Gunners can shock Barca

Sports betting: FOOTBALL purists will be in their element tonight when two of Europe’s most attractive passing teams do battle in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

ITV will be screening Arsenal v Barcelona live and the appearance of the mercurial Lionel Messi is one of many reasons to tune in.

Messi and his Barca team-mates outclassed Manchester United in last year’s final and are favourites to lift the trophy again.

They may well be too strong for the Gunners over two legs and, quite rightly, are 2-5 to qualify for the semi-finals, with Arsenal on 11-5.

But should they be favourites to win at the Emirates Stadium tonight?

I believe this is a 50-50 game, assuming Cesc Fabregas passes a late fitness test for Arsenal, so the fact we can get 11-5 about the Gunners winning on home turf just sways me in favour of Arsene Wenger’s side.

After their 5-0 home demolition of Porto in the second leg of their last-16 match, confidence will be high. Go for it you Gunners!

Manchester United, beaten 2-1 by Bayern Munich last night and with injury worries over Wayne Rooney, are 4-5 to qualify for the semi-finals, with the German team even money.


TWO weeks ago this column highlighted the chance of Ernie Els in next week’s Masters following his US Tour victory in Miami.

At that stage, he was 22-1. Now, after a second successive win in America in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, the big South African is a best-priced 12-1 to win at Augusta.

And, with punters clamouring to oppose Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – who have other things than golf on their minds – the gamble on the red-hot Els shows no signs of abating.

Bookmakers believe Els will soon be disputing second favouritism with Mickelson so if you reckon the Big Easy is the man for this year’s Masters, you had better grab the 12s before it disappears.


RECOMMENDATION: Arsenal to beat Barcelona, 11-5 (bet365, VC Bet); Ernie Els to win US Masters, 12-1 (Boylesports, Sporting Bet, Paddy Power, Skybet).


Haye may find Ruiz a tough nut to crack

DAVID Haye is a breath of fresh air in a heavyweight boxing era of boredom.

Not since Lennox Lewis was dominating the world stage has the division provided the glitz and glamour associated with one of the sporting world’s greatest prizes.

But the emergence of the colourful Haye, who can back up his brash talk with his actions in the ring, has produced an upsurge in interest and Saturday’s WBA title showdown between the Londoner and America’s John Ruiz in Manchester has been attracting plenty of media attention.

Haye won the world crown with a points victory over giant Russian Nikolay Valuev.

Not surprisingly, he was unable to stop a man of much greater height and weight, but there will be many who expect the Hayemaker’s big punches to end Ruiz’s challenge before the fight is too old - after all, he has stopped 21 of his 23 victims in an unblemished career.

However, it would be wrong to underestimate the challenger.

While Ruiz’s record suggests he is hardly a destructive fighter – his CV is littered with points decisions either way – his chin is solid and you have to go back 14 years to find his only stoppage in 54 fights when David Tua did the business.

Ruiz is likely to employ spoiling tactics against a more mobile man boasting superior punching power and that suggests a points victory for the Briton.

Haye is a prohibitive 2-11 to win at any time and 8-13 to stop Ruiz.

Compare those prices with 13-5 for Haye to win on points and you don’t need to be a genius to work out where the value lies.


RECOMMENDATION: David Haye to beat John Ruiz on points, 13-5 (Sporting Bet).



LANCASHIRE’S cricketers have under-performed to some tune in recent seasons and the bookies reckon they might struggle to land silverware once again in 2010.

The Red Rose men are fifth favourites at 10-1 to win the County County Championship’s first division, some way behind hot favourites Durham (2-1), who boast a bowling attack which is the envy of their rivals.

The odds-layers expect Lancashire to fare better in the one-day form of the game, making them second favourites at 12-1 for the ECB 40 Cup, for which Somerset are the jollies at 9s.

And Lancashire are joint third-favourites for the Twenty20 Cup at 11-1, behind Hampshire (7-1) and Somerset (9-1).