Five reasons why Arsenal should beat Man Utd tonight

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

Arsenal have underperformed in their two previous semi-final matches this season but Arsene Wenger is confident that his side will deliver tonight and the statistics support him. And if Emmanuel Adebayor can keep his head out of the Milanese clouds for just 90 minutes, his partnership with Robin van Persie could make the difference:

Click here to claim a £25 no loss bet when backing Arsenal at 2.92 on Betfair. The Gunners are currently 4.4 to progress.

1. Arsenal have won two and drawn one of their three home games against Manchester United at the Emirates.

2. The Gunners are currently enjoying their best home form of the season having won six straight matches there.

Posted: May 5th, 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

How not to prepare for the Champions League 1/4-finals

Villarreal and Bayern Munich wave goodbye to any momentum

While all of the Premier League’s Big Four head into the Champions League quarter-finals on the back of victories and Barcelona and Porto both won at the weekend, Villarreal and Bayern Munich were humbled.

Wolfsburg and reigning champions Bayern Munich were inseparable on points, goal difference, goals scored and conceded heading into their clash. However, there was a huge difference on the day as Jurgen Klinsmann’s side, who recently embarrassed Sporting Lisbon 12-1 on aggregate and travel to Barcelona on Wednesday, were stuffed 5-1.

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

Why Arsenal may need to score again to eliminate Roma

Roma/Arsenal, 7.45pm, Sky Sports Xtra, Free Bets, Best Odds

Arsenal will take confidence from the fact Chelsea completed their job in Italy having arrived with a 1-0 advantage but will also be aware how hard Juventus made things for the Blues. Roma are even better at home than Claudio Ranieri’s side so Arsenal may need to score and force their opponents to score three. Sometimes they find that easy - Cardiff, Burnley - but sometimes they make things really difficult for themselves - West Ham, Sunderland, Fulham. Here are some interesting stats about tonight’s match:

» Roma are unbeaten in twelve home matches and have won ten of them.

» The Italian side have only failed to score once at the Stadio Olimpico since Manchester United won 2-0 there on April 1 last year and that was against league leaders Inter.

Posted: March 11th, 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

Everton FA Cup wins against Prem teams are like buses…

Five stats about this weekend’s football

1. Everton had gone ten years without knocking out a Premier League team in the FA Cup before eliminating Liverpool and Aston Villa, two of the top three, this year. The winner of Middlesbrough and West Ham’s fifth round replay won’t be looking forward to their quarter-final visit to Goodison Park.

2. The victory also marked the end of Aston Villa’s impressive sixteen match domestic unbeaten run and was Everton’s first win in six against Martin O’Neill’s side.

Posted: February 16th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment