Home And Away: No Parma drama for unbeatable Juventus

Daily Tipping / Jonno Turner / 15 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

Gianluigi Buffon has been a key component of Serie A's best backline

Jonno Turner is backing Italy's top two to impress this evening, with Juventus reclaiming first place in Serie A at Parma and AC Milan defeating Arsenal...

I hope you all enjoyed Valentine's Day yesterday. I was shattered all day. I had to get up at 6:00 to open all of my cards. Plus I was up until the early hours writing them all out.

My girlfriend called me yesterday and said, "Three of the girls in the office have just received some flowers for Valentine's Day; they are absolutely gorgeous." I said, "That's probably why they've received flowers then."

I thought yesterday's Chesterfield tip was signed, sealed and delivered at around 21:20 but some bad luck saw them concede in the dying moments of their game to draw.

We'll try and make up for that today as we head to Italy, with Juventus travelling to Parma in Serie A looking to extend the cracking form which has taken them to second in the league.

The hosts have a good record at the Stadio Ennio Tardini this season, but have dropped off slightly of late, and have won just once in their last five in front of their fans. And that makes it a mere two wins in ten league games for Roberto Donadoni's side, leaving them 13th with 17 to play.

Juventus are in the midst of one of their best seasons in recent history, and are unbeaten since they kicked off back in September, a total of 24 games in all competitions.

Antonio Conte's side are in pole position to secure the Serie A title, just two points behind leaders AC Milan with two games in hand, so it's integral that they take advantage of the first of those. And the Bianconeri have won their last three on the road, scoring five and conceding only one.

The last time these two sides met, Conte's side ran out 4-1 winners, and I think we'll see them continue their unbeaten run this evening.

Bet 1: Juventus (AWAY) to win @ [1.83]

Staying in Italy, as AC Milan welcome Arsenal to the San Siro in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie.

As mentioned above, Milan are top of Serie A by a small margin and are enjoying a positive season so far, losing just three of their last 25 home outings.

Massimiliano Allegri's side have lost only once in their last seven Champions League games, and will be desperate to secure a positive result tonight to take with them to London for the return leg in a couple of weeks.

Arsenal are enduring a season which, at best, could be described as patchy, and at worst, a disaster. Just one win in four away games leaves the Gunners fourth in the Premier League, ten points behind third place.

And Arsene Wenger's side have won only two of their last seven away games in this competition, which suggests that they may try to keep the score down tonight and go for the win in the return leg.

It's no secret that the Londoners have been struggling defensively all season and I can't see them keeping a clean sheet this evening, so I'm backing the home win here.

Bet 2: AC Milan (HOME) to win @ [2.14]

Jonno Turner is backing Chesterfield to deliver for him again this evening, while he fancies Brighton to continue their charge towards the Championship play-offs......

Jonno Turner is backing Bastia to go top of Ligue 1 with victory at once-great Monaco, while he expects Napoli to recover some momentum against Chievo......

The in-form Inside Man once again uses his inside knowledge to pick the best bets from this weekend's over/under 2.5 goals markets....

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Gold Cup Betting: Mexico march on despite drug test drama

Internationals / Michael Lintorn / 10 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa is one of five players that tested positive

"Mexican Football Federation general secretary Decio de Maria is optimistic that those involved will ultimately be proven innocent."

Five Mexico players have been sent home from the Gold Cup after testing positive for Clenbuterol, but the incident hasn't affected their form.

Contaminated meat has been blamed for the fact that five Mexico players failed drug tests, with the revelation that Guillermo Ochoa, Francisco Rodriguez, Edgar Duenas, Sinha and Christian Bermudez had tested positive for Clenbuterol breaking hours before their second Gold Cup game against Cuba.

The results of examinations carried out in May emerged on Thursday and the five stars linked with the banned substance were immediately suspended, though Mexican Football Federation general secretary Decio de Maria is optimistic that those involved will ultimately be proven innocent.

He has pointed to problem in Mexico that threatened to blight the upcoming Pan American Games, whereby there was said to be high Clenbuterol content in beef increasing the risk of unintentional doping and has confirmed that will be taken into account when the situation is investigated.

You'd be forgiven for expecting the controversy to disrupt Mexico's progress in America, especially as Ochoa and Rodriguez had started their opener, however they went out and thumped Cuba by the same 5-0 margin that El Salvador suffered on Sunday. The victory secured their spot in the quarter-finals and took Javier Hernandez's tournament tally up to five. They are [1.81] favourites to win it.

This is the second drug test-related incident in the space of a fortnight, with Kolo Toure receiving a six-month ban late last month after traces of a specific substance were found in the Ivorian's sample.

The defender blamed water tablets belonging to his wife for the results and that was a factor in handing him a relatively light punishment that allows him to return in September. By contrast, Rio Ferdinand had to sit out for eight months - missing Euro 2004 in the process - just for missing a test in 2003.

One of the biggest football drug scandals of recent years occurred in Serie A at the start of the century, with Jaap Stam, Fernando Couto and Edgar Davids testing positive for nandrolone. Pep Guardiola was also caught up in the drama but was later cleared.

Another famous moment saw Chelsea forward Adrian Mutu given a seven-month suspension by the FA after being found to have taken cocaine. The Blues axed the Romanian and have since sought compensation off of him for breach of contract.

David Luiz and Ramires were among the four Premier League players named in Mano Menezes' Brazil squad fighting to retain the Copa America next month....

Recent off-field controversies threatened to derail the France revival, but a 4-1 friendly triumph over Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine indicates that they are entering next summer in great shape....

France are ranked 52 places above their hosts on Thursday night, Poland, however the gap in class might not look quite so steep come the final whistle....

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Cricket Betting: In-play drama as 74/1 England bounce back

England / Maxliu / 06 March 2011 / Leave a Comment

Stuart Broad is mobbed after taking the wicket of Morne Morkel

"England turned water into wine with a miraculous win and Betfair punters who kept the faith and backed them as high as 74-1 in running will raise a glass to them now.”

South Africa become latest [1.01] losers as England's bowlers blow away Proteas in low-scoring World Cup thriller...

What is it with this Cricket World Cup? England backers had their nerves shredded once again on Sunday morning but this time there was a happy ending as the Three Lions fought back to beat South Africa.

On Wednesday, Andrew Strauss' men were backed at the minimum price of [1.01] on Betfair when losing to [400.00] Ireland. This morning in Chennai, South Africa repeated the unwanted betting feat, capitulating when they looked to have victory sewn up.

England drifted to [75.0] when South Africa were 63-0 in reply to their modest total of 171, with the Proteas backed at [1.01] (punters willing to risk £100 to win £1). But England dug in when looking down and out, and again at 124-3 and 160-7, to claim a massive victory that gets their World Cup bid back on track.

Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: "Ireland were backed at 399-1 in running on Betfair when beating England on Wednesday.

"But it was England turning water into wine this morning with a miraculous win of their own, and I trust the Betfair punters who kept the faith and backed them as high as 74-1 in running are raising a glass to them now."

After the win, England are now [9.6] to win the World Cup while South Africa remain second favourites at [5.8].

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