Paddy Power's Football Roundup

In the early running John Terry’s injury at Porto this week saw a run of money on Arsenal who would be the better result for punters either to lift the cup at 5/4 or to win the game in 90 minutes at 21/10.

Much has been said of Arsenal’s slow starts this year and having seen them come back when losing on several occasions I wouldn’t rule out Wenger’s boys from doing so again. Its 14/1 Arsenal come from behind and win and 6/1 they scrape a draw in normal time having fallen behind.

But despite fancying Arsenal’s kids for this one, Chelsea surely have too much of an eye on the bigger prizes on offer this year, one man who could well stand out for The Blues is Andrei Shevchenko. The Ukrainian remains a class player in my mind and there’s no doubt he’s getting better this season as he becomes accustomed to the demands of Jose Mourinho and British football.

He won the plaudits midweek, even from Jose himself, and will have been given a massive confidence boost following his goal against Porto and the praise received. If Chelsea start well Sheva could well be their man. He scored Chelsea’s goal when last at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium for the Charity Shield in August and is 6/1 to score first this afternoon.

With it being Oscars night in Hollywood tonight we also have a few specials that may appeal to those that like a bit of drama with their football.

Paddy Power are offering Best Actor betting for the final, or in football terms, betting on the Man of the Match. Some of the contenders that catch my eye for Chelsea are their front two Didier Drogba and Shevchenko who are both 7/1 whilst for Arsenal Cesc Fabregas and Julio Baptista could stand out at 8/1 and 12/1.

Baptista has certainly been the man of the tournament so far and with John Terry missing for Chelsea “The Beast” could use his physical presence to good effect against Chelsea’s defence. The Brazilian is 5/2 to score in 90 minutes and 14/1 to score two or more goals.

Other award themed markets include 11/4 for Best Supporting Actor – that’s for any sub to score in 90 mins – and 10/3 for Best Actress should any player be booked for diving in normal time.

Champions League Update

As any TV pundit worth his clichéd salt will tell you, it’s only halftime in the Champions League last 16 with second legs still to be played. But the matches we saw this week have gone a long way in shaking up the betting for Europe’s big tournament.

Celtic, as we almost expect these days, remain almost impossible to beat at Celtic Park. It’s such an amazing atmosphere that the big European teams must be terrified when they go there and it’s undeniably a factor when we price up Celtic against teams who, on paper, should be too strong for the Scottish champions. However their trip to the San Siro is a different matter. Whilst they have all to play for it doesn’t look likely Celtic will get a result in the home of the wily Italians. The Bhoys outright price has drifted to 100/1 from 80s whilst Gordon Strachan’s men are rated at 11/4 to make it to the last eight.

Liverpool still have a bit of work to do as well with Barcelona’s Allstars never a team to completely write off. However after a great result at the Nou Camp you have to think they’ve done enough. Indeed, The Reds have been the big movers in the betting and are now 8/1 joint third-favourites having been slashed from 22/1 a week ago.

Personally I think Rafa is far too astute for the bet to appeal to me but there will be plenty of takers on the 11/4 we are offering on Barcelona hitting back to knock Liverpool out.

In contrast Manchester United and Chelsea are almost certainly in the quarter finals. In fact The Premiership’s big two are also the two favourites to win the Champions League with United at 11/2 and Chelsea the 7/2 frontrunners.