The obstacle Man United must overcome to make history

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Manchester United remain marginal favourites to win their 19th league title next season despite losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. To confirm their place as the country’s most successful side in history, they must become the first English team to win four successive titles. How hard can it be?

FOURTH SEASON SYNDROME

Huddersfield (1926-27)
The first ever team to win three successive top-flight titles were toppled by Newcastle when they attempted to win a fourth in 1926-27. The Terriers started poorly, winning just three of their first 12 games but by March they were joint-top. Newcastle had a better goal average and a game in hand but Jack Chaplin’s side were in a good position - they still had to play Newcastle and in the previous three seasons they had saved their best form for the final stages of the season. However, they won just three of their final 11 games and lost 1-0 at Newcastle, meaning they finished the campaign five points behind the Magpies in second. Huddersfield haven’t won the title since.

Arsenal (1935-36)
Herbert Chapman won the first two of Huddersfield’s three straight titles and tragically died while on course to deliver the second of Arsenal’s trio. They sealed the second under Joe Shaw and then the third under George Allison but were slow out of the blocks in season four. A good run in late 1935 saw

Posted: July 10th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Feeling patriotic? Back both English sides at almost 5/2!

Porto/Man Utd, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds
Arsenal/Villarreal, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 3, Free Bets, Best Odds

There isn’t too much value to be found if you fancy backing the English teams to do well tonight but the best price we have found is on a Manchester United/Arsenal win double, where Paddy Power will pay out £33.73 on a £10 stake. Here’s why that could be a worthwhile bet:

English domination
It’s been almost two years since an English side were knocked out of the Champions League by foreign opposition.

Arsenal’s home comforts
The Gunners haven’t lost a European home match against foreign opposition since September 2003, when they lost their opening group game 3-1 against Inter Milan. Arsenal have conceded just one goal in ten home matches and have won their last four.

Villarreal are struggling
As well as being without a win in three games, the Yellow Submarine have won just one of their last ten away games, losing six times over that period. That run started with a 2-0 loss to Celtic, who finished bottom of their Champions League group.

Man Utd did similar last year

Posted: April 15th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Five reasons why Arsenal are unlikely to win at El Madrigal

Villarreal/Arsenal, 7.45pm, ITV4, Free Bets, Best Odds

Arsenal are enjoying their best form in over a year and are capable of delivering on the road in Europe - as results away to Inter and AC Milan have shown. But while they are capable of excellence, more often than not they disappoint, which is why we find it hard to justify backing the visitors at the general price of 8/5:

1. Arsenal have won just three of their last fourteen Champions League away games (excluding qualifiers), which is a win percentage of just 21%.

2. Today is the four-year anniversary of Villarreal’s last European home defeat. Since then they have played fifteen, winning eight and drawing seven.

3. The Yellow Submarine haven’t lost at home in 2009 and have only lost two of their last 34 games at El Madrigal. Those losses came against league leaders Barcelona and Real Valladolid, who have won seven games against the top seven this season.

Posted: April 7th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Man United host a Porto side who hate travelling to the UK

Manchester United/Porto, 7.45pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Manchester United have been granted the best draw they could have asked for in their quest to retain the Champions League but recent defensive frailties threaten to end their run of seven straight clean sheets in two-legged European ties. However, Porto’s dreadful record in the UK means that an upset (9/1 with Ladbrokes) remains incredibly unlikely:

HOME ADVANTAGE
Manchester United’s domestic invincibility may have worn off but there are some pretty significant stats which make them the team to fear in Europe. The holders haven’t lost a Champions League home game since February 2005 and are unbeaten in 21 games in total in the competition. However, while they won all six of their European games at Old Trafford last season, they haven’t been quite as convincing this season. They beat Celtic (3-0) and Inter (2-0) but they failed to find a way past potential quarter-final opponents Villarreal (0-0) or the fifth-best team in Denmark, Aalborg (2-2).

Posted: April 7th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Jose Mourinho falls short and Fulham lose at home again

Five stats about Wednesday night’s football

1. Roberto Mancini had no problem winning Serie A so the main reason Jose Mourinho was brought in to replace him as Inter boss was to achieve European success. However, Mourinho went out last night at the same stage the Italian champions fell in each of Mancini’s last two seasons.

2. And there has been no domestic improvement either. Inter are a point worse off than they were at this stage last season, despite last year’s runners-up Roma struggling down in sixth.

3. Fulham have gone from losing just one home game in ten-and-a-half months to being beaten three times in the space of eight days at Craven Cottage.

Posted: March 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why Manchester United can’t lose focus in the closing stages

Man Utd/Inter, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds

Rather than concentrating on their gameplan to eliminate Manchester United, Inter Milan have been busy calculating what percentage chance they stand. Jose Mourinho says 50% while Mario Balotelli goes with 45% but both are wrong as the actual figure is 33%. Here we present the case for both teams, leaving you to assess whether the 8/15 on the holders breaking the curse is better value than the 7/4 Ladbrokes are offering on Inter progressing, while providing you with useful tips on other markets:

In the red corner…

» Manchester United have won eight and lost just one of their last ten home games against Italian opposition, triumphing in their last four.

» The Red Devils are unbeaten at home in over a year in all competitions and have gone more than four years without a Champions League loss at Old Trafford, a run stretching nineteen games.

Posted: March 11th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment