Author: Best Of Bets

Both Manchester United and Newcastle United are riding the crest of their respective waves right now. These two famous Uniteds are back where they believe they belong, at the summit of English football, contesting a domestic cup final for the first time since 1999. BestOfBets football writer Dominic Booth previews the game.

This weekend’s Carabao Cup final marks a line in the sand for both teams and their charismatic managers. You suspect whoever holds aloft the three-handled silver cup at Wembley come Sunday evening will look back on the win as the moment where success re-entered the DNA of their club.

Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho used to extol the virtues of winning the League Cup as a confidence-booster for bigger and better trophies.

It hasn’t been so long since Manchester United got their hands on silverware, but the club are still suffering their longest trophy drought in more than 40 years. Mourinho’s 2017 Europa League triumph feels like a lifetime ago, and for many members for Erik ten Hag’s current squad, winning a trophy in the red of United would be a novelty. Bruno Fernandes, for example, has gone trophy less throughout his time in Manchester so far.

The Portuguese playmaker has been back to his best form recently and he’ll no doubt revel in the pride of leading out United at Wembley. He’s 11/1 to bag the first goal, which is a very decent price.

Having to play a high-energy and tense European tie against Barcelona on Thursday night was perfection preparation for a Sunday cup final for United. But don’t rule out the momentum and good feeling that the 4-3 aggregate win over Xavi’s side would have generated within Ten Hag’s squad.

They are, justifiably, the bookmakers’ favourites to win on Sunday, 6/5 to get the job done in 90 minutes, 8/13 to lift the trophy by any means necessary.

Newcastle know they are outsiders, but Eddie Howe’s side have a swagger about them, which has served them well this season. They have only lost twice in the Premier League, having held United 0-0 at Old Trafford earlier in the season.  

Bruno Guimaraes might have been sent off in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Southampton, but he’s served his suspension and, along with Kieran Trippier, will be a vital player for Howe’s side at Wembley. The Brazilian is 18/1 to find the net before anyone else on Sunday.

Expect a deafening sound to be made by the travelling Geordies, too, who will come down in their droves in the hope of seeing a first Newcastle trophy win since 1955. Their side may be 13/5 to win the game in 90 minutes and 20/13 to lift the trophy, but the Magpies’ fans won’t be short of belief.

Everything is set up for a mouthwatering cup final on Sunday and it will be fascinating to see whether Ten Hag’s men are exhausted from their Barcelona excursions, or whether Newcastle will crumble under the pressure of a final – as they did so often in the 1990s.

This, however, is a different Newcastle United. Manchester United, on the other hand, would love to get back to the side they were in the 90s. This isn’t one to miss.

90 minutes odds:

• • Manchester United 6/5

  • Draw 5/2

Marsch to Southampton after Leeds sacking shows manager carousel has gone crazy

Who would be a manager? Sacking season has really gone silly this year; it’s feels more likely your club has fired their boss than not.

Well, that’s very nearly true, anyway. Of the 20 Premier League managers to begin the season, nine have now left their posts. Seven of them (Scott Parker, Thomas Tuchel, Bruno Lage, Steven Gerrard, Ralph Hasenhuttl, Frank Lampard and Nathan Jones) are gone and don’t appear to be coming back anytime soon.

Graham Potter was nabbed from Brighton by Chelsea to replace Tuchel, while Jesse Marsch – who left Leeds little more than a week ago – is now on the verge of taking the Southampton job.

A penny, then, for the thoughts of those who’ve been harshly jettisoned and for David Moyes, who is the only manager of a club in the league’s bottom six to have been in the job for more than six months. Only four (Moyes, Brendan Rodgers, Patrick Vieira and Steve Cooper) of the bottom 11 can consider themselves anything but new appointments.

The case of Marsch, in particular, is a peculiar one. Southampton clearly believe the American is still a half-decent manager – better than the disastrous Jones, anyway – whereas Leeds clearly did not. Yet the Elland Road club failed to input any kind of contingency plan for Marsch’s sacking – to the point where they had to face Manchester United twice in four days with a caretaker in charge.

Will Marsch be able to keep Saints in the league? He definitely has the toughest task of any new appointment this season, not just because Southampton are rooted to the foot of the table, three points adrift and four away from safety.

He will also feel he’s got a point to prove – and how he’d love to escape relegation at the expense of Leeds. A lot can happen in the 16 remaining Premier League matches – we might even see another couple of sackings before the chequered flag comes down.

Latest reports suggest Leeds are now considering Nuno Espirito Santo and Steven Gerrard among the candidates to replace Marsch, having failed to attract their preferred choices so far. Again, Nuno and Stevie G not long ago were sacked by mid ranking Premier League sides for not being up to scratch. Could they really answer Leeds fans’ prayers?

Only Jones, Lage and Lampard truly felt out of their depth managing their clubs this season – in particular the beleaguered Welshman, who must be rueing his decision to leave the comforts of his beloved Luton Town for the snake pit of the Premier League. Parker, Tuchel and Hasenhuttl were certainly treated harshly and were discarded too hastily.

You suspect, however, that many of these names will reappear on the manager carousel at some point soon. In a week when Neil Warnock came out of retirement (again) to save his former club Huddersfield from relegation from the Championship aged 74, maybe the likes of Alan Pardew, Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce – Premier League managerial stalwarts of yore – will yet come out of the woodwork.

For now, Bournemouth’s Gary O’Neil is the new name atop the bookmakers ‘next Premier League manager to leave their post’ list. He’s 6/4, if you’re interested. Moyes is 6/1, Potter is a worrying 9/2. According to the odds, only Mikel Arteta, Erik ten Hag and Eddie Howe can sleep sound, at 100/1 apiece.

In the words of Peep Show’s Alan Johnson: “The scythe is remorseless. I hope the scythe’s remorseless swing can bring you some comfort.”

The Big Arsenal Vs Man City Title Showdown Preview

It’s rather apt that Arsenal and Manchester City are facing off this week at the same time as some big Champions League last 16 ties because, frankly, these two teams are in a Premier League sub-division of their own this season.

Manchester United might have other ideas – let’s see what further magic Erik ten Hag can conjure between now and the summer – and Newcastle are much-improved under Eddie Howe. But Arsenal and City, led by the two most tactically astute managers in the country, are head and shoulders above.

There’s a reason why bookmakers cannot separate them when it comes to cooking up the odds for the overall league title this season. Some have City are slight favourites on evens, others have Arsenal 10/11; it will be one of the two that’s for sure. United are next best around the 14/1 mark.

This clash at the Emirates on Wednesday night, will make headlines – no matter what the result – for innumerable reasons. Firstly, the Financial Fair Play charges that have been levelled at City, which look to have given Pep Guardiola and his players a point to prove, as he bats away his club’s critics at every press conference.

Then there’s the refereeing injustices Mikel Arteta has railed against of late, notably the error made by the VAR operators during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford at the weekend that cost the Gunners two valuable points. A late change to the VAR personnel for this game shows that Arteta’s protestations were heard loud and clear.

But also it’s the classic master versus apprentice narrative that is very alluring for the neutral. Arteta learned his coaching trade as Guardiola’s right hand man at the Etihad. Now, however, it’s the former Arsenal midfielder who has mastered his trade, inspiring the Gunners to an unlikely title push.

Arsenal might have another 16 games to play after this one (and City 15) but it really does feel like a huge 90 minutes in the contest of where the title will end up. A win for the home side will restore their lead to six points with a game in hand, but a City victory will put them top on goal difference – making them major favourites to clinch a fifth league crown in six years. Not even FFP will stop them (yet).

Just like with the title race itself, the bookies cannot call the game. Guardiola’s side, who returned to form with a routine 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, are made marginal favourites at 7/5, with the draw 5/2 and Arsenal 2/1. All bets are fairly appealing, given the anything-could-happen nature of the game.

But surely the tension and the amount at stake will force both managers to send their teams out onto the Emirates Stadium turf with an element of caution. A draw looks like the best bet, but this should be anything but boring; it’s certainly worthy of your Wednesday attention over, say, Club Brugge versus Benfica in the Champions League.

Our tip: Draw (5/2)

Three Premier League fixtures to bet on this weekend

After a tumultuous week, in which Financial Fair Play charges were brought against Manchester City and new proposals for the European Super League were mooted, it’s time for the football to take centre-stage once again.

BestOfBets previews this weekend’s Premier League action and picks out the games worthy of your attention – and perhaps a flutter or two…

West Ham vs Chelsea, Saturday @ 12.30pm

It’s been a tricky season in both west and east London, with neither West Ham nor Chelsea hitting their straps as they’ve done in recent seasons. But after Todd Boehly’s Stamford Bridge spending splurge, all eyes will be on how Graham Potter’s charges fare at the London Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.

Given the amount of talent Chelsea have acquired, you have to think they will fire at some point. And considering West Ham’s uninspiring form (just one win in their past nine league games), Mykhaylo Mudyrk, Enzo Fernandez and company might well be licking their lips.

A Chelsea win represents decent value at 5/4, with the draw 11/5 and the Hammers 12/5.

Our tip: Chelsea to win (5/4)

Leeds vs Manchester United, Sunday @ 2pm

Leeds got a new manager bounce in midweek without even hiring a new manager. It turned out simply sacking Jesse Marsch was enough to inspire the Yorkshire side against their fierce rivals, with Leeds steaming into a shock 2-0 lead at Old Trafford. Although Manchester United fought back to claim a draw, it set up the second part of the double header in tantalising fashion.

