The PREMIERSHIP LOTTERY

WE are on the brink of another Premiership season and we at the PG are predicting one of the closest battles ever in Europe’s top league – and we think the top four could change this year.
Let’s start with the top of the table and we predict a five-horse race for top spot with moneybags Man City (12/1) coming into the equation this year after spending over £100 million on new players this summer.
IN have come Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Stuart Taylor, Carlos Tevez, Kolo Toure and Nils Zander.
They will be in the mix no matter what, they have strength in depth and will be ready to compete with the Man Utds and Chelseas. I expect Mark Hughes’ team to be in the Champions League next season and the 12/1 on offer for league glory is a tempting bet and is worth a few pounds of my money.
The team to beat this year is of course Man Utd (2/1 fav) who lost Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer, but we have seen great players leave Old Trafford before and Utd bouncing back – a lot will rest on Wayne Rooney’s shoulders this year and if he can score 20-plus goals then Utd will be in the frame. In have come Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia.
Chelsea (10/3) have a new manager at the helm and have brought in three new players in Daniel Sturridge, Ross Turnbull and Yuri Zhirkov, but they still have the nucleus of a team that has done well in the Premiership in the past few season and under Carlo Ancelotti will be a difficult team to beat and will surely be thereabouts.
LIVERPOOL (3/1) put in their best Premiership season ever last season and many pundits feel that they are in with a big chance this year. They lost Xavi Alonso to Real Madrid and he will be a big miss, but they have brought in Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani who looks a quality buy and defender Glen Johnson who will strengthen that defence. And if they can get a season out of Fernando Torres then Liverpool could break that Premiership hoodoo .
It’s frustrating being an ARSENAL (8/1) fan and after signing only Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen so far this season the Gunners could be the team dropping out of the top four this year, specially after manager Arsene Wenger said that he will “trust” his current Arsenal squad to deliver ahead of the new season.
I don’t think this current squad is capable – they need experience and a couple of big money buys to compete this year. Hopefully I am wrong, but I wouldn’t rush out to back the Gunners at 8/1.
GOLDEN BOOT
The Golden Boot betting is led by Liverpool’s Fernando Torres at 7/2 and if he stays fit then he is a solid choice while WAYNE ROONEY (right) is tempting at 12s.
If strike partner MICHAEL OWEN stays injury-free then the 12/1 on offer looks a good each-way punt.
Chelsea supporters will lump on ANELKA at 12s and Drogba who is second favourite at 9/1.
Man City have an array of strikers and ADEYABYOR gets a 20/1 quote from Grahams with teammate SANTA CRUZ attracting a few pounds at 25/1.
I fancy Sunderland to have a better year this time round under Steve Bruce and DARREN BENT looks the each-way bet in this field at 40/1. Remember it’s 1-2-3-4 in this particular market and big money signing Bent will start all matches when fit and should score goals this season, so that’s 10/1 he will finish in the first four – fill your boots.
RELEGATION BATTLE
So who survives this season?
New boys Burnley are 4/9 to go down but if they play the football they did last year they could upset a few.
Our three to go down this season are HULL (5/6), PORSTMOUTH (9/4) and STOKE (3/1)

Real Bet at 5/1 for Champions League
ON to Europe and we start with the Champions League where big-spending REAL MADRID (9/2) look a solid choice if this team can gel from the begining.
EVERTON (16/1) can win the first ever Europa League – the Toffees will shock a lot of teams in Europe this year.
We have come up with an outright quad for the coming season and first team down are CELTIC (1/1) to reclaim their SPL title while JUVENTUS (3/1) could upset Inter in Serie A.
MARSEILLE (5/2) have spent a few pounds in the summer and should oust Bordeaux in the French Championnat.
Making the quad up are BARCELONA (1/1) to hold on to their La Liga title at the expense of Real Madrid.
The Ante-Post quad pays around 55/1 – worth a fiver?
Ask me next May.


GET ON MAN CITY AT 5/4 TO GUN DOWN BLACKBURN
We just missed out on our XXX last week after Inverness scored a 93rd minute winner to thwart our draw treble, but still a 10/1 winner.
We actually predicted five draws last week in all and four came in, so let’s hope the good start continues.
PG QUAD
We start with the weekend quad and first team down are big spending MAN CITY (5/4) who travel to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn who we feel may struggle a bit this year.
As we all know, Man City have bought big in the summer and should get off to a winning start on Saturday.
LEEDS UTD (1/1) got off to the best possible start with a win at home last week and can follow up with a win at promoted Wycombe.
DERBY (11/8) got off to a solid enough start last weekend, winning at home to Peterboro, and should make it two from two with a win at promoted Scunthorpe.
Making the weekend quad up are LEYTON ORIENT (11/10) who will hope to follow up on last weekend’s win at Bristol Rovers with all three points at home to Oldham.
PG XXX
After narrowly missing out last week let’s hope our draw treble can touch this weekend. They are all in the Premiership folks so mark Xs in the following games: Portsmouth v Fulham, Wolves v West Ham and BOLTON v SUNDERLAND.
Remember those doubles and the treble.

and finally weekend racing...

The Great St Wilfrid sprint at Ripon ( Saturday 3.55) is one of the big races this weekend and what a wide-open handicap this is.
Hamish McGonagall from the Tim Easterby yard gets a 16/1 quote for the race. He’s been knocking at the door in recent races and the 16/1 on offer for Saturday’s race looks a great each-way bet.
Over at Newbury we have the CGA Hungerford Stakes and I like the look of BORDER PATROL who can upset the big guns in this one. Stats are against him, though, with no three-year-old winner since 1998. But he has already won twice over course and distance this year and if he turns up on Saturday he could run a big race.