Manchester City v Stoke

Both of these sides are about to enter their first cup final in a hell of a long time, and on paper you’d expect City’s million-pound squad to take it comfortably. But it doesn’t always work out that way. When it comes to ruffling feathers, Stoke are one of the toughest teams in the league to play against and they won’t plan on going out to watch City run around them. Can they hold them for at least 90 minutes?

Draw @ 3.50

Blackpool v Bolton

Iain Holloway’s men are on a survival mission, and after last week’s last ditch draw against Spurs their bet-ability has gone up a little. This week they’re at home to Bolton, who last week lost at home to Sunderland. They don’t exactly have much to play for and could find themselves at the wrong side of a good Seasiders’ performance.

Blackpool win @ 2.20

Liverpool v Tottenham

With Kenny installed permanently as manager, the feel good factor is most certainly back on Merseyside and the team are well setup to beat a struggling Spurs side this Sunday. This match has been dubbed the race for fifth place, but one would feel Spurs are happy with sixth and content to leave Liverpool to Europa League football next season.

Liverpool win @ 1.73

Reading v Cardiff

Both Championship play-offs kick off this week and on Friday night, Cardiff travel to Reading. These sides were neck and neck for most of the season, and it’s hard to separate the two in the first leg of their play-off tie so we’re going for a draw as both sides look to the second leg in Wales.

Draw @ 3.25

Blackburn v Manchester United

United need one more point to guarantee Premier League success, if it wasn’t already a given. Blackburn aren’t exactly safe from relegation, but were lucky to get out of Upton Park last week with a point. Man Utd should win here and finally put all ten fingers on the Premier League trophy.

Man Utd win @ 1.73

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Title Decider

The title race appeared over to all extensive purposes two weeks ago. However, Arsenal’s victory over Manchester United last Sunday has offered a glimmer of hope for Chelsea, who sit three points behind Fergie’s side in the league. Carlo Ancelloti will now bring his troops to Old Trafford on Sunday knowing that only a win will do as they look to snatch the title from under United’s noses. However United haven’t been beaten at home this season in a near impeccable record. This, coupled with the fantastic form of Rooney, makes the Setantabet special a very attractive one- Man United to win one nil with Rooney to grab the goal @ 25/1.

Horse Racing

The national hunt season comes to an end in Ireland with the last day of Punchestown on Saturday. Over in the UK, the top class flat racing continues unabated with the Victoria Cup at Ascot on Saturday. A field of 29 should go to post leaving plenty of possible conundrums for punters to solve. Often with big these big handicap flat races, it pays to follow Dandy Nicholls and he seems to have two live contenders in Nasri and Al Mulheer. Both of these are big prices and make serious each way appeal as we are paying 5 places on this race.

Golf

World number six Rory McIlroy has made a poor start to the defence of his title at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina. It is American Bill Haas who leads the way, two shots ahead of fellow American Jonathan Byrd, after shooting an impressive 64 to sit on eight under par. Haas was 60/1 before the tournament started, but is now a mere 6/1 to prevail. Padraig Harrington heads the Irish contingent after carding a high-quality three under par, 68. If you fancy Harrington to carry his good form into the weekend and capture the coveted trophy, he can be backed at 28/1.

F1

The Turkish grand prix marks the first European race of an already fascinating Formula 1 season. Unsurprisingly it is Red Bull that are the favourites for the race but their dominance was broken by Lewis Hamilton and McLaren in China when a strategic error cost Vettel his third successive victory. Still the German Vettel (13/10 on setantabet) has the advantage of speed and its unknown if further upgrades have been done by McLaren. Weather conditions will play a big part in the outcome of the race as tyre selection proves crucial.

This Is Anfield

‘Joe, we are in the right ground’ that was Malcolm MacDonald’s response to Joe Harvey when Newcastle played Liverpool at Anfield and saw the now famous THIS IS ANFIELD sign. The sign, the brainchild of Bill Shankly was only up a couple of days and he was well pissed off when he heard of MacDonald sneering it. Newcastle went out on to the pitch that day and were on the receiving end of a 5-0 beating; it was harsh scoreline would you believe but that’s the way football goes sometime. 

You can see what Shankly was trying to do with the sign, classic sports psychology on his part. Intimidate the opposition before they even get out on the pitch. That was only half the battle though and for Anfield to be a real overawing ground, the team had to be special, almost unplayable and of course back in the 1970’s that’s exactly what they were.

The sign, while still famous, hasn’t really inspired the same trepidation in teams coming to play at Anfield over the last few years.Blackpool, who hadn’t been to Anfield since the early seventies, managed to go there and record what will go down in their annals as a famous victory. Wolves,Reading and Aston Villa are all teams who’ve managed to send the KOP home disillusioned in the last two years. THIS IS ANFIELD became more of a tourist attraction on the ground tour than a spine tingling sight for opposition players heading out to the pitch to face Liverpool.

Of course this season has been a year of major transition for Liverpool with a managerial merry go-round, boardroom battles and takeover talks all affecting the fans and players alike. What Shankly would have made of all that messing, God only knows. However since new owner John Henry appointed Kenny Dalglish to the caretaker manager position and backed him in the transfer window, there has been a marked improvement on the pitch in Liverpool’s performances. Confidence is also returning to the terraces and Liverpool look forward to next season with the purpose and assurance of old.

Liverpoolare currently 12/1 to lift the Premier League trophy in the 2011/12 season. Whilst not impossible, you’d imagine the board would have to back Dalglish big style during the summer to acquire at least 3 tier one players. Even allowing for that, it’s hard to see them gelling so quickly that within a season they’d be celebrating as champions. Jack Walker threw money at Dalglish, Abramovich style when he was in charge atBlackburnand it still took him a couple of seasons to put together a championship winning side.

The first step towards winning a league title is your home form. Manchester United who are in pole position to win this year’s title have yet to taste defeat at home. WhenLiverpoolwent closest to winning their first league title in 20 years, it was when they were unbeaten at Anfield in 2008/2009 season. Every manager will know this but Dalglish knows what a fortress Anfield can be. He was in charge of the club in the late 80’s the last time Liverpool were genuinely the club to fear (For the younger generation, think the current Barcelona side). Playing at Anfield meant not only the greatest players in the league taking the piss out of you on the pitch, the KOP would be doing the same thing via witty chants. Having been at most grounds the length and breath of the Premier League, there is a special atmosphere at Anfield and its pointless not to acknowledge it by swearing blindly your club has the best fans in the league.

I can see Liverpool go unbeaten in the 2011/2012 season easier than many other clubs. You’d have to imagine that if Dalglish had been in charge for the full season this year, Liverpool wouldn’t have got beat by Blackpool and Wolves. Manchester United are currently 7/4 to go unbeaten at Old Trafford in 2011/12 whilst Liverpool are 7/2. I expect the only teams to be able to go to Anfield next season and legitimately threaten the home form, would be Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea. All three of these teams have failed to come away from Anfield with anymore than a point and that’s with the club in transition. And if as expected, the new owners back Dalglish in the summer with marquee signings, that 7/2 will conceivably disappear. In the 2011/12 season, for THIS IS ANFIELD read DON’T EXPECT TO BE LEAVING HERE WITH 3 POINTS.

TIP – BACK LIVERPOOL TO GO UNBEATEN AT HOME IN THE 2011/12 SEASON AT 7/2

What about footballers and twitter? It is an exceptionally interesting dynamic and nearly every day provides another fascinating ‘footballer meets twitter’ tale. The stories are becoming more prolific as time goes by, with more players joining the site, getting themselves in trouble and ultimately leaving again. Many players leave, of course, due to the sheer volume of abuse they are subjected to. 

There Will be Abuse

We had two instances in the last week of players leaving the platform, in two very different circumstances. The Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson didn’t last two hours on the platform, deleting his account with a furious haste. During his brief sojourn with the site, Gibson was subjected to a torrent of abuse regarding his ability as a footballer and his decision to play for the Republic of Ireland over his native Northern Ireland, among others.

Gibson Abused on Twitter

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Kevin Davies also departed the site recently, although Davies lasted slightly longer than Gibson, amassing over five and a half thousand tweets himself. Davies also cited abuse as a main reason for his departure:

“Reason for leaving is partly due to abuse that nobody needs really… I am big man enough to take it just think it is better to concentrate on positive people (family and friends).”

This is the problem with the site, from a footballer’s perspective. This is not Facebook; they cannot pick and choose who follows them and who sends replies to their Twitter handle. A thick skin is needed. People are passionate about sport and twitter provides the masses with accessibility to the athletes like never seen before. Many of them may have people managing their account for them I’m sure, stifling through the clutter.

Why Bother?

If a footballer, why use the platform and subject yourself to this abuse? Whilst many professional athletes are genuine fans of Twitter as a tool, how many use it to build their brand? Some probably do, sure. They push you to things like their sponsors and personal ventures. The increased accessibility of athletes coupled with the personal touch that twitter brings makes it easy for professional athletes to promote themselves and their products. The key is that they don’t simply use Twitter to promote themselves or their brand. There must be some interaction and valuable information in there.

Accessibility

As alluded to above, people can be passionate to the extent of fanatical about sport. This new found accessibility to the athletes provides little golden nuggets of information which fans thrive on. You get to know the person behind the athlete.

Wayne Rooney is new to the platform and his character would not be to everyone’s’ taste. Abuse will be plentiful for the England striker and surely it is only a matter of time before Rooney responds? You can only hang a red rag in front of a bull for so long. For the moment though, the mercurial striker has been on his best behaviour and has actually provided some great insight for his fans:

Rooney Has Taken to Twitter well

One of the most prolific users of the site has been Rooney’s Manchester United team mate Rio Ferdinand. The England defender has nearly a million followers and is a fervent user of the site. He has had a very public catfight with Piers Morgan in recent months, which began with Morgan tweeting Ferdinand referring to him as ‘sicknote’, in reference to his injury problems. Ferdinand then responded by using his immense following to get #piershasmoobs trending in the UK. Ferdinand was then seemingly handed a yellow card by twitter and handed a warning:

Yellow Card for Rio

Can Twitter Bridge The Gap?

Modern day footballers have teams of people around them such as agents, publicists and their general entourage. They are detached from the community they are representing in leafy suburbs and grand mansions. And why wouldn’t they? But the reality is that footballers have become more and more removed from their local community but twitter can help bridge this. It provides an outlet for people to talk to their heros and maybe even sometimes, get direct responses. Football stars are more wary of the traditional media now than ever before, in particular print. Twitter gives them the opportunity to speak directly to their fans and there is no danger of being mis-quoted.

Michael Owen became engaged in a very interesting debate with Olly Holt from the Mirror last week on Twitter:

Owen: “… The relationship between players and media is poor and needs improving as the people who suffer are fans.”

Holt: “Probably worse now between media and players than back in 97-98 when you burst on to scene. More contact then, I think.”

Owen: “If papers printed what is actually said then i think players would talk to you more openly. I know I would.”

Holt: “You have spent a lot of your career writing for our newspapers, though Michael, both tabloids and broadsheets.”

Owen: “It’s the sensationalising of headlines that annoys most players. It makes us look like clowns when most lads are normal.”

Holt: “Headlines are a problem for a lot of writers, too. Comes down to trusting a journalist to look after you, I suppose.”

Owen: “But I made sure I had headline approval! My point is, the articles are fine, it’s the headlines that make us look stupid.”

This exchange displays the brilliance of twitter: An honest debate between footballer and journalist on the current media/player relationship. And the best thing? It was there for all to see.

Twitter can be beneficial for both parties. Fans get access to the athletes and insights that we have never been privy to before.  The players in turn have an ideal platform to inform and promote. Yes, there will be some speed bumps along the way but that makes the journey all the better.

The first Classic of the flat season is upon us tomorrow at Newmarket where the supposedly bombproof Frankel hopes to prove he is a very special horse. Currently priced 8/15, anyone who didn’t back him antepost a long time ago won’t be tempted to pile in at those odds. The 3 year old had a sensational campaign as a 2 year old and is hard to oppose here. The fillies version of the Guineas on Sunday is a much more open contest with several horses staking genuine claims. Aidan O’Brien’s tough sort Misty for Me, who claimed two Group 1 successes last year looks a nice price at 8/1. Also look out for the finale of the National Hunt season; the Punchestown Festival which starts on Tuesday. Setantabet.com will bring you fantastic odds and specials on the racing action over the next 7 days. Click here for latest odds.

