| England's managerial future: Steve McClaren's highs and lows Ups and downs of the man the FA want to replace Fabio Capello. telegraph.co.uk |
Timing Is Perfect for Lichaj's First US Call-Up When Eric Lichaj and his brothers were little, their father would take them to soccer games at Soldier Field, the boys wearing jerseys from their parents' native Poland or those of Peter Nowak and the Chicago Fire's other Polish players. feeds.nytimes.com |
Napoli v Liverpool: Liverpool fans stabbed ahead of Europa League clash in Naples Travelling Liverpool fans and British tourists attacked in Naples ahead of tonight's Europa League tie in the city. telegraph.co.uk |
Russia Pull Out Of 2022 World Cup Bid MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia officially pulled out of the race to host the 2022 World Cup finals on Friday, with the aim of solely concentrating on their bid for 2018. feeds.nytimes.com |
The Football League's best bets Make your predictions in our ongoing competition, plus take a look at the best betting suggestions in the lower leaguesWelcome to our weekly Friday tipping round-up. Most of you know the drill by now, but for those that don't, every week I will post my betting suggestions for the weekend, as well as our predictions contest.Derby to beat Millwall at 5-2It's a toss-up as to the form team in the Championship right now: Derby are unbeaten in six, while Portsmouth have gone five games without defeat (both teams have picked up four wins in these runs). So, tempting as it is to back both this weekend, I still sense Derby offer the better betting option with Pompey 2-1 at Hull. Millwall's swift start to the season has tailed off equally sharply and they've now won just one league game in eight. Contrast with the reignited Rams, who have scored 15 in six and are arguably playing the best football of Nigel Clough's tenure. Again, more conservative pro-Derby punters can still get around even-money on the +0&+0.5 Asian handicap.Burnley to beat Reading at EvensTipping any team managed by Brian Laws feels wrong. I'm sorry, it does. But that doesn't mean we should swerve them on Saturday, when their six-game unbeaten run (two wins, four draws) should be extended against a flailing Royals outfit. Last weekend, they were sunk at home by Swansea and this was followed up with a far more limp defeat at basement side Bristol City. And their away form line doesn't offer brilliant reading, given none of their opponents thus far currently reside in the top 11. Burnley aren't wanting for goals at the moment (11 in four) and in Chris Iwelumo they have the division's joint top scorer, whose eight league goals have all come at Turf Moor.NB: prices with Betfair and correct at the time of publicationTipping contestAs you'll note from the scoring, late starters have been awarded one point for every week they have missed.The top of the table so far (I'll post the full table in the comments section below) ...markier 17Thewalthamstowone 15Bobby142 15PiggyPingoPiglet 15captainmorganrum 14josedinho 13richardw 13zaragozaram 13bakerian 12glasscaseofemotion 12Denofiniquity 12MrMondypops 12templetontherat 12ranban 12As for this week: make your result (not scoreline) prediction for each of the following games below, with one point per correct result:Burnley v ReadingMillwall v DerbyBrentford v PeterboroughSheffield Wednesday v BournemouthBarnet v MacclesfieldBury v SouthendI'm tipping Burnley, Derby, draw, Sheffield Wednesday, draw, Bury.James Dartguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |