La Liga Preview: Emery could leave Sociedad biting their nails

"Over 2.5 Goals has been the right bet in 7/8 Sevilla home games and 8/13 Sociedad away matches"

Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.75/7

The Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan is the setting for the biggest game of La Liga's ante-penultimate weekend. Tobias Gourlay reckons in-form Sevilla's clash with fading Sociedad will be fun...

Zaragoza v Athletic Bilbao
Sunday 18:00

Zaragoza 1.910/11 Athletic 4.3100/30 draw 3.9n/a

Athletic are unbeaten in four and the seven points accrued in that run will likely keep their 'never been relegated' boasts alive.

Just to be sure, Marcelo Bielsa's men need one more point from the final three rounds of the season.

Seven points from nine have fired Zaragoza out of the relegation zone, but they need more wins.

Athletic have scored in 12/14 on the road and conceded in 12/14 on the road.

Zaragoza have been potent in attack recently - scoring six in two at La Romareda - and porous in defence all season, shutting out their visitors in only 3/17.

Recommended Bet
Back Both Teams to Score @ 1.84/5

Barcelona v Valladolid
Sunday 20:00

Barcelona 1.3130/100 Valladolid 11.010/1 draw 6.611/2

Barcelona are champions and are now playing for the artificial prize of equalling Real Madrid's all-time points record (100, set last year).

To make three figures Tito Vilanova's men must win each of their last three games.

Leo Messi will sit out the rest of the season, but other team news is scant.

We'll focus on the other end of the pitch. Valladolid have scored in nine straight rounds of La Liga and in each of the last 17 in which talismanic wide-forward Patrick Ebert has appeared.

Recommended Bet
Back Both Teams to Score @ 1.774/5

Granada v Osasuna
Saturday 19:00
Granada 2.186/5 Osasuna 4.216/5 draw 3.259/4

Together on 36 points, these two are four clear of the drop zone. 

A draw would be useful to both, and respect the improvements they have recently shown: Osasuna beat Getafe last time out, while Granada are unbeaten in four.

That said, the hosts still have La Liga's worst home record (W4-D6-L7) and haven't scored more than once in any of Lucas Alcaraz's seven matches at Los Carmenes.

We're ready to take them on - and will front up with either the straight draw or a bet that goes even further.

The visitors have scored twice or more in 3/6 on the road. Backing Osasuna 0 & +0.5 on the Asian Handicap pays out on half your stake if the game finishes all-square and you'll get a full payout if the away side take all three points.

Recommended Bet
Back Osasuna 0 & +0.5 @ 2.26/5

Sevilla v Sociedad
Saturday 21:00
Sevilla 2.0811/10 Sociedad 3.613/5 draw 4.03/1

In the race for Spain's final Champions League spot, Real Sociedad have given up a five-point lead over Valencia in the last couple of weeks.

Problems are arising at the back: Philippe Montanier's side have conceded exactly twice in 5/7 home and away. 

Unai Emery has won 7/8 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. In all seven wins Sevilla have been ahead by half-time. If you fancy them to confirm Sociedad's loss of form, take them at 3.613/5 in the Half Time/Full Time market.

Over 2.5 Goals is a safer play. It's been the right bet in 7/8 Sevilla home games and 8/13 Sociedad away matches.

Recommended Bet
Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.75/7

There are no comments on this article.

Product reviews and advice for best reference

Premier League: Back Mancini to leave Manchester City after disastrous season

"If United this season haven’t been genuinely great, their manager yet again certainly has. Which is more than you can say for his counterpart down the road." 

As Betfair launch a new Mancini To Go? market, Luke Moore explains why Roberto Mancini will almost certainly be out of the Manchester City door ahead of the new season...

As the celebrations rang around Old Trafford last night after a convincing Robin van Persie-inspired victory over struggling Aston Villa, more than a penny would have been offered for the thoughts of the wealthy owners of Manchester City. Because, make no mistake about it, this campaign has been a disaster for Roberto Mancini and his team, by any measure you wish to use. 

After the narrowest of title wins last season, their first in 44 years, the temperamental Italian went about adding quality to his squad, wielding his chairman's cheque book with abandon and promptly drafting in midfielder Javi Garcia, wide man Scott Sinclair (trust me, he is still a City player), the latest of England's injury-prone roses Jack Rodwell, an ageing and ultimately semi-retired Maicon and defender Matija Nastasic. 

The Italian also failed to convince several other targets to join his project at City; Robin van Persie, Daniele De Rossi and Eden Hazard all decided against moves to the Etihad for various reasons, and if those facts don't quite make a disastrous transfer window, it certainly pitches it some way short of a good one. Of the personnel Mancini did manage to convince to sign, only Nastasic could legitimately be considered a successful buy thus far. Mancini's 'improvements' were either unrealistic or failed to actually improve anything. 

At time of writing, Manchester City under Mancini have also recorded just 68 points this season, and even if they win all of the five fixtures they have remaining cannot approach anything near the 89 points they totalled last term. Add all that to another disastrous showing in the Champions League where they failed to win a single game and managed just three points, and the facts are there for all to see: Manchester City under Roberto Mancini are not only hugely under-performing with the group of players they have, but they are actually going backwards. Mancini has failed in all three main departments of his job.

There have long been question marks over the fiery Italian's abilities as a manager on the European stage, and he hasn't shown anything to suggest that he has learnt from previous mistakes and poor showings as boss of Internazionale, where he failed to progress beyond the quarter-final stage in his time there despite managing the standout side in Serie A, backed by Massimo Moratti's millions. Yes, if Man City want to make a serious impression on that competition they need to look beyond Mancini, but that is something that could have been reasonably deduced before he took over at the Etihad. It's his domestic failure that will really rankle with the decision makers at the top and make them wonder where they turn next.

Mancini's management style also attracts criticism. Happy to berate his players in public and wear his heart on his sleeve (just imagine playing poker against him), his faults are easy to overlook when he is delivering the club their first title in several generations, but when they're floundering 16 points behind their local rivals despite having arguably the biggest playing budget in world football it should and will be a different story. He recently commented that he felt there was no difference in quality between his side and Ferguson's, only United's superior attitude won the day. Surely instilling a winning attitude into a great group of players is the manager's responsibility? 

Much has been made of whether this title-winning Manchester United team is a truly 'great' side or not, but if it isn't, then Manchester City, their closest rivals, should shoulder much of the blame for not running them anywhere near close and really testing how good they could be. What's more, even if United this season haven't been genuinely great, their manager yet again certainly has. Which is more than you can say for his counterpart down the road. 

If City want to kick on and improve next year, it cannot be with Roberto Mancini at the helm, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if City's owners came to the same conclusion.

Recommended Bet

Back Mancini to leave Manchester City in the Mancini To Go? market 

Product reviews and advice for best reference

Premier League: Tottenham leave door ajar for Arsenal

"Now, Lilywhites everywhere are getting that foreboding feeling that history may repeat itself with arch rivals Arsenal poised to ambush their Champions League dreams once again."

After an intriguing round of Premier League action, Christian Crowther assesses the race for those precious Champions League spots...

Who said Tottenham were a one-man team? Three games without a Gareth Bale goal (one missed through suspension) have prompted three straight defeats for the Londoners, but this is too cheap a shot to take at Spurs.

Instead, it seems the psychological scars of last season's agonising submission to Arsenal may just be resurfacing.

Having opened up a 12-point gap over the Gunners at the start of February last year, Spurs looked to have finally shaken off their north London foes after 16 straight campaigns finishing below them.

However, the hoodoo finally caught up with Harry Redknapp's side as Tottenham inexplicably faded, allowing Arsenal to overhaul them into third and clinch what turned out to be the final Champions League berth. 

Fast-forward a year and it's been a week to forget for Andre Villas-Boas' Spurs side, who followed up defeats to Liverpool and Inter by wilting 1-0 at home to a Fulham outfit which had only recorded two away wins all season before visiting White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Now, Lilywhites everywhere are getting that foreboding feeling that history may repeat itself with arch rivals Arsenal poised to ambush their Champions League dreams once again.

Successive Premier League losses have seen Chelsea overtake Spurs into third, while Arsenal are now bearing down, just four points back with a game in hand. 

After Sunday's win over West Ham, Rafa Benitez's Blues are now rated at 1.412/5 to clinch third spot or above, while Tottenham are teetering just ahead of Arsenal in the betting at 3.711/4 and 3.9n/a respectively for a top-three finish.

Suddenly, the momentum has shifted in the race for Europe's elite competition. Rafa is finally starting to prove his critics wrong, recording three league wins from their last four games. 

While, Arsene Wenger's much-maligned Arsenal side have emerged from their blackest moment at Spurs to bounce back with a confidence-boosting win over Bayern before beating bogey side Swansea on Saturday.

The market has reacted to Tottenham's nerves with Arsenal backed into 1.9210/11 for a top-four finish, now ahead of Spurs, who are rated at 2.111/10, in the betting.

There are no comments on this article.

Product reviews and advice for best reference

Italian Football: Dismayed Conte could leave Juventus

Antonio Conte: "If I have to expect a welcome like this in Bologna, then I say that it really makes me want to leave Italy and go abroad. It must be a simpler life elsewhere."

Despite leading Juventus to the top of Serie A last season and the Champions League quarter-finals this, Antonio Conte could head abroad in the summer, writes Christian Crowther...

Juventus' outspoken manager Antonio Conte was acknowledged by Jose Mourinho himself as Italy's very own Special One at the beginning of this campaign.

The Real Madrid manager was quoted in Tuttosport in September saying: "The fans call Conte the Italian Special One? I like that. I feel honoured. He is a bit like me... I like Conte a lot as a coach. He knows what he wants and is a real winner. He has a lot of charisma."

This was high praise indeed from his Portuguese counterpart. However, while Mourinho is probably still unmatched in the charisma stakes, Conte's immediate success as manager of the club he won every domestic and European honour with as a player has quite rightly pushed the Italian to prominence.

After delivering the scudetto in an unbeaten debut season in the dugout in 2011/12, Conte has now set Juventus on course for successive titles - currently nine points clear of Napoli and rated at 1.071/14 to finish the job.

In Europe meanwhile, his Juve side have already helped account for the demise of holders Chelsea and now face a last-eight tie against Bayern Munich, where the Italians are available at 2.6613/8 to qualify.

Rather ironically, it looks as if Conte could well be among the forerunners to replace Mourinho at the Bernabeu if, as is widely expected, the Portuguese coach leaves at the end of the season.

Certain events in Italy this season, and subsequent comments from Conte himself, have cast real doubt over whether he will remain in Turin as manager next season, putting both Real Madrid and Chelsea's owners on red alert.

Earlier in the season, he responded to media speculation linking him with a move abroad by issuing comments claiming that it had always been his ambition to one day coach abroad.

There have also been a number of outbursts. Never one to shy away from the issue, Conte attacked Bianconeri fans last month for jeering forward Sebastian Giovinco.

Now, speculation has intensified to a new level after Conte's latest comments made after his team's trip to Bologna on Saturday night.

The Italian tactician was disgruntled at criticism of his enthusiastic celebrations towards the end of the 2-0 victory, believing that Bologna fans throwing sticks and rocks at the team bus prior to entering the stadium was a far graver crime.

Conte, who has already made reference to the war-like situation between rival fans, exclaimed: "If I have to expect a welcome like this in Bologna, then I say that it really makes me want to leave Italy and go abroad. It must be a simpler life elsewhere. We are not at war, here. This is sport. In this situation, you may as well just leave."

Interestingly, despite leapfrogging Tottenham in the Premier League and securing a Europa League quarter-final for Chelsea, Rafa Benitez is still rated at 1.041/25 not to be at Stamford Bridge next season. Could it be Conte replacing him?

There are no comments on this article.

Product reviews and advice for best reference

Cheltenham News: Europe team to leave it late

"Henry de Bromhead's stable star holds engagements in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the longer Ryanair Chase."

A decision on Sizing Europe's target at Cheltenham is set to be left until the last moment.

Henry de Bromhead's stable star holds engagements in the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the longer Ryanair Chase.

Should connections opt for the Queen Mother, he would be attempting to regain the crown he won in 2011 and was second in last year.

De Bromhead told The Irish Times: "Strong cases can be made for both races and myself, and Alan and Ann (Potts, owners) will have to sit down and discuss everything much closer to the time.

"But we will leave it late. I don't want to give any indication either way because I don't know. Things can change day-to-day.

"It's looking unlikely that the ground will be soft at Cheltenham but if it did turn up soft or heavy, then that could make the two miles and five of the Ryanair less likely. So we will leave everything until closer to the time."

Sizing Europe, currently rated 172 by Timeform, can be backed at 16.015/1 for the Queen Mother behind red-hot favourite Sprinter Sacre, and 7.413/2 for the Ryanair.

Look out for the new features in Timeform Race Passes - In-Play Hints, Running Notes & Warning Horses. Find out more at timeform.com.

There are no comments on this article.

Amazon Sports Center

Follow The Money: Arctic to leave the field out in the cold

The Follow The Money crew give us their usual two backs and one lay ahead of today's racing.

Welcome to Follow the Money for Sunday 15th July. Today's movers come from Sligo, Fairyhouse and Stratford.

We start with Sligo and in the 14:55 Novice Hurdle Passage Venedome has been on the drift out to 3.152/1 from 2.331/1. The Willie Mullins gelding likes decent ground and was found out last time by the trip so he drops down to the minimum trip over 2 miles. This may be too great a drop in trip as he needed quite a lot of urging to win two starts ago and this looks quite a hot contest compared to what he's faced previous so he may just have his work cut out.

