Red Devils to win the title

Three of the four Tuesday's games turned out draws, hope it turned into a nice payout for those that fancied it as well. Villa lost at home, which turned out to be a wrong selection.

I believe it is worth starting to take a position on Man Utd to win the league this year. I just cannot see them blowing it away again this year. Their main rivals for the title will again be Man City and the Citizens don't look to have the hunger to keep the trophy this year. Yesterday's goalless draw at QPR was good enough proof that this is a team that, although still formidable, is not incisive or sharp enough to win important games when they matter. Something is broken in this team; Silva cannot do everything on his own, they are missing Yaya Toure to run the midfield; Aguero and Tevez are shadows of their old selves. The team is simply not clicking and I don't think that booting away Ballotelli to Milan will cure their problems.

I still believe that Man Utd are a step behind their past teams of the treble year or of the Christiano Ronaldo years. But they are good enough to last all the way to the title. Their manager will guide them to it through sheer will. Sure, their defence is dismal but their attack is so good that they can outscore Premier League opponents at will. Last but not least, they already have a 4-point cushion with tonight's game in hand; given that they are best during the second half of the season, there's every reason to believe this gap will increase.

I firmly believe that Man Utd will win the league this year, so it's a case of accumulating position week-in, week-out, even when they lose points. They inevitably will drop points along the way, just like the rest, but the value lies in keeping the confidence and getting in as their odds go up after such off-days and nights.

For tonight's games, I like Arsenal at home to Liverpool. I think Arsenal will get better as the season goes along and they should have too much class for the Kops. Arsenal is a draw-no-bet selection.

I see Tottenham as good value as draw-no-bet at Norwich. The Canaries are struggling at the moment and Spurs will be welcoming the return of talismanic striker Defoe. Villa-Boas has surprised me with some good results since the start of the season and I expect them to win or draw at Norwich.


Draw-no-bet: Arsenal, Tottenham

On the wane and on the rise

Rocket Man, Man City and Fulham all won easily; the only blot to the selections was Ultimate Eagle who got caught up in a speed duel in the early part of the race and ran out of gas to finish unplaced. His jockey Martin Pedroza complained about losing all chance in the suicidal early pace he was forced into with another runner; what gets to me is when jockeys complain about being caught in a speed frenzy, when the wisest thing to do as a rider is to relax the horse to let him run at its pace.

The EPL just got a tad more interesting with both Manchester teams winning, but more particularly with Man Utd getting 3 massive points at White Hart Lane. Whether their victory against Tottenham was deserved or not is a futile subject matter; the Red Devils have every reason to be growing in confidence. Their title chances are real.

What is also real is the sacking of Villa-Boas at Chelsea. To be fair to him, he inherited a team of aging stars in full decline. As mentioned many times, the team needs to be overhauled to compete with the likes of the Manchester teams again. Drogba, Terry, Lampard and co are on their last legs and it is amazing that the club top brass hasn't done much to look into reinforcing these backbone areas despite sitting on billions. Or so they thought 50million on Torres would do the trick?

A highlight of the week-end was Rory Mc Ilroy's win in the Honda Classic that elevated him as World No 1 Golfer for the first time. The fact that he beat Tiger Woods into second place could be a sign of things to come. It would not be surprising at all if these 2 were to duke it out in the Major tournaments this year. Game on, start of a true rivalry perhaps!

Lousy Dettori ride

Pimpernel backers will rightly feel aggrieved after the shocking ride she was subjected to in the Oaks. Just finished watching the replay again and no matter what Al Zarooni has said about Pimpernel being "too keen early on", the ride from Frankie Dettori merits disgust. She wouldn't have won, but second place was there for the taking, had the Italian shown some vigor aboard. Where was the Dettori full of zest aboard Rewilding in lowering the colors of So You Think at Royal Ascot? Talk about being him being immobile on Pimpernel. If yesterday's race had been run in Hong Kong, the stewards would have sent Frankie on a long expensive holiday, no doubt.

Frankie's a great jockey but he came out with a shameful nugget in that race.

The week-end's EPL match-ups are coming up and you get the feeling that some managers out there are playing for their careers. I don't know who's feeling more pressure right now, Villa Boas or Wenger? Probably the Chelsea manager, as the Frenchman still has some "goodwill" left with the Arsenal board, although that is surely rapidly dwindling! Both teams will win nothing this year, I predict!

Chelsea host Bolton in what are 3 must-win points, or else AVB could be out after the final whistle. I think they'll win although nothing is certain with the club in crisis. Draw-no-bet looks good value at this point and is the recommendation.

Newcastle host Wolves who will be under a new manager. Usually the introduction of a new manager somewhat spurs the team in his first game in charge, but they are really up to a very good Newcastle team at St James Park. The Magpies will have had the time to reflect on their recent drubbing at Tottenham and it's hard to see them losing at home. I recommend the hosts as draw-no-bet as well.

Leaders Man City host Blackburn and this should be straightforward win for the hosts. They have got their players back from the African Nations Cup. More importantly, they have settled things with Tevez, who will be an important asset in the title run-in. Although the Argentinian will not be playing tomorrow, Man City should have ample ammunition to see of Blackburn.

