WHEN WILL RAFA GO?

- Liverpool Betting Latest -

With just one win in nine games, and needing a dive to secure a point at home last night, Liverpool’s worst run in a lifetime once again has punters sniffing blood.

With it looking increasingly like when not if underfire manager Rafa Benitez leaves Liverpool Paddy Power now offer just 6/4 Rafa has gone by the end of the season.

Paddy Power offer 5/1 that Benitez is gone by Christmas Day although it’s 1/2 to turn things around and still be there by the end of the season.

In other bets, Liverpool are 6/1 to finish behind rivals Everton this season and, having already fallen 11 points behind league leaders Chelsea, the Reds are 6/1 to finish more than 24 points behind the eventual league champions. But should Liverpool supporters still have faith in a dramatic turnaround in fortunes, Liverpool are 40/1 to lose no more league games this season and 14/1 for just one more defeat.

Benitez is also 3/1 second favourite in the Premier League Sack Race behind Hull’s Phil Brown at 4/5.

LIVERPOOL SPECIALS

How Long Will Rafa Survive?

Yes No

1/10 5/1 Xmas Day 2009

1/2 6/4 End of Season

Who will finish higher?

1/14 Liverpool

6/1 Everton

Trophy Chances

28/1 Premier League

6/1 FA Cup

40/1 Champions League

5/1 To Qualify For The Champions League Last 16

5/6 Premier League Top Four finish

How many games will Liverpool lose in the Premier league this season?

40/1 Five

14/1 Six

6/1 Seven

4/1 Eight

7/2 Nine

4/1 Ten

7/4 Eleven or more

Liverpool’s Finishing Position

28/1 1st

12/1 2nd

11/2 3rd

2/1 4th

5/6 5th or worse

How many points behind the champions will Liverpool finish?

25/1 None

11/1 1-4

11/2 5-8

10/3 9-12

5/2 13-16

7/2 17-20

11/2 21-24

6/1 25 or more

Next Liverpool Manager

11/4 Mourinho

3/1 Dalglish

10/1 Mancini

11/1 Klinsmann

14/1 O’Neill

16/1 Rijkaard

16/1 Hiddink

20/1 Ramos

25/1 Van Basten

25/1 Pellegrini

28/1 Lippi

28/1 Schuster

28/1 Lee

28/1 McClaren

28/1 Nicol

33/1 Bar

Ireland v France - PUNTERS BOUYED BY RIBERY INJURY

Bookies expect Ireland fans to find away tickets

Patriotic punters have been buoyed by news that French playmaker Franck Ribery may miss Ireland’s World Cup playoff.

Bookie Paddy Power has reported a significant increase in betting on Ireland to qualify for the World Cup today. However, France remain red hot favourites to win the two legged playoff at 1/3 with Ireland an unlikely 11/5.

Paddy Power said, “It had been a pretty quiet betting heat until this morning when we had a welcome rush on Ireland. We’d all like to wish Franck Ribery a speedy recovery, just not too speedy! The odds haven’t changed just yet but I’d expect them to shorten in the run up to the big Croker clash”.

To Qualify for the World Cup
1/3 France
11/5 Ireland

Meanwhile, the bookie is also taking bets on how many Irish fans manage to get inside the Stade de France for the crucial second leg of the playoff following news of a measly 8,000 tickets allocated to us.

The bookie is offering odds of 8/1 that we blow that amount out of the water and wangle 30,000 of us into the Stade de France.

It wont be as easy to get tickets to the Irish leg and it’s just 6/4 that the most expensive ticket on Ebay for the match goes for more than €500.

Number of Irish fans in the Stade de France?
11/10 Under 10,000
3/1 10,001 - 15,000
4/1 15,001 - 20,000
9/2 20,001 - 25,000
6/1 25,001 - 30,000
8/1 Over 30,000

Top Ebay ticket for Croke Leg?
4/1 €200 or Under
6/1 €201 - €300
4/1 €301 - €400
11/4 €401 - €500
6/4 Over €500

BENITEZ BETTING ALL THE RAGE FOR PUNTERS

Life’s A Beach for Rafa Benitez with punters responding to Liverpool’s worst run of form in 22 years with a wide variety of betting requests speculating on the manager’s demise.

Responding to the range of requests Paddy Power are offering 10/1 that Liverpool’s crunch game against arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday is Rafa’s last game in charge of the Anfield outfit. Liverpool are also now just 4/11 to fail to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League and 11/8 not to finish in the top four of the Premier League this season. Benitez himself is odds on not to survive the season at 8/11.

Meanwhile Benitez is the name being backed in Paddy Power’s Sack Race having come in from 18/1 prior to the weekend loss to Sunderland.

