In this text, I am going to give you my thoughts of this game and the best bettingtips that I find. My odds are picked from bwin football sportsbetting and they have whole 94 different betting opportunities on their marked at this moment. I really like a site that offers many different type of betting both live and before the games start and bwin is exemplary on that area.

I will start with my bettingtips, the odds and my analyze regarding 1-x-2 betting. After that, I will give some other tips on special betting.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea, odds: Manchester united to win @ 2.90 in odds, draw @ 3.10 in odds, Chelsea to win @ 2.40 in odds

My bettingtips: Manchester United vs. Chelsea, draw @ 3.10 in odds

What a game immediately! The last couples of years two biggest teams in England get to play the FA Community shield and make the kick-off for this year’s season. Chelsea won the Premier League last year, only one point ahead of Manchester United. I don’t know if we can talk about some kind of chance to revenge here, but what we can talk about is that both Chelsea and Manchester United has a great chance to put themselves in respect for the coming season.

Most of the matches that have been played between these two teams lately have been tough, hard and very even. In addition, in the first competitive match of the year I cannot see that any of the teams are superior their opponents. My feeling is that we can look forward to a even game at Wembley stadium and even though it means a lot to start the season with this trophy I wonder if the managers will play out all their secret cards in this game.

I have hard to choose any side in game and therefore I choose to bet on draw. It pays 3.10 in odds and that is enough to bet on according to me. If you choose to bet as I do, I recommend you to keep an eye on the livebetting if the standing is draw and maybe 10 – 15 minutes left of the game. That might be a good time to try to sell your bets if you want to secure a win if the match is switching side to much and both teams are going for the win.

Over / Under 2,5 goals in the match?

Odds: Over 2,5 goals: 2.10 in odds and Under 2,5 goals: 1.65 in odds

My bettingtips: Under 2,5 goals @ 1.65 in odds

As I am writing above, I think that this will be a tight, tough and even game. What I did not write above was that I even think it will be very few goals in this match. It is the beginning of the season and the tempo cannot be on top. I have the feeling that this game will end 0 – 0 or 1 – 0. Nevertheless, for this bet it can even end 0 – 1, 1 – 0, 2 – 0, 0 – 2 for me to win.

My feeling is that both teams will open pretty cautious and try to find their positions. Both teams play with about the same formations (4-3-3, or 4-3-2-1 depending how you like to write it) which means that it will be hard to get a advantage on the other team until the players starting to get a bit tired.

I would not pay a lot in odds on that the result is 0 – 0 at half time and if it would be the case I would be very happy for both my bets.

How many yellow cards will be shown in the match? Over / under 3,5 yellow cards

odds: Over 3,5 yellow cards: 2.20 in odds and Under 3,5 yellow cards: 1.60 in odds

My bettingtips: Over 3,5 Yellow cards in the match @ 2.20 in odds

I am a bit surprised that you can get this much in odds on a bet that it will be four (or more) yellow cards shown in this game. I am aware of that it will probably be shown less yellow cards in this game then if it would had been a regular league match, but still there is lot of prestige in this game and I would not predict that the players will hold back their tackles if it is necessary.

Even though this is the first game for the league and it doesn’t mean any further qualification or three points in the league table I still am sure that both of the teams wants to win this game. It is still a trophy and it is against the worst rivals according to the odds. So this is a very interesting bet and I will defiantly place this bet in this game.

Good luck with your betting & tips

/Amrish

This two part article is some World Cup info for you to analyse the Group Betting at bwin.com. There are lots of group betting options available including points scored by each team, final league standings, and goal permutation bets for each team along with many other betting choices. With live betting scheduled at bwin.com for when kick-off finally arrives they really do cover everything.

Group A

France 9/10, Uruguay 17/10, Mexico 17/10, South Africa 13/2

Most groups have two obvious favourites for qualification to the knock-out stage and in this group I think that France and Mexico are the favourites. South Africa are the host nation and whilst they will get lots of support it will be tough for them in what is a strong group. My bet would be for France to earn two wins and one draw for seven points which is 3/1 with bwin.com. I also expect Mexico to do well, they always seem to be a bit underrated in my opinion. My bet on the final league standing will be France/Mexico/Uruguay/South Africa in that order which has odds of 21/4. I really like this betting market for the final group standings, it is a great idea.

Group B

Argentina 2/5, Nigeria 9/2, Greece 13/2, Korea Republic 11/1

I think Argentina could win the World Cup and are rightly heavy favourites to be group winners. Korea should finish bottom so the real fight appears to be between Nigeria and Greece for second place. Greece face South Korea first so should force Nigeria to chase them for second. As Nigeria won CAF qualifying group B I will tip them to win the race for second place as Greece only qualified via a UEFA playoff and struggled throughout qualification. My bets for this group is Argentina to get 9 points at 5/2 (very nice odds) and the final group standings to be Argentina/Nigeria/Greece/Korea at 13/4.

Group C

England 3/10, USA 4/1, Slovenia 11/1, Algeria 16/1

The biggest test for England is their first match against the USA. Providing they come through that match they should find winning the group reasonably straightforward. I expect many goals in this group as Algeria in particular are vulnerable defensively. I do give USA some credit as a reasonable team so given I expect them to qualify and I like the 4/5 odds on USA scoring over 3.5 goals. I also like USA to lose to England and beat the other two teams so 17/4 for USA to obtain six points in the group seems reasonable. I expect no surprises in terms of final placings in the group so would back England/USA/Slovenia/Algeria to be the final league standings at 9/4.

Group D

Germany 4/5, Serbia 57/20, Ghana 9/2, Australia 15/2

This group might be a little more open. I would expect Germany to win this group clearly with nine points at 7/2. The rest of the group is tight. Serbia finished top of a tough qualifying group that included France so you have to give them a chance at coming second. For Serbia to get six points seems a good bet at 17/4. Ghana’s team will feature many of the Under 21 team that won the Under 21 World Cup last year beating Brazil in the final. This looks like curtailing any chance the Australians have at qualifying from the group. You could make an argument for Ghana qualifying, but for my final standings tip I will go for Germany/Serbia/Ghana/Australia at 4/1. The higher price seems to reflect the competitive nature of the group.

Visit the second part of this article for World Cup betting opportunities highlighted for Groups E to H.

By Malcolm Clarke

Group E

Holland 1/2, Denmark, 43/10, Cameroon 43/10, Japan 14/1

Holland are the obvious favourites for this group and I think a run towards World Cup glory is long overdue for them. Japan finished second in their World Cup qualification group and have averaged three goals per match recently, but against stronger opposition I expect qualification to be difficult for them. Cameroon legend Roger Milla criticised forward Samuel Eto’o and caused Eto’o to threaten to walk out before the World Cup begins. 12/5 for Holland to earn seven points is a good bet I think, as is Cameroon to qualify as they have a good record in the World Cup. My estimate for the final standings is Holland/Cameroon/Denmark/Japan at 77/20. Eto’o quitting the squad would see my decision change to give Denmark the edge to take second place.

Group F

Italy 19/50, Paraguay 31/10, Slovakia 13/2 New Zealand 80/1

New Zealand have done very well to qualify and with Italy as the clear favourites for first place this group is about second and third place in my view. Paraguay finished ahead of Argentina in qualifying and that lends me to think they will finish in second place. This group seems to have a wide skill gap between each team, so I expect no surprises. My favoured bet for this group is the final standings as Italy/Paraguay/Slovakia/New Zealand which is odds on, reflecting my view on skill, at 17/20. I think the over 4.5 goals in the group stage for Paraguay at 19/20, taking into account their matches they should win against Slovakia and New Zealand are also good odds.

Group G

Brazil 11/20, Portugal 13/4, Ivory Coast 7/2, Korea DPR 100/1

This is a really strong group with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal in it. Didier Drogba leads the way for the Ivory Coast team but the obvious expected qualifiers from this group are Brazil and Portugal. I believe Portugal will win the group thanks to drawing with Brazil and then allowing the unbelievable skills of Cristiano Ronaldo to pick apart the weaker sides. My final standings bet will be Portugal/Brazil/Ivory Coast/Korea DPR at 19/5 and I also like the total goals scored in this group to be over 17.5 at 51/50. The match between Brazil and Portugal is one not to be missed particularly at this point in the competition.

Group H

Spain 11/50, Chile 23/5, Switzerland 10/1, Honduras 40/1

Spain are my pick to make the World Cup final and as Chile finished second to Brazil in the qualifying group for South America these teams are the obvious choices to qualify. Switzerland face Spain first and although they qualified top of their group it was a weak group. Honduras are a new team to the World Cup but have a victory over Chile and had a good defensive record. I am going to stick my neck out and say they will finish third. My bet in final standings for this group will be Spain/Chile/Honduras/Switzerland at 21/4.

Good luck with all of your World Cup betting on the groups and look out for more articles on World Cup betting coming very soon.

By Malcolm Clarke

Who will make it to the Semi-Finals?

Only one team can win the final, only two teams can participate in the final but four teams will contest the semi-finals and at bwin.com you can bet on who you think will make it to that stage. At that point you win the bet, so it does not matter (at least for the purposes of your bet) what happens next!

The top selections for this market are currently as follows,

Spain 21/20, Brazil 11/10, England 3/2, Argentina 7/5, Germany 7/4, Holland 2/1, Italy 12/5 and France 3/1.

When I decided to bet on this market, because there are four semi-final slots I decided to bet on two teams to reach it as a double. This hedges my bet and increases the potential return. I believe that England will reach at least the quarter-finals and depending on the draw could do even better. But my patriotism is not a reason to bet on England, I actually think that Argentina and Spain will reach the semi-finals as well.

Players like Messi, Villa and Torres should light up the World Cup scoring charts and the attacking power of both teams will be difficult to stop in the earlier stages of the tournaments. If both sides get favourable draws and do well in their groups I think betting on both to reach the semi-finals could be a winning bet for us.

How will England Perform?

Even though I shall be cheering very hard for England I will have a bet on how far they can go in the tournament. Can they win the World Cup after 44 years or near misses? The bets you can place are as follows,

England to be eliminated in group stages 7/1
England to be eliminated in the last 16 3/1
England to be eliminated in the quarter-finals 5/2
England to be eliminated in the semi-finals 15/4
England to finish as runners-up 6/1
England to lift the World Cup 13/2

If Messrs Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard and Terry can perform like we know they can we just might be able to do it! The truth is that it is going to be difficult with excellent teams like Spain and Argentina in the tournament and every team is going to be hungry and ready for action. Injuries have hurt England with question marks over key players but if fate is on our side you never know. Betting with your head rather than your heart would see the semi-finals or quarter finals as the likely point where we may exit the tournament. I really hope we lift the trophy and I am sure every bookmaker would not begrudge the 13/2 returns on wagers for England to win the World Cup.

I like the 5/1 on Spain to be runner-up as they should have a good run but I think Argentina, England or Brazil will win this time.

Whatever you think, bwin.com has the bets you need to get involved right up until the kick-off.

By Malcolm Clarke

In game three Montreal managed to win 5-1 putting an end to two-match run from Philadelphia who looked to be taking a strangle-hold on the series. A win in game four would see the first to 4 match series tied at 2-2.

Outright Match Betting

Philadelphia Flyers 39/20 Draw 31/10 Montreal Canadiens 1/1

Now that Montreal has a bit of momentum they are now playing at home in Game 4 and are even money to take the match. After a 5-1 win in game three, I think they have a good chance. Flyers captain Mike Richards was very vocal over his team’s poor performance and demanded better, and quickly. Montreal used an aggressive strategy checking hard and finishing hits strongly which rattled the Flyers. Game 4 could be explosive. I would back Montreal to dish out more of the same but for the result to be a little closer with the Flyers knowing what to expect.

First Penalty Betting

You can bet on when the first two or four minute penalty will take place, note that a fight is a five minute major and does not count for this bet.

00.01 – 04.59 Minutes – 17/20
05.00 – 60.00 Minutes – 17/20
No such 2 minute or 4 minute penalty – 80/1

I like the before 5.00 minutes 17/20 for this bet. Game 3 was aggressive and Philadelphia will want to fight fire with fire. Game 4 is always my favourite game of any series when it is 2-1. You are either tied at 2-2 or two matches up with three to play at 3-1. This game means a lot to both teams. Expect plenty of penalties and plenty of strong hits in this contest.

First Goalscorer Betting

The favourite in bwin.coms scoring market is Michael Cammalleri of Montreal at 8/1. Mike Richards at 10/1 is the favourite for Philadelphia. You might be interested to consider betting on experienced defenseman Chris Pronger at 20/1 whose powerful shot from the point can lead to goals and if there are a lot of powerplays he is the “go to” guy from the defensive line. You can bet on Philadelphia having the first powerplay at 9/10. If Montreal come out very aggressively and a little over-exuberant the referees will be keen to keep things relatively calm and within the rules.

Game Four Outright Result

Montreal and their game three strategy worked so well that I fancy them to win this match in regular time at 1/1. It may be very close and the two way betting, which means you win providing at the end of the match whether after overtime or penalty shots Montreal win the odds for that outcome is 7/10 with Philadelphia at 6/5. I think Montreal will win this match and tie things up at 2-2. With the Western conference match standing at Chicago leading 3-0 it is the Eastern conference which holds all the excitement and Montreal will really believe they can turn what was initially a 2-0 deficit was around.

Good luck with your Ice Hockey betting on this intriguing Ice Hockey match. Face off is at 8.05pm GMT so get your bets on early at bwin.com

By Malcolm Clarke

Semi-Finals Betting

Match 1, 7.10pm – James Wade 5/4 v Simon Whitlock 13/20

This match is a great contest although anything with Whitlock in it will be a good game. The ever vocal crowd support will be with Whitlock and Wade has, in the past, reacted badly to being jeered by the crowd. Recently, however, he has shown a better level of composure. Wade is the defending champion and consistent, but Whitlock is right the favourite. You can get 19/20 for there being over 7.5 180’s in the match, which I think is a good bet thanks to both players being very accurate particularly when the first dart hits the treble. If both players are on form this alternate throw match could go all the way.

My recommended bets for this match are as follows,

Simon Whitlock to win @ 13/20
Over 7.5 180’s @ 19/20
Over 13.5 legs @ 13/10

Match 2, 8.10pm – Phil Taylor 7/100 v Mervyn King 15/2

The King knocked out Phil last year at this stage in what was a huge shock. It turned out to be the only major championship Taylor did not win in 2009; such is his continued dominance of the sport. Can it happen again? I do not think so, particularly when Mervyn reacted so badly to the crowd in Newcastle and shows immediate bad play when jeered. Mervyn has shown he can do it, but with Phil extra focused to beat his great rival I cannot find a reason to expect anything other than a Taylor victory by some distance. The odds are a bit low for the outright win so I will look at special bets to get some value.

My recommended bets for this match are as follows,

Taylor to win with -4.5 leg handicap – 19/20
Over 6.5 180’s in the match – 19/20 (This is the best bet on the whole card in my opinion)

The Final and Outright Betting

I can understand the argument that says Darts is a spoiled game in terms of darts betting when Taylor is around, but at 3/10 to lift the trophy if you like putting a lot on to get a smaller return I would recommend this bet. My betting tips search for value and these tend to come in the special betting areas of the matches where there is a clear favourite. If Taylor is to lose I think betting on Whitlock at 9/2 and Wade at 7/1 as a hedge would be sensible.

The key decision you have to make is whether any of the three other contenders have a realistic chance at beating Phil Taylor. It is not Taylor’s fault that he is so amazing at the game but it is sporting domination the likes we may never see ever again in any technique based sport. There are no guarantees, he has lost before and may lose again in this competition. Whitlock in particular believes that he can win and Taylor has praised his ability to play under pressure. This is not a one man show, there are four very capable players left in this competition.

Enjoy the action and don’t forget to get your bets on early at bwin.com before the prices change!

By Malcolm Clarke

Bayern Munich 37/20 Draw 13/10 Inter Milan 27/20

With both teams odds against to win in normal time Champions League football betting has never been more exciting. Bwin.com is offering over 250 different bets for this match so there is plenty of variety to place a bet on whatever part of the football match interests you from throw-ins, offside betting to the number of cards dished out by the referee.

Outright Betting Analysis

Inter Milan have been exceptional this season. I think they will lift the trophy. In Mourinho they have a manager that controls the headlines and this takes the pressure away from his players. Bayern fans will be keen to bet on their team at attractive odds of 37/20 with most of the focus going on Mourinho’s men. It is obvious the bookies are favouring a tight match. The deciding factor in this match may be that Bayern star Franck Ribery was denied a repeal of his suspension and will miss the match which is a great disappointment for the Germans.

The odds for one goal to be scored in the match are 14/5 and it is clear that bwin doubt the ability of Bayern Munich to win.

I like the half time or full time bet where if the result is true at any point in the match you win. E.g. if the match is 0-0 at half time then 1-0 to Inter Milan at full time you would win your bet providing you backed either the draw or the away win on this special bet. The odds for this special bet are,

Bayern Munich 13/10 Draw 11/20 Inter Milan 91/100

Goal Scorers Analysis

With bwin.com favouring their betting odds towards a tight match you will need to select your bets carefully. The favourite to score at any time in the match is Inter Milan’s Diego Milito at 13/10. You can get 8/5 on both Samuel Eto’o of Inter Milan and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben. You can bet on there being no goalscorer at 6/1. Further down the list of potential scorers you have Wesley Sneijder of Inter at 23/10, Miroslav Klose of Bayern at 23/10 and Bastian Schweinsteiger at 23/10.

