The injury to Wayne Rooney will be a worry for them although the Reds have done well in games without him. It is difficult to see how it will all end up and one little slip could be costly. Chelsea have the 2pt advantage and are four goals better off in the goal difference department and miles better than Arsenal.

The fact that Arsenal are in this title race is massive kudos for Arsene Wenger. Who is to say that they will not win it and the football betting odds will fluctuate during the coming games. All three clubs have difficult games and when you add the pressure of the situation then points will be dropped. Chelsea are clearly in a better situation than Manchester United.

If Chelsea slip and draw a game that United win then they are level but if it happens the other way around and Chelsea’s lead extends to four points with four or fewer games to go then it will be curtains for United. Many people have been saying about how United’s experience will be important. You have to remember that the spine of this Chelsea team won the League in 2005 and 2006 so they are accustomed to pressure.

But Ancelotti is a proven winner and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do the league and cup double in his first season. I also think that his job is also on the line as a failure to win either the Champions League or the league will prove too much for owner Roman Abramovich. Winning the league after three years of being in United’s shadow will make Roman happy but I said last year that I would not be surprised to see Guus Hiddink back at that club at some stage.

Getting knocked out of the Champions League is a huge event in the season of all of the challengers although Arsenal are not in the category of clubs who were expected to win it unlike the other two. A lot will depend on how Manchester United react to losing against Bayern Munich.

When the draw came out for the last eight, I fully expected Manchester United to reach the final by beating Bayern and then the winner of the all French quarter-final. So it came as a shock to me and I still think that United are a better side than Bayern Munich. One thing is certain though, either Chelsea or United will now fall short in the season based on what was expected. If Chelsea win the league then Manchester United will only have the Carling Cup and if United win the league then Chelsea can only end up with the FA Cup at best…….if Arsenal win it then it will not make for a happy summer for them both.

Come and experience Premier League football betting for some of the best odds around.

Many people will no doubt look at teams like CSKA Moscow, Bordeaux and Lyon and think that they are merely making up the numbers……but are they? At the end of the day, we are looking at a cup competition after all so every team has a chance. Arsenal have a chance to overcome the heartache of 2006 and get revenge on Barcelona.

They will have their work cut-out because Barcelona are a better team than 2006 while Arsenal don’t seem as strong to me. But over two legs then anything can happen. The worrying thing for Arsenal is that they play a style that suits Barcelona. Also Arsenal have a strong tendency to buckle against the top sides which has been proven time and time again against Chelsea and Manchester United and in Europe over the past two seasons.

So I expect Arsenal to get beaten against Barcelona even though as an Englishman, I hope that I am wrong. Manchester United against Bayern Munich will be a wonderfully balanced tie. I give Manchester United the edge simply because of Wayne Rooney. Bayern struggled in the group and almost didn’t qualify as both they and Juventus suffered at the hands of Bordeaux.

Barcelona do not seem to have the same intimidation factor in La Liga as they do in Europe which is why they are in serious danger of not winning the title. They are currently neck and neck with Real Madrid and equal on points so it will be interesting to see how that transpires. I did say at the start of the season that I didn’t feel that any English club was strong enough to win the trophy this season.

With Liverpool going out in the group stages and Chelsea in the last 16 then that prediction is looking strong. Bayern Munich certainly have enough in their locker to beat Manchester United and go all the way to the final and their coach Louis Van Gaal is a master tactician.

Looking at how the draw has transpired then I do predict a Manchester United and Barcelona repeat final but then again, that is the final that all of Europe are predicting. Can Inter Milan upset Barcelona……yes! Even though they have let a huge lead slip in Serie A this year in the race for the title, Jose Mourinho will be plotting his game plan to beat Barcelona as soon as the CSKA Moscow tie is over.

My predictions are Manchester United against Bordeaux and Barcelona against Inter Milan in the last four but I don’t say that with too much conviction.

For the lastest Champions League betting then go to bwin.com

In this part I will list some of the favourites and write about why I don’t they will win the champions league this year.

Fc Barcelona @ 5.00

Barcelona won this tournament last year and that’s one of the reasons that I don’t think they can win again. Manchester United had the chance to be the first team to win Champions league two times in a row since it started 1992 / 1993 (note that I am writing about Champions league in that format that is played today, and not the former European cup).

But Barcelona beat them in the finals, so no team have doubled champions league wins in a row yet. And I think it will be hard for Barcelona to win this year as well even though they might have one of the best teams in Europe.

They haven’t lost any key players before this season and have bought Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan. But I don’t think that will be enough to go all the way again. They where a bit lucky last year, when they beat Chelsea in the semi finals, and statistically I don’t think they can do the same again even thought they have a solid squad and play well.

Manchester United @ 9.00

Manchester United is, just like Barcelona, always one of the favourites to win Champions League. Not as big favourite as last year but still pretty big once. They pay 7.00 in odds if they win Champions League and that’s to low according to me.

After 3 – 4 matches in Premier League I still wonder how Man United how will they handle the loss of their best player – Christiano Ronaldo.

C Ronaldo is not only a great football player but he has also scored lots of goals for the red devils. And often when he didn’t scored goals he was an important component who often takes the free kicks, corners and so on witch results in goals.

United lost a player who totally scores about 35-40 goals each season and with his skills that he had it will be hard to replace. Besides Ronaldo they even lost a fighter in their offence in Carlos Tevez who went for the local rivals Manchester City. Even Tevez will be hard to replace with his fighting spirit and always hard working on the pitch.

Even though Sir Alex has a complete and solid team and has bought some players that will try to replace Tevez and Ronaldo, I find it hard that they can go all the way again. Actually I find it hart too se that they even can reach the final this year.

I would never play Manchester United as winner of Premier League coming season for 7.00 as payback.

Arsenal @ 9.00

Fc Arsenal has started their premier league season better then my expectations. And that might be a fact that they won’t win Champions League. Wenger and his Arsenal haven’t won any trophy in many years now and the fans are screaming for a new one.

I have to admit that I didn’t believe in Arsenal before this season started but now I at least give them a chance to fight for the title.

 They still have a young team and my feelings are that if they still are in the top of the league, their chances to win champions will reduce.

Liverpool @ 13.00

Has started the league worse then expected and Rafa Benitez have claimed that the league is more and more important for every year that goes by. Last year Liverpool was second in premier league and even though they “always” go better in European cups then home in premier League I don’t believe they have a team that can go all the way.

Inter Milan @ 13.00, Ac Milan @ 21.00 and Juventus @ 21.00

I choose to put the text for all the Italian clubs under the same headline.

My reason to do that is that I think none of the teams will go far. While Premier League have gone better and better trough out the last couples of years Serie A have went the other way. Last year three English teams met three Italian team in the knock-out round and every game was won by the English teams.

Notable is that Ac Milan, always strong in European cups, didn’t play Champions League last year after have finished fifth in the league the year before. Now they are back in the best club tournament in Europe but without their best player, Kaka.

Without players like Zlatan Ibrahmovic, Kaka and so on I don’t think any of the Italian teams can compete with the best clubs in Europe. The only team that I might bet on later in the tournament, depending on how they start, is Ac Milan.

All the odds that I compare with are picked from Bwin.com soccer.

Best regards

/Amrish

It will be interesting to see how United cope without Ronaldo and Tevez and if Valencia and Owen will settle in quickly enough to adequately fill the gap. Manchester City have been splashing the cash again after spending a reputed £25 million on Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal.

Along with Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez, they now boast one of the best strike forces in the league. They still chase John Terry of course as rumours fly that the Chelsea captain is becoming increasingly frustrated at how Chelsea have reacted to the interest from City.

Talk of a £300,000 a week salary has been rife but Terry seems to be angered by the stance of Chelsea in that they appear to be automatically taking for granted the fact that Terry will not leave. Close friends of Terry appear to be saying that it is in the balance whether he leaves or not. If he does go then this could prove pivotal in Chelsea’s chances of wrestling the title away from Manchester United next season.

In past seasons, Chelsea have never looked the same defensively whenever Terry has been absent and it will be a massive blow for new manager Carlo Ancelotti if he is to start the new season without his talismanic captain.

As always there will be massive gambling interest in the league title and not just in England but all over the world. At this time the Premier League is the most bet-on football league anywhere in the world. The sheer global appeal of the Premier League and the fact that there is so much known about the teams by the gamblers means that they have far more confidence when it comes to betting and risking money.

In fact many shrewd gamblers look to make a quick killing on the Premier League by assessing the fixture list first. One of the drawbacks to placing a bet on the winner of the league at the start of the season is in the length of time that it will take for you to get your winnings. Long term markets tend to put off an awful lot of pro gamblers for this very reason because it is tying up money for too long…..money that could easily be used down other avenues.

However there is potential profit in laying one of the big four at the start of the season and this can especially be the case if they are starting with what are relatively difficult fixtures. It isn’t difficult to envisage Liverpool for example dropping a few points if their first five matches are against Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa, Fulham and Chelsea. If Liverpool only have say five points after five matches then their price for the title will drift accordingly.

Also top sides can easily have a poor opening month, one only has to look at Manchester United last season who got off to a poor start by their standards for proof of that. It is the average performances over the space of a season that dictates who the top sides are at the end and that fails to show itself during the opening matches with great regularity. Laying a short priced top four side at the start of the season could lead to guaranteed profit after just a few matches as you can back them at a higher price, thus locking in the profit.

Today it’s time for the last game for this season, and as usual it’s the FA-Cup final that ends the football season. And as usual it’s going to be played in one game, at Wembley Arena with almost 90 000 fans on the grandstand.

But all you football-lovers can cheer up anyway. Because we have a great Under 21 European Championship waiting just in some weeks and seen to the squads that have been presented I can assure you all that it will be a great tournament with all the most talented players that we have in Europe.

I will be back with all my best picks from that tournament later in June, so don’t be to sad that the league season is over soon.

But now back to the FA-cup final between Chelsea vs Everton, here is my pick for the game:

Chelsea vs Everton, home win @ 1.67

Chelsea had a pretty bad start of this season. But since Gus Hiddink took over as manager (after Luis P Scolari) they have both been playing well and started to win matches. But still they risk standing there without a trophy at the end of the season if they don’t win today.

Everton have made a great season, as we start to get used to, and Moyce´s team are pretty stable just after the top4. This year they ended fifth in Premier League and since even they had a pretty bad start of the season it’s a god mark.

Everton beat Manchester United, after penalties, in the FA-cup Semi-finals and even that is a nice record for David Moyce and his team.

But even though Everton has made a strong season and even though they knocked out Man United in the semi finals I have a strong feeling that Chelsea will win this game. They are the stronger team and a season without trophies is a bad season for a team with Chelsea’s capacity and skills irrespective of that they are in Final in FA-cup, almost came to the Final in Champions League and a third place in Premier League.

Normally I wound not bet on Chelsea, on neutral ground, to 1.67 in odds against a team with Everton’s defence and ability to play god against stronger teams. But as I wrote before this is more then a “normal” match. This game can be compared to a Champions League match or World cup / European Cup. And what happens in these kinds of games is that the better team often wins at last. Chelsea is the better side here and if you break down each part of the team (Goalie, defenders, midfield, and offence) and compare them to each others I think that Chelsea is stronger in every part of the field.

My Guess is that Chelsea will have the following start-up:

P Cech – J Bosingwa, Alex, J Terry, A Cole – J-O Mikel, M Essien, F Lampard – F Malouda, D Drogba,  N Anelka.

Maybe the German Midfielder M Ballack will start instead of Mikel, but my first guess is that the Nigerian Mikel’s going to start in the start-up squad.

And this strong team will probably beat Everton with one or two goals in this FA-cup final (2-1 or 3-1?)

The odds are picked from Bwin.com football.

God Luck

/Amrish

All games are “alive” since none of the first matches ended with more then one goals difference. Three out of this four games (Inter vs. Manchester United 0 – 0, Lyon vs. Barcelona 1 – 1 and Porto vs. Athletic Madrid 2 – 2 and went draw last time and I think that all of these three home teams has a big advantage in this rematches. In the last game Arsenal defeated Roma, in London, with 1 – 0.

Here are my best picks of today’s Champions League games:

Barcelona vs. Lyon, home win @ 1.35

Even if the odds can seem a bit low (for a Champions League match) I think that this will be a pretty easy win for the Spanish team.

Barcelona is defiantly the better side and home at Camp Nou they have a solid and offensive game. Lyon is not a bad side, not at all, but I don’t think they can compete with Barcelona in this match. I think that this should bee an easy win for the home side and that’s why I pick this as the best bet today!

Roma vs. Arsenal, draw @ 3.15

After 1 – 0 at home for Arsenal they have a small advantage in this rematch. Roma is a strong side home in Rome, but they have lots of injuries in today’s game, and lots of the players are ordinary in their starting line-up.

Arsenal won at Emirates and necessary don’t have to win today, I think that Wenger will start with more defensive positions and wait for Roma to attack. Without players like Totti, Vucinic and De Rossi Roma wont be able to put Arsenal under pressure as they could have done with this players on the pitch. So I think that this game will end with a draw, and it pays 3.15 in odds.

Manchester United vs. Inter Milan, away win @ 5.00

I know that many people think I am crazy when I pick Inter as my winner here. Especially after the first game where Manchester united was way better then Inter and deserved to win.

But even though I think that united have great chance to win this game I can’t motivate my self to pick them as winners when they pay 1.65 against Inter.

Inter have worldclass players in their squad as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Dejan Stankovic, Eseteban Cambiasso, Patrik Viera, Julio Cesar, Maicon and so on. And even though Manchester United seems better in every position at the moment you shouldn’t underestimate a team with Mourinho on the bench and these players on the pitch.

So even though I think that United will win this game I place my bet on Inter because of the higher odds value.

Porto vs. Athletic Madrid, home win @ 2.10

The first game ended 2 to 2 and that means that Porto goes trough even with 1 – 1 or 0 – 0. But I still think that they will go for the win today, and I sure think that they have good chances to win home at Estádio do Dragão.

I really don’t know why I am so sure that Porto will win this game. Because Athletic Madrid are in great form after their win against Barcelona (4 to 3) and draw against Real Madrid (1 to 1) in the two last league games. But something tells me that Porto will make this. Low stake recommended though.

All the odds are picked from football odds at bwin.

Good Luck with your betting today wishes/Amrish

Today’s games are Inter vs. Manchester United, Arsenal vs. Roma, Atletico Madrid vs. Porto and Lyon vs. Barcelona with all the group winners starting away. You can always follow the matches by checking free live scores provided by many sports sites.

I will give you my best betting advice for these four games that are scheduled today.

Inter vs. Manchester United, Draw @ 3.25

This is the biggest game of them all in this round and whole Europe’s focus is on this game.

My thoughts are that Manchester United is the better and stronger side here but Inter are hard to beat when they are playing home in Milan and Giuseppe Meazza. Most of the talk before this game is focused on the injury problem that Manchester United have on their defenders. One thing is for sure, Nemanja Vidic is defiantly going to miss this game because of his suspension. The fact that Nemanja will miss this game is a big loss for his team since he’s one of the best defenders in the world right now.

Then we have “injuries” on Gary Neville, Rafael Da Silva, Wes Brown, John Oshea, and Jonathan Evens. But since Evens and Oshea are included in Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad I have a feeling that they will be able to play today.

Inter has a strong team in their attacking play. Players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Adriano, Dejan Stankovic and Muntari, Julio Cruz, Balotelli and so on they have several options forward. But the defence has been their weaker link trough the season. Lucky for them that goalkeeper Cesar is reliable.

My guess is that United are stronger then Inter but that they are satisfied with a draw away and will go for that. That’s why I bet on x here.

Arsenal vs. Roma, home win @ 1.90

Arsenal is not going that well in Premier League and has difficulties with their attacking play.

