Rafa’s rotation to pay dividends!!!!!

This Saturday sees Fulham host Liverpool. Fulham are presently in 19th place and fighting for their very survival. Liverpool are in 4th and in the Semi Finals of the Champions League where they play Chelsea on Tuesday.

Although Rafa is likely to rest key players such as Gerrard and Torres there should be enough firepower to steer Liverpool to victory. Fulham have won only 2 out of their last 9 games, one of which came in their last game at Reading. Liverpool on the other hand have won 10 out of the last 13 games in all competitions, the only blemish’s being 2 draws against Arsenal (one away in the Champions League) and a 3-0 thrashing at Old Trafford.

Rafa will have one eye firmly on Tuesday nights Champions League match. However Liverpool still need to win this game because they are only 5 points a head of Everton and they could catch Arsenal for 3rd place. With Torres and Gerrard likely to be rested Crouch, Benayoun, Lucas and Damien Plessis are likely to feature. Plessis has played only one game for Liverpool but impressed on his debut and he could be a player for the future. If Fulham are to win Bullard and McBride will have to be at their inspirational best.

I predict a comfortable win for the Reds who always play better in the second half of the season. They look a Steel at Even money with Coral and I recommend 20 points on them to win. Open an account with Coral today and receive a free £10 bet.

We’re Not Selling Ronaldo

Carlos Queiroz Manchester Uniteds assistant manager has warned his former club Real Madrid that even £96million would not be enough to buy Cristiano Ronaldo.

 ”We would not sell him for 120million euros, You can offer all the money in the world,but there is no amount that can buy him.” Spanish News Paper.

Madrid have long been admiring the Portugal international, with the Spanish media regularly dropping hints of a big-money swoop for the 23-year-old. Carlos Queiroz, who spent a year in charge at the Bernabeu before returning to his former position as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at United in 2004, insists even a world-record transfer fee would not even tempt the club into selling Ronaldo.  

Alan to be King at Ayr this Saturday!!

This Saturday sees the running of the Scottish Grand National at Ayr. It appears on paper that it is quite an open race and there are a quite a few horses that are closely matched. Miko de Beauchene must have a very good chance, given its light weight of 10′10 and is closely matched with Halcon Generlardais with their run in the Welsh Grand National. He will thrive on the forecast heavy ground and he run an excellent race at Cheltenham over hurdles, only finding Ballyfitz too good.

Alan King is double handed in this race he has Halcon Generlardais who is top weight and is the class act of the field. This horse was 4th in the gold cup and only beaten 16 lengths by the mighty Denman. Also Halcon was 2nd to the ante post favourite for this race, Miko de Beauchene, only beaten by a short head and is 5lbs better off in the weights. Due to Halcon Generlardais participation 51 horses have withdrew at the 5 day stage this is because they are out of the handicap and would be carrying too much weight.  

King also has Old Benny who will be 2lbs out of the handicap, but he will relish the conditions having won over 4 miles at Cheltenham when beating Over the Creek. Chocolate Thornton has not chosen which of these horses he will ride yet, so the best thing to do is to wait and see what happens because King could withdraw Halcon Generlardais in order that Old Benny can get in, or he might run both horses.

Another contender is Butlers Cabin who was running well in the English Grand National when unshipping Tony McCoy and has won the Irish Grand National in the past. However I think this race will come too quick for Butlers Cabin and the fall at Aintree might have taken a bit out of the horse.

Tony Martin is a shrewd trainer and he runs Patsy Hall, who was a disappointing 4th at Cheltenham, but is well handicapped. For me though Patsy Hall never appeared to stay the 3 miles, when virtually coming to a stand still behind An Accordian, so to think it will stay 4 miles seems a little optimistic and Patsy Hall is 2lb’s out of the handicap.

Openide, Burntoakboy and Noir et Vert all ran in the Kim Muir chase at Cheltenham where Openide was 2nd to High Chimes, Burntoakboy 3rd and Noir et Vert 4th. However Noir et Vert is a leading contender in the betting for this race, and hails from Ferdy Murphy’s yard who always primes horses for this race and he has a unbelievable record. Noir et Vert will also be very well handicapped running off 10 stone. Can it overturn 17 lengths behind Openide and 10 behind Burntoakboy over this longer trip?? The answer for me is quite possibly because Burntoakboy seems best at 3 miles, Openide isn’t very consistent and this is reflected in its price. I do not think any of these are good enough to win and they are all out of the handicap.

In conclusion I would recommend the following

2 points each way Old Benny at 7/1 with Skybet if you open an account with Skybet today you will receive £20 free bet

1 point each way Halcon Generlardais at 6/1 with Skybet

1 point each way Miko de Beauchene at 11/2 with Skybet

Manchester United 2 - Arsenal 1

Manchester United took a leap towards retaining the title after beating Arsenal. With Emmanuel Adebayor scoring with the help of his hand in the 48th minute. United levelled through a penalty taken twice by  Cristiano Ronaldo after William Gallas had handled in the Arsenal box.A stunning free-kick from Owen Hargreaves, which had Lehman rooted to the spot wrapped up the points for the home team in the 72nd minute. 

The result shattered Arsenal’s hopes of winning the title and after their Champions League exit at the hands of Liverpool in midweek, means that they are out of the title race and likely to finish 3rd.

Where as Man United are 6 points clear in the Premier League (Chelsea have a game in hand against Wigan) and are in the Semi Final of the Champions League.

HedgeHunter Retires

Hedgehunter the winner of the 2005 John Smith’s Grand National, has been retired. The 12-year-old, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Ruby Walsh, finished runner up in both the Aintree spectacular and the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup the following year.

In a career that spanned 40 races and total prize money of nearly £785,000, Hedgehunter lined up at Aintree no less than five times and finished 13th in his last race Saturday.

Mullins told the Racing Post: “I spoke with Trevor Hemmings this morning and we agreed that now was a good time for Hedgehunter to be retired..

 

Man United March On!!!

Sunday sees Man United entertain Arsenal at Old Trafford. These two teams played earlier in the season and it was 2-2, Gallas’s late equalizer snatched a point for the then highflying Arsenal. I think this game will be a different story with Arsenal only winning 2 games out of the last 12 and one of those was against the struggling Bolton. (although the other win was away to AC Milan) Also on the back of the defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League semi final confidence will be at a all time low. Man United on the other hand are in excellent form they beat Roma home and away and recently accounted for Liverpool 3-0 and they have won 6 out of their last 7 games and are top of the league by 3 points (draw at Middlesboro being the only low point). They also had Ronaldo and Rooney on the bench in last nights Quarter Final 2nd leg so they will be fresh for Sunday.

United have a few injury doubts at the back with Vidic definitely out and Ferdinand requiring 3 stitches in his foot last night, but they have enough strength in depth with Neville, SIlvestre, O’Shea or Pique able to deputize along side Wes Brown. Arsenal will be without Sagna and Flamini who picked up an injury at Anfield, and that will be a big blow for Arsenal because he gives them great balance which allows Fabregas a free role.

Also United have the best player in the World at Present Cristiano Ronaldo who has 37 goals in 40 games in all competitions this year. That is an amazing feat especially for a winger. United should have far too much firepower for Arsenal with the likes of Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Nani likely to feature. They could put out two teams and it would be still full of world class players. Therefore in the light of this, but taking into account united might have some problems defensley. I would reccommend 20 points on United to win at 4/5 with Betfred and if you open an account with Betfred today you will get £100 in freebets.

Man United v Roma

Manchester United are a best-priced 8/11 to beat Roma in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final at betfair with Roma on Wednesday night. A win is to be expected tonight if you consider the 18/20 games they have won at home.

Remembering that Nemanja Vidic won’t be playing, and Rio Ferdinand is a doubt as well. Without those two United’s defence is a rather weak and I would expect their central midfield to be a little more conservative than usual to compensate. Vidic has a knee injury and is a definite absentee and while Ferdinand is expected to train on Wednesday morning, Ferguson is unlikely to risk him as the season reaches its most delicate juncture.

The current odds for Roma to win are a big 17.5/1 with betfair.

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