Over to Fairyhouse now where in the feature Listed race at 15:05 Arctic has been well supported from 4.73/1 in to 3.92/1 for Tracy Collins. This five year old was a Group 3 winner at two and even managed a 5th in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye at three before losing his way subsequently. This season he's looked back to somewhere near his best, bolting up in a handicap and then taking second in a big sprint handicap at the Curragh. He steps back up to listed class today and with his favoured soft conditions sets the standard in what looks an ordinary contest with the main dangers having a preference for top of the ground.

The United Kingdom stages two jumps cards today and our next mover takes us to Stratford where in the 17:20 there has been a bit of money about for Free Falling, an apt name considering the direction of her handicap mark! She's been nibbled in the market from 12.011/1 in to 9.08/1 on her first start for trainer Lawney Hill. This trainer change is particularly interesting as her trainer is adept at improving horses brought in from other stables and although Free Falling's latest form says she'll struggle to win this, there is a very high possibility that she's back to the form that saw her win off 5lbs higher than today. She is also back over a more suitable trip and as long as things don't get too soft, she looks well worth a punt.

Recommended Bets:

Lay Passage Venedrome @ 3.152/1 14:55 Sligo
Back Arctic @ 3.92/1 15:05 Fairyhouse
Back Free Falling @ 9.08/1 17:20 Stratford

There are no comments on this article.

Amazon Sports Center

Harry Redknapp: Sorry to leave Spurs but I'll be back

Spurs could have pushed on but we didn’t strengthen when we needed to... I will be back. I could retire but I love this game and that keeps me going. I enjoy it and I don’t do it for the money.

Harry Redknapp explains why he's sorry to be leaving the Lane, selects his top three moments as Spurs boss and looks ahead to his future...

After four fantastic seasons at Tottenham, I'm very sorry to be leaving. I'm proud of my achievements at White Hart Lane and I can't help thinking about what we might have gone on to win. With the addition of one or two players this summer, I believe we could have won the league. We'll never know and I wish my successor and all the lads well. They're a top bunch and they deserve to succeed.

We could have been in serious title contention this season if we'd made the right signings in January. Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen came in and both did well but the departure of Roman Pavlyuchenko, who I'm pleased to see playing well at the Euros, and Stephen Piennar meant we were weaker in the second-half of the season. We could have pushed on but we didn't strengthen when we needed to.

Three highlights of my time at Tottenham stand out. Beating Inter 3-1 at the Lane was fantastic and demonstrated that we were serious about competing in the Champions League. That gave us the confidence to go to the San Siro, where we'd narrowly lost to Inter, and beat AC Milan on their own patch in the knockout stages.

Those two European ties live long in the memory but the win that got us there was equally sweet. Near the end of my first full season in charge, we went up to Manchester City and sealed fourth place in the Premier League when Peter Crouch scored a second-half header. Top night.

As for the future, I haven't had long to weigh it all up. But what can tell you is that I will be back. I could retire now but I love this game and that keeps me going. I enjoy it and I don't do it for the money. You never know what's going to happen in football.

There are only four or five clubs who can win the Premier League - Alan Pardew worked wonders at Newcastle last year but I always think of the top four plus Liverpool - so to say I'd only manage a club that I believed could win the title would be inaccurate. You never know, my mate Dave Whelan might sell Wigan to a group of billionaires and the football hierarchy could be turned on its head again. But that's unlikely and I think the clubs at the top of the table will dominate for many seasons.

We'll see what happens. After a few defeats managers find themselves under pressure and, while I don't wish that on anyone, it will be interesting to see how next season begins. I'll take my time but I would like to be back soon.

There are no comments on this article.

Amazon Sports Center

Premier League Results: United leave it late again

Premier League / Joe Dyer / 23 April 2011 / Leave a Comment

Hernandez scores perhaps his most important goal of the season

League leaders make their fans sweat during tough home encounter with Everton

Manchester United once again left it late before snatching three priceless Premier League points - scoring the lone goal of the early kick-off against Everton in the 83rd minute.

Javier Hernandez's header rewarded In-Play punters who took a high of [3.85] on a United win, denying backers of the draw at [1.49]. The goal leaves the leaders at [1.15] to win the league.

The goal marks another notch in Chicharito's fine debut season in English football. With 11 goals to his name Hernandez is a live contender in Betfair's top goalscorer, top four market, where he has been matched at [18.0].

Arsene Wenger's reluctance to blame his players for recent dropped points is starting to wear a little thin, anything less than three points here would surely end their title chances....

Chelsea's reignited title hopes shouldn't be too severely tested at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening but Feizal Rahman believes the best bet lies in backing at least four goals to be scored....

Another tense afternoon at the bottom of the table is in store says Mike Norman as both Blackpool and Sunderland look to arrest their recent slides. Best Bet: Back Blackpool to beat Newcastle at [3.0]....

Betfair website