Jamie Reid's sports betting blog - 06/11/09

Chelsea appear to have a great chance of tightening their grip on the Premiership title by beating Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday at even money with Betfred.

The visitors are a top priced 3-1 with Fred Done who are normally United's biggest fan and you can get 9-4 the draw with the Manchester firm.

The Blues weren't overly impressive in their mid-week Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid (although they are safely through to the knock-out stage) but Michael Ballack, Ricardo Carvalho and Deco are likely to return for Sunday's match with Nicolas Anelka starting up-front alongside the rampaging Didier Drogba - a good bet on current form to score at any time at 11-8 - and Man U's wobbly defence could be in for a torrid time.

Top drawer international rugby returns to centre stage this weekend with England taking on Australia at Twickenham tomorrow afternoon and then Wales facing up to the All Blacks in Cardiff a few hours later.

The Autumn internationals will be a massive test for an injury hit England squad and especially for their head coach Martin Johnson whose qualifications for the job continue to be questioned by commentators and past players.

The Wallabies have lost six of their last seven games but they were mainly against South Africa and New Zealand and at present all the Southern Hemisphere sides look superior to their Northern counterparts. The one bonus for England is the return of a fit and rejuvenated Jonny Wilkinson who has had made the difference against the Aussies so many times, most famously in the 2003 World Cup Final in Sydney.

I fully expect him to have a big game tomorrow and he can be backed at 8-1 in places to be man of the match and a more conservative 15-8 to score between 12 and 16 points but the Australians really should be able to concede a five point start on the handicap at 11-10 with Betfred.
 
It's hard on Wales that they will be without the injured Mike Phillips - who played so well on the Lions tour - Lee Byrne and Adam Jones for their rumble with the All Blacks and odds of 4-1 about them pulling off an upset look optimistic.

But this is not the strongest Kiwi side to visit these shores - they were no match for the Springboks in the Tri-Nations - and, with the home crowd roaring them on, the Welsh are worth an interest on the handicap at 10-11 with Betfred with a 12 point start. 

I've mentioned the Breeders Cup races on numerous occasions in this space and in Money Observer over the last few months. Rip Van Winkle, my ante-post tip for tomorrow night's Classic at 16-1, is down to 13-8 with Betfred and if his troublesome feet hold up I think he'll win but the current odds are very short.

Goldikova, 6-4 for the Mile on Turf with Betfred, is poorly drawn but has been trained for this race all year and is good enough to repeat last year's victory. And Lillie Langtry, one of the two best two year old fillies in Europe, should land tonight's Juvenile Fillies Turf at 3-1 with Betfred providing - as is the case with all the European challengers - she can reproduce her best form at the end of a long season and far away from home.