It doesn’t look like the Whites will have a new permanent boss for this weekend, and Erik ten Hag will be out for revenge following an underwhelming display from his side on Wednesday.

The visitors are odds on at 10/11 to win at Elland Road and, judging from recent clashes between the TransPennine rivals, there will be plenty of goals this weekend. The past five contests since Leeds’ promotion have produced 18.

Our tip: Man United to win and both teams to score (2/1)

Liverpool vs Everton, Monday @ 8pm

Surely Sean Dyche can’t do it again, can he? A shock 1-0 win over high-flying Arsenal last weekend was a major achievement in itself for the new Everton manager. But a win in the Merseyside derby would be another level – it would have Toffees fans feeling on Cloud Nine.

And Everton have a serious chance. This is a very vulnerable Liverpool outfit, beset by injuries, a lack of confidence in both boxes and currently on a horrid run of form (they haven’t won in the league in 2023 and have lost 10 games already this season).

The history books favour Jurgen Klopp’s side, however, given Everton have won just once at Anfield since 1999 – under Carlo Ancelotti in 2021, albeit without a crowd due to Covid-19. The odds favour Liverpool as well, still backed at 1/2, with the draw 10/3 and Everton 11/2. Those latter two prices make for very appealing betting.

Our tip: Draw (10/3)

Take the rivals of Manchester United and Manchester City, for example, two clubs whose fortunes have gone in opposite directions since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 – when City’s post-takeover glory years really started to kick in.

City have dominated English football under Pep Guardiola, winning four Premier League titles in five seasons, to go with the 13 other major domestic pots (including Community Shields) they’ve claimed since the 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour.

United, in that time, stayed afloat at the summit often enough under Ferguson’s expert stewardship until 2013, before mismanagement off and on the pitch precipitated a major fall from grace. The club are currently suffering their longest trophy drought in five decades.

But, such is the nature of elite level football, is everything about to change again? The answers in the depths of Twitter’s replies and the comments sections on major news sites suggest as much – and it’s not just down to Erik ten Hag’s Old Trafford rebuild and City’s patchy post World Cup form.

Inevitably, the answer lies in the clubs’ coffers. At 10am on Monday, the Premier League announced that an investigation into City has prompted more than 100 charges relating to Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. The club is accused of breaching rules in a period stretching from the 2009/10 season to the 2017/18 campaign and have been referred to an independent commission.

City, who successfully overturned an FFP-related ban from UEFA competitions, thanks to an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020, said they were “surprised” at the charges and vowed to fight them.

But this is serious. Competition bans, points deductions and even the stripping of league titles have been mentioned in dispatches.

Naturally the reaction from non-City fans (especially United supporters) on social media has been less nuanced than the Premier League’s statement. The idea of City’s trophy-laden golden years getting torpedoed by the suits is manna from heaven for some; others have found it simply hilarious. City fans themselves have become defensive and confused.

It feels very apt (or is it ironic?) that later in the same week, talk of a United takeover has hit the same news pages. Reports on Wednesday claimed the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is interested in purchasing the club from the Glazer family, who are looking to sell, with offers to be tabled in the next 10 days.

Again, the majority of United fans rejoiced in response to this. Their reaction is a natural one in many ways – they want the troublesome Glazers gone, they want a cash injection from a new owner to support the Ten Hag project that is gaining momentum on the pitch. But should they be careful what they wish for?

There is no guarantee that a Qatari ownership of United wouldn’t break the rules in the same way their counterparts from the United Arab Emirates have done across Manchester, potentially landing United in hot water. There is already a UEFA complication around the Qatar Sports Investment Group given they already own Paris Saint-Germain. And then there’s concerns about human rights and the treatment of migrant workers and the LGBT+ community that still surround the country and were highlighted in the build up to the Qatar World Cup.

Amnesty International said this was “another wake-up call” to the Premier League in regards to changing its rules on who could own clubs. The Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle was heavily criticised for similar reasons, as was the purchase of City back in 2008 and Roman Abramovich’s arrival at Chelsea before that.
Whatever happens at United, it seems there will be a shift at Old Trafford to match the kind of wealth seen elsewhere among Premier League owners, for better or worse.

English billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is another party interested in buying the club and he certainly seems the popular choice among supporters, as a boyhood United fan himself. Bids from elsewhere in the Middle East or the United States have not been ruled out, either; simply put it seems you have to be ludicrously rich to be in the running, with the Glazers asking for £5billion at least.

What seems clear is that football’s relationship with money can surely never be reversed. So Financial Fair Play rules – if they are fit for purpose – will continue to get tested to their limit, if not by City or United then maybe by Chelsea after their head-spinning January spending under Todd Boehly. Time will tell.

Whether we witness a power shift in Manchester over the coming months now depends on a large number of factors, by no means limited to between the white lines on the Old Trafford or Etihad pitches.