Of the bigger priced runners, former winner, State Of Play, (27.0 win, 4.3 place) runs off the same mark (145) as when staying on strongly to win this event three years ago and is reported in rude health by Evan Williams.”

It was far more straightforward for fellow Premier League giants Chelsea and Manchester City. Mark Hughes fielded virtually his best eleven and that was good enough to beat Scunthorpe 5-1 with City never touching any bigger than 1.4 on the exchange. At 6.2 to win the Cup, only Chelsea at 4.1 and Man Utd at 5.8 are shorter. The former had no trouble disposing of  Bolton. They were matched at a high of 1.4 and those who predicted Chelsea would get four by backing the “any unquoted” runner secured a high of 5.6.

Tottenham (7.4), Aston Villa (12.0) Portsmouth (26.0) and Blackburn (27.0) complete the teams who will be in the draw for the quarter-finals.

In past years this fixture would’ve been easy to call, a home win without a doubt but City’s newly acquired wealth and talent may finally swing the balance of power from red half of the City to the blue half of Manchester. Looking at the latest odds on Betfair United seem to be a very short price at (1.64) and City are a very generous (6.20), my money is on the draw at (4.40) considering that 4 of the last 8 derby games have ended this way. You could also look at the Asian handicaps market backing City with a 1+ start gives odds of (1.89).

Rafa’s men have deploying a far more expansive and attacking style to their play this season. Their League results so far: 1-2, 4-0, 1-3, 3-2 and 4-0. It looks as if Rafa is willing to risk defeat in order to pull out the win, with Liverpool already lagging behind Chelsea, and with the possibility of United dropping points this weekend with the visit of Man City to Old Trafford, Liverpool must go for the away win in this game. The over 2.5 goals is currently trading at 1.96 on Betfair.

WE CALLED THIS ONE RIGHT ~ TOTAL GOALS 5!

A 3-1 thumping of Spurs was a fantastic warm-up for the clash with Besiktas – Tottenham were in good form following four straight Premier League wins – and more of the same should be expected on Tuesday. The only problem is everyone else thinks that! At 1.56 (8-15), United are among the shortest of favourites playing away from home with Bayern Munich (away to Maccabi Haifa) and Real Madrid (at FC Zurich) the only two who are shorter.

In truth, the layers have it about right and for the sake of simplicity the 1.56 looks the proverbial ‘good thing’. Let’s consider the evidence…

The Reds’ opponents are not in great shape. Besiktas currently sit ninth in the Super Lig table following one win from their opening five games. This weekend they were comprehensively beaten by Galatasaray, 3-0. Their last league win was on August 17.

The Reds are in good shape. After the shock of losing at Burnley, United are in full stride with confidence-boosting victories over Arsenal and Spurs to send them into Europe on a high. Talking of good form, Wayne Rooney could not be in better nick, with five goals he sits alongside Jermain Defoe as the Premier League’s top scorer. United are nearly at full strength. Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand are reunited at the back and only Edwin van der Saar’s thumb injury is keeping a guaranteed first-teamer out.

Put all that together and three points for United looks likely but what other betting options are available?

If you see United’s dominance being translated into a big win then the Asian Handicap market could be for you. In this market a goal handicap is applied so United would have to win by a two goal margin for the bet to pay (a one goal win would result in the stake being returned, while a draw or defeat would mean a losing bet).
Alternatively a Betfair Multiple is another way of having a bet when there are so many teams trading at short prices. Rolling together United and those other well-fancied teams – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – into one bet pays out at around 2-1. Not a bad way to kick off the Champions League huh?

Quick Guide To Using The Calculator

1. First enter the commission you pay on Betfair in the ‘Commission Rate’ box (it’s normally 5%).
2. If you’ve already backed a horse or football match then you should to use the first part of the calculator ~ this works out how much you need to lay the bet for. We’ll be using the first part of the calculator because you should always “Back High ~ Lay Low”
3. Most people back a horse or football team first and then want to lay them at lower odds, this guarantees a profit whatever the outcome.
4. So if you’ve backed the Arsenal match to be under 2.5 goals at 1.92 then enter 1.92 in the ‘Enter the Odds You’ve Backed at:’ box
5. Then enter the amount you’ve bet (your stake) in the ‘Enter your Back Stake’ box (example: 5.50) Don’t use £ or $ symbols just numbers (and decimal points if need).
6. Then enter the odds that you want to lay at, for example: 1.63, do this in the ‘Enter the Odds you want to lay at’ box
7. Now click the ‘Calculate Lay Stake’ button, this will tell you the cash amount you need to lay to guarantee a profit. If you’ve followed the example above the calculator will tell you that you need to Lay £6.47 at odds 1.63 to guarantee a profit of £0.92 (Green Up) whatever happens! (Assumes 5% commission entered)
8. If you’ve placed a lay bet first then use the second part of the calculator ~ this tells you how much you need to back for. It’s works in exactly the same way.

The idea is that you don’t just back winners but you also ‘Lay’ losers. For example, if you decide to lay a horse in a race you are, in theory, backing that horse to lose the race. Statistically this makes far more sense, in a six horse race there can only be one winner so the chances of picking a loser are far great than your chances of backing a winner.

Here’s an example: You look in the sporting post and see that a real donkey is running in the 3.30 at Newmarket, you login to Betfair, click the tab for Horse Racing, find the Newmarket race, you then see all the runners in the 3.30, next to the horse that you think has got no chance of winning you’ll see two buttons, one to back and one to lay (bet against it winning) you click the lay button, enter your stake and Betfair automatically matches you with another person who thinks this donkey is gonna romp home in style.

If that donkey goes onto win ;-( you pay out his winnings at the odds you’ve agreed and if the horse loses you get to keep the other guys original stake. Simple! You can do the same with football matches also, If you think your team are going to beat Arsenal, then why not ‘Lay’ Arsenal instead of backing your team. By laying Arsenal you’ll still win your bet even if the match ends in a draw!

Free £25 Bet Offer From Betfair
Sign up with Betfair, deposit cash and make a bet up to the value of £25, if the result of your first bet is a loss, your Betfair account will be credited with the free bet up to a value of £25.

Betfair is a brilliant site and if you can get your head around it then you are most definitely on to a winner. The site is clear and easy to navigate around and registration for an account won’t take more than a few minutes. And if you thought Betfair only catered for the horses then you’d be wrong. There is a whole host of games that can have a bet on including Cricket, Rugby, Baseball and Greyhound racing to name but a few.

Betfair has a number of sections designed to help new players along including demo’s and free practise screens so you can really try it out before risking any funds. The site is fun and more importantly very profitable if you give it a try!