After the opening round's somewhat surprising outlay of points, there is already a wave of activity happening on the fantasy transfer market. This means some players are set to rise in value, and if you are after a short term monetary gain, then jumping on these players at the earliest opportunity is the way to make it happen.

Place your bets... All bets are off on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, but there are still many star names whose futures remain unclear. Join Pies for a game of Transfer Roulette:...

Thanks for the heads up from those lovable SoBs (the Sons of Ben, please check out their website: www.sonsofben.net), Philly has named Carl Cherkin as the VP of Communications. He is the former Sports Director for FOX-Philadelphia, multiple Emmy award winner, and former Public Relations Director of the NASL Philadelphia Atoms.

Dotting the 'i' If you were wondering about the difference between David Beckham and David Bentley, one makes faked virals about making bets to display their passing accuracy while the other does it for real. The story to go with this video is that Galaxy forward Alan Gordon bet Becks he couldn't put the ball through the [.

Often we see a young player explode onto the calcio scene and everyone turns heads and says "Where did this kid come from?". Well, now is your chance to gain some knowledge about some promising Italian young players and maybe in a year or two when one of these players starts to do some good things on the pitch you'll know who they are.

Holy hell, how'd we get here? Some 80-odd days since the last ball was kicked in the league and we're back again. I don't really have much to say, I think I've covered how I feel about our defence, and we all know what's going on in midfield and upfront. Going into this match we have six players out - Diaby, Fabianski, Nasri, Walcott, Rosicky andDjourou.

In ‘normal' life, when a company gets taken over you expect there to be some changes at the top. Irrespective of how good the people were or whether they were doing their job well, most of the times the feeling is that they have to go in order to make a break from the past and show that things are about to change.

Saint turns sinner Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has confessed he hatched a plan to cheat bookies out of £10,000 during his playing days. The Sky Sports pundit got his mates to place bets on the first throw-in of a 1995 Premier League match coming within 60 seconds. Le Tissier planned to get the ball straight from [.

Reports filtered in yesterday, starting with the Guardian and the Independent that United have made it a long-term transfer policy of buying players only under 26 years of age.

The reports go on to claim that Berbatov's purchase was regarded as an exception to this rule. The main thinking behind this is that the resale value of a player would go down significantly if a player over 26 signed on for the club.

Yesterday, amidst all the good news for Arsenal supporters, there was an announcement by the English Premier League that they are cancelling Setanta's contract for the 2009/10 season owing to the fact that Setanta could not make a £10m scheduled payment. The rights to some 46 matches are now going to be repackaged and sold to the highest bidder with Sky sports and ESPN the two most likely contenders.

What the F**k?

Portsmouth Vs Tottenham Tickets Still Available!

For reasons that we have yet to establish at the time of writing, Harry Redknapp has shot to favourite in the next Premier League manager to go market. He is at 7/4, with Paul Hart languishing behind in the sack race at 3/1.

Good times lay ahead, we know that anyway. But.... Good times could be 99% assured this season should we sign two players this January. I know it is a while off January at this time but I'm sure Wenger is already looking ahead so shy shouldn't we. I'm not gonna mention the papers because as soon as the window shuts they are looking for the next window moves, but anyway.

Hawick Royal Albert 0 – 7 HuntlyNot a result to raise too many eyebrows. Not, in fact, a scoreline I would ever have imagine myself writing.Yet this Active Nation Scottish Cup first round tie is suddenly in the middle of a match fixing storm after it emerged a number of bookmakers had expressed concerns to the police about some of the betting patterns on the game.

You can watch Chievo Verona v AC Milan Live online here.

Chievo Verona v AC Milan
Serie A
Sunday 25 October 2009
Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Chievo Verona Preview

Chievo will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing defeat to Bari last weekend.

1. Liverpool might rely too heavily on Fernando Torres, but if you have to rely too heavily on anyone it might as well be him. 2. This season really is so open and unpredictable. Just when you thought Liverpool and Chelsea were out of form, and Manchester United and Arsenal were safe bets, it is suddenly [.

The FA have charged five league footballers, for breaching betting rules.

The five players concerned are Jay Harris, David Mannix, Robert Williams and Peter Cavanagh, who were at Accrington- and Bury player Andrew Mangan. The game concerned was last season's tie between the mighty Accrington Stanley and Bury; a game which Bury won 2-0.

Turns out Mrs. Tom Brady has won a lot of money betting on Inter Milan this season.
Completely random. I had no idea, but that's awesome.

According to the Metropolitan Post, Gisele has "complete faith" in Jose Mourinho and started placing her weekly bets last December.

I thought she was Brazilian.

When it comes to publicity stunts to create fan loyalty, this has to be one of the best we've seen. Paddy Power, the quirky Irish bookmakers, are refunding Chelsea fans' bets on Wednesday's controversial Champions League loss against Barcelona. The statement read, "We're guessing most Chelsea fans are about as happy about last [.

With the big game only hours away, I thought I might as well have a little betting preview of tonight's Champions League final.
There is certainly no shortage of betting markets open to the punters. Our good friends at Paddy Power (who have a very generous free £20 bet for all Football Corner readers) have markets like : Player to be sent off, number of offsides, official UEFA Man of the Match winner and many more.

The odds on Franck Ribery leaving Bayern Munich for Liverpool tumbled yesterday, plummeting from 66-1 to 8-13 on.
Bookmakers Skybet last week slashed their odds ahead of Michael Owen's shock move to Manchester United and are taking no chances this time around, even though the money is only coming from a small group of punters.

Some of you may remember the scandal of result fixture in the 2005 Campeonato Brasileiro. At the time, referees Edílson Pereira de Carvalho and Paulo José Danelon were caught being bribed by "investors" to fix results that would benefit their bets in international websites. When caught, Carvalho was even jailed and confessed his participation.

Going to make this quick this week.

Week 3 picks (remember all bets are $10):

Liverpool to beat host Bolton (-200)
Wolves to draw visiting Hull (+220)
Aston Villa to beat visiting Fulham (-142)

Last week review:

Manchester United to beat host Wigan (-200) — ManU 5, WIG 0 (WIN, $5.

What you free £10 could win you:

Result
United to win - 11/10 - £21
United to win 1-0 - 7/1 - £80
United to win 2-0 - 7/1 - £80
United to win 2-1 - 7/1 - £80
United to win 3-0 - 16/1 - £170

First scorer
Wayne Rooney - 9/2 - £55
Dimitar Berbatov - 5/1 - £60
Nani - 12/1 - £130
Nemanja Vidic - 20/1 - £210
Patrice Evra - 40/1 - £410

First scorer and result
Rooney & 2-1 - 25/1 - £260
Berbatov & 2-0 - 28/1 - £290
Rooney & 3-2 - 80/1 - £810

Other
Either team to score a pen - 11/2 - £65
Either team to lead at half time but lose - 12/1 - £130
Arsenal player sent off - 5/1 - £60

Click the banner above to place your bets.

There is no love lost between these two but one has to question the wisdom shown by Forest striker Nathan Tyson, who picked up a corner flag and waved it in front of the Derby fans who must have been puzzled at first by the bizarre gestures. Also amazingly no one was sent off in the bad tempered encounter, which must have caused a few punters to lose their seemingly obvious bets (yes that includes me!

Given he's got an autobiography to sell, I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing for former England and Southampton star Matthew Le Tissier that the revelation he placed a spread bet on a game he played in hit the press today, well-buried under the Chelsea news. Le Tissier explained what he says was the only time he ever did this, betting on the time the first throw-in would come:

We were safe from the threat of relegation when we went to Wimbledon on April 17 and, as it was a televised match, there was a wide range of bets available.

With Champions League action safely out of the way, United fans can now look forward to the big game on Sunday. Yes, it's the Manchester derby and after last Saturday, when United overcame an early goal and a sending off to thrash Tottenham 3-1 at White Hart Lane and City humbled Arsenal with a 4-2 beating at Eastlands, this Sunday promises to be a cracking game.

Horrible.
Seems like a clever thing to bet on, but still horrible.
A Liverpool spokesman said: "It was completely tasteless and disgraceful to take bets like this.
You can go check out the lines at Dirty Tackle, but Jamie Carragher, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Lucas are ther favorites at 12/1.

You can watch Inter Milan v Catania Live online here.

Inter Milan v Catania
Serie A
Saturday 24 October 2009
Kick-off: 19:45 BST

Inter Milan Preview

Inter didn't impress in Europe this week (what's new) as they were held to a 2-2 draw against Dinamo Kiev - but Jose Mourinho knows that his team are in a class of their own when it comes to the domestic league and they'll be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table and building on the whopping 5-0 win against Genoa from last weekend.

Hi - I'm sure we're all settling in to see who the last playoff team is, so I just wanted to give some food for thought.
Under the current playoff format, fifth place teams are unbeaten in the first round. This is the third year out of three that it's happened.
Sixth place teams have no record in the playoffs yet.

Image via Wikipedia With Ireland reeling from "Le Hand of God" bookie Paddy Power have issued a whole host of special bets on the man who will forever be known as "cheating Thierry." Unfortunately for Irish fans and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, the likelihood of justice prevailing look slim with odds of 33/1 the match gets [.

Attend the Los Angeles Sol's May 10 home game against the Boston Breakers at Home Depot Center and if the team wins you'll get a free ticket to the club's June 3 home game against the Chicago Red Stars.

Sol General Manager Charlie Naimo explains:

"We are certainly not guaranteeing a victory on May 10," he said.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object.

That might be the bets way to describe the Barcelona-Chelsea UEFA Champions League semifinal series.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object.

That might be the bets way to describe the Barcelona-Chelsea UEFA Champions League semifinal series.

Hilarious stuff.

The folks at online betting site Paddy Power have decided to refund all bets placed on Chelsea for the match against Barcelona on Wednesday.

Here's what the site's blog had to say about the decision:

"We're guessing most Chelsea fans are about as happy about last night's goings on as Didier "IT'S A F**KING DISGRACE" Drogba.

Ladbrokes are offering readers of RoM a free £10 bet for the final tonight.

This is what £10 would win you on the following bets:

Final score
United to win = £26.25
United to win 1-0 = £80
United to win 2-1 = £110
United to win 2-0 = £120
United to win 3-2 = £230
United win 3-0 = £290

First scorer
Ronaldo = £60
Messi = £70
Rooney = £80
Berbatov = £90
Tevez = £90
Giggs = £150
Park = £170
Vidic = £210
Carrick = £260
O'Shea = £410

Final score and first scorer
United win 2-1, Ronaldo to score first = £360
United to win 2-1, Rooney to score first = £510
United to win 3-2, Ronaldo to score first = £760
United to win 2-1, Messi to score first = £810

To score anytime
Ronaldo = £27.

The Champions League Qualifiers together with the Europa Cup early round events are a primary focus for the various 'betting intelligence' units within UEFA.
Apparently, the narrative reads that teams from the lower tier countries are more likely to bolster their balance sheets with the aid of a little under- or over-performance.

EPL Talk's prediction competition for the 2009/2010 season is now open.

Named EPL Talk Predictor, the game allows you to predict the results of Premier League matches and compete against fellow readers.

EPL Talk Predictor is free to register and free to play. With EPL Talk Predictor, you can:

• Place Fantasy Bets using Real Market Odds
• Compete for Real £££ in our Monthly Competitions
• Get the Best Pre-Match Predictions Around
• Challenge Friends in Your Own Private FanLeague

In the EPL Talk Predictor Fan League, compete against more than 150 fellow readers.

Very short of time this morning so I'll be very brief suffice to say I'm over-excited today. The talking is over, the excessive analysis of strengths and weaknesses is done, and the usual wild media predictions have been made (and guess what half of them are tipping Liverpool for the title, as they do every year).

Betting companies fascinate me, partly because I have a propensity for number crunching, and partly because the people involved have to be lightning quick, reacting with incredible speed to the most innocuous looking story, hidden in an unnoticed column on a newspaper's website.

Because these days, you can bet on anything.

I am quickly realizing this betting challenge might not last very long .

If you missed it last week, the game works like this. I start with $50 and bet $10 on three matches every weekend. Ideally, the goal is to see how much money I can win, but, realistically, the goal it to see how long I can last before I lose the $50.