Roma was way after the top in the beginning of Serie A but have played better lately and are approaching towards the top.

I think that Arsenals chance to go further in this tournament is to start with a win today. Even though Arsenal has difficulties in the league my guess is that they will succeed in Champions League. That’s have they have been going the last years and they defiantly have enough strong team to beat Roma. I put my bet on the home win here and am hopeful with that.

Lyon vs. Barcelona, away win @ 1.90

Some weeks ago Barcelona was unstoppable in the Spanish League but in the latest rounds they have lost some points to the rivals in the top of the league. But they still have a big lead and don’t have to worry for Real Madrid (yet).

Lyon is a good team and is strong at home. But today they have to tough challenge. One of the best teams in Europe is standing on the other side and even though Barcelona maybe are satisfied with a draw I think they have a god chance to win.

Athletic Madrid vs. Porto, draw @ 3.30

I think that many people think that the Spanish side will take a pretty easy win here, but I have a big respect for Porto. Even though the Portuguese League is way worse then the Spanish Porto always makes god result in European cups.

Athletic hasn’t been going well in the Spanish league and have a tough challenge in this game. Two teams with great offence and maybe lots of goals here, my pick is the draw.

All the odds are picked from Bwin Sports odds

/Best regards Amrish

Manchester United did just what they had to and won with 1 to 0 against Everton home at Old Trafford. It wasn´t so impressive win, but its at the same time a strenght to win against a stronge side as Everton without impressing.

Beside that great game we can even look forward to an intensive north england derby between the rivals, Newcastle united vs Sunderland at St Jame´s park.

Here are my thoughts and picks from todays game:

Liverpool – Chelsea – Liverpool to win @ 2.30

These two team have played sooo many games latley because of all the games in different cup-games besides all the Premier League matches. Totaly Liverpool and Chelsea have played 21 ( !! ) matches between each other since the season 2004/2005 unitll now so the players know each others for sure.

If we only look at the Premier League matches since 2004 / 2005 we have totaly nine games with 2 wins for Pool, 2 draws and 5 wins for Chelsea. At the same time Liverpool won the last game away at Stamford Brigde and are still competing with Chelsea and United in the top of the league, something they haven´t been doing the last years.

Before this game Manchester United is in the top of the league with 53 points, 5 more then both this team. Since 23 games have been played and Manchester United is showing a great strenght I think this game between Liverpool and Chelsea is totaly decisive for the comming. If Liverpool or Chelsea wins today they have a chance on United but if they draw I think it will be tough to come back.

When these two teams met in autumn at Stamford Brigde most people and experts thought that Chelsea would win pretty easy but Liverpool showed that they wanted to play with the big cats this season and won. In fact Liverpool have shown great capacity against the big 4 by winning against both Chelsea (away) and Manchester United (home)m and shared the point against Arsenal away. So seven out of totaly 9 points so far against the top competitors was long time ago.

Unforunatley both this teams have dropped lots of unnecessary points against teams from the middle and bottom of the table and thats why United are in top.

What about the squads today?

Chelsea will probably have to play against their important defender Ricardo Carvalho because of an injury. Essien and Joe Cole will miss the game aswell. In Liverpool Torres is going fully now and will be able to play. My guess is that Liverpool will play with Torres alono on top, and Riera, Gerrard and Kuyt behind him.

On the central midfield i think Aloso and Mascherano will clean up behind to attacking players and these two defensive midfielders are really good in big games. Reina will ofcourse watch the goal and in front of him I think Aureloi, Carragher, Skretl and Arbeloa will play defenders.

Chelsea will probably face the following 11 players: Petr Cech, José Bosingwa – John Terry – Alex – Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard – John Obi Mikel – Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou – Didier Drogba – Nicolas Anelka

My theory is that Liverpools stronger midfeild will win this game for the home team and thats why I pick Liverpool as my winner here. Its even silly to say that the homecrowd will be a great support in this kind of matches. It feels like its now or never for Pool and with “You´ll never walk alone” from the kup every player will lift 10% more.

The odds is picked from Bwin.com odds

/Good Luck, 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