Football Betting: United have many rivers to cross
Nik Wardle sees a clear path to victory for Manchester United in the Premier League and Carling Cup. But the FA Cup and, in particular, the Champions League might prove more difficult...
After securing their place in the Carling Cup final and overcoming Tottenham to reach round five of the FA Cup, people are starting to wonder if Manchester United might be able to achieve an historic quadruple.
Step one for United will be against Spurs in the Carling Cup final on March 1st. They are hot favourites and although Chelsea were too against Spurs last season, the present Spurs side is a more brittle one. And they no longer have Keane or Berbatov. If you think this is the only trophy Man United will win this season, the odds are [5.7].
With Chelsea and Liverpool drawing too many games and Arsenal hamstrung by their bad patch a couple of months ago, the path is clearing for United to win their third consecutive Premier League title. Like a boulder rolling down a hill, United tend to pick up form as the season progresses - and they're already top. You can get [7.6] for United to win the Premier League only this season and [3.55] for this and the Carling Cup only.
From here it gets trickier. United have been drawn away to Derby or Nott'm Forest in round five of the FA Cup and, although you'd expect them to progress, there's enough good sides left in the competition to cause them a problem or two. The rest of the Big Four, Aston Villa and Everton are still in the competition (albeit Liverpool/Everton and Arsenal have fourth round replays) and any of these on their day could upset United if drawn together in later rounds.
United had 'one of those days' in the defeat to Portsmouth last season - others in the draw will be hoping for a repeat sometime between now and this May. The odds for United to win 'just' the three domestic trophies and to become the first ever side to achieve this are currently [11.0].
Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan await United in the first knockout stage of the Champions League. Like United, Inter are top of their league - although it's tighter than it has been in the previous couple of seasons. If any side is due an extended run in the Champions League, it's Inter. How irksome it must have been for Inter to see rivals AC Milan reach two Champions League finals in an era when you've been the dominant domestic force. Mourinho has been brought in to deliver Champions League success and with his knowledge of United, this is a close call.
Inter aside, Barcelona appear to be the form European team and as Jimmy Cliff sang, "There's many rivers to cross." The odds for them to repeat last season's haul of the Premier League and Champions League are [44.0].
Even the best teams have a bad day or two over the course of a season and this is why the domestic treble or quadruple hasn't been done before. United are at [25.0] to win the quadruple.
At [3.55], I think laying on United winning the Premier League and the Carling Cup is a decent bet. For those of you who think they'll end up trophyless, the odds are [11.5].
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