What seems obvious to me is that there is such an abundance of talent on the pitch that there will be plenty of goal scoring opportunities and once the initial tight period of the match has passed it will open up to hopefully be an excellent champions league final.

There are lots of different bets based on throw-ins, first team to reach 10 throw-ins, whether the match will finish in regular time, normal time or penalties and much more. Bwin.com has an unrivalled amount of betting options for this match with nearly every permutation of bet catered for. Check out their site for the latest bets.

What Mal Clarke Has Bet on

After extensive scrutiny I have decided that I will place the following bets with bwin.com.

• Inter Milan to win the Cup – 3/5
• Samuel Eto’o to score anytime in the match – 8/5
• Inter Milan to be winning either half time or full time – 91/100
• Team 2 (Inter) to win in regular time – 27/20
• Eto’o to score first and Inter to win 1-0 – 71/1

Good luck with all the bets you place on the Champions league final. The match kicks-off at 20.45 CET on Saturday, 22nd May 2010. Do not miss it!

By Malcolm Clarke

San Jose Sharks v Chicago Blackhawks – Western Conference Final

Chicago won game one and they are reaping the rewards of a sustained period of drafting quality players and through this strategy they have welcome Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrik Sharpe to their top lines to the envy of many other NHL teams. The next match is at San Jose and the Ice Hockey betting odds from bwin for this match are,

Chicago 7/4 Draw 31/10 San Jose 11/10

(Note that if the match goes into overtime the bets on the draw wins)

I think that Chicago is the team to beat this year. They have depth all throughout their lines with young stars and experienced journeyman. Their goaltender Antti Niemi was excellent in the opening match according to match reports and more of the same will help them win the series I feel. Evgeni Nabokov, the San Jose goaltender, saved 38 of 40 shots which was a great performance but they still lost 2-1.

The San Jose goal threat comes mainly from Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. Both players have a wealth of experience over many years in the NHL. Both players are under pressure to beat Niemi. Young star Pavelski currently leads San Jose with 15 points in 9 games. Can he keep it up?

Another bet which many be of interest to you in this match is the time of the first penalty. That can be either a two minute or five minute penalty. The betting odds from bwin are,

00.01 – 04.59 minutes – 4/5
05.00 – 60.00 minutes – 9/10
No Two minute or Five Minute Penalty – 80/1

In the last match five players from Chicago were given a two minute minor penalty whilst no players from San Jose visited the sin bin. This statistic indicates that Chicago were strong defensively having faced five powerplays and still winning the match 2-1. I would tip betting on there to be a penalty awarded no sooner than five minutes into the match at 9/10 as there is unlikely to be any fighting and the teams usually flow at the beginning of the match. San Jose have no reason to be extremely rough as they need to get more shots on goal. After only one match of the series there is no reason to radically change their strategy just yet.

The other interesting market offered by bwin.com is the first goalscorer bet. The names that stick out for me is Patrick Kane at 12/1 and Jon Toews at 20/1 for Chicago and top goalscorer Joe Pavelski at 16/1, Joe Thornton at 12/1 and Dany Heatley at 9/1 for San Jose. With shots being fired from all around the ice the players above will all get good ice-time and should get some shots in against the netminder.

Watch out for tomorrow’s article where I am going to review the Eastern conference final betting in the contest between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadians.

By Malcolm Clarke

Saturday, May 15th 2010 Kick-off 3.00pm

Chelsea 11/25 Draw 11/2 Portsmouth 29/2

Note that these odds are not for either team to lift the cup, but for the result after normal time. If the match goes into extra-time, bets on the 11/2 for the draw would win. There are currently 99 different bets being offered by bwin.com and here are the selections I feel are the most attractive. Do not just take my word for it, however, visit their site and check out all the betting opportunities for yourself and pick out your favourites.

The bet that immediately appeals to me is the 6/5 for Chelsea to win with a -2 goal handicap. Considering they beat Wigan 8-0 in what was a mockery of the apparent pressure they would be under to close out the title with Man Utd winning their match 4-0, Chelsea must be fancying a showcase final where they score many goals. Players like Drogba, Anelka and Lampard will all want to get onto the score sheet. You may therefore, as I do, like the bet that offers 13/10 for there to be over 3.5 goals (i.e. 4 or more).

