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Premier League Picks Early pickby Ben, last updated 2006-07-25 11:02:11The first day of the season probably isn't the best time for betting. The summer transfers can have a big effect on the fortunes of clubs. I have spotted a good bet to have though. All the big 3 are playing at home on the opening day. Chelsea v Man City Man Utd v Fulham Arsenal v Aston Villa I can't really see any of those teams slipping up. The treble pays 2.01 at VC bet.. It'll probably be safe to add Sheffield United to lose to Liverpool to this treble too. I can't see the blades doing anything this season. The four-fold pays 3.34 at VC bet ARE YOU BACKING KING HENRY TO REIGN SUPREME?by Bet365FRENCH STRIKER 5/2 WITH BET365 FOR GOLDEN BOOTAndriy Shevchenko has arrived at Chelsea with an impressive scoring record but bet365 make him only second favourite at 9/2 to win the Premiership Golden Boot. The honour of favourite falls to Thierry Henry who will have his supporters at 5/2 after scoring three goals during the World Cup. Wayne Rooney is next in the bet365 market at 8/1 to plunder the most goals with team-mate Van Nistelrooy at 10/1. Chelsea's Didier Drogba is next at 16/1, while bet365 make Peter Crouch the same price to rule the roost. However, it could be Crouch's Liverpool team-mate Craig Bellamy who is the value bet at 20/1 with bet365. The Welshman can cause defences havoc and, providing he stays clear of injury, should be in the frame by the end of the season. Bet365 are offering generous each-way terms of 1/4 the odds for the first 4 positions on this market. WILL RAFA'S REDS BE TOP DOGS THIS SEASON?by Bet365LIVERPOOL 6/1 TO WIN PREMIERSHIPChelsea are 4/9 with bet365 to win the Premiership for a third successive season but the signs are they may not have it all their own way during this campaign. The Blues have won the last two titles with something to spare but there's already been support for Liverpool at 6/1 and 13/2 Arsenal with bet365. The former demonstrated their defensive capabilities last season with a string of clean sheets, while they also knocked Chelsea out of the FA Cup. They now need to find a way of scoring more goals and new signing Craig Bellamy should help their cause. Meanwhile, Arsenal could also be interesting at bet365's 13/2 with a new stadium and, more importantly, the retention of Thierry Henry! With Fabregas, Adebayor, Van Persie and Walcott all open to improvement this term, there will be money for the Gunners. Man Utd are 5/1 with bet365 to end the Blues dominance but the potential exits of Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy don't bode well. The famous bookmaker make it a four-horse race with Tottenham (80/1) and Newcastle (150/1) next in the betting. Bet now with bet365 Gerry's Season Previewby Gerry McDonnellThe Thin Blue SwineI'm no stranger to police attention. I was once driving along with the wife when the boys in blue pulled me over. The copper asked me if I'd been drinking. "Not a drop" I replied, "Was I speeding?" "No Sir, it's the state of the bint in the passenger seat that aroused my suspicion." My run in with the Old Bill pigeon-holes me alongside young Wayne Rooney. The Scouse nutcase had his possessions lifted from his parent's house recently; imagine that, a robbery in Liverpool. If anyone offers you a half-eaten Big Mac wrapped in losing betting slips, you should contact the filth immediately. For Rooney, it's been a summer to forget. The big lad's temperament was called in to question at the World Cup, when after a couple of niggling challenges from the opposition players, Rooney decided to jump on Ricardo Carvalho's testicles like they were a couple of hairy chicken nuggets. Ricky ‘The Soprano' Carvalho will have a thirst for vengeance as a result of his severe case of the ‘numb plum' at the hands of the Roonatic. They say that revenge is a dish best served with two veg, depriving Wayne Rooney of a champion's medal will be a little payback. Chelsea are 1/2 to retain their title; that's a plum betting opportunity. Luckily, there is a betting without Chelsea market, and I'm favouring Arsenal to pip Man U to the runners-up spot. It looks like Real Madrid have failed in their attempt to lure Fabregas from the Emirates (paying for Cesc is quite an appealing prospect), while United are set to lose Ronnie and the Ruud boy. 2/1 about the Gunners in a two horse race seems more than fair. Ricardo Carvalho is not the first man to end up with an angry pair of plums, Neville Neville set the trend 30 years ago. Phil Neville's Everton teammates look a decent bet at 14/1 to come out on top in the betting ‘without the big 4'. One of the results of Chelsea's ‘buy every good player in the world' policy, is that the relegation battle has evolved into a ‘dolphin' market; it's more interesting than the title race for betting porpoises. Wigan performed miracles last season, but they've lost Chimbonda and bought Heskey, which is like swapping a Porsche for a wheelbarrow. Take 4/1 about Wigan dropping a division. Paul Jewell managed to keep Bradford in the Premier League for a season a few years ago; before being relegated the following term, finishing rock bottom. Jewell may be a real character, but so is Homer Simpson, and you wouldn't want him in charge of your football team. (Unless it was a straight choice between Simpson and Souness, then you'd have to seriously reconsider your position.) Wigan are worth a small nibble at 20/1 to finish bottom of the heap. Thierry Henry believes that his appearance in the Champions League and World Cup finals prove that he is a winner, although technically, that makes him a double loser. It's rare for an 11/4 shot to represent value in a 120 runner race, but you can't look beyond the great man for the Golden Boot. Henry has topped the charts in four of the last five campaigns (he narrowly lost out to Van the man by a single goal four seasons ago); only a serious injury to the world's greatest player will prevent you from collecting. The following guide covers everything you need to know for the upcoming Premiership season, and in all likelihood, plenty more that you didn't. Arsenal Winners 8/1 Relegation 1,500/1 Where they'll finish - 2nd Coming second is rarely enjoyable, but will represent a successful season for the Gunners. Season Special - Arsenal to finish above Liverpool 10/11 Aston Villa Winners 1,000/1 Relegation 5/1 Where they'll finish - 12th The Villa squad is one of the smallest in the Premiership, and as my wife always says, you can't compose a symphony with a small organ. They could do with a billionaire to take over, I'm feeling Randy. Season Special - Aston Villa to finish 15th or higher 4/7 Blackburn Winners 350/1 Relegation 25/1 Where they'll finish - 9th Robbie Savage is on his way to Europe. God help those poor continentals. Season Special - Blackburn to finish 7th or lower 4/11 Bolton Winners 500/1 Relegation 22/1 Where they'll finish - 7th While England are lumbered with Steve McClaren, Bolton get to keep hold of the miracle man Sam Allardyce. The best result of the summer. Season Special - Bolton to finish above Blackburn 6/5 Charlton Winners 2,000/1 Relegation 3/1 Where they'll finish - 17th Darren Bent misses the start of the season as he hasn't mastered the art of sandwich making. They'll miss the Curb. Season Special - Darren Bent to be Charlton's top scorer Evs Chelsea Winners 1/2 Relegation 10,000/1 Where they'll finish - 1st The Lamp failed to shine in Germany, but always burns brightly in the Premiership. Ballack and Shevchenko can both play, Paddy Power will probably pay out at the end of August. Season Special - Shevchenko to score 17 league goals or fewer 5/6 Everton Winners 500/1 Relegation 16/1 Where they'll finish - 5th Andy Johnson is a quality striker, Tim Cahill is a quality midfielder and Phil Neville is a defender. I like their chances. Season Special - Everton to win ‘without the big 4' 14/1 Fulham Winners 1,500/1 Relegation 5/1 Where they'll finish - 16th The antics of Jimmy Bullard should entertain the Cottagers. Somewhere, there's a psychiatric unit missing a patient. Season Special - Fulham to finish above Wigan 10/11 Liverpool Winners 17/2 Relegation 1,500/1 Where they'll finish - 4th I read that Craig Bellamy remains polemical, I'm not bilingual, I assume polemical is Welsh for a tool. Season Special - Gerrard to score more league goals than Bellamy 7/4 Man City Winners 750/1 Relegation 9/1 Where they'll finish - 15th City have signed Hamann from Liverpool via Bolton in the strangest transfer tale since David Unsworth's wife told him he couldn't stay in the Midlands. It won't help. Season Special - Samaras to score more league goals than Vassell 8/11 Man United Winners 8/1 Relegation 2,500/1 Where they'll finish - 3rd Fergie may end up needing a taxi out of Old Trafford by the end of the season. He should have kept his Van. Season Special - Man U to earn 75 league points or less 11/8 Middlesbrough Winners 500/1 Relegation 16/1 Where they'll finish - 10th Even a novice manager such as Gareth ‘paint-dryingly dull' Southgate inspires more confidence than Steve ‘what's he ever done' McClaren; they'll improve on last year. Season Special - Boro to finish above Newcastle 6/4 Newcastle Winners 175/1 Relegation 40/1 Where they'll finish - 11th Roeder was given the job although he lacks the necessary coaching qualifications. Luckily, Duff-man will prevent a relegation battle. Oh yeah. Season Special - Duff to be Newcastle's top scorer 8/1 Portsmouth Winners 1,000/1 Relegation 8/1 Where they'll finish - 13th Harry Redknapp is no stranger to a little punt, if he backs Pompey to stay up he'll have landed another touch. Season Special - Pompey to stay up 1/7 Reading Winners 2,500/1 Relegation 6/4 Where they'll finish - 14th Steve Coppell once walked out of Manchester after 33 days, what took him so long? Reading can be last season's Wigan. Season Special - Reading to finish above Sheff Utd and Watford 5/4 Sheffield United Winners 5,000/1 Relegation 4/6 Where they'll finish - 18th Neil Warnock will be an exciting addition to the Premiership, there's a severe shortage of managers who want to break opponent's legs. Season Special - Sheff U to finish 18th 7/2 Tottenham Winners 80/1 Relegation 200/1 Where they'll finish - 6th In Defoe and Berbatov, they have a pair of quality strikers. I like a nice pair. Season Special - Tottenham to finish 6th or lower 8/11 Watford Winners 5,000/1 Relegation 4/7 Where they'll finish - 19th Watford are like Big Brother's Imogen, they're not very attractive, they may go down at Christmas. Season Special - Watford to finish in the bottom two Evs West Ham Winners 750/1 Relegation 9/1 Where they'll finish - 8th Lee Bowyer should be a good signing; now that's what I call an attacking midfielder. Season Special - Dean Ashton to be the top English goal scorer 20/1 Wigan Winners 1,500/1 Relegation 4/1 Where they'll finish - 20th Bought Heskey to score goals, I'll predict three. Season Special - Wigan to finish bottom of the league 20/1 ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 Next → |
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