Four years ago, I looked at a number of factors in an attempt to see which would best predict the 16 teams to advance out of the group stage: form, GDP, odds, qualifying record, population, etc. In the end, the best predictors were the ELO rankings and the betting odds, which both got 13/16 right. Both missed Australia/Ecuador/Ghana.

Big Tom has Tottenham fans dreaming of the Champions League
Tottenham sit in 4th place - in a Champions League spot - with only 15 games to go in the season, but I just don't see them making Europe's greatest club competition...
Something about their poor performances when facing the top sides just rubs me the wrong way.

Click for the latest Arsenal V Fulham premiership betting odds Call yourself a supporter if this is how you behave? By Walter Broeckx I usually don't go to certain blogs as they are so depressing at times that you really wonder that we support the same club. In fact when I go there the first thing I always do [.

- Today's Sponsor: Check out the latest Arsenal V Fulham premiership betting odds for the Gunners' final game of the season - Tucked away among all the excitement of the Tiny Totts finally managing to do what we've been doing every year for the past ten years was the curious tale of a transfer protection [.

Check out the latest Arsenal V Fulham premiership betting odds for the Gunners' final game of the season - By Walter Broeckx This really is a special season. For the first time it is not the usual top 4 teams that will go in to the CL. Before the season we were written [...]

Like a relentless monster always hunting for its latest feed, no sooner had Man City completed one multi-million pound deal they turned their attentions to another this week.
Aleksandar Kolarov completed a £17 million move from Lazio as the club's spending passed the £80 million mark this summer alone following the arrivals of Yaya Toure, David Silva and Jerome Boateng.

It is early days in the race for the Premier League title but Manchester United's 3-3 draw at Goodison Park means that United are now four points behind reigning champions and current table toppers Chelsea who have yet to drop a point.

Okay we are only four games in to the season but when you look at the way Chelsea have been steamrollering some of the opposition they have met , scoring 17 goals and conceding only one in the process, then the task that United and the other teams face in stopping the Blues from winning a second consecutive title looks formidable.

With the Barclays Premier League standings beginning to resemble the final table many expect come the end of the season, punters are starting to wonder where they can find value with regards to a bet on who will be the eventual winners of the Premier League this year.
Although Chelsea are clearly looking like a side which is going to be extremely tough to overhaul at the top of the table this season, they have also become an unappetising bet for many punters, with few bookies now offering Chelsea betting odds that will generate a high rate of return for those risking their hard earned cash.

remier League:
Saturday:
Arsenal 3 – Burnley 0
With all the drama surrounding Aaron Ramsay's horror injury it would be easy to forget the Gunners claimed a valuable three points at the Britannia Stadium to keep themselves in the title race. Even though the Premier League betting odds make them third favourites, Arsenal have the easiest run-in of the three contenders.

Benfica, 5-1 aggregate winners over Hertha Berlin, have already booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League. Few teams start their second legs knowing they have all but joined them – only two of the 15 remaining ties have a first leg scoreline with at least a two goal deficit.
Rubin Karzan, 3-0 winners over Hapoel Tel Aviv certainly have one foot in the next round and it would be a major surprise if Marseille let a 3-1 advantage over Copenhagen slip on their home turf.

Tottenham's outstanding player in the victory over Arsenal was Heurelho Gomes. The Spurs 'keeper made a series of superb saves as a hard-earned lead was protected, but his calm presence and capability under crosses was equally eye catching.
It is no exaggeration to say the Brazilian is the now the best 'keeper in the Premier League.

All good things must come to an end, even in football, and next summer it looks like one of the greatest managerial reigns the game has seen will finally come to an end.
It hasn't been confirmed and remains in the realms of tabloid tittle tattle, but if the rumours are true then Sir Alex Ferguson will be hanging hang up the hairdryer for good and will vacate the Man United hot seat that has been his own since 1986.

Click for the latest Arsenal V Fulham premiership betting odds —————————————— Herbert Chapman's first match in charge of Arsenal was at Highbury. It brought in a crowd of 53,000 and was against Tottenham. We lost 0-1. I have often wondered, in this era of the Catastrophist, if the crowd sang for him to be sacked.

Check out the latest Arsenal V Fulham premiership betting odds for the Gunners' final game of the season By Phil Gregory I was at the Blackburn game on Saturday, took my girlfriend to her first game on a bit of a whim after hearing on Saturday that tickets were available on the day of the game.

Tomorrow brings with it what could be one of the most important derby days in the long rivalry between Manchester City and Manchester United. As United Rant put it, we may have blown the title with a whimper at Ewood Park last week, but if results go our way tomorrow we could have renewed hope that title number 19 could still be heading to Old Trafford.

Shakira? That was a lot of people's (including mine) reaction when it was announced the Latin American pop superstar would record the official anthem for the 2010 World Cup. Well the single has finally arrived and I'll reserve judgement on it for now. Check out the song, embedded below, and look out for Shakira to perform the song with the South African Band Freshlyground at The Fifa World Cup Celebration Concert on June 10.

Interesting news today on who are the favorites to win the English Premiership next season. The latest betting odds for who will win the Premiership next season lists the teams with the following odds: 2.50 Chelsea 3.50 Manchester Utd 8.00 Arsenal 9.00 Manchester City 13.00 Liverpool 51.00 Tottenham 251.

With goals in two FA Cup finals and two semifinals it should have come as no surprise when Didier Drogba netted yet another vital strike at Wembley this past weekend.

The Ivorian's superb second half free-kick, just minutes after battling Portsmouth had missed a penalty, proved the difference between the two sides, allowing Chelsea to lift their sixth FA Cup and complete a first ever league and cup double.

I've never put a lot of weight in betting odds when it comes to figuring out a player or coach's next move, but a story that came out today gave me a pretty good idea of what Liverpool is up against this summer with Benitez no longer in place. Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard are the [...]

Christian Science Monitor Star Man: Wayne Rooney The Sun ENGLAND'S great white hope, Rooney is absolutely pivotal to the nation's prospects of lifting the World Cup. Powerful, passionate and deadly around goal, ... Who will win the Golden Boot? BBC Sport Goalscorers gunning for the Golden Boot The Express Tribune Cristiano Ronaldo World Cup 2010 Golden Boot Betting Odds Leave Him With .

England will be interested observes when Australia take on Ghana at Rustenburg on Saturday. Assuming England and Germany top their group – one assumption appears safer than the other – then one of Ghana, Australia and Serbia will wait for Fabio Capello's men in round two.
The safe world cup free bet money would appear to be on Ghana to be those opponents, as the Black Stars beat a disappointing Serbian outfit 1-0 in their opener on the same day the Socceroos were humbled 4-0 by the Germans.

This crucial Group G clash presents Brazil with the chance to take this World Cup by the scruff of the neck. Surprise defeats for Spain, Germany and France and scrappy draws for Italy and England means no one has stepped forward to stake a claim for the trophy.
Brazil were nearly as unimpressive in beating North Korea 2-1 in their opener, but their task against Cote d'Ivoire is not simply to signal their intent to go all the way; the three-way battle to reach the second round is a tight one according to World cup 2010 betting odds and the Samba Kings must go all out for three points.

Now that England's farcical World Cup campaign has finished, fans can start looking ahead to the domestic season. For Spurs supporters this should be a time of excitement, as the usual summer optimism is justified like never before. However, a dark cloud hangs over White Hart Lane - the potential departure of Harry Redknapp to become England manager.

At the moment, Argentina look almost unstoppable. They've played some great football and even their worst result of the tournament - a 1-0 win over Nigeria - could have been a much more comprehensive victory.

They certainly have the air of World Cup winners about them. The players look confident but not cocky, they seem to be a tightly knit unit and they've got the odd slice of luck when they needed it.

FIFA have retained the services of Manchester United employee, Howard Webb, and he now looks very likely to be in charge of the World Cup Final this coming Sunday evening.

Having not been selected to officiate any of the Quarters or Semis, the bentest referee from the English Premiership now has his card stamped to ref the biggest game of them all.

Wanderers manager Owen Coyle will begin his first full season in charge with two familiar players brought in.

Veteran striker Robbie Blake has joined from his old side Burnley and winger Martin Petrov also chose to stay in Lancashire after a free transfer move from Manchester City after his contract at Eastlands expired.

Sevilla were left disappointed yesterday after UEFA rejected their appeal to overturn a 1-0 defeat suffered at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain last month in a game during which Nene scored the only goal of the match late in the second half.
The Spanish club were left enraged after it turned out that the French side had apparently falsely registered their goalkeeper, Apoula Edel.

Incidents like yesterday's fan violence at the Italy Serbia Euro qualifier in Genoa follow a similar pattern. Journalists and bloggers await the match while discussing the usual tidbits about injured players and group tables and previous encounters and betting odds, when suddenly something happens that goes beyond the meeting of two footballing nations, like fans throwing flares on the pitch while systematically destroying crowd barriers.

Joe Cole is a man who started the season with a few pundits looking at his odds of winning premier league (http://news.ladbrokes.com/en-gb/football/premier-league/premier-league-betting.html) Player of the Year trophy as a decent shout.
However, since the start of the new campaign, he has become simply a player who would love just to experience a fleeting moment in which he can prove to Liverpool fans that he really is worth the extortionate amount of money that the club are paying him to stay on their books.

There's one EPL fixture on Monday, December 6, 2010 as Liverpool hosts Aston Villa. Below is a brief match preview along with a live blog. The live blog will begin coverage around 2:50 PM EST (7:50 PM local UK time).

Match Preview

Liverpool (last 6 EPL matches – WWDLWL)

After a very slow start, Liverpool is slowly climbing their way up the EPL table.