Premier League

Manchester United will look to all but seal their 12^thPremier League title on Sunday against their fierce rivals, Arsenal.  On the back of an impressive Champions League victory in Gelsenkirchen, United will be bristling with confidence and have a strike partnership bang in form in the shape of Rooney and Hernandez. Although the Gunners have been scoring goals, they have been leaking them in equal measure and this has lead to them falling off the pace in the title race. SetantaBet are offering even money for over 2.5 goals in this fixture, which traditionally has had plenty of goals. Elsewhere in the Premier League, the exciting battle to stay in the League hots up with Blackburn now2/1 to ply their trade in the Championship next year. Whilst they were unluckly to lose against Man City on Monday, their upcoming 6 pointers against West Ham and Wolves are going to be crucial. Click here for latest odds.

Heineken Cup

The last time Leinster and Toulouse met was in the semi final of Heineken Cup last season, where the French side came out victorious. However, Leinster have the benefit of home advantage on this occasion and will host Toulouse in front of a packed house at the Aviva Stadium. Joe Schmidt’s side have been in scintillating form of late and look well placed to gain revenge against a Toulouse side who have haven’t been at their best in this campaign. Leinster have no fresh injury concerns at look well placed to beat the -5 handicap at 10/11. Click here for latest odds.

And The Rest

The semi finals of the 2011 World Snooker Championship take place at the Crucible this morning with plenty of conundrums for punters still to solve. The tournament has produced plenty of surprises so far including the whirlwind progress of Judd Trump. Snooker needs characters and the Bristol Ace is a welcome addition to the circuit whether or not he makes the final.

Elsewhere the National Hurling League final takes place in Croke Park on Sunday with the surprise package of the campaign Dublin, taking on the mighty Kilkenny. Whilst Dublin deserve massive credit for reaching their first final since 1946, punters will be expecting Kilkenny to lift the title they last won in 2009. Kilkenny are also good value to take of a 3 point deficit in the handicap betting at 11/10. Click here to bet now. 

Having been stung on more occasions than I’d like to remember by a hype horse, I’m blatantly refusing to back Frankel. Whilst I’d love to see him win for racing’s benefit, he’d be a sure crowd puller thereafter; I’ll be investing my hard earned Euro elsewhere this Saturday.

Pathfork to prevail?

Pathfork is a horse trained by Jessica Harrington, a trainer normally associated with National Hunt racing. Pathfork is in my opinion generously priced at 5/1 with setantabet to win the 2000 guineas. There is no question that if this American bred colt were trained by one of the more established Irish trainers, there would be more hype attached to his chances. Indeed it’s not unimaginable that the media would have got behind it in as anIrelandvEnglandcontest with both horses having flawless records as juveniles. Instead we’ve been pitched a walkover with everything else turning up at Newmarket just hoping to run into some place money.

As mentioned above, Pathfork has a flawless record as a juvenile, winning the Futurity Stakes and the National Stakes. The National Stakes is seen as the defining race of the Irish two year old season. Indeed the Irish two year olds more than proved they could hold their own against their British rivals with a very strong showing in the principal juvenile races in the UK. Casamento, formerly trained in Ireland by Michael Harford, won the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster with the Aidan O’Brien trained pair of Sevilleand Master of Hounds in 2^nd and 3^rd. Pathfork was the only horse to record a victory over Casamento in 2010. Furthermore it was another Aidan O’Brien trained horse Roderic O’Connor who chased home Frankel in the Dewhurst with the Jim Bolger trained Glor na Mara back in third. Whilst it may be not as impressive as Frankel’s form, Pathfork’s nonetheless rock solid having passed every test given to him. He can do no more.

Whilst Frankel is by leading European sire Gaileo, Pathfork is sired by American stallion Distorted Humor. Distorted Humor was best over 7-9F on dirt and his progeny include Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide as well as Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer. Pathfork’s dam showed her best form over a mile and is a half sister to Irish 2000Guineaswinner Spinning World. In my opinion Pathfork was bred to be a top class miler.

In terms of ground, he has won on good to firm and soft but connections have said he wants good, which is exactly the ground he’ll return to at Newmarket.

We all know the case for Frankel but let’s not get the case for Pathfork get lost in the build-up. If he was trained by Aidan O’Brien or Jim Bolger you’d be lucky to get 2/1 about his chances on Saturday so there is value in the 5/1 about him. The 2000 Guineas is a notoriously difficult race to win so whilst the hype would lead you to believe it will be an effortless victory for Frankel, I see this contest more like the 2008 renewal when Henry The Navigator, Ravens Pass and New Approach clashed and all three went on to incredibly successful seasons.

Get all the latest odds at SetantaBet