Five stats about tonight’s Euro Under-21 Championship Final

Germany/England, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1, Best Odds, Free Bets

Stuart Pearce is the 4/1 favourite to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager and tonight he can prove his credentials by guiding the Young Lions to their first trophy since 1984. To do so he will have to conquer Germany, who were a thorn in Psycho’s side throughout his playing career. However, at Under-21 level, England have a much better record against them:

1. There have been three occasions under the current format where two teams from the same group have met in the final and on two of those, the side who came second - in this case Germany - triumphed.

2. Germany have never previously won the competition but have - either as East or West - lost in the final four times, including a 1974 defeat to Hungary when it was still an Under-23 competition.

Posted: June 29th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

And the winner of the 2009 Grand National will be…

chickendinner’s five step guide to identifying this year’s king

Don’t resort to picking names out of hats or playing a game of pin the tail on the form guide, chickendinner have come up with a foolproof plan to identify this year’s Grand National winner. We eliminated all the likely losers who don’t fit the profile of a champion until we were left with just one horse standing. Read on to find out who it was:

Step One
14 of the last 17 winners started in the top eight of the betting. Therefore it must be one of these guys (three are joint-eighth):
My Will, Butler’s Cabin, Rambling Minster, State of Play, Hear The Echo, Parsons Legacy, Darkness, Comply or Die, Black Apalachi or Irish Invader

Step Two
10 of the last 13 winners have been aged either 9 or 10. That means we say goodbye to Rambling Minster (11), Hear The Echo (8), Parsons Legacy (11) and Irish Invader (8). Still fighting are:

Posted: April 3rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Grand National index: All the links you need for the big race

Click here for all the latest odds on the biggest race of the year

OUR FAVOURITE FREE BET OFFER (more information here)
Boylesports are paying out six places each-way on the Grand National and are offering a no-strings-attached £20 free bet if you open an account and stake £10 on something.

THE BEST OF THE REST
£20 worth of free bets with Paddy Power, the kings of the money-back special!
£25 free bet with Betfair, who offer the biggest odds on almost everything!
£200 Free Bet Basket with Bet365, who pay out the SP if you take shorter odds!

THE ELIMINATOR
We used a five-step process of elimination to whittle down the contenders until there was just one horse standing: Darkness.

PROFILING THE FIELD
» chickendinner’s preview of this year’s frontrunners (Part One).
» chickendinner’s preview of this year’s frontrunners (Part Two).
» chickendinner’s guide to separating outsiders from no-hopers.

EVERYTHING ELSE
» How to best take advantage of Boylesport’s amazing offer.
» Extrabet.com’s preview of the Grand National spread markets.
» History dictates you should back Irish and avoid the French.
» Betfair make organising a Grand National sweepstake easy.

Posted: April 3rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Grand National 2009: This year’s frontrunners (Part 1)

15 of the last 18 winners have started at 20/1 or less. That means there are eleven major contenders: My Will, Butler’s Cabin, Rambling Minster, State of Play, Black Apalachi, Comply Or Die, Hear The Echo, Parsons Legacy, Irish Invader, Kilbeggan Blade and the chickendinner pick Darkness…

» Red Rum was the last horse to win the Grand National in successive years and that was 35 years ago. No jockey or trainer has retained since then either which is bad news for Comply Or Die, Timmy Murphy and David Pipe.

» The last seven winners have all been Irish. Black Apalachi, Comply Or Die, Hear The Echo, Parsons Legacy and Irish Invader are the leading challengers from across the Irish Sea this year.

Posted: April 3rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Struggling Portsmouth look to end Villa’s run of away wins

Portsmouth/Aston Villa, 8pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds

Photo Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Last season just three points separated these two sides but with sixteen to play, Portsmouth are already twenty short of Aston Villa this year. Both sides failed to impress against Championship opposition in the FA Cup but Martin O’Neill’s side are unbeaten in ten league games, although this is the first time this season they have been without their “genius” Ashley Young:

VILLA’S AWAY RECORD
Aston Villa have won five consecutive away games, something they had last achieved in May 1998. If they win tonight it will be the first time in Premier League history that they have won six in succession. Villa are one of only two clubs, the other being Bolton, who are yet to experience an away draw, which is odd considering they, alongside Liverpool, have drawn more home games than anyone else (five). Overall, Villa have won eight and lost three of their eleven on the road and they are 2.34 on Betfair to triumph again.

PORTSMOUTH’S WINLESS RUN
Pompey have gone six Premier League games without a win, although the last time they went longer than that without picking up three points was at the start of 2006 when Harry Redknapp led them through an eight game winless streak. The South Coast side have won just two of thirteen league games under Tony Adams.

VILLA AT FRATTON PARK

Posted: January 27th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Burnley should bow out of the Carling Cup with pride

Burnley/Tottenham, 8pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Anyone hoping to see Tottenham suffer the humiliation of having their 4-1 advantage overturned will probably be left disappointed. Even at their worst this season Spurs have yet to lose a game by more than two goals.

The last time they lost by a margin of three goals or greater was last March when Newcastle, yes Newcastle, thrashed them 4-1 at White Hart Lane, and even a defeat of that margin would only be enough to take the game to extra time and penalties.

Posted: January 21st, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment