Ena Hwa Lim, a Malaysian electronics engineer were both sentenced to four years imprisonment, while Wai Yuen Liu received a 30 month sentence. Roger Firth meanwhile, got 18 months.

Although it affected Asian betting, it thankfully left no slur or question mark on English football, and precautions were put in place to ensure it couldn’t happen again. It must be said, the Malaysian syndicate did not at any point make any attempt to subvert players to influence the scores.

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Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has been given possibly the hardest challenge to start his Premier League life with his new club, and he now has to do it without his marquee summer signing.



Joe Cole's sending off in the opening weekend draw with Arsenal means he is now unavailable for Monday's clash with Premier League moneybags Manchester City, with Liverpool priced at 23/10 win the clash with Betfred.



Hodgson's predecessor Rafa Benitez was criticised all the time for tinkering so it was interesting to see how many changes the new man made in the Europa League qualifier with Trabzonspor.



The boss gave a second half run-out to Fernando Torres, who the football odds make 11/2 to score the first goal on Monday, and he looked much fresher than he did during the World Cup, so the Spaniard could be in line for a start at Eastlands.



Daniel Agger and Javier Mascherano are struggling with injuries and if the duo recover then they could face new signings James Milner and Mario Balotelli, who will both be making their Premier League debuts.



It is the first home game for City this season, and given their multi-million pound spending spree during the summer they will want to put on a good show for their fans.



They were disappointing against Spurs in their opening game and know they need a good start to the season if they want to win the Premier League title this season – something which they are 9/1 to do with Betfred compared to Liverpool who are priced at 14/1.



There is no doubting the overall strength of the City squad, something that Hodgson would love to have at Anfield, so the clash at Eastlands looks like it could be a sign of how both sides are likely to do over the coming season.



My Tip for Monday Night:



It's early days and neither team has settled into the season yet. Therefore I expect both teams to cancel each other out at Eastlands, and the game to end in a 1-1 draw, which at 11/2 looks a reasonable bet.



Manchester City v Liverpool - Monday 23rd August, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports.



By Drew Swainston

(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Fabio Coentrao, Ashley Cole and Karim Benzema thrown together in Transfer Window Speculation

Coentrao in, Cole out?

Today's transfer news begins with Chelsea and Real Madrid, as Jose Mourinho is apparently very keen to bring his former left back Ashley Cole to his new club Real Madrid. He seems like he will try everything to get what he wants. The Portuguese tactician regards Cole as one of the best left-backs in the world, and so in order to get him, he is willing to offer Karim Benzema as part of a deal, according to the Mail. The Mirror, also reporting that Mourinho wants Cole, states that even though Carlo Ancelotti claimed that Cole was going no-where, he is prepared to do a U-turn and allow him to leave, just as long as he gets the Portuguese World Cup left-back Fabio Coentrao. Coentrao looked very bright in the World Cup. He bombed down the left side, skipping passed players like they weren't there, and delivered beautiful crosses in the box for his attacking colleagues such as Ronaldo to blast into the back of the net. He created a lot for Portugal, and prompted the commentators to suggest that English clubs may take an interest in this bright young talent, their prophecy may yet become a reality with Chelsea.

Next, and to the team with strikers to burn, Manchester City. Yes, even though they have probably enough strikers to create a whole squad , apparently, they are monitoring Zlatan Ibrahimovich and his situation at Barcelona. The Swede didn't really win the Spanish fans over last season, and hasn't really lived up to expectation at the Nou Camp, much like Berbatov's situation at Old Trafford. However, Mancini isn't reportedley interested in Berbatov - despite being reportedley interested in every other striker.

I'm Staying!

Meanwhile, Adebayor has told reporters that he would like to move to Juventus. Maybe he sees challenging for a place in Manchester City's over-populated team as too much, or maybe he wants a change of scenery. Who knows? He was speaking too fast to understand.

Cesc Fabregas' boring and annoying transfer saga has stopped - at least for one more year, as he told Sky Sports that he is sorry for not speaking sooner to clarify his position, but he is an Arsenal player and 100% commited for the up-coming season. Even though, he says it now, there is probably no doubt that he will leave for Barcelona at some point in the next 2 years.

Arsenal are still trying to find a new defender. This time, reports suggest that they want Roma defender, Phillipe Mexes. They have wanted Phil Jagielka, Per Mertescaker, as well as a few other defender's and were also intereted in a few goalkeeper's, including Joe Hart, Rene Adler, and Mark Schwarzer, but either their clubs won't let them move, or they just don't want to move. One things for sure though, Arsenal need a new goalkeeper.

£150 Miwwion?

Liverpool are closer and closer to being taken over by the Chinese business-man Kenny Huang by the day and he has told Liverpool that he will give Roy Hodgson £150 million to spend on transfers if he takes over the club before the end of the transfer window. That's quite a transfer kitty, and one Hodgson isn't used to, and so he will stick to what he knows and try to prise Shaun Wright Phillips from Manchester City - instead of using all £150 million to try and get Messi.

The Worst Sporting Champions of All Time ! - Part Two!

This is the second installment in my series looking at and 'celebrating' those undeserved 'Sporting Champions' - those teams and/or individuals that were actually top of their field, yet were still pretty rubbish.

Last time it was Blackburn Rovers who felt the wrath of my written tongue, as I described their 1995 Premiership winning team as pretty crass. This time I am sticking with the sport of football as I look back to 2005 and 1982, and poor cold water on a couple of English teams 'glorious' European triumphs!

There are plenty of folk, especially in the Greater Manchester area, who insist that Liverpool's Champions League winning team of 2005 were indeed the worst European Champions of all time!
Despite their dramatic penalty shoot-out final victory over Milan, in the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul - they have a point!

You can't be picking players like Djimi 'gauche' Traoré or Harry 'supersize me' Kewell and expect to receive much in the way of props. But in their defence the Reds did at least have the decency to 'somehow' defeat several quality teams along the way such as Milan, Juventus and Chelsea and to a lesser extent Bayer Leverkusen.

However Liverpool only made it through to the knock-out phase of the competition, ahead of the 'mighty' Olympiacos of Greece on goal difference, after finishing runners-up to AS Monaco in their qualifying group.
The Anfield side did finish a semi-respectable fifth in the league during their cup-winning season.

Similar claims of beating reputable opposition on their way to European glory cannot be made for Aston Villa's 1982 campaign.

Villa that season 'officially' became the worst side ever to lift the most sought after European club trophy of the modern era!

The old adage of ' you can only beat what is put in front of you ' still sadly fails to make their triumph seem anymore than futile.

Villa won their solo European Cup (in the days when it was a straight knock-out competition) by beating the muscle of Valur Reykjavik, Dynamo Berlin, Dynamo Kiev, Anderlect and in one of the most tedious finals held in Rotterdam, the most toothless Bayern Munich side in living memory, care of a 67th minute Peter Withe goal.

Meanwhile back home, Villa defended their 1981 domestic league title with a complete lack of aplomb, by losing 15 games and ending the season in 12th place - no European champions have ever finished as low - quite a feat and in doing so simply re-emphasising their title as ' the worst side ever to lift the European Cup! '

£70 Million for Torres? Take it Hodgson.

Manchester City seem to be the only team making any transfer headlines this summer and it will probably be like that for the next few summers until the Arabs get bored and go and find something else to spend their money on. But for now, we will have to put up with endless rumours involving City and their millions, spending completely stupid amounts of money on average players, and even more stupid money on the better players.

There is no doubt that Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers in the world. He proved that time and time again at Liverpool by scoring goal after goal. But Liverpool bought him for about £20 million pounds. Apparently, City are prepared to smash the English transfer record by making Liverpool a £50 million profit for the striker. Thats £70 million. If that actually is the offer, Roy Hodgson should take it and run. Knowing City, he may even be able to squeeze another £10 million out of the Arabs, they'll just get it back in pocket money next week any way.

Torres has been picking up a lot of injuries, mainly because he is so difficult to tackle, and so defenders have no other alternative but to hack his legs off. But as a result of this dangerous tackle theme with Torres, he gets a few recurring injuries. Last season, when Torres was out, all Liverpool had was David N'gog. Thats the equivalent of Man United having Rooney injured and only having Danny Welbeck to replace him. Not good. But with £70 million, Hodgson could work wonders. It would change everything. He could bring in another 3 quality strikers. He did a great job at Fulham with only about £7 million - better, in fact than Liverpool in the Europa League.

So if I was Hodgson, I would take the amazing offer and give away a world class player and bring in two or three fresh faces which would in the long term strengthen the squad whilst stabalising the team. In addition, with Mascherano looking like he wants to go for £30 million, either buy a cheaper replacement or pay off some of that massive debt!