My prediction in terms of the score for this match is 4-0 to Chelsea which would pay 15/2. I also think that if Portsmouth do well they might sneak a goal so 3-1 would be my second correct score tip and that would pay 8/1. FA Cup finals have had the tendency to see teams playing very cautiously at the beginning and Avram Grant will want a tight defence. If Portsmouth can frustrate Chelsea and deny them openings then you might like the price for a tense 0-0 draw after normal time. The odds for that is 10/1.

Regarding the likely first goal scorers the obvious candidates are Drogba 11/4, Anelka 7/2, Lampard 4/1, Kalou 5/1, and Malouda 5/1. I like Malouda at 5/1 as he has played very well and has been a real threat coming in from the wing this season. For Portsmouth to take an early lead the favourites for them to score first are Dindane 10/1, Piquionne 11/1 and Kanu 12/1.

However you decide to bet decide on how you think the match will go and then bet accordingly. I think either Drogba or Malouda will get an early goal then it will be a steady performance by Chelsea getting three or four goals in the match. For Portsmouth’s sake I hope they are not routed and I hope they can get one goal, but remember stranger things have happened and an upset is not impossible, just highly unlikely. For the team at the bottom of the league having faced so many problems this season to not only make it to the FA Cup Final but to then compete against the league champions is a tough ask. Hopefully the 3/20 for no red card is a winning bet as well as we do not want the action spoilt by a sending off.

Make sure you tune in to enjoy the action from this once a year occasion. If you are on the move you can sign up to bwin.com and bet via their bwin mobile betting service.

By Malcolm Clarke

Terry Jenkins 4/1 Draw 4/1 James Wade 11/25

The crowd play a big part in every match and Wade has let himself become distracted and has not endeared himself to the crowds. This results in pantomime style booing and Terry Jenkins is a very popular player. This could lead to a tough night for Wade. I am going to back Wade to win this match, however, as I think 11/25 is perhaps a little short and Terry could certainly beat him but with a semi-final spot up for grabs I think Wade will show his class and win through. If you want value for an outsider, Terry is certainly the bet to make. But at 11/25 we will back Wade to win his way into the semi-finals. Out of every player suffering bad crowd reactions, I think Wade has coped the best.

Ronnie Baxter 7/4 Draw 4/1 Raymond Van Barneveld 9/10

Baxter has done very well to be in contention and might make the semi-finals. Raymond has gone back to his old flights that he won world titles with and underlined that with a nine dart finish. It turned out some of his bad form was due to a blackmailing plot and threats to his family which is now apparently either sorted out or getting sorted out. That will be a big weight from his shoulders. I thought he looked much better last week and he has no pressure as he cannot qualify. Baxter has it all to do and I think Barney will beat him. He will definitely be professional and play to win. 9/10 odds are attractive to me both as part of our accumulator and in a single bet.

Simon Whitlock 9/10 Draw 7/4 Mervyn King 19/10

The likeable Australian will be the favourite in this match thanks to Mervyn’s amazing behaviour last week in Newcastle. The crowd will be booing loudly against Mervyn and it will be interesting to see how he handles it after being criticised by Eric Bristow in the news last week.

Whitlock has been getting praise from Eric Bristow who feels Simon could beat Taylor in a major final. That is high praise from Phil Taylor’s daring mentor. I think Mervyn will let the crowd get to him and I like 9/10 for Whitlock to beat King. Mervyn cannot afford to get distracted by the crowd but unfortunately for him panto season will be in full swing tonight. He only has himself to blame for that as the crowd will be baying for a repeat performance and will enjoy winding him up.

Phil Taylor 3/10 Draw 11/2 Adrian Lewis 5/1

Lewis used to practise with Taylor but Phil grew unhappy with his attitude towards practise and ended the arrangement. Adrian has performed well against Phil in the past and was himself rattled by the crowd calling him names in the past few weeks. Taylor will be the crowd favourite as always and against Adrian there will be an extra reason to play well due to his frustration that the help he offered the young star was not valued as highly as Phil wanted. I think Taylor will win this match comfortably 8-3 or 8-2. 3/10 are reasonable odds for our accumulator bet.

Backing each of our selections in an accumulator (Phil Taylor 3/10, Simon Whitlock 9/10, Raymond Van Barneveld 9/10 and James Wade 11/25) would return, including your stake of £10, a total of £67.58.

Enjoy the Darts betting action tonight, which is live on Sky Sports from 8pm.

By Malcolm Clarke