The Fight against Relegation

A week before the end of the season, we have only one team who ensured their place in the League Championship next year… After a very bad spell, West Bromwich woke up and tried to complete an unlikely survival quest, but their two wins and two losses from their last 4 fixtures were too little, too late.
So, who are the rest of the relegation candidates?
Let's start with Sunderland, which are most likely to stay up. Inspecting next week's odds brings up that the odds for Sunderland to get relegated are approximately 1-14. Sunderland will be relegated if they’ll lose and both Hull and Newcastle win their matches. Highly unlikely…
On the other end of the scale there is Middlesbrough, who will need a miracle to survive. Boro travel to Upton Park, to play 9th place West Ham. True, West Ham have nothing to play for but considering Gareth Southgate’s lads inability to win (or to score) makes one realize that Middlesborough will play Championship football next season.
So we are left with Newcastle United and Hull.

The Magpies play Aston Villa away from home, knowing that a draw might be enough, if Hull will lose at home to already-champions Manchester United. Newcastle’s win against Middlesbrough gave them some hope but their home defeat to Fulham sent them back to the relegation zone. Lucky for them, they have a superior goal difference over Hull, so they have to prey Manchester United will do a professional job at the KC Stadium.
In normal times, we could see no way for Hull to come out with anything from their match with United, but since United have already been crowned as League Champions they will most probably field a weakened team, to try and avoid injuries before the Champions League final. This opens a window of opportunity for Hull, as they know that a win will cement their place in the Premiership.
My predictions are that Hull will end their match in a draw, Newcastle will win against Aston Villa and Middlesbrough….well….it doesn't really matter.
Bye bye Hull and Middlesbrough.

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The road to Rome

Arsenal and Manchester United face each other tonight in an all-English encounter to decide who will get a shot at the Champions League final in Rome. Indeed, Man Utd are a much better side and they have proved it throughout this season, but both they and Arsenal know that anything is possible when all lies on one match. Still, Arsenal won’t be too happy to hear that despite all that, BetUknow members are divided between a draw and a Man Utd win.
Now let’s get to the fun part: the clash of the giants between Chelsea and Barcelona. The first leg ended in a boring 0-0 draw, as Chelsea practically pared the bus in front of their goal. Barcelona just couldn’t find a way through. Still, their amazing 6-2 win over arch rivals Real Madrid in The super Classico, will probably give them a much needed confidence boost, as once again – Barca feel as the clear favorites. Their only problem is the fact that their starting half-backs can’t play, due to injuries or suspensions. It is hard to imagine the young Fernando Cáceres holding Drogba off for an entire match.
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Can Shearer save the Toons?

Tomorrow's match is a crucial one for Newcastle United. A win will place them in the 18th place with 33 points, only one point away from safety, while leaving Pompey deeply involved in the fight for Premiership survival.On the other hand, a defeat will most probably bring Newcastle’s status as a Premiership side to an end, especially when their next match will be at Anfield, versus high flying Liverpool.
So a question comes to mind – Was Alan Shearer right to join Newcastle? Well, the jury are still out on this, but with not long to go till the end of the season, we’ll know whether Shearer will be a hero or a villain soon enough.
In any case, we see three possible outcomes for Newcastle’s next month:
1. Newcastle manage a win against Portsmouth with a couple of wins over Middlesborough and Fulham (after the Liverpool clash) they secure their top flight status.
2. They lose the game and start getting ready for their away match at Peterborough.
3. The match ends in a draw and Newcastle have no other choice but grabbing a huge away win at Anfield next week.
What do you say?



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Key Players

Who's a more crucial part for his team? Van Persie/Adebayor for Arsenal or Gerrard for Liverpool? Tonight's match sees Liverpool and Arsenal battle at Anfield without their key players and it’s hard to decide who will be harmed the most.
A bit more than a month ago, Arsenal were in the 5th place with 8 points separating them from Aston Villa, but then something has changed, (might be Arshavin's new breeze) and the Gunners got into form. Now Arsene Wenger's team is 6 points above Aston Villa and instead of fighting just for the chance to take part in next year’s Champions League qualifying round, all of a sudden they threaten Chelsea's automatic qualifying spot.
On the other side of the pitch we have Liverpool with their fantastic season, still in the title race even though they lost the good form they had a month ago.
With all due respect for both teams and their players, Liverpool without Gerrard is a different team, exactly like Arsenal without Van Persie and Adebayor is. Even though the subs for both teams include players like Lucas, Benayoun, Vela, Bentdner and more, It won’t be the same without both team's key players.
According to BetUknow community, Liverpool will be tonight's winners, share your thoughts here:

The EPL teams are searching for the CL final

Federico Macheda’s celebrations are a thing of the past as the Red Devils prepare to face Porto this evening, at the Champions League quarter finals first leg. This isn't a regular match for Manchester United, as the Portuguese team finished the reds dreams to win European glory back in 2004, and continued all the way to win the title. BetUknow's punters have full faith in the reds expected win; this explains the 1.4 odds you'll get for a Man Utd win at the bookies.
Arsenal face a difficult encounter with Villarreal at the El Madrigal. The EPL team is back on form in the recent weeks, and seems capable of joining Man Utd in the CL's semis, but it all depends on the result they'll get today. According to BetUknow punters the Gunners will have a jolly ride back to London, as the community of punters are divided between a draw and an away win.
Another highly anticipated match sees Liverpool and Chelsea collide. What more can I say about this encounter that hasn't been said in recent years? BetUknow punters think that Liverpool's good form will give them an advantage and a glorious win.

