Manchester City are now evens to sign John Terry

Click here to check out all the latest Sky Bet transfer specials

John Terry is now evens to be at Manchester City by the time the transfer window shuts after the Citizens last night confirmed the capture of another Big Four player, Carlos Tevez.

Sky Bet still make Chelsea 8/11 favourites to keep the England captain, who has on numerous occasions in the past vowed never to leave Stamford Bridge, but are offering their shortest price yet on the 28-year-old moving.

Posted: July 14th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 3 Comments

John Terry is 5/2 to move to Manchester City this summer

Click here to check out all of Sky Bet’s latest transfer specials

Photo Credit: Carl Court, PA Wire

Sky Bet have priced Manchester City at 5/2 to sign John Terry this summer despite Carlo Ancelotti’s claim this morning that he will be at Chelsea forever.

The online bookmakers are still fairly sure that the England captain will stay at Stamford Bridge though and have priced that possibility at 1/5. One player who seems certain to choose City over the Blues however is Carlos Tevez, who is 1/7 to move to Eastlands and 4/1 to join Chelsea.

The most open transfer special available on Sky Bet surrounds versatile Turkish forward Tuncay. The Middlesbrough man is 5/1 to stay at Riverside and is the same price to join Chelsea, Liverpool or City. As if it wasn’t already close, Sunderland are right behind at 6/1, with Spurs 7/1 and Aston Villa 9/1.

UPDATE: The Chelsea captain has now been cut to 2/1 to join City and is 4/11 to stay put

Posted: July 6th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Man United’s overrated defence, John Terry’s unfortunate choice of words

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Four Manchester United players made the back five in the PFA team of the season despite the fact Chelsea have conceded an average of 0.59 goals a game compared to Manchester United’s 0.70 and have even kept more clean sheets - 21 to the Red Devils’ 20.

2. Middlesbrough have now lost ten consecutive Premier League away games although Arsenal’s 2-0 win yesterday marked the first time in six attempts that Arsene Wenger had got the better of Gareth Southgate.

3. Spurs have the best home defence in the Premier League having conceded just nine goals in 17 games. After their 5-2 loss to Manchester United though they have the joint-third worst defensive record on the road, shipping 32 goals in 17 games - only one less than West Brom.

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

Nemanja Vidic is evens to be named PFA Player of the Year

Serbian defender’s recent form sees him installed as favourite

Paddy Power have installed defender Nemanja Vidic as the evens favourite to win the PFA Player of the Year award after being an ever-present in Manchester United’s run of thirteen straight clean sheets.

Counting against him is the fact that a defender has triumphed just once in the last fifteen years. If the voting took place a month ago, as Micah Richards confirmed was the case last season, it is also possible that he wouldn’t have received as many mentions as he would if votes were cast now.

Steven Gerrard is second favourite at 7/2, which seems surprising as the general consensus has been that Xabi Alonso has been Liverpool’s standout performer for most of the season, with current holder Cristiano Ronaldo close behind at 5/1 despite not matching last season’s form.

The player that has impressed chickendinner this season - Stephen Ireland - is a big outsider at 50/1, which is unsurprising as ten years have passed since a player from outside the Big Four last triumphed.

Key trends:

Posted: February 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Portsmouth are expected to choose Curbishley or Grant

There are two clear leaders in the races to succeed Tony Adams

(Photo Credit: Chris Ison, PA)

Alan Curbishley and Avram Grant got off on the wrong foot last season when the former West Ham boss said that Manchester United deserved the title more than Chelsea. Now they will lock horns again after being installed as the clear frontrunners to succeed Tony Adams at Portsmouth:

Avram Grant (4/7 with Paddy Power)
Bizarrely, the best job offer a manager who came within a John Terry slip-up of winning the Champions League last season is now offered is at a team locked in a relegation battle after selling two of their star players. However, Grant has made it clear he has unfinished business in England and he has previous with Portsmouth after spending a season there as a technical director before moving to Chelsea.

Alan Curbishley (6/1 with Sky Bet)
In many ways Curbishley seems like the perfect fit at Portsmouth, considering the way he saved West Ham from relegation and solidified their position in the Premier League. But Curbs quit there because George McCartney was sold without his agreement so the sale of Jermain Defoe might not have sat too well with him. Portsmouth might also feel awkward appointing Curbishley now after threatening legal action last week against a newspaper who claimed he was being sounded out about the job while Adams was still in charge.

Posted: February 9th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

West Ham look to exploit Chelsea’s home disadvantage

Chelsea/West Ham, 4pm Sun, Sky Sports 1, Best Odds, Free Bets

Gianfranco Zola returns to Stamford Bridge for the first time as a manager this Sunday alongside assistant Steve Clarke, who probably wishes he never left the title favourites for a relegation battle at West Ham. The Hammers took a point at Anfield a fortnight ago and will take heart from Chelsea’s poor home form but they are 16/1 with 888sport and Boylesports and are unlikely to travel back across London with any points on board. Here are all the key facts:

HOME DISADVANTAGE
Both Chelsea and West Ham have taken more points on the road than they have at home in recent times. This season Chelsea have taken a maximum of 24 points on their travels while picking up just half of that (12) from the same number of home games, winning just three of six. West Ham have taken eight points from their last six away games, which is double what they have taken from their last six at the Boleyn.

SLENDER MARGINS
Whereas Chelsea have scored eleven goals in their last three visits to the Boleyn, they tend to have to battle harder for the three points at Stamford Bridge. Last season it took a 75th minute from Joe Cole to sink their local rivals and on three of the last four occasions the tie has finished 1-0 to the Blues. Betfair offer 7.6 on Sunday’s encounter again ending 1-0.

CUDICINI EDGES CECH

Posted: December 13th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment