Manchester City have the backing of rich investors whilst Daniel Levy has continues to spend big backing Harry Redknapp at Spurs to turn them into a footballing power. The early season results certainly show that the top teams are no longer alone in their ability to win the big matches. Tottenham have started the season very well and Manchester City have answered their critics to prove that when their buying policy of picking proven Premiership players has been effective and they will be able to challenge for the title very quickly, something which was doubted before the season started.

Any football betting fan that likes to wager against the betting tips would be doing quite well this season so far. The football betting odds always favour the on-paper favourite as bookmakers know that, over time, the better teams win more often than not. But I believe there is a changing of the guard occurring in football at the moment with the status quo of the top four teams being broken in favour of a top six to eight teams. Perhaps not all eight of the better sides can win the league, but the recent results have shown that they can certainly contest the matches with the top sides and defeat them given a good performance.

In my spare time I am a big fan of the Football Management simulations on the PC. I read a lot of forums and fans criticise “unrealistic” results in the simulated games. But how many of them would have scoffed if Burnley had defeated Manchester Utd 1-0 or just this week Sunderland losing to Birmingham and Stoke (currently a real in form side who look to be relegation favourites on paper) defeating Tottenham away? Sometimes the most realistic thing in the world is varied outcomes in sport.

Perhaps the economic downturn has forced clubs to turn to honest players in their youth and reserve teams and given them a chance to stake their claim. More teams are being filled with “journeyman” pros like James Beattie and Aaron Hughes who are proven Premiership players and performers without the glitzy lifestyle and big wages other players who do not live up to their hype command. The exit of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid has watered down the effect Manchester United has on the league and I would argue that the likes of Obertan, Rafael, Fabio, Machida, Anderson and others are not as formidable a generation as the previously dominant players at the club. They also have a large club debt, the consequences of which are yet to be felt by the club due to on field success and refinancing.

We are unsure whether the transfer embargo placed on Chelsea will make them struggle. Their team is ageing together and they will need to dismantle and rebuild in the next two to three years. Liverpool continues to have off field difficulty with problems between their owners. Football fans may see Tottenham slow down their spending now a multi hundred million stadium is being proposed. Teams like Everton, Aston Villa and Arsenal may reap the benefit of managing themselves more efficiently. All these factors point to an evening out of the Premiership quality.

Using Live streaming services you may be able to cash in on this more competitive matches as a result of the balancing of the league. Football betting is going to be extremely interesting in the next few seasons as the consequences of the economic downturn and recent changes are felt.

By Malcolm Clarke

At the end of the day, there are only three possible results in a game of football, a home win, an away win or the draw. This is not the case with horse racing and this level of added complexity also means that it is far more difficult for the odds compilers to arrive at accurate tissue prices as well. There is so much potential information that is not available to the odds compilers in horse racing that arriving at an accurate price before the event is very difficult.

This is not the case in football and even when certain players are injured or absent then the result of Premier League games especially can be barely affected. There are so many hidden facts and data in horse racing that odds compilers cannot possibly know everything. Like how a horse will look in the parade ring for example, how they will appear moving down to the post, maybe the trainer or jockey will reveal vital information in the minutes prior to the off in an interview.

All of this could take place with any horse in the entire field and when this happens then it will lead to a movement in price. En masse, the betting public are itching to bet on something in most races. Most of the money on the betting exchanges actually filters in from the bottom. Sure there may be bookmakers hedging and traders trading but that still does not ignore the fact that the vast majority of the money in horse racing comes from the masses.

Much of this money indirectly finds its way onto the exchanges and if you can keep a very close eye on events, it then becomes possible to predict where the prices of certain horses may go to in the next few minutes or even moments. Using data screens that inform us of recent and past betting activity and liquidity levels can be a great source of information.

Knowing how far a horse has contracted or drifted in price in the few hours prior to the start is pivotal knowledge in trying to ascertain just where any future movement will be. It is basically common knowledge that the largest majority of punters money will be directed at the top end of the market in any horse race.

This means the top two or three in the betting. So if you can ascertain that the market at this stage has shown little interest in the favourite or second favourite and they have been drifting steadily then this may be an indication that the third favourite could be the one to fall in price.

This is not an exact science but knowing how the majority of punters think and understanding the mass psychology is one of the keys to successful exchange trading.

This article was written by Carl “The Dean” Sampson

I am really looking forward to Chelsea vs Liverpool on Sunday, but even Monday’s game between Aston Villa vs Manchester City feels interesting.

Three out of four English teams that played Champions league this week won their matches (Arsenal home against Olympiakos 2 – 0, Chelsea away against Apoel 0 – 1, and Manchester United vs Wolfsburg 2 – 1).

The only team that lost was Liverpool. They went to Italy and Florens to play against Fiorentina and were totally out played. Fiorentina won a well deserved win with 2 – 0.

I will list all the matches that is played this round in Premier League with the odds from bwin football betting and then give you my best pick for the round:

Bolton 3.15 draw 3.25 Tottenham Hotspur 2.10

Burnley 2.20 draw 3.20 Birmingham City 3.00

Hull City 2.40 draw 3.15 Wigan Athletic 2.70

Wolverhampton 2.00 draw 3.30 Portsmouth 3.35

Manchester Utd 1.20 draw 5.50 Sunderland 11.50

FC Arsenal 1.25 draw 5.05 Blackburn Rovers 9.50

FC Everton 1.65 draw 3.40 Stoke City 4.90

West Ham 2.20 draw 3.20 Fulham 3.00

FC Chelsea 1.85 draw 3.20 FC Liverpool 4.00

Aston Villa 2.25 draw 3.30 Manchester City 2.80

My pick of the week is a multi-play with two matches:

Manchester United vs Sunderland, home win + Arsenal vs Blackburn, home win total odds: 1.50

I know that this isn’t an all too brave bet, but those who have followed my bets for a longer time knows that I usually don’t bet on the biggest favourites. But this time I really think that both these teams will take pretty easy wins and that’s why I think that 50 % profit is a pretty god payback.

Here’s my thought about these two games and why I pick them as my bets of this round:

Manchester United vs Sunderland

Manchester United has only lost one game so far and that lost came against Burnley, very surprisingly. Beside that they have won all their six matches. It’s very rare that Manchester united drops points against opponents like Sunderland home at Old Trafford.

Sunderland impressed on me with their 5 – 2 win against Wolverhampton last week, but I saw the match and it was way too big compared to how they played. Sunderland got two penalties and at least the first was a wrong decision from the ref. At the same time Wolves deserved go get one penalty that they never got

Man Utd played in Champions league on Wednesday and that might be the only reason why to not bet on them in this match, but they have lots of players to rotate on and I am pretty sure that Sir Alex Ferguson al ready has counted in that in his tactics.

I just can’t se how Manchester united can draw or loose this game and that’s why I pick this as my first pick out of two. With the prerequisite that we have they win at least 5 out of 6 matches like this.

Arsenal – Blackburn

Even Arsenal played Champions league this week. But that’s no excuse to not to win this match against Blackburn Rovers at home.

Blackburn won against Aston Villa last week after a penalty in the 90^th minute. But I am not so impressed with their performance this year either. Blackburn has lost some important key-players this summer and I think that they will fight in the bottom half of the table.

I saw Arsenals match against Olympiakos on Thursdays Champions league round and they really impressed on me. The score was only written 2 – 0, but seen to the chances that they created It would had been more like 6 or 7 – 0.

They totally mashed down the Greek side and Nikopolidis, goalkeeper in Olympiakos, probably played one of his best games ever. It was play against their goal through out the whole game and why it took over 70 min until Arsenal got their first goal is a riddle for me.

In the beginning of this season Arsenal had lots of injuries but now more and more players have come back and on the attacking side they are almost complete now. Arshavin is playing brilliant football at the moment and with players like Van Persie, Fabregas and Eduardo available I can’t se how Blackburn can bring any points home from this match. Even Rosicky is back as winger and now its only Walcott left.

Arsenal has soo many players that can make the difference in a game like this and if they produce half as many chances as they did against Olympiakos, I am pretty sure they will win.

And with that fact I bet Arsenal + Manchester United to a total odds of 1.50.

Best regards

/Amrish

Thats what this day is called, atleast in Sweden. We have lots of interesting games to look forward for today. Two hot derbys, one in Manchester (City vs United) and the other one in London (Chelsea vs Arsenal). And between these games Tottenham receive Everton at White Heart Lane and finally Portsmouth will play against Blackburn at Fratton Park. I will try to give you my thoughts of these games and some statistics.

Manchester City vs Manchester United, Away win @ 1.90 in odds

This game starts the “Super Sunday” at 14.30 CET.

Manchester City won both games against their rival Manchester United last year and became the only team that beat United twice in Premier League last season. That was really surprisingly for me. Last time City won both games in Premier League against United before last season was –69 / 70.

Even though Manchester United have a few injurys they are way better then City and United have a more options to play with than their opponents. With players like Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov on top, options like Ronaldo, Nani, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Park on the midfield and solid defenders as Neville, Rafael, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra. My guess is that if we compare United´s player with Manchester City´s squad maybe two or three players from Citys squad can compete for a starting position in Uniteds team.

I have to say that Manchester United should win this game even though they are playing away,  Specially since United are looking for revenge after the two defeats last year.  The odds that Bwin odds is giving for the away win is 1.90 and thats well worth a shot.

Portsmouth vs Blackburn, Draw @ 3.30 in odds

This game starts at 16:00 CET

Blackburn has played 8 games in a row without winning and their manager Paul Ince is questioned at the moment. Blackburn started this season wery well with 10 points in the first 6 games. But after that the team has collapsed totaly with 3 points in their last 8 games. All the bookmakers, give more chances to Portsmouth. If you plan to place your bets on this game, try to spend some time in odds comparison through oddso, to see what is the best deal for you. Only West Brom are after Blackburn in the league table and if they lose today I think this will be the last game for Ince as manager for Blackburn rovers.

“Pompay” is also a bit disappointing with their start even though they are way better then Blackburn. I thought that this was going to be a big Season for Portsmouth with lots of intetesting players in their sqaud. Just like Blackburn Portsmouth is in a bad period right now and have only won one game of their last 7 (away against Sunderland three games ago).

So this is two teams in desperate need of points and I think that this will end with a draw and 3.30 is the odds Bwin are paying for the draw here.

Tottenham Hotspurs vs FC Everton, home win @ 1.90 in odds

This game starts at 16:00 CET

Tottenham started this season worst of them all and only had two points after 8 games. That was ofcourse a big disappointment for everyone and Tottenham decided to sack their manager Juande Ramos (who came from Sevilla late in last season).

After the change of manager, when Harry Redknapp, took over that position Spurs have started to win both in the Premier League and in the Uefa cup.  They have started to climb in the table and are at the moment on the sixteenth position. Tottenham have 3 wins and 1 draw in their last 5 games things are looking brighter.

Even their opponent Everton has 3 wins and 1 draw in their last 5 but the last lose against Wigan was a bit disappointing. Wigan was the better side in that game and if Everontons Golie, Tim Howard, hadn´t made a couple of magic saves Wigan could have won with more then 1-0.

Even though I respect Everton I think that Tottenham will win this game with a oddgoal in a tough game. 1.90 is the odds and thats just marginal p(l)ayable.

FC Chelsea vs FC Arsenal, home win @ 1.75 in odds

This game starts at 17:00 CET

And here is the second great big game on this “Super Sunday”.

Chelsea has alredy played against Liverpool and Manchester United here at Stamford Brigde and only taken 1 point in these two games against 2/3 biggest rivals. In my world Chelsea are better then Arsenal and home at Stamford Brigde hey normaly win majority of their games.

Things aren´t perfect in Arsenal nowdays with both injurys and other problems (Gallas). That makes the preparations for this game harder for Manager Arsene Wenger. At the same time I respect that Arsenal coult beat Man United at home.

Another thing that speaks for Chelsea is that in the last years they have had easier in their homegames with Arsenal and have 2 wins and 1 draw in their last 3 meatings here at Stamford Brigde. I think that the machine Chelseas will beat Arsenals beauty and I bet home-win.
All odds from Bwin sportsbetting.

Good Luck /Amrish