Paddy Power said: “Rafa being backed into 3/1 from 18/1 to be the next manager to go may not suggest he’s definitely on his way but it certainly reflects the immense pressure he is under with fans now widely speculating on his demise across many different markets.”

Next Manager

Punters are even revisiting the market on next Liverpool manager with former Kop king Kenny Dalglish the 13/5 favourite ahead of Jose Mourinho at 4/1. Jurgen Klinsmann, who just happened to be in the Sky Sports studio commenting on Liverpool’s loss to Lyons last night, is 9/1.

Liverpool Lengthen for Sunday Showdown

Things could yet get worse for Rafa with the visit of champions Man Utd this weekend. Liverpool are 7/4 from 8/5 to win the game, one of the biggest odds seen on a Liverpool home win, whilst an old name let go by Benitez could yet come back to haunt him. If Michael Owen - returning to Anfield in United colours for the first time - scores the last goal of the game Paddy Power will refund all losing first/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

BENITEZ BETTING

Benitez Betting
10/1 Man Utd to be Benitez’s last game as manager

Benitez to still be Liverpool manager at the end of the season
Evs Yes
8/11 No

To qualify for the next stage of the Champions League
15/8 Yes
4/11 No

To finish in the top four in the Premier League
8/15 Yes
11/8 No

Finishing Position
14/1 First
6/1 Second
4/1 Third
9/4 Fourth
11/8 5th or worse

Next Liverpool Manager
13/5 Dalglish
4/1 Mourinho
6/1 Mancini
9/1 Klinsmann
10/1 O’Neill
12/1 Rijkaard
16/1 Hiddink
16/1 Scuster
16/1 Bilic
18/1 Van Gaal
18/1 Ramos
20/1 Jol
22/1 Eriksson
25/1 Lippi
25/1 Van Basten
25/1 Deschamps
25/1 McClaren
33/1 Houllier
33/1 Hughes
33/1 Hitzfeld
33/1 Grant
40/1 Moyes
50/1 Souness
150/1 Hansen
500/1 Barnes
500/1 Fowler

Premier League Sack Race
9/4 Brown
11/4 Hart
3/1 Benitez
6/1 McLeish
8/1 Zola
14/1 Megson
16/1 Redknapp
25/1 Hodgson
28/1 McCarthy
33/1 Allardyce
33/1 Martinez
40/1 Coyle
40/1 Moyes
50/1 Pulis
66/1 Bruce
66/1 Ancelotti
66/1 O’Neill
80/1 Wenger
80/1 Ferguson

Liverpool v Man Utd
7/4 Liverpool
9/4 Draw
6/4 Man Utd

Life’s A Beach
If Michael Owen scores the last goal, Paddy Power will refund all losing first/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

All prices remain subject to fluctuation.

Champions League, Match Day 3 Preview

20th/21st OCtober

Going into match day three of the Champions League and Liverpool are the only English side without maximum points and not top of their group. Sporting Index punters who bought the Reds on the spreads last time out were largely left disappointed by their 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina in Italy. Rafael Benitez will be hoping for an immediate improvement from his side against Group E’s early pacesetters.

Many a spread bettor looking to buy Lyon’s win index will, though, notice that the French outfit look back to their best having been dethroned as national champions last season for the first time since 2002. They are back at the summit of Ligue 1 and have yet to taste defeat in any competition. If sellers of Liverpool’s win index spread are not encouraged by this, they may instead look to the indifferent opening the English side has suffered. Aside from the defeat on match day two in this tournament, they have also dropped points against domestic rivals Tottenham, Aston Villa and Chelsea.

Steven Gerrard had to skip his country’s dead-rubber against Belarus and spread punters looking at his performance index will pay close attention to the Anfield medical reports leading up to the game before deciding whether to buy or sell his spread. Dirk Kuyt has developed a reputation as one of his gaffer’s go-to men for the European ties and buyers of his goal minutes will be aware that he’s the only Reds man to have netted in the competition thus far. Those who think he’s likely to return a profit on the player performance index will buy his spread knowing he’s just a brace away from equalling legend Ian Rush’s tally in the club’s charts in this competition and entering the top-three behind only Gerrard and Michael Owen.

The following day Chelsea and Manchester United continue their Champions League campaigns and will both be hoping to continue from where they left off last time. Chelsea host Atletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge and spread buyers of their team goal rush index will be hoping that they can improve on a return of two goals from as many games. With Didier Drogba suspended Nicolas Anelka has been the main man for the continental clashes and his side’s only source of goals. Chelsea fans and buyers of their supremacy spread will be hoping last year’s Premier League golden boot winner can keep the form going, but spread sellers of his goal minutes index will be looking for the run to end.

The international break gave the press two full weeks to stew on Sir Alex Ferguson’s ref-related comments after the Sunderland game. Never shy of speaking his mind, spread sellers of Manchester United’s performance index will be hoping that another Fergie broadside, and more dropped points, aren’t far away after this game. Like fellow England colleague Gerrard, Rooney picked-up a knock on international duty; buyers of the Red Devil’s win index spread will hope that he’s back to help them on their own trip to Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, those looking at buying the frontman’s goal minutes spread will hope that he can net his first of the season in the competition.

World Cup qualifiers - Paddy Powers Preview

There are plenty of big name teams sweating on their qualification, including Germany, Russia, France, Ireland, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and, of course, Diego Maradona’s Argentina. Paddy Power are betting on their qualification chances as well as who will be the highest FIFA ranked team not to make it to next summer’s tournament.

With England already qualified for South Africa, interest on their match in Kiev may be limited, not least with the first ever internet streaming for an England game. Paddy Power bet on how many subscribers rights holder Perform sign-up for the game as well as whether Perform’s streaming of the match crashes and misses a goal during the game.

And with qualification out of the way Fabio Capello will begin the fine-tuning of his World Cup squad. Paddy Power bet on how many England starters against Ukraine start England’s first World Cup match in South Africa.

Paddy Power Weekend Bulletin - get odds on:-

World Cup Outright
To Qualify/Not Qualify
Highest FIFA Ranked Team Not To Qualify

Ukraine v England

- Number of subscribers

- Website crash to miss a goal

- How many starting players will start England’s first World Cup match

- Number of team goals

England v Ukraine & Belarus

- Which game will have most goals

- Number of England goals over both games

- Number of Rooney goals over both games

All match betting for English and Scottish matches

Correct score & first goalscorer for home internationals

Ireland v Italy - World Cup Qualifiers

THE ITALIAN JOB
World Cup Qualifiers Saturday 10th October KO 8pm
Live Sky Sports 2

A much needed three points would be the result that all Irish players and fans will be praying for this Saturday against Italy, but Ireland’s biggest bookmaker, Paddy Power, put the Italian’s in the driving seat as the 11/8 favourites.

The Republic of Ireland need a win from one of their remaining games to guarantee that they finish second and go into the qualifying round, however they can still win the group if they win both of their final games and the Italian’s only draw against Cyprus in their last qualifying match.

Paddy Power is betting at 16/1 that Ireland will win their group and 13/8 for Ireland to qualify for the World Cup Finals 2010.

The Irish bookie is also offering a money back special for this game, where, If Robbie Keane scores the last goal, Paddy Power will refund all losing 1st /last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

In other betting surrounding the World Cup, Paddy Power is betting at 10/1 that Sin-Bins will be introduced in South Africa, where a player could find themselves put off the field for five minutes for faking an injury or diving.

Paddy Power said; ‘I’d love to see a repeat of the Ireland Italy game in World Cup 94’, as I’m sure every Irish fan would, although that does look unlikely. However, if Robbie comes up with the goods and gets the last goal, no matter what the result is there’ll be a few punters with smiles on their faces.’

Match Betting
9/4 Ireland
11/8 Italy
9/5 Draw

Ireland To Qualify For World Cup 2010
4/9 Ireland to fail to qualify for World Cup 2010
13/8 Ireland to qualify for World Cup 2010

To Win Qualifying Group 8
1/200 Italy
16/1 Ireland

Sin-Bins In South Africa
10/1 Sin-Bins to be used in World Cup 2010 South Africa

Draw No Bet
6/5 Ireland
8/13 Italy

Handicap Betting
1/2 Ireland (+1)
11/4 Draw (1.0)
9/2 Italy (-1.0)

Double Chance
1/2 Ireland + Dublin
1/3 Italy + Draw
1/3 Ireland + Italy

First Goal Scorer
7/1 Robbie Keane
8/1 K.Doyle
9/1 S.Long
11/1 A.Keogh
11/1 L.Best
14/1 A.McGeady
16/1 M.Rowlands
18/1 S.Hunt
22/1 G.Whelan
13/2 No Goalscorer

6/1 Gilardino
6/1 G.Rossi
7/1 F.Quagliarella
7/1 V.Iaquinta
7/1 A.Di.Natale
11/1 S.Pepe
12/1 G.D’Agostino
14/1 A.Pirlo
18/1 D.De Rossi

PADDY POWER MONEY-BACK SPECIAL
Ireland v Italy – The Robfather
If Robbie Keane scores the last goal, Paddy Power will refund all losing first/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match.

Terms & Conditions: Applies to 1st/last goalscorer and correct score singles placed before kick-off only. Max Refund €300/£200 per customer/bet. Paddy Power football rules apply.