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.

What a weekend of racing! Admittedly the only Kentucky Derby challenger that we fully wrote off was 100/1 Mine That Bird, but we did tip you the 2000 Guineas winner Sea The Stars, albeit in the wrong market.

Let’s just hope that John Oxx takes his chance in the Irish 2000 Guineas before he wins the Derby, because 20/1 will be a very attractive price indeed.

In the 1000 Guineas, Rainbow View was a massive dissapointment but we tipped the second, 12/1 Cuis Ghaire. Perhaps our lovely picture of Richard Hills persuaded you to get on 20/1 Ghanaati.

The ‘Big Four’ all won this weekend for the fourth time in a row, but the accumulator still paid out a generous 6/1 with Victor Chandler.

Liverpool obliged against Newcastle (3-0) to maintain the pressure on Manchester United, but they can still be backed at 9/1 with Sky Bet for the title.

The relegation betting looks a lot tighter, but even 1/100 West Brom still have an outside chance at survival if they win their remaining fixtures.

Before Hull take on Aston Villa tonight, the bottom end of the table looks like this:

Middlesbrough can be backed at 1/4, but are far from certainties. They have been in woeful form, and haven’t scored in the last three games. Having said that, a victory against Newcastle on May 11 would be a great help for Gareth Southgate‘s side. Their other two fixtures are perfectly winnable.

The bookies also expect to see Alan Shearer‘s Newcastle get sent down a division at 1/2. The Magpies lack confidence and Joey Barton’s red card comes just at the wrong time. His season must surely be over. They have only scored once in the last five games.

Blackburn look safe at 33/1, but I think that 15/8 Hull City could soon find themselves in deep trouble.

Hull have lost their last three and finish at home to Man U at the end of the season. They should lose at Villa Park tonight (4/7) and have a shocking record away to Bolton.

To their credit they did very well to stay up in the Championship two seasons ago.

10/3 Sunderland have tricky fixtures, but have the bonus of a four point cushion.

Fulham are 9/4 favourites to grab the last available European spot.

Remember to scan the markets available on bookies.com before placing a bet:

Premier League Winner Betting

Relegation 08/09 Odds

Sunday’s Carling Cup Final at Wembley is between Man U and Spurs, with kick-off at 3pm.

Manchester United are 4/5 with Paddy Power to win inside 90 minutes, which you’d think would be a popular bet on the high street. In fact, Spurs have been supported into 9/2.

Spurs beat Chelsea in last year’s Carling Cup Final in extra time, which is an 18/1 chance with Blue Square. They are 12/1 to win on penalties.

Man U have been in awesome form recently, although they were criticised after their 0-0 at Inter. If Sir Alex decides to rest a few players, I think that Spurs have every chance of lifting the trophy.

The Carling Cup won’t be priority No.1 for Man U, whilst it is the game of Spurs’ season, who have nothnig else to play for. They crashed out of the UEFA Cup last week with a 1-1 draw at home to Shakhtar.

Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo and Rooney are the 11/2 co-favourites in the first goalscorer market, but I much prefer bet365′s 10/1 about no goalscorer (i.e. 0-0 but with own goals on your side).

Man U’s League Cup Final record reads P6 W2, so I’d be wary about backing them on Sunday. Yes they are the likely winners, but the price is unappealing. Equally, I don’t like the look of 7/4 for Man U to be winning at half time and full time.

If I was to have a punt, I’d go for Centrebet’s 3/1 for Spurs Draw No Bet (i.e. stake refunded if draw).

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

Carling Cup Final Match Betting

Man U v Spurs First Goalscorer Betting

Man U v Spurs Correct Score Betting

Man U v Spurs HT/FT Betting

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

Favourites had a pretty good time of it last night in the UEFA Cup, apart from Sampdoria and Deportivo. Manchester United won 3-0, and are as short as 1/8 for the Premier League.

Paddy Power have paid out on Manchester United as winners of the Premier League, FA Cup and the Carling Cup. They are 4/9 for the Carling Cup, but the FA Cup is by no means over at 7/4. Bet365 quoted them at 300/1 earlier this season for the quadruple! Paddy Power have done this stunt before, paying out on Obama and Master Minded. They also paid out on Stoke to be relegated after only one match.

I’m hoping for more upsets tonight – one such match could be Lech Poznan v Udinese. The Polish League is on a winter break, but Lech Poznan have been in good domestic form and beat Plock 4-0 in a friendly over the weekend. 5/4 for the Italians looks too short, but they were comfortable in the Group stages.

The home side are 9/4 with Sky Bet and will rely on counter-attacking football. Robert Lewandowski is only 20 years old, but is already in the Polish national side – he is 6/1 to score first. Udinese will start with Quagliarella and Di Natale up top. If you fancy goals, over 2.5 is 5/4 with Paddy Power.

Shakhtar are being punted into odds-on for the Spurs clash, but Boylesports still go evens.

Shakhtar Donetsk sold Brandao this winter to Marseille for €6m, who has yet to find the net. I expect OM to beat Twente at 7/10, but there may be some value in the 1-0 scoreline. Their last 4 matches have finished 1-0 (or 0-1) – the 1-0 home win is 11/2 with Victor Chandler.

Fiorentina are 8/13 against Ajax, with Blue Square going 7/1 that Adrian Mutu scores 2 or more goals.

Recommendation:

2pts @ 9/4 Lech Poznan to beat Udinese (Sky Bet)

1pt @ 11/2 Marseille 1-0 Twente Correct Score (VC)

Lech Poznan v Udinese Match Betting

Lech Poznan v Udinese Over/Under Betting

Shakhtar Donetsk v Spurs Match Betting

Fiorentina v Ajax Match Betting

Manchester United could go 5 points clear tonight if they beat Fulham, and should do just that at 1/4. Fulham are 19/1 and looked jaded in their 1-1 draw at Swansea. Man U are 8/15 to keep another clean sheet in a match that is difficult to find a bet.

Aston Villa are in UEFA Cup action tonight – they are 21/20 to beat 2005 Winners CSKA Moscow at home. Kick off is at 7pm, but coverage starts half an hour earlier on five. The Russian side are weak in the betting at 16/5, probably because Zico‘s men aren’t in their season yet. They’ll also be fielding 17 year old Georgi Schennikov at left back.

The draw has been supported into 12/5 from 5/2 and the draw/draw HT/FT result is 9/2 with William Hill.

5/4 PSG have been in good form in the French League, but 13/5 Wolfsburg are a different proposition. They have recruited well in recent years, but will miss Grafite tonight. Even though Paris will have Hoarau and Luyindula up front, I think they could be a lay. I’d rather bet on over 2.5 goals at 1/1 with bet365.

Werder Bremen v AC Milan is the glamour tie with David Beckham 16/1 to score first in the match for the 17/10 visitors.

Standard Liège are clear in the Jupiler League and I’d expect them to win at Braga (21/10) tonight. They have won their last 7 and I was so impressed with them in 2008 that I backed them outright in the competition at 33s. They have won thier last 4 to nil, which is a 7/2 chance with Paddy Power tonight.

Recommendation:

2pts @ 21/10 Standard Liège to beat Braga

1pt @ 7/2 Standard Liège to Win to Nil

bookies.com compares all the odds for tonight’s UEFA Cup matches to find you the best value.

The American insurance giant (or should that be pygmy?) has had to be rescued by the US Treasury in a $80 billion bail out and it seems unlikely that the American taxpayer will want to meet the Old Trafford shirt bill in future seasons.

Ladbrokes make Vodafone the 4/1 second favourites, followed by Saudi Telecom at 5/1. Spurs sponsor Mansion are offererd at a silly price of 6/1 (they’ve learned the lesson that shirt sponsorship does not work well for online bookies) and Budweiser are offered at 8/1.

Here at Bookies Blog Towers, we reckon Nike is a solid price at 3/1 but we think it might be worth enquiring about odds on Puma or Adidas taking over. Both are engaged in a huge global growth programme and could be genuinely interested in getting their names on the Red Devil’s shirts.