Football Betting: Path clears as Fergie ponders the pinnacle
Betfair Multiples' price on Manchester United completing an historic quadruple is remarkably better than the bookmakers', says Ralph Ellis. So, with the World Champions looking good in all competitions, you might want to seriously consider the big price currently on offer.
It was ironic that Sir Alex Ferguson started the weekend as the manager most concerned about avoiding an FA Cup replay - then ended it as one of the only two top five bosses without one.
Fergie might have been spitting feathers about the Sun's interpretation of his interest in the FA Cup's rule 11a - the ancient one that allows both managers to agree to settle a tie first time. But there's no doubt that he did take an interest in it. His Friday morning press conference is on tape, after all.
But the difference between Fergie and most of the other bosses come Saturday afternoon was that he made sure he didn't have to suffer a replay in the simplest way - winning the game first time.
Of all the bosses near the top of the table, Sir Alex has the most experience and the greatest resources to play the rotation game to its best. Unlike Arsene Wenger he never picks a team to gain experience, but only to win a match. If fringe players get a game at the same time that's a bonus. No way would he have played the youth team against Burnley in the Carling Cup, for example. His side against lower league opposition is always strong enough to get the job done, a lesson he learned after slipping up against Southend last season.
When it came to facing Tottenham on Saturday night he made sure there were enough senior players to win the game, as the names of Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov on the scoresheet from the 2-1 victory proved.
United have an excellent chance now to give Sir Alex the pinnacle of his career by winning all four of the major trophies they are contesting. And while they may be massive odds on for both the Premier League and the Carling Cup, there is value in the FA Cup at [3.5] still and they are a [6.0] shot to retain the Champions League. That all adds up to a combined [54.79] on Betfair Multiples and could just be one of those long shot punts you regret not trying come the end of the season! (Incidentally Betfair's price for the accumulator is a remarkable 10 points better than the leading traditional bookmakers. A £10 gamble would return £537 on Betfair against £453 on Ladbrokes!)
United should tighten their grip on the title this week, with a trip to West Brom tomorrow night. Liverpool, who are away to Wigan, seem to have got themselves into self destruct mode. Since hitting the top they've seen Steven Gerrard get into bother off the field, and Rafa Benitez embroiled in a contract row. Benitez looks like a man who is feeling the pressure all of a sudden, moaning about Everton's approach to yesterday's Merseyside derby. His team's failure to get more than a 1-1 draw wasn't at all down to David Moyes' defensive attitude - it was all about his own team's inability to defend a set piece when they gave Tim Cahill a free header at a corner for the second time in a few days.
Arsenal will also have to fit in an extra game after struggling through a 0-0 draw at Cardiff, and like Liverpool they now face a hectic 13 games in the next two months. That could start to leave the top two between United and Chelsea, who did their job efficiently in seeing off Ipswich 3-1. It makes it tempting to lay Liverpool a top two finish at [2.04] while you can.
The team most likely to suffer from an extra game, though, is Aston Villa. Signing Emile Heskey will strengthen their squad, and they are [2.34] favourites to win at Portsmouth when he makes his debut tomorrow night. But their squad remains very thin and [2.2] for a top four finish doesn't look great value now.
The Villa game has become massive for Pompey, who were of course the big giant killing victims of the weekend, losing 2-0 at home to Swansea, and are clearly a club on the slide. Tony Adams has shortened to [3.15] favourite to be the next manager out of a job, while the club are [4.2] to go down.
Also at the bottom, West Brom's failure to put away Burnley after going 2-1 up was typical of their problems. Too much pretty football and not enough hard edge - the [1.67] for Tony Mowbray's team to return to the Championship looks a safe investment. Oh, and they've also got a replay to add to their fixture list!
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