To me, Spurs looks to have the upper hand against Arsenal in the London Derby. The Gunners will play at home but their form is so poor and their team beset by injuries and a lack of confidence, that this is a great opportunity for the high-flying Spurs to prolong their arch-rivals' misery. Besides Van Persie, Tottenham will field a team that is better than Arsenal's in every other position. Spurs look to be the best value punt of the week-end.

Win: Man City
Draw-no-bet: Chelsea, Newcastle, Tottenham

Chelsea blues

Man City and Inter Milan won as expected; pretty straightforward selections. Man Utd went to thrash Fulham 5-0 in London, which was a fantastic result for the Mancunians. They seem to be in great form and cannot be dismissed at the moment. They will not give up their title cheaply to their city rivals by any means! I still think strongly that City are in the driving seat.

Chelsea and Tottenham drew to the delight of both Manchester teams. Although John Terry had a very good game, I don't expect him to be able to give commanding performances game-in game-out until his prosecution affair is sorted out. There isn't any doubt that this will affect his game and his mental sharpness in the games to come. In fact, he could be a liability to his already-struggling defence. No doubt that courting Gary Cahill is a priority for Villa Boas at this moment. With or without John Terry, Chelsea will win neither the Premier League nor the Champions League, that's a given, in my mind. They are bound to lose Drogba for the Africa Cup in January. Realistically, they could even be out of the top 3 if Tottenham can keep their momentum. The Blues are still a good club with able players but I would not go close to punting on them for any title this year.

Wednesday football

Barcelona cosily dispatched Rayo in their safe haven of Nou Camp. A few things of note as I watched the game; Rayo tried to go mano-a-mano with Guardiola's men, trying to pressurize and hurry them off the ball. That can work well for half an hour, but after that, the legs are no longer there to stifle Barca's relentless attacking prowess. But credit to the visitors for giving it their all though. The other thing is the return of Alexis Sanchez for the Blaugrana. This guy can run at speed with the ball, no doubt. Gareth Bale, Nani, Sanchez, players of the same class level, in my opinion.

Today sees the last leg of the Carling Cup being played; yesterday Chelsea got dumped by Liverpool adding to the woes of Villa-Boas. With the Terry racial issue, the non-commitment of Drogba and the club's poor form, things are certainly not rosy at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal were eliminated by Man City, but that's no surprise there, it was more a case of boys playing against men.

Man Utd host Crystal Palace and the unsurprising word from Old Trafford is that the youngsters will play. Well, I think they will be surrounded pretty securely by the likes of Berbatov, Rafael, Smalling etc, who bring top-class experience with them. The visitors have a more important League game on Friday, so there is every chance that they will not be fielding their strongest team for tonight's game. With this in mind, the hosts look to have the upper hand and are recommended as a draw-no-bet. They will either win this game in 90 minutes or draw it out.

Tonight also sees Europa League action and Tottenham host Greek outfit PAOK. The first leg game ended draw-less, with Tottenham fielding one of their most inexperienced teams ever for a European game. This time, the stakes are different as failure to win will most certainly eliminate them from the competition. Harry Redknapp is a master at these kinds of encounters and he will certainly be fielding a competitive team to get the 3 points. I recommend Tottenham as a draw-no-bet as well.


Draw-no-bet: Man Utd, Tottenham

Week-end football

Valencia was an oh-so-easy winner against poor Genk, thrashing them 7-0. No surprise there. Week-end football is coming up and am hoping that the hot streak continues, so let's get at it.

A struggling Chelsea side is hosting Wolves and there is no manager in the game under pressure as is Villa-Boas nowadays. A defeat could be the tipping point for him to be toppled. However, I don't think they will lose this game. Wolves will be missing a few first-team players, and the Blues will be eager to right their sinking ship. Their lack of confidence might be low, but in the end Chelsea should come up with at least a point in this game. A draw-no-bet on the hosts is recommended.

Man Utd host Newcastle and getting the 3 points is far from a certainty for the Red Devils. The recent loss of Anderson to injury means that their midfield is really stretched to the limit. They had a hard game against Benfica in mid-week, which is hardly the best preparation to face the Magpies. I personally think there are big question marks regarding Rooney; his recent hip injury, his lack of goal scoring since the news of his family being involved in betting scams, and his re-positioning in a midfield role in the team. It will be interesting if he finds his full confidence back against Newcastle, a team he's been known to have the knack of scoring goals against. As for Pardew's men, they have overachieved since the start, but will be missing a few first choice players for the game. I would not be surprised if this game ended in a draw, and I can't see the hosts losing this; so a draw-no-bet on Man Utd is recommended.

The banker of the week-end is Real Madrid who host Athletico Madrid. The Los Blancos haven't lost to their city rivals for years, and that won't change over the week-end. Real is on fire right now. Athletico will be missing many players including their much-vaunted striker Falcao. I see lots of goals for the hosts in this game. They will certainly win and they are an easy Win recommendation.

Barcelona are on the road to Getafe. The Blaugrana were impressive in midweek by winning at the San Siro. Once Real will have dispatched Athletico, Messi and co will have no choice to win to retain the gap to 3 points between them and the Los Blancos. They should have all the class and firepower to do it and should win their game. They are recommended as an outright Win as well.

Win: Real Madrid, Barcelona

Draw-no-bet: Chelsea, Man Utd