Tottenham v Arsenal-This is the 144th London Derby, will it be another thriller like in October where we saw 8 goals?  Spurs have a poor record against Arsenal in the the league, not beating them in 18 Premiership games.  Both clubs need points for very different reasons, Arsenal are looking for Champions League qualification and Spurs will be looking to secure their Premiership status.

Betting tip-Robbie Keane makes his return to Tottenham against their deadly rivals Arsenal. Surely it must be fate?  Robbie Keane to score at anytime on Betfair is priced at 2.68 (13/8), back him to score on Sunday.

Everton v Liverpool

The big game this week has to the be the 179th Merseyside derby.  If you are fan of backing red cards and yellow cards then this is the game for you,  16 out of the 32 meetings have resulted in red cards.  I can always guarantee Phil Neville will find himself in the book for a hasty challenge (1.9 odds on Betfair) and an own goal may just occur once again in this fixture!!!

Betting tips:  Who will win this derby?…Who knows?  It’s hard to predict these derby games, but judging on form Liverpool look to be likely winners, especially with Everton only picking up points away from home this season.  But the main bet I’ll be backing is Stephen Gerrard to score.  Needing one more to make 100 goals, what better team his 100th against? Back him to score at anytime at odds of 3.75 on PaddyPower.  Also back Robbie Keane to score at odds of 3.25.

Wigan v Man City

The last time City played Wigan away from home the scoreline was 1-1.  From a quick glance this game may look like a Man City win, but City have failed to beat Wigan in the Premiership.  Wigan have been in good form lately, with the 5-0 win over Hull being their biggest result this season.

Betting tip: City are the favourites to win this game at odds of 2.46 (Betfair) with the home team priced at odds of around 3.25.  Let go for the value bet here and back Wigan, they’ve been in good form and Man City may be a little weary after having to play extra time mid-week.  This looks like it could be cracking game, I would like to think there will be goals galore!!!

UPDATE- The Merseyside Derby produced alot of whistle blowing moments by the referee, meaning that there was no flow to the game.  Liverpool deserved the victory (as predicted), but Everton can count themselves unlucky to have Cahill sent off.  There was no luck in picking Gerrard and Keane to score, but I had to back Neville to get a yellow card when I saw the odds for a yellow jump up to around 2.3 on Betfair, so when he made that crashing challenge I celebrated like it was a goal!!

The Wigan game brought us the biggest betting winner of the season, courtesy of a Zaki penalty.  Hopefully this will be the turning point and we can get a good run of winning bets now.  Goals were predicted in this game, if only I had backed over 2.5 goals as well!!

Arsenal 1-2 Hull
Aston Villa 2-1 Sunderland
Everton 0-2 Liverpool
Fulham 1-2 West Ham
Man Utd 2-0 Bolton
Middlesbrough 0-1 West Brom
Newcastle 1-2 Blackburn
Stoke 0-2 Chelsea
Portsmouth 2-0 Tottenham
Wigan 2-1 Man City

…….Keane said on Sunday: “Anthony would benefit from going out and getting 20 games. He’s good enough to go and play in the Championship.”‘

With the Premiership starting, all talk will be on who will lift the title at the end of the season and what team will be dropping down in to the Championship. 

It will take a brave person to back Manchester United to be relegated this season, they are priced at odds of 2501.00 (2500-1, put £1 on and you make £2500) by Ladbrokes.  Somehow I don’t see many people taking up these value odds.  But Man Utd are favourites to lift the title again this season with all the major bookmakers, on Betfair they have odds of 2.88 and William Hill prices them at around 2.38. 

After United there are the usual title contentders, Chelsea are priced as second favourites at 2.63 (William Hill), next it’s Arsenal (6.0 with Paddy Power) and Liverpool at 8.5 (Hills).  After the top four the odds get pretty big with Betfair pricing Tottenham at 50.0 and Manchester City at 190.0.  Below is a summary of the possible title challengers and odds from the different betting companies.

The main relegation candidates are Hull City (1.30), Stoke City (1.36), West Brom (1.90)  all priced on Ladbrokes, in other words all three promoted sides are favourites with the betting companies to get relegated.  Fulham are at odds of 3.75 to be relegated this season, but with Roy Hodgson in charge, I think they will surprise a few people and stay up again this year.

Betting Tip: Its tough to pick out who will be top of the Premiership come end of July 2009, but I’m looking away from favourites Manchester United after the disruptive summer they’ve had.  One bet I would recommend is on Betfair, the ‘Month End Top-Aug’ market.  With the number of winnable fixtures for Arsenal in August (ending with Hull at home) and how they always start quick out of the blocks, I’m tipping the Gunners to be top of the Premiership at the end of August with odds of 3.5 on Betfair.

Remember if you haven’t already, sign up to Betfair or any of the other betting companies and you will get a FREE bet, check out the banners in the sidebar to take up this great offer.

In this volatile time of the year for clubs and players alike the usual issue of tapping up inevitably raises its ugly head. The image comes to mind of a smoke filled dimly lit bar with the likes of Ferguson, Wenger and Benitez, dressed in long trench coats and Trilbys and groups of innocent young men all shiny, with halos over their right feet. The trench coat clad managers shuffling up to the angelic players badgering them with all of their might and filling their heads with promises of goals, gold and girls.

In reality it seems that for the most part the players are totally in control of this wooing process. Take Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent dealings with Real Madrid. It seems that all summer long Real have been doing their best to woo Ronaldo onto their squad and whilst Ronaldo has made it public knowledge that a place at Real would recognise a life long goal for him, he continues to play cat and mouse, perhaps to drive the stakes up, or possibly to encourage a last minute offer from a more desirable club.

The career of a footballer is short and practicalities kick in. Some are driven by the love of the game, some by the money, and some by the desire to make their mark as a legend. But whatever motivates them, they have little time to make the dream a reality. Ultimately, as with any career, footballers want to get as far as they can as fast as they can, and clubs are fully aware of this.

Robbie Keane signed for Liverpool on Monday, and no one could deny that this is the best move for his career. Tottenham are a great side but their finances sometimes seem a little shaky, particularly now following their recent acquisitions, but Liverpool not only offer security, but also a chance to play Champions League football and the realistic chance of a League win at some point. The recent transfer of Peter Crouch, along with Keane’s record of being the all time leading goal scorer for the Republic of Ireland have left him with pretty much guaranteed place on the first team squad and his five year contract mean that the twilight years of his career are looking pretty good.
The £20 million offer from Manchester United for Dimitar Berbatov could also see another of Tottenham’s good players, also in his late twenties, making a great move to further his career, provided that the terms can be agreed. This does however leave Tottenham in a less secure position than at the end of last season.

Some argue that football has been reduced to a battle of the finances… he who has the most cash wins. This is of course true, however we also have to factor in the power that the players and managers have, not just financially either. Personally I feel that this whole tapping up issue is rather simple. It is merely just another tactic, in a game that was built upon them.