Liverpool look to halt united charge

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Liverpool v Manchester United has always been a game worth watching. A long running rivalry with the potential to boil over at any time, this one should have its fair share of controversial incidence.

It’s Liverpool v Man Utd on Sunday at Anfield. The game comes at a crucial time of the season and with the chance to win football bets on this one, it should prove to be an enthralling match no matter what.

Both have had their fair share of wobbles recently and dropped points. With Kenny Dalglish at the helm, Liverpool have undergone somewhat of a resurgence under the fan favourite and have moved slowly but surely up the league into 6th place.
But a turgid 0-0 draw against Wigan and a 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham in the Premier League have put the brakes on any slim hopes the Anfield club had of a late charge for a Champions League spot.

Limitations within the Liverpool squad have been exposed of late and they will have a tough time trying to restrict a United side seemingly destined to win the Premier League at a canter.

Meanwhile Sir Alex Ferguson will still be reeling from the 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea on Tuesday, and will be wary of the effects of two defeats on the bounce will have on his side in the title race. With games against Chelsea and Arsenal still to play for the title is decided, the Scot will try and avoid a run of defeats at a crucial time.

Old Liverpool foe Ryan Giggs will mark twenty years at United and there will be no finer way to mark the occasion with a goal against the old enemy. The Premier League veteran scored the winner from the penalty spot when the teams last met, and will be hopeful of repeating the trick this Sunday.

Having played a part in all of United’s 11 Premier League titles so far, look for the Welsh Wizard to deal a double blow to Liverpool with a goal against them on the way to the title which will move the side past Liverpool’s record of 18 league titles.
Nemanja Vidic will miss the game following his red card at Stamford Bridge, and with new striker Luiz Suarez looking lively since joining the club in January, he may well exploit Vidic’s absence with a goal that will make him an instant Kop favourite. Centre back Rio Ferdinand will also miss the game.

United have won both encounters between the two so far this season, including a 1-0 win in the FA Cup in Dalglish’s first game in charge of the club, who will be without full-back Martin Kelly, who has been sidelined for 5 weeks with a hamstring tear.

United are the football betting favourites for this one despite their defensive problems and the loss against Chelsea, and with Wayne Rooney marking his return to form with a fantastic goal against Chelsea, it is hard to see how Liverpool can stop the champions elect.

Blues mount second-half charge

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Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is desperate to strengthen his squad during the current transfer window, as he looks to salvage something from the club’s disappointing first half of the campaign. With Sebastian Larsson looking to be on his way north, to Newcastle, David Bentley has been brought in as a more than adequate replacement on the right of midfield.

Bentley has had a stop-start couple of seasons at Spurs and the midfielder was clearly not a part of Harry Redknapp’s plans for the club. The 26 year old will add quality on the right flank and will provide the struggling strikers with much needed quality from out wide.

Those giving football betting advice note that Bentley won’t be the only new signing at St Andrews, with Argentinean Pablo Mouche the latest player linked to the club. The Boca Junior’s youngster is eyeing a move to Europe and Birmingham have been monitoring the situation closely. Premier League rivals Blackburn and West Ham have both registered an interest and could be in the race for Mouche’s signature.

McLeish has also made bids for fellow Scots Charlie Adam and Kenny Miller, as he looks to add some much needed attacking threat to the side. The move for Rangers’ Miller looks to be coming to an unsuccessful conclusion, after Fiorentina came in with one of the most surprising transfer bids of all time. The Midlands can really compete with Florence to be fair.

Those assessing the soccer betting odds believe that Charlie Adam would be a signing of real quality and Blackpool could be willing to do business should Carson Yeung write them a big cheque. With some new faces at the club, Birmingham will have more than enough quality at the club to start climbing the table.

Tremlett leads England charge

So for the third successive Ashes Test ten wickets tumbled on the first day, and thankfully for England it was Aussie batsmen who were dismissed for just 268.

Chris Tremlett, in for Stuart Broad and making his first England appearance since 2007, justified his selection with a fearsome spell of bowling that unsettled the Aussie batsmen from the off.

But in truth it was a true team performance from England’s bowlers, with all the frontline attack claiming at least two wickets. Australia’s latest Test match scores have been poor, and this is down to some excellent work by England’s bowlers.

Phil Hughes and uncapped Steven Smith, newcomers to a re-jigged Aussie line-up, struggled, scoring just three and seven respectively as the hosts slumped to 69-5 after lunch.

Mike Hussey, Australia’s most consistent player so far this series, lead a spirited fight back with a dogged half century. But when Graeme Swann snared the edge of his bat for 61 Australia’s soft tail was exposed.

Credit to Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, their late rally edged Australia towards a respectable score, but in truth the damage was done and they were merely making up for the mistakes of their team-mates above them.

With England safely seeing out the day with 29 on the board the stage is set or England to take complete control of this Test match and no doubt fans will be eagerly keeping an eye on the live match score.

If they can bat for the entire day tomorrow, entirely plausible given the form of England’s top six, then they build a commanding lead to put the home side under pressure once more.

With just one more victory needed to retain the Ashes, I feel that little urn moved closer towards English hands after day one at the Waca.

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