The New Premier League Kits 2010/11 Season

Liverpool Wallpapers

Liverpool Wallpapers

Steven Gerrard

Steven George Gerrard
Starting youth career in Liverpool 1987 - 1998
Wearing senior liverpool jersey since 1998 - present

Gerrard succeeding Sami Hyypiä as Liverpool team captain in 2003

(PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Gerrard in national team:
U21 in 1999
senior since 2000 - present

Congratulations to England's Under-17's - UEFA European Champions 2010.

England skipper Conor Coady lifts the the European Championship trophy

England's Under-17's were today crowned European Football Champions for the first time, after a 2-1 victory over their Spanish counterparts in Liechtenstein.

Spain, Under-17 champions twice in the last three years dominated opening proceedings and took the lead in the 22nd minute at the Rheinpark Stadium.

England rallied and were level just eight minutes later when Liverpool's Andre Wisdom headed Josh McEachran's corner past Spanish keeper Adrian Ortolá.

Ipswich forward Connor Wickham was in outstanding form and gave England the lead after 42 minutes, beating three defenders as he cut into the box before giving Ortolá no chance with a cool finish.

Spain were pushing hard to equalise, but tournament top scorer Paco was frustrated in his attempt to add to his six goals.

Wickham could have put his side even further ahead in the second half, but there were no further goals as England held on for a first age-group title since England hosted and won the UEFA Under-18 European Championships in 1993.

England manager John Peacock said afterwards: "It means a lot to the English game. We've obviously got our critics that we are not producing players. We have produced many, many good players from this tournament, we are producing good players back in England. What is missing was a final where we could put our name to a trophy, hopefully we won't have to wait 17 years for another one."

Now can the England senior squad go on and lift the World Cup in South Africa this summer, and put English football firmly back on the map?

Liverpool Out For Revenge Over Beach Ball Victors - Betting News with Betfred

VERSUS

Liverpool will be hoping for their luck to turn when they face Sunderland at Anfield on Sunday, after the previous meeting between the two teams ended in controversy.

Back in October 2009 the Reds went down 1-0 to the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light, after Darren Bent's shot hit a beach ball thrown on to the pitch by a Liverpool fan, causing it to dramatically change direction, before nestling in the back of the net.

With the form Bent has been in recently punters might fancy the 8/1 on offer with Betfred for him to be first goalscorer on Sunday, with or without outside assistance.

The incident caused huge controversy, and ultimately cost Liverpool valuable points. Five months on and with Liverpool's season faltering, they will have to pull out all the stops if they are going to finish at best in fourth place at the end of this seasons Premier League campaign.

They currently lie sixth, four points behind Tottenham who occupy fourth place and two points behind Manchester City in fifth, both of whom have played a game less than The Reds.

Manager Rafa Benitez has called for his big players to step up to the plate in the coming weeks to ensure Liverpool qualify for next season's Champions League.
The football betting odds make the Merseysiders favourites for Sunday's game at 1/3, but their stuttering form could make a draw at 4/1 a good bet.

The Spanish manager will be aware of the threat Sunderland can pose to his side, who could be still reeling from their defeat to Premier League leaders Manchester United last weekend.

"Sometimes when you talk about big names, top-class players, you are expecting something from them when the team is not doing well," said Benitez.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted in recent days that his performances this season have been lacklustre. He told Sky Sports News he has failed to reach the level he expects of himself, which has left him disappointed. He will certainly need to improve if he is to help England to justify their World Cup 2010 odds in South Africa this summer, and he could show signs of improvement here. Gerrard is 9/2 to grab the first goal on Sunday.

My tip Of The Weekend:
I expect a tight game with few goals at Anfield, so Betfred's odds of 7/2 for the game to be all square at half-time and Liverpool to be victorious at full-time is very attractive - Sunday 28th March, kick-off 4pm, live on Sky.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

A History of Idiosyncratic Events in Football – Part Two

-----Player Goal Droughts-----

The former Liverpool full-back Rob Jones (right) is often cited as a player who couldn't score.

While it's certainly true that the England international never once found the back of the net in 243 appearances for Liverpool between 1991 and 1999, it is fair to say that he was particularly unlucky, as he had an uncanny knack of hitting the woodwork with agonising regularity.

I would like to point out in defence of Rob that before joining 'The Reds' from Crewe Alexandra, where he started his professional career, he did score on two occasions for 'The Railwaymen.'

Goal-shyness is by no means uncommon in professional football, and the name of one other - now retired - player comes to mind as a long term sufferer.


Respect, please, though to Steve Whitworth, the stalwart defender who played 399 times for Leicester City between 1969 and 1979.

In all those matches Steve (back row,extreme left) scored just the once, although it was certainly a good 'un, and will stay in the memory of Leicester City fans forever!
He scored the only goal in the 1971 Charity Shield win over Liverpool, giving the City backroom staff a rare opportunity to break out the Brasso.





Whitworth did did not have to wait as long as Francis Benali (right) who scored his one and only goal for Southampton in his 11th season with the club - in the 1997/98 season.




Still, better late than never!

Liverpool Looking To Get Campaign Back On Track Versus Wolves - Betting Tips with Betfred

Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva has admitted his side must look to win all their remaining Premier League games in order to finish in the top four.

The Anfield club are currently in eighth place in the Premier League, having only won eight of their 18 games this season, and face a resurgent Wolves side on Boxing Day, who have taken nine out of a possible twelve points in their last four fixtures.

Wolves are an outside bet at Premier League odds of 15/2 with Betfred, but 'could be' worth a small wager on the basis of a very inconsistent Red's team this term, who have only been victorious in five of their nine games at Anfield.

Liverpool are eight points adrift of Aston Villa in fourth place and Brazilian midfielder Lucas thinks the side's target must now be to win "almost every game" in order to get back into the Champions League next season.

"Wolves have quality. We have to respect them and try to show our own quality and play well for the fans," said Lucas.

"All games are tough in the Premier League, so we have to prepare well, work hard and have confidence. We have quality and if we can play well we can beat anyone."

Odds with Betfred of 5/1 for a 2-0 victory for Liverpool could be a good offering as the Reds will be looking to recover quickly from their 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth last weekend.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy could also make big changes to his side, like he did against Manchester United earlier in the month, which would also make 8/1 for there to be over 2.5 goals in the tie a good football bet.


My Tip Of The Weekend:
Back over 2.5 goals @ 8/1 in the Liverpool versus Wolves fixture on Boxing Day - kick-off 5.30pm GMT.

By Charlotte Cook
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Arsenal Suffering Ahead Of Crucial Trip To Anfield - Betting News with Betfred

Arsenal are suffering from their worst injury crisis in recent years, as they prepare for this weekend's crucial Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

The Emirates treatment room must seem like the set of a war movie as almost a dozen first-team players are currently ruled out of the game.

Robin van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner, Gael Clichy, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby, Kieran Gibbs and Johan Djourou were all missing ahead of last weekend's victory against Stoke City.

Then, during the 2-0 win, Tomas Rosicky, Emmanuel Eboue, Armand Traore and William Gallas all picked up knocks that could see them miss the Liverpool tie.

Arsenal are priced at 15/8 with Betfred to win at Anfield and could be well-fancied as Liverpool have been struggling in the Premier League this season, having won only seven of their 15 games to date.

Arsenal's gap behind top-placed Chelsea reduced to eight points after the West London club lost to Manchester City at the weekend, and Arsene Wenger thinks his Gunners side can still upset the domestic football odds and mount a challenge for the Premier League title.

The Frenchman has bemoaned his side's lack of luck with injuries this season, and claims they are suffering more than any other side at the top of the table.

"You cannot say there is not a reason for it but we have not found it yet," said Wenger.

"It's the worst season for injuries for us. And they are all in the same area - in the offensive side. Last year it was in the defensive side."


My Tip Of The Weekend:
A 0-0 draw priced @ 15/2 with Betfred could be seen by many as a likely score as both teams are struggling offensively and the game may be tight and nervy as it is a must-win for both sides.

By Charlotte Cook
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

'Brits All Ready To Hit The Ground Running' - Betting Tips with Betfair

In the last five years English teams have dominated Europe's premier competition and while that may not last forever, few would bet against a perfect start to this year's event, for all four Premier League sides.

Last night Chelsea and Manchester United both picked up three points, with victories against Porto and Besiktas respectively.

Tonight sees Liverpool and Arsenal enter the fray as they take on Standard Liege and Champions League newcomers Debrecen of Hungary.