The English Premier League vs. Serie A

If we ignore the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid, the 2008/9 Champions League has brought us a fierce Anglo-Italian battle for the most prestigious football title.
The first match brings Manchester United (1st in the EPL) and Jose mourinho's Inter Milan (1st in Seria A). The 0-0 draw in the first leg puts Manchester United in a good position, and it’s safe to say that at Old Trafford the match will evolve differently. If Man Utd will play for 90 minutes with the pace they showed in the first 20 minutes of the first leg, they will easily pass by the Italians.
The second encounter is between Chelsea (2nd in the EPL), and Juventus (2nd in Seria A). Both teams had a great start for their seasons, but later lost their momentum. Still, it seems as if Chelsea's new gaffer, Guus Hiddink, put them back on track while Juventus still struggle. Chelsea’s 1-0 advantage should be more than enough to book them a place in the next round.
So, while Manchester and Chelsea look certain to qualify, Arsenal will have to work hard to get there. Arsenal (5th in the EPL) face AS Roma (6th in Seria A) with a 1-0 advantage, yet that win wasn’t too convincing as The Gunners needed Van Persie's successful penalty kick to keep them in contention.
BetUknow members think that Arsenal will complete the mission and join Man Utd and Chelsea in the next round with another win at Italy, what do you think?

Is the title race really over?

Manchester United have completed their game in hand against Fulham and the 3-0 win tightened their grip of the top spot, them 5 points clear from Liverpool who are in 2nd. Martin O'Neill's side will find it hard to challenge United’s title run and Chelsea’s dismal run has put them practically out of contention (10 points behind with 13 weeks to go), even with Guus Hiddink at the helm.
Well, miracles do happen, but this does not seem to be the case… The title race can be sealed this weekend if results go United’s way.
Aston Vila host Chelsea and a draw is written all over the place. There is also a consensus among BetUknow's community that the teams will share the spoils. Liverpool, on the other hand, face Manchester City. This cannot be considered an easy task; furthermore - I think Rafa's mind is already set on the encounter with Real Madrid next Tuesday, as he probably realizes winning the Champions League will guarantee him a new contract. Assuming that Alex Ferguson's dream team won't slip against lowly Blackburn….we will be able to crown them as League Champions on Sunday.

Last chance to stay in the race

Today's match at Anfield is more than just another match between two Premiership giants. Even Chelsea’s desire to revenge their home defeat to Liverpool is not the reason for this match to be more important the usual. The important thing is the fact that a draw result here will practically crown Manchester United as champions as it will cost both Liverpool and Chelsea the chance of winning the title. Honestly, they both do not deserve to win it this year, but let’s be faithful to the truth - neither does Manchester United.
According to the bookies Liverpool are the favorites with odds of 2.5, while the odds for Chelsea win are 3 and 3.25 for the draw. BetUknow community of bettors has full faith in the draw, while my gut feeling is that Chelsea will get their revenge.

The dynamic 2008\2009 season

Only a month ago it seemed like this season will see either Liverpool or Chelsea crowned as League Champions. Now, with 22 matches gone, it seems that once again Man Utd will be the champions, with 5-10 points separating them and the runner-ups.
The same goes with Hull City, who had won only once in their last ten matches. This comes as a total contradiction to their brilliant start of the season.
And it keeps going! Portsmouth made a couple of good signings in the summer, with Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe. 3 months later and Defoe plays for Tottenham and Pompey are hovering 3 over the foot of the table. West Brom and West Ham are on a good spell while Newcastle and Tottenham remain unpredictable. Yep, 2008/2009 season is very dynamic.
Nevertheless, BetUknow members manage to overcome these setbacks and keep on producing accurate predictions. The wise thing to do, then, is to stay tuned!

The Premier League teams in the FA Cup 3rd round

The FA Cup is one of the few ways for a team which season is going quite poorly, to enjoy some unforgettable joyous moments, not to mention making a mediocre season – a successful one. For underachievers such as Tottenham, Blackburn and Sunderland, the FA Cup is the best remedy, and who knows? They might take a good cup run and make it a stepping stone towards improved league performances.
Using my gut feeling and BetUknow top predictor's predictions I will try to concentrate on two possible surprises:

1. Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham: Roy Hodgeson managed to turn Fulham’s fortunes and after avoiding relegation, The Cottagers are performing quite well this season, finding themselves high in the table. This makes them clear favourites for this one, but… Hmm… being a favourite is unknown turf for them. While they will have to come out and attack, Wednesday will try to hold the lines and sting with a couple of counter attacks. I won’t be surprised if this will happen.

2. West Ham United v Barnsley: Last season saw Barnsley managing their way to the semi finals, after a string of shocking wins against both Liverpool and Chelsea. Well, I'm not saying they can repeat this amazing run, but a draw at Upton Park does not seem to be farfetched.