Dream final

Man Utd just finished drawing with Newcastle for a voided recommendation. The Red Devils are now 7 points clear of Arsenal with an extra game played. Can the Gunners cut the gap to 4 on Wednesday? I doubt it. Going to Tottenham is never easy, and I reckon Harry Redknapp's men will be up for the battle against their arch-enemies tomorrow. I suspect there will be lots of goals with Spurs prevailing at the end. A draw-no-bet on Tottenham is recommended.

In the other Premier League game, Chelsea should win at home against Birmingham. Chelsea are playing for automatic qualification for next season's Champions League and will be keen to bag the 3 points against their lowly opponents. Will Torres score? May be. I just cannot see Birmingham snatching the win here with the absences of main strikers Zigic and Martins. Chelsea are recommended as draw-no-bet.

Finally, the Copa del Rey final between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Final between the 2 giants of Spanish football, arguably the 2 best sides in the world right now, both with managers having never lost a Cup final. Only their upcoming semi-final Champions League matches can trump this match between the arch rivals. In my opinion, the 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu gave very little away into how things are going to unfold for this match. The objective is different, the teams will be somewhat altered, and more importantly tactics will be different.

One thing for certain is that Mourinho will come up with tactics so as not to lose in 90 minutes or extra time. After all, he's not just a football manager, and as Johann Cryuff would have it, he's a manager of winning titles. To beat a Barcelona team that is superior on all accounts, going to the lottery of penalties with Casillas in goal should seem a decent proposition to the Los Blancos, I believe. So there'll be no surprise if Madrid start with more than 7 defensively minded players as they did over the week-end. They will also rely on dead ball situations where Ronaldo's free-kicks can be decisive. If they get an early goal, then think of it as not 1, but 2 buses will be parked in front of goal!

Barcelona showed on Saturday that they are still one notch above Madrid. Over 70% possession, for a game that they led for a good, is just staggering. It's true they played with an extra man, and were stretched at times by Madrid, but they were still the visiting team at the Bernabeu. They were actually unlucky not to win the match with the bad decision on Marcelo's penalty (the small Brazilian is actually proving to be quite an annoyingly good actor on the pitch, after his theatrics against Crouch in the Champions League).

I think this game will end in a draw and Madrid will nick it on penalties. But no recommendation on that one, it can really go either way.

Draw-no-bet: Tottenham, Chelsea

Week-end football preview

The Dubai Carnival started with a lot of expectancy on Thursday, and if the results of the first meeting are of any indication, it seems that the trend of Godolphin and Mike de Kock taking most of the headlines (and prizes) is set to continue. Godolphin bagged a treble and the South African stable got a double. As I was mentioning previously, this can be good from a punting point of view, as long as the right horses from these stables are picked (can't pick all of them obviously). Will surely be following the Carnival closely to look for good punting opportunities.

Back to football where there's another busy week-end in all the European leagues. Man City are hosting Wolves and I don't think Man City will lose this game. Wolves often keep games tight on their travels as they usually keep their discipline and it's hard to break them down. They play fast counter-attack football which sometimes can give them results as in Anfield some time back. But this City team is really coming together despite the off-field or training bust-ups that make the headlines for the wrong reasons. Man City are not Liverpool and will have too much quality for this Wolves side. Man City as a draw-no-bet is my recommendation.

I also like Chelsea's chances against Blackburn. I don't think a 7-0 rout against Ipswich means that they are totally back on track. They still have a confidence to build and winning consistency to find before they can regain their fear factor again. However, it can't get worse for them than the previous weeks, and they will have plenty of chances against this average Blackburn side. Chelsea is a draw-no-bet recommendation.

Tough game for Man Utd against Tottenham; a real test for Fergie's men and this can be the game the Red Devils lose their unbeaten tag. I think it will be an open game where both teams will have their chances. That's why it's impossible to predict the outcome on that one.

In Spain, Barcelona is hosting Malaga. I don't need to write much here, and Barcelona is favoured to win this. Real Madrid travel to second-bottom club Almeira and Ronaldo is probably relishing this encounter to augment his goal tally. Madrid legs might be tired after the Copa del Rey match against Athletico Madrid on Wednesday, but they have a full squad to rotate from, and should be able to prevail at the end. I recommend a win on Casillas and his teammates.

Win: Real Madrid, Barcelona
Draw-no-bet: Chelsea, Man City