There's very little value to be had backing a Liverpool victory, with the Reds as short as 1.11 in the match odds. However, there could be money to be made by predicting a high scoring affair. All three of Liverpool's wins this season have witnessed four goals or more and with Debrecen inexperienced at this level, there could be another goal fest at Anfield.

The Champions League betting odds currently stand at: over 3.5 goals in the match available at 2.08, with +4.5 goals a tempting 3.55.


Arsenal should face a tougher test as they travel to Belgium to play Standard Liege. The hosts came within two minutes of taking Liverpool to penalties in last season's Champions League third qualifying round and could provide tricky opposition for Arsene Wenger's team.

Unfortunately for Liege, they will face an Arsenal side with a real point to prove, after suffering successive league defeats. Arsenal can be backed to win both halves at 2.86 but if you fancy an upset, the Belgian champions look good value at 5.5 in the 'draw no bet' market.

Elsewhere, Rangers will be desperate to restore some pride in Scottish football after the national side's failure to qualify for the World Cup.

German side Stuttgart stand in their way, but could be prime candidates for an upset after picking up just five points from their opening five league matches in the Bundesliga.
Rangers are a massive 6.6 to win the game and complete a good opening week for Brits abroad.


By Josh Allen.
(Guest writer from Betfair on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)

Sky Sports FanZone - An Absolute Classic!

Here are two of the most memorable minutes in the history of the 'Sky Sports Fan Zone' recorded during the magnificent eight goal drama filled thriller between The Reds and The Gooners at Anfield last night.

You have to watch these guys go through the roller coaster of emotions, (that all fans of the game can appreciate) as they both experience moments during the game when they can almost taste victory and then that feeling of despair, as it is snatched away during this wonderful attacking goal fest!

The UEFA Champions League Group Draw, My Predictions & The Betting Odds.

An intriguing Champions League draw has paired Celtic & Man Utd together in Group E along with Danish champions Aalborg & the dangerous Spaniards’ Villarreal, runners up to Real Madrid in La Liga last season & finishing ten points clear of third placed Catalan giants Barcelona.
In fact if they had performed to the same degree during the first half of the 2007/08 La Liga season, as they did in the second half Villarreal would have been crowned Champions, conceding just one goal at home & losing only 3 of their last 19 domestic league fixtures. 'The Yellow Submarines' won 12 of all their 19 league games away from the El Madrigal Stadium, so they don’t suffer from travel sickness!
I believe Man Utd & Villarreal will both qualify for the first round knockout stage of the competition. The tournament second favourites Man Utd can be backed at a best priced 13/2 to win it outright while you can get 40/1 on 'The Yellow Submarines' shooting down all around come Rome next May.
The Bhoys are 8/1 to get through to the next stage but I would keep my money in my pocket & Aalborg managed by Scotsman Bruce Rioch, the former manager of Middlesbrough, Bolton & Arsenal to name but a few, make their first appearance in the competition for 13 years & I expect them to be the whipping boys of Group E.

The so called ‘Group of Death’ is probably a toss up between Group F & Group G.
Group F looks like a straight three way fight between Bayern Munich, Lyon & Fiorentina. The 1986 European Cup Winners Steaua Bucharest look unlikely to qualify from this group, but not I feel without putting a few noses out of joint along the way. It is worth bearing in mind that the Romanian domestic champions disposed of Turkish giants Galatasaray in the qualifying round, so any trip to their Stadionul Ghencea is fraught with a potential upset.

Group G hosts Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce & Dynamo Kiev. All of these teams are a shadow of their former selves. Kiev were Ukranian league runners-up last season & winners of this competition way back in 1999.
Porto are the current Portuguese Liga champions & were victorious in the Champions League back in 2004 whilst under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho, but have had to sell many of their best players of late.
Meanwhile Arsenal are without a trophy of any description since the 2003/04 season. Fererbahce, Turkish league runners-up last season & Champions league quarter-finalists last season (along with Arsenal) are probably on paper at least the best equipped team in the group along with Arsenal to reach the last sixteen. In addition they have a hugely partisan home crowd in Istanbul & the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, will be a daunting & unforgiving place to go for any visiting team.
My money is on The Gunners & the Turks to qualify for the next stage. Incidently Arsenal can be backed to lift the trophy at 12/1. A big price & a big gamble!

Group C should see Catalans Barcelona canter into the next stage of the competition but who will join them?
Shakhatar Donetsk & Basle are both winners of their own domestic leagues in the Ukraine & Switzerland respectively, & along with Sporting Lisbon, will fight it out for the one remaining place.
I feel Shakhatar are the best of the three. They have a touch more in their locker than Sporting & Basle, including six Brazilians in their squad & a 5-1 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb in qualifying.
Barcelona are joint third favourites to lift the trophy along with Inter Milan & can be backed at odds of 7/1 to do so.

Inter like Barcelona are the stand out team in their group, Group B with the German Bundesliga runners-up Werder Bremen the best of a meadioca bunch. Group B is the weakest on paper & with Jose Mourinho installed as boss & an array of talent on the pitch including Toldo, Figo, Ibrahimovic, Adriano & Cruz the current Serie A Champions should stroll into the last sixteen.
Anorthosis Famagusta the first Cypriot side to play in the Champions League, along with the Greek side Panathinaikos will certainly do well to take points off anyone, other than each other!
Inter & Werder Bremen to go through then, & Inter to win it the tournament at an over generous 7/1. Get on now!

Liverpool shouldn’t have any trouble qualifying for the first knockout round in Group D, but their uninspiring start to the Premier League season both on & off the field may require them to be slightly on their guard. PSV, Marseille & Athletic Madrid are all to be respected but of the three only PSV qualified automatically as Dutch champions, with Marseille & Athletico Madrid making it through via the qualifying stages.
Athletico finished fourth in La Liga but should & could have finished higher before they ran out of gas in the second half of the season. They lost 12 in total out of their 38 league games, but 8 of those 12 were in the second half of the season.
Liverpool to win the group with Athletico Madrid to also qualify.
Liverpool to win the competition are 12/1, a bit skinny but once out of the group stages I expect any off field business to have be resolved & the players to be firing on all cylinders.

The big guns of Real Madrid & Juventus – 11 times winners between them dominate Group H. The only question here is who will win the group? Juve are 2/1 to win it, with Real at 4/5. Zenit St.Petersburg the UEFA Cup holders & Bate Borisov of Belarus make up the rest of Group H.
Put Zenit in Groups B, C, F or G & I would fancy them to go through. They are going to have to cause an almighty shock here to make any progress & I personally don’t fancy their chances.
Madrid & Juventus to qualify comfortably. The Spaniards are 15/2 & Juve 20/1 to be victorious in Rome.

Finally Group A features favourites Chelsea, the dangerous AS Roma, Serie A runners-up to Inter, Bordeaux surprise league runners-up behind Lyon & the Romanian champions CFR Cluj.
CFR were the first Romanian team to win the title outside of Bucharest for 17 years.
Cluj more famous for Dracula & The Cheeky Girls are making their first ever appearance in the Champions league. Whether it lasts more than 6 games remains to be seen, so I have to stick with Chelsea & AS Roma to qualify from Group A.
Chelsea & John Terry are a best priced 5/1 to lift the trophy in May, whilst AS Roma are attractively priced at 28/1 to go all the way.
A bit of each way value beckons the Italians.( Each-way ½ 1,2 )


Group A

AS Roma 3/1 Q
Chelsea 4/11 Q
CFR Cluj 50/1
Bordeaux 15/2

Group B

Werder Bremen 5/2 Q
Inter Milan 4/11 Q
Panathanaikos 10/1
Anorthosis Famagusta 50/1

Group C

Sporting Lisbon 6/1
Barcelona 1/4 Q
Basle 22/1
Shakhtar Donetsk 6/1 Q

Group D

PSV Eindhoven 13/2
Liverpool 4/5 Q
Athletico Madrid 3/1 Q
Marseille 9/2

Group E

Villarreal 100/30 Q
Man Utd 3/10 Q
Aalborg 66/1
Celtic 8/1

Group F

Lyon 7/4 Q
Fiorentina 11/4
Bayern Munich 11/8 Q
Steaua Bucharest 14/1

Group G

Porto 100/30
Arsenal 8/13 Q
Dynamo Kiev 8/1
Fernerbahce 5/1 Q

Group H

Real Madrid 4/5 Q
Zenit St Petersburg 7/2
Juventus 2/1 Q
Bate Borislov 66/1


# Group stages to be played: Sept 16-17, Sept 30-Oct 1, Oct 21-22, Nov 4-5,
Nov 25-26 & Dec 9-10.

Q = My prediction to qualify for the next stage.

* Odds supplied courtesy of Coral bookmakers & are for teams to qualify through to the first knockout round only.

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