Odds on - the weekend's best bets

13 April 2012

Though Martin Johnson has wielded the axe for tomorrow's Six Nations finale in Paris, he is set to escape the guillotine and many of you won't like it.

England have had a poor tournament and are playing for pride as they bid to spoil a French party, with Les Bleus going for the Grand Slam. Oh, and just in case the French need any extra motivation, they haven't beaten England in a competitive game for four years.

When Jonny Wilkinson is off his kicking game, England need to score tries. But they've managed just five compared to France's 15 and Wilko doesn't even start tomorrow. Yannick Jauzion is 11-4 to score at any time, while we'll take the hosts to win by 11-15 points (5-1).

Rafa's facing more grief

Another man under pressure is Rafa Benitez, whose Liverpool side have failed to score in their last four away games in the Premier League. Next up for them is a trip to Manchester United!

Liverpool are 9-2 to secure what would be their fourth consecutive victory over Sir Alex Ferguson's side, who are 7-10, but it's difficult to envisage anything other than a home win on Sunday.

Rafa's men have managed just 12 goals from 15 games on the road this season and even Wolves have scored more away from home. United will be on a high after a five-match winning run and with Wayne Rooney in scintillating form (he's scored 24 goals from his last 22 matches), we can't see Liverpool getting a result at Old Trafford.

Take a chance on Rooney and Fernando Torres to both score in the game (4-1) and United to win after trailing at half-time (22-1).

Stricker looks striking despite Tiger's return

No surprise Tiger Woods chose to bypass next week's Arnold Palmer Invitational to make his return to tournament golf at next month's Masters.

"When I thought about returning, it became apparent the Masters would be the earliest I could play," he said. Yeah right, Tiger — it had nothing to do with the prospect of playing in a controlled environment at Augusta National, where the public will be kept at a distance.

The American, who has won the event four times, is the 3-1 jolly but he's bound to be rusty. It's all about birdies with Tiger — he's 4-5 to score four-to-five of them in his opening round and 6-1 to lead the field after day one. We're on 16-1 shot Steve Stricker, the world's No2-ranked player, who was tied for sixth last year.

Back this awesome foursome

We're looking to recoup losses after a bad week at Cheltenham with a four-fold that pays around 7-2. Aston Villa (2-5), Arsenal (1-5), West Brom (8-15) and Norwich (8-11) are all cast-iron certainties. Place the bet with Paddy Power, who are refunding all losing four-folds and upwards if all your selections are winning at half-time but not at full-time.

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