There are some attractive League Cup fixtures on Tuesday and Wednesday as four of the top seven Premier League teams clash.
First up is Manchester United (evens) at home to Tottenham (12/5) on Tuesday night in a fixture that has seen the visitors winless since 1989/90. I'm surprised to see Sportingbet offering generous odds of evens about the home victory, even if Fergie's men aren't at full strength. They looked in good shape at Portsmouth at the weekend and will want to impress home fans following last week's embarrassing home defeat in Europe.
Wednesday sees the Chelsea juggernaut (1/2) visit Blackburn at Ewood Park (5/1) – a ground that has proven lucky for them with nine victories in their last 11 visits. The Blues will be brimming with confidence following their demolition job at Arsenal on Sunday and I can see them dominating here, making their half-time/full-time odds of just over evens (21/20) look favourable.
Arsene Wenger will no doubt field his usual reserve side when Arsenal (5/2) travel to Manchester City (17/20), which may be a good thing as some of them won't have played in Sunday's defeat to Chelsea. Mark Hughes, however, is sure to field a full strength side as the pressure mounts on him for success – he isn't in a position to pass up on a semi-final appearance. Therefore, City should win this one, with Shaun Wright-Phillips (19/5) a candidate to score at anytime in the match.
City (11/4) will face tougher opposition in the Premier League on Saturday, though, when they host Chelsea (17/20). It could pay to keep it simple in this match as City have struggled to secure three points in the league, while Chelsea have triumphed on their last four trips to the City of Manchester Stadium and are on a roll. Take Chelsea to win 2-1 or 3-1 at respective odds of 8/1 and 16/1.
Sunday's big game features a struggling Everton (8/5) outfit at home to Tottenham (6/4), who impressed away at Aston Villa last week. The Toffees have only beaten the Londoners once at home since 1997/98, and have struggled against teams in the top-half of the league this term. Spurs, on the other hand, have walloped teams below them in the table, which points to Harry Redknapp's men coming away with maximum points.
Three Test matches will get underway in the world of cricket from Wednesday to Friday, with New Zealand (2/1) against Pakistan (9/5), and India (6/5) versus Sri Lanka (10/3), in what has proved to be a batting-friendly series so far.
The match that interests me, though, is Australia (1/5) at home to the West Indies (12/1), where young Adrian Barath can build on his impressive debut century for the West Indies in the First Test. Back him for top runscorer in each of the West Indies innings – they should bat twice – at 4/1.
England (13/10) take a 2-1 lead into the final one-day international in South Africa (8/13) on Friday following Jonathan Trott's top score – advised here – on Sunday. The consistent Trott should again go well at 7/2, while at the same price, AB De Villiers can top score for the South Africans.
Italy nailed a 16/1 winning punt for this column when landing golf's World Cup last weekend and the action takes off again this Thursday with the Nedbank World Challenge in South Africa, and the Chevron World Challenge in California. The latter tournament interests me more, as its host Tiger Woods will be missing, which will open things up for the other players.
Lee Westwood and Steve Stricker head Sportingbet's odds at 6/1 for the Californian event, but I'm going to give another chance to Padraig Harrington (15/2) who won this event in 2002, and has gone close for me this year on several occasions.
Thursday also sees the return of the Europa League in which Celtic, Everton and Fulham feature.
Celtic (4/5) host group-leaders, Hapoel Tel-Aviv (3/1), in a match that is winnable for The Bhoys, who can still qualify and are in better form than when last seen in Europe, while the visitors have virtually qualified and may not view this game as important.
Everton (29/20) travel to AEK Athens (33/20) in a match that may mean more to the Greeks – who need to win and boast an excellent home record – while Fulham (2/9) also put their trusty home form in Europe on the line against CSKA Sofia (10/1). A home win treble on those three pay odds of just under 6/1.
There isn't any important footy on Friday but the World Cup draw takes place in South Africa, which will have an impact on Sportingbet's ante-post odds for next year's summer bonanza.
The one team I'll be hoping avoid a tough group are the Ivory Coast, who are massive odds at 25/1 for glory. The European teams may struggle to win the trophy away from their continent, unlike the Ivory Coast who will enjoy the warm climate and can boast a few tasty players in Drogba, Toure, Eboue and Kalou – let alone any unexposed talent to be unmasked.
Considering South Korea made the semis and Greece won the European Championship, the Ivory Coast represent exceptionally good value.
Week's best sportingbet: Tottenham to beat Everton at 6/4.
