Elsewhere Lyon take on Anderlecht, FC Timisoara take on VFB Stuttgart, Sporting meet Fiorentina and Panathinaikos will play Atletico Madrid. Stuttgart will be very pleased with their draw; there were some dangerous teams in the unseeded category and they have picked up by far the weakest team in the form of the Romanian Timisoara.

Other match ups are a bit tighter, although Atletico Madrid will fancy their chances against Greek counterparts Panathinaikos, whilst Anderlecht who are 1000/1 on Betfair to win the Champions league may struggle against Lyon.

The draw hasn’t had a huge effect on the Champions League outright betting although Celtic have been pushed out to 250/1 with the bookies after their draw against Arsenal. Barcelona remain joint 5/1 favourites with Real Madrid followed by a trio of English sides in the form of Chelsea 7/1, Man U 7/1 and Liverpool at 10/1. Arsenal meanwhile remain at 16/1 to win the Champions league despite the tough draw against Celtic.

You can see all the Champions League odds here.

12/5 Manchester United take on 6/4 Inter Milan at the San Siro tonight, in just one of the mouth watering ties on offer this week (ITV1).

Man U finally conceded a goal at home to Blackburn this weekend, but still drew clear of their title rivals. They are now 1/10 shots for the Premier League and 16/1 with Stan James for the quadruple.

Inter Milan are in a similar domestic position, 1/5 with Bet Chronicle and 9 points clear of Juventus.

Both Fergie and José Mourinho are tactically astute, so punters can expect a tight game. The draw is 21/10 with Sky Bet and under 2.5 goals can be backed at 4/7 with the same firm.

If either of those prices appeals to you, you’d be better off in the correct score market. Man U are missing defenders, but 0-0 is always a good result to keep on your side at 7/1.

But let’s not get too pessimistic now. Adriano (13/2 to score first) and Ibrahimovic (6/1) will create havoc for a United defense missing Evans, Vidic, Brown and Neville.

Inter’s Serie A form is questionable though – in the Champions League Group Stage they lost matches to both Bremen and Panathinaikos, and drew to outsiders Anorthosis 3-3. They failed to score more than 1 goal in any of their home ties against weak opposition.

Man U will be a much tougher test, and are the 4/6 pick to qualify from the tie.

Ladbrokes have a market on the total number of team goals, but 4/11 is too short to back under 1.5 Inter Milan goals.

bookies.com conveniently compares all football odds in one place – so make sure you always get the best available price!

Inter v Man U Match Betting

Arsenal v Roma Match Betting

Lyon v Barca Match Betting

West Ham v Hull City is the the tonight’s match on the box – 8pm on Sky Sports 2. There has been a bit of money for West Ham this morning, and they are currently available to back at 4/5 with Paddy Power. I can’t say I’m a fan of betting at odds-on, but I have a feeling that this one will go the way of the favourite backers.

In the Premier League form table (last 6 matches), Hull City are a miserable 20th, having shipped 17 goals. They are friendless in the betting, and could drift further from their 4/1 mark. Despite their league form, they have beaten both Millwall and Newcastle in the FA Cup this month. In 4 matches away to top half clubs this season, they have scored 7 goals – which means I won’t be taking 11/5 that West Ham win to nil.

Club record signing Jimmy Bullard looks doubtful for this match, whereas the Hammers’ £10m Savio Nsereko could make his debut, and is 8/1 to score first. I’d much rather have 5/1 about Carlton Cole, who has scored 5 in his last 6.

Whilst I think 4/5 is a fair price for a Hammers victory, I won’t be smashing into the home side. Hull are interesting at 15/8 to open the scoring, just as Draw/West Ham is a tempting 7/2 in the HT/FT Result market.

Recommendation:

1/2 pt ew @ 5/1 Carlton Cole to Score First

1pt @ 7/2 Draw/West Ham HT/FT Market

bookies.com conveniently compares all football odds in one place – so make sure you always get the best available price!

West Ham v Hull City Match Betting

West Ham v Hull City First Goalscorer Betting

West Ham v Hull City First Team to Score Betting

West Ham v Hull City Asian Handicap

West Ham v Hull City Correct Score Betting

West Ham v Hull City HT/FT Betting

Everton v Arsenal Match Betting

January Transfer Window Betting

Next Manager to Go Betting

Even though Man U are 10 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, they are now the 6/4 favourites to win the league after Chelsea slipped up at Fulham, where they were 8/13 in the match betting. The title race looks incredibly tight at the moment, with the bookies able to see past Liverpool, still offering 11/4.

Chelsea have been pushed out to 2/1 by several firms, and Arsenal shouldn’t be dismissed at 33/1. The relegation battle looks even closer, with bigger prices available. Betfred go 4/1 about Portsmouth, which is a bigger price than Betfair. Pompey are set to lose several players in the January transfer window, and Tony Adams is Skybet’s 9/4 favourite in the next manager to go market.

Other prices that interest me are 4/1 for Bolton and 7/1 for Newcastle United, although I should’ve taken Ladbrokes’ 8/1 quote yesterday. West Brom have been eased out to 7/20 after a solid win against 10 man Spurs yesterday, who are 14/1 to go down themselves.

Tonight’s match is Manchester United against Middlesbrough, which is televised on Setanta. The home side are hot is the betting at 2/9, with Middlesbrough available at a huge 19/1. Gareth Southgate has recently been cut from 16/1 into 14s to be the next manager to go, as his side are winless in 8.

Since beating Aston Villa, Middlesbrough have lost to the likes of Bolton, Hull, Fulham and Everton. Unfortunately for them, Man U have won their last 6 at Old Trafford and are unbeaten in their last 12 home games. The away win looks highly unlikely tonight, but there may be some value in other markets.

Boro have scored in their last 3 visits to Old Trafford, and you can lay the Man U clean sheet at 1.71 on Betfair. They lost 4-1 in this fixture last year, with Aliadière scoring for the away side, who is 6/1 to net anytime tonight, or 20/1 to score first with Blue Square.

bookies.com is your best bet for comparing football odds between the top UK bookmakers:

2009 Premier League Winner Betting

Relegation Betting

Next Manager to Go Betting

Man U v Middlesbrough Match Betting

Man U v Middlesbrough Clean Sheet Betting

Man U v Middlesbrough Anytime Goalscorer Betting

Today’s Premier League action looks difficult from a punting point of view, as I think several matches could end up as draws. Punters are happy to smash into 4/5 Liverpool at Newcastle, because the home team have a number of injury problems. Beye, Viduka and Bassong will all be missing but the 9/2 home side have been on a good run of form recently. Newcastle are now out to 8/1 to be relegated, but won’t appreciate the returns of Mascherano and Torres.

Manchester City are looking to bid for Michael Owen, who is rated as £4-6 million even though his contract is running out at the end of the season. The 29 year old recently said that he wouldn’t leave this January, meaning that punters who took Hill’s generous 13/8 about him still being at Newcastle in February should be chuffed. Owen is best priced at 15/2 to open the scoring against his former club today with Sportingbet.

Other ‘bankers’ today are 2/5 Arsenal against Pompey and 8/13 Chelsea to continue their good away form at Fulham. Elsewhere, 11/10 Villa have been supported for their trip to Hull, and they are 66/1 to win the Premiership.

From a betting point of view, I’d be looking to avoid the clash between 13/8 Blackburn and 15/8 Manchester City. With question marks over both sides, the draw at 12/5 is probably the best bet. Everton v Sunderland also looks difficult, but 4/1 for Ricky Sbragia‘s side looks generous.

bookies.com is your best bet for comparing football odds between the top UK bookmakers:

Newcastle v Liverpool Match Betting

Newcastle v Liverpool First Goalscorer Betting

Arsenal v Portsmouth Match Betting

Fulham v Chelsea Match Betting

Blackburn v Man City Match Betting

Everton v Sunderland Match Betting

Next Manager to go Betting

Premier League Winner Betting