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Spurs set to rock Rovers

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Tottenham Hotspur could have a thankless night ahead of them when travel across the Irish Sea to take on Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League on Thursday (Shamrock 6/1, draw 7/2, Spurs 4/9 in the match betting).

Spurs could pick up all three points at the Tallaght Stadium and still find themselves out of the second tier competition as they currently sit in third place in Group A.

The north London outfit will require all three points, PAOK to beat Rubin Kazan and a five-goal swing, if they want to reach the knockout stages of the tournament.

It looks like a tall order for Spurs, who are challenging near the top of the Premier League table and will have a return to the Champions League on their minds this season.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is likely to play a weakened side for the trip to Ireland but with the strength in depth at White Hart Lane, the likes of Jermain Defoe (4/1 first goalscorer), Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovanni Dos Santos set to feature against Rovers.

The Irish outfit almost caused an upset when these two sides last met in north London as they took a one goal lead before crashing to a 3-1 defeat.

Striker Gary Twigg was the dangerman for Rovers in the first leg and Spurs will have to keep an eye on the front-man.

It’s unlikely Tottenham will reach the knockout stages of the Europa League this time around but they should have enough strength in depth to win this one comfortably.

Birmingham’s European campaign also hangs in the balance as they prepare for their clash with NK Maribor (Birmingham 8/15, draw 3/1, NK Maribor 5/1 in the match betting).

The Blues can consider themselves unlucky not to have picked up any points from their last outing in the competition, after they were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against Braga in Portugal.

Only a deflected goal from Hugo Viana was the difference between the two sides, in a game which saw Nikola Zigic miss from the penalty spot.

Birmingham will be confident going into Thursday’s game as they have already beaten Maribor 2-1 in Slovenia earlier in the season.

Dalibor Volas got on the scoresheet in the last meeting between these two sides and is priced at 10/1 to get the first goal at St Andrews.

City need a win if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the last 32 and in front of their home fans, manager Chris Hughton and his side should be celebrating three points on Thursday.

The other British interest in the Europa League will see Celtic make the tough trip to Italy to take on Udinese (Udinese 8/13, draw 11/4, Celtic 9/2 in the match betting).

This Serie A outfit could have their star striker Antonio Di Natale (7/2 first goalscorer) available for selection and he can be a thorn in any teams’ side.

Udinese have enjoyed an impressive season so far as they sit in second place in the Serie A table, level on points with leaders Juventus.

Celtic will be without the likes of Joe Ledley, Glenn Loovens, Adam Matthew and Kris Commons for the trip to the continent which makes a tough test even harder.

Udinese should win this one against the Old Firm side, who might just be out of their depth in the fiery atmosphere at the Stadio Friuli.

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Potters to rock Reds again

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The round of last-16 of the Carling Cup continues on Wednesday night with four all-Premier League ties. Stoke play host to Liverpool in what could turn out to be a torrid night for the Reds, while Everton will be out for revenge against Chelsea. Wolves face Man City and Blackburn host Newcastle to complete the night.

Stoke v Liverpool 7:45pm

The Potters have had a mixed season thus far, enjoying great success in the Europa League but struggling somewhat in the Premier League. Their best result to date came in the league meeting against the Reds when a Jonathan Walters penalty secured victory for Stoke.

Since being promoted back to the top flight Stoke have not lost to Liverpool at home, picking up two wins and two draws in the four meetings. However, the last time they played host to Liverpool in the League Cup Stoke were hammered 8-0, although that was 11 years ago.

Both managers are likely to makes changes for the clash and while Liverpool’s team might have a few more stars in it on the night, Tony Pulis has recruited wisely and should field a side capable of challenging Kenny Dalglish’s team. Stoke are 11/5 for the win, a great price given Liverpool’s recent form and record in Staffordshire, with the Reds 5/4 and the draw 23/10.

Everton v Chelsea

Up until two weeks ago Everton had a very good recent record against the Blues, avoiding defeat in the last six encounters, a run which included dumping them out of the FA Cup last season on penalties. However, a 3-1 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 10 days ago brought an end to that positive sequence, although Wednesday’s meeting gives them a quick chance for revenge.

While Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas has the option of rotating his squad David Moyes finds his hands are tied to a certain extent and will be forced to field a strong team. While the Toffees were somewhat fortunate to get to this stage of the competition, the chance to take the scalp of Chelsea should certainly help to raise their game. Villas-Boas will have a tough job to pick his team up after Sunday, when they played so well with nine men but got nothing from the trip to QPR.

While Everton have never beaten Chelsea in the Carling Cup Wednesday’s game will be as good a chance as any to break that duck. Everton are 9/4 in the match betting, with Chelsea 6/5 and the draw 12/5.

Elsewhere, you’d expect Man City to have a comfortable night at the office when they face Wolves, with Wanderes boss Mick McCarthy having made it clear he doesn’t think the Carling Cup is a priority. The Wolves manager is likely to field a second string and that should be no match for whoever Roberto Mancini sends out. City’s squad will be on a huge high after the weekend and Wednesday could be a long night for the Molineux faithful.

The final match pits struggling Blackburn against high-flying Newcastle in a tough-to-call encounter. The Toon are unbeaten so far this season but showed signs on Saturday that maybe their remarkable start might be coming to a close. Rovers boss Steve Kean could look at this game as a distraction or as a chance for his players to play without the pressure of battling against relegation. Rovers played well against Tottenham on Sunday and it shouldn’t come as a big surprise if they manage to end Newcastle’s unbeaten start.

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Spain can rock Holland – Torres

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Spain striker Fernando Torres has revealed La Roja have been inspired all the way to the World Cup final in South Africa by Leicester rockers Kasabian (Spain 8/15f – World Cup Outright).

Torres and his Euro 2008-winning team-mates have been gearing themselves up before their matches by listening to Kasabian’s debut album which blares out in the dressing room right up until the players emerge for the national anthems.

And Liverpool star Torres is hoping to catch the band in action after the World Cup, hopefully with a winner’s medal in his pocket following Sunday’s final clash against Holland at Soccer City, Johannesburg.

He told The Sun: “Club Foot has got us to the final, so I would like to give a big thanks to Kasabian.

“Of course we will be playing it before the final against Holland on Sunday.

“So if the band are sitting watching the game then they will know that at about 7.20pm we will be getting pumped up to their most classic track.

“If we win the World Cup I would like to present them with a Spain shirt signed by all of us lads because their music has been a big inspiration to us in the dressing room.

“We will all come to watch them.”

Torres is sweating on his place in Spain’s XI for the game against the Dutch after finding himself on the bench for the semi-final win over Germany on Wednesday night.

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque had claimed Torres would start in midweek but he sprang a surprise and is now keeping his cards close to his chest over Sunday’s selection (Torres 7/1 – Fifa Man of the Match).

The wily 59-year-old, who scored one goal for Spain during 18 appearances between 1975 and 1980, said: “I don’t know if he [Torres] will be in the line-up.”

Del Bosque added: “It was a difficult choice. Torres has been helping us all along. His work is important even if it is not noticed. He is good at occupying the centre-backs.

“I didn’t talk to him before I announced the line-up (against Germany). But he is a very important part of the team. He is one of the key members of the squad and a lovely guy.”

Key Spain defender Carles Puyol, 32, who scored the winner against Germany in the semi-finals, says he will decide on his international future after the final.

Spain have won all of their knockout games 1-0 at the World Cup – against Portugal, Paraguay and Germany – and they can be backed at 9/2 to beat Holland by the same scoreline.

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Robben ready to rock for Holland

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Arjen RobbenBert van Marwijk has played down fears Arjen Robben is an injury concern ahead of Holland’s World Cup opener against Denmark in Johannesburg on June 14.

The Bayern Munich flyer missed the 4-1 international friendly rout over Ghana in Rotterdam on Tuesday because of a slight hip problem and van Marwijk said there was little point in risking him.

He said: “Arjen has a little bit of a problem with his hip. It is not serious, but in the run-up to the World Cup we want as little risk as possible.”

Robben’s replacement, Dirk Kuyt of Liverpool, opened the scoring in a one-sided international friendly win which extended Holland’s unbeaten run to 18 matches.

Second-half efforts from Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie saw the hosts ease to a comfortable win and the Dutch are now overwhelming 1/7 ante-post favourites with totesport.com to qualify from Group E.

Holland, on paper at least, boast a formidable-looking attack including the likes of van der Vaart, Sneijder, van Persie and Robben.

Arsenal talisman van Persie has come in for praise from his team-mates off the back of his goals against Mexico last week and is excited at the prospect of being his country’s figurehead.

“I heard their opinions and it pleases me that we appreciate each other’s qualities,” said van Persie.

The Emirates Stadium favourite could attract some interest at 16/1 with totesport.com to finish the international extravaganza as World Cup 2010 Top Goalscorer given that van Marwijk’s men appear to have been handed a favourable group including Denmark, Cameroon and Japan.

However, the 26-year-old says the team is more important than personal plaudits and is convinced Holland can go far in South Africa.

He added: “It is a party to play with them. They all are good players who are creative and think offensive.”

The former Feyenoord star was a doubt for the World Cup because of a serious ankle injury he sustained playing for Holland in a friendly against Italy last November.

However, he bounced back towards the end of the domestic season and will arrive in fresh to spearhead the Dutch.

Holland can be backed at 13/2 to end the tournament as the Top European Team and their price to win the World Cup outright has firmed up at 10/1.

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Wigan rock Arsenal’s title hopes

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Arsenal’s title hopes have been left in tatters after Wigan Athletic completed a remarkable comeback to see off the Gunners 3-2 at the DW Stadium after the London side had taken a 0-2 lead (Arsenal 150/1 to win the Premier League title).

It seemed as if it was going to be a good day at the office for Arsene Wenger’s men, after a fairly tight opening to the match England international Theo Walcott broke the deadlock before the interval with a clever finish to ensure Arsenal enjoyed a one goal lead at the break.

Just three minutes into the second half Mikael Silvestre looked to have put the game to bed when his header found the back of the net, and it appeared as if Arsenal would cruise to victory over a Latics side who had failed to breakdown a patchwork Portsmouth team earlier in the week.

However, Wigan had other ideas and with 10 minutes remaining Ben Watson pulled a goal back for the home side with a low drive that gave Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski no chance.

Defender Titus Bramble then levelled matters with less than a minute of normal time remaining when his header from close range was judged to have crossed the line by he linesman, before Charles N’Zogbia unleashed an exquisite shot from the edge of the area that curled into the goal in injury time to secure an improbable victory for the Latics.

The defeat leaves Arsenal six points adrift of league-leaders Chelsea with just three games to go and it seems as if the title is now way out of reach for Wenger, who will be seething after seeing his side throw away their two goal advantage.

However, victory for Wigan (16/1 to be relegated) could prove vital in their bid to avoid the drop.  The Latics were just four points clear of the bottom three prior to kick-off today but they’re now seven points ahead of third bottom Hull City and they should now have secured Premier League football at the DW Stadium for another season after all but ending Arsenal’s title chances.

At the top of the table Chelsea, who are a point clear of Manchester United in second, remain favourites to secure the title (Chelsea 4/7 to win the Premier League title), while Arsenal will know their hopes of securing their first title since 2004 are all but over.

In terms of the relegation battle the result was massive for Wigan, who still have to face relegation rivals West Ham and Hull City, as they move seven points clear of the drop zone.

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