Man of the Match

Britain's bookmakers were taken to the cleaners yesterday by the nation's football punters with Coral describing it as the "biggest winning day for football punters ever". Nearly all the major favourites across the English and Scottish divisions won their matches yesterday but the vital statistic that caused the historic monster payout was the success for favourites playing away from home. "On the weekend coupon there were eleven football teams playing away from home that were favourites to win their matches, including the likes of Arsenal , Manchester United , West Ham , Charlton and Celtic , and only one, Swindon Town , failed to land the odds", explained Simon Clare, Coral Spokesman. "Make no mistake this is the biggest winning day for football punters in the history of betting. We are facing a sizeable seven figure payout , and all bookmakers across Britain and even further a field will be in exactly the same boat", added Clare. "In many ways ...

Manchester City are 13-5 with Coral to win their first ever away game in the Champions League when they take on Bayern Munich tomorrow night. The in-form Germans are evens favourite to pick up three points, with the draw 5-2. "Manchester City have started the Premier League season strongly, but Bayern Munich are arguably the most in-form team in Europe at present, and this match will give us some idea of how realistic City's Champions League claims are," reckoned Coral's David Stevens. Roberto Mancini's men are 11-1 to go all the way in this season's competition, but 7-4 to fall at the first hurdle. ** Match odds Evs Bayern Munich, 13-5 Manchester City, 5-2 Draw ** Manchester City stage of elimination 7-4 Group stage, 5-2 Last 16, 9-4 Quarter-finals, 7-1 Semi-finals, 10-1 Runners-up, 11-1 Winners ** Bayern Munich goals 10-11 0-1, 11-10 2-3, 15-2 4 or more ** Manchester City goals 7-5 1, 17-10 0, 21-10 2 or more

It was a day of refunds for Coral football punters today, as the Barking-based firm saw two of their three big match money back offers occur. Coral had promised to refund all first/last goalscorer, correct score and scorecast bets on the Old Firm Derby if there was a red card at Ibrox, refund stakes on all losing first goalscorer bets on Fulham v Manchester City if Sergio Aguero scored first, and the same if Wayne Rooney opened the scoring for Manchester United against Chelsea , and then watched as the first two duly happened. " Charlie Mulgrew's sending-off prompted our first money-back offer of the day, and things got even better for our customers when Sergio Aguero opened the scoring at Craven Cottage. That meant it was an expensive day, but at least Chris Smalling's goal at Old Trafford prevented a clean sweep of refunds," said Coral's David Stevens.

Arsene Wenger has finally become active in the transfer window but is it too little, too late for the under-pressure Gunner boss? A deal has been confirmed for South Korean international Park Chu-young from Monaco after Arsenal made a late bid to snatch the player from Lille's grasp. Chu, who captains South Korea, said in a stirring statement, "I am very honoured and I feel very happy to be at Arsenal. It is a dream to be here and I am really proud to be an Arsenal player. Now I just want to show how good I am and prove myself. I will do my best, I will never give up, I will show heart, I will give everything and I hope the fans will support me" German defender Per Mertesacker is also on the brink of signing for Arsenal from German side Wolfsburg . Germany coach, Joachim Low, has allowed the central defender to take leave from the German squad in order to undergo a medical at the Emirates. The imminent arrival of Mertesacker has put an end to Arsenal's pursuit of Bolton's ...

Wesley Sneijder has received glowing praise from another midfield maestro, the recently retired Manchester United legend Paul Scholes , as speculation continues about Sneijder's future. Currently with Inter Milan , sources within Manchester United continue to suggest that the club are still interested in signing Sneijder. Scholes has added to the speculation about an imminent transfer to Mancheser United with comments he has made about Sneijder, describing the Dutch international as 'brilliant'. "Sneijder has been brilliant for the last year or so with Inter Milan and Holland," Scholes told MUTV . "I don't think it probably worked out as well as he would have liked at Real Madrid but he's a top player. I'm sure there's a lot of clubs who will be after him if he is available." Manchester United are currently 13/8 chances in the Premier League betting with StanJames.com to retain their Premier League title. There is every chance that if Manchester ...

Premier League champions, Manchester United , are the 5-4 favourites with Coral bookmakers to beat rivals Man City in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday. The FA Cup winners are 7-4, with the draw priced at 11-5 United are 8-11 to lift the shield outright, City are evens. "Although typically a warm up for the forthcoming season, the game will be no less competitive than the usually derby matches between the two, with each team desperate to get the upper hand going into the new season," said Coral spokesman Gary Burton. City new boy, Sergio Aguero , is the 5-1 favourite to open the scoring, along with Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez . ** 2011 FA COMMUNITY SHIELD * OUTRIGHT 8-11 Man Utd, Evs Man City * 90 MINS 5-4 Man Utd, 7-4 Man City, 11-5 Draw * FIRST GOALSCORER 5-1 S Aguero, J Hernandez, W Rooney, 6-1 M Balotelli, 7-1 E Dzeko, M Owen, 8-1 D Berbatov, M-B Diouf, D Welbeck, A Young, 9-1 Nani, JS Park, D Silva, 10-1 A Johnson, V Weiss, 12-1 S Wright-Phillips, 14-1 Anderson ...

England have been cut to 14-1 from 16-1 by Coral to win the 2014 World Cup after tonight being drawn against San Marino , Moldova , Poland , Ukraine and Montenegro for the qualifying group. Coral make England odds-on favourites at 2-5 to win Group H and they are 1-6 to qualify for the World Cup. Coral has opened betting on who will be the England manager when they play their first World Cup 2014 qualifying match and make Harry Redknapp the 6-4 favourite with Stuart Pearce and Roy Hodgson 7-1 second favourites. "England couldn't really have asked for an easier World Cup qualifying group and with Harry Redknapp favourite to take charge, the betting suggests England fans have plenty to look forward to", said Simon Clare, Coral Spokesman. Brazil are the 4-1 favourites to win World Cup 2014 with the reigning champions Spain 11-2 from 5-1 after being drawn against France in Group I . ** To win the World Cup 2014 4-1 Brazil, 11-2 Spain, 13-2 Argentina, 10-1 Germany, 12-1 Holland ...

After the disappointment of the Champions League Final, and the realisation that Manchester United are still not ready to take on the might of Barcelona ; Alex Ferguson and Co have to look to the future in the hope of gaining the title next year - third time lucky. I am pleased to see that we have bought not just one - but two very good goal keepers. The latest acquisition being David De Gea from Atletico Madrid for £17 million; and although not part of the Senior team for Spain, should be part of the squad as a matter of course. There have been comments highlighting concerns on players' futures at the club, like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Dimitar Berbatov, and Michael Owen. I believe the area of concern would be midfield - as that area was the one most lacking, when compared to the likes of the best - Barcelona. We can all speculate on targets for the summer, but looking at Manchester United's Youth Team there is quite a strong line up for the future. Manchester's United ...

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta insists his side will be going all out for the win in the first-leg of the Champions League semi-final showdown with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu ( match betting - Real Madrid 13/8, draw 12/5, Barcelona 17/10 ). The Catalan outfit were beaten by Real in the Copa del Rey final last week but Iniesta has already started thinking about the Champions League final, despite the fact they still have to get past fierce rivals Real. He said: "I am dreaming of going out there at Wembley. We must think only of going over (to Madrid for Wednesday's first leg) and scoring some goals and then in the return our fans will drive us on to Wembley." However, the Spanish international midfielder will not be taking Real lightly, but he is eager to secure a first-leg win at the Bernabeu. He added: "We must concentrate on our own game, try to keep it tight at the back and attack well to try to get the win, score some goals to ensure the first leg leaves us ...

Man City vs Man United is one of the most hotly anticipated FA Cup semi finals in years. Man City are eager to show that they truly are a threat to Man United while Man United want to remain on course for their second treble. It's sure to be 90 minutes of high drama at Wembley Stadium. Man City (5/2 to beat Man United) have been something of an enigma this season. At their worst Man City are downright poor, as was the case earlier this week against Liverpool. But at other times, in the recent 5-0 win against Sunderland for example, they display great skill and attacking potential. There are occasions where they can be the boring, ultra-defensive Man City that stems from Roberto Mancini's Serie A background and they also have a wreckless, unpredictable streak in them thanks to volatile players such as Mario Balotelli and Nigel De Jong . As such it is almost impossible to predict which Man City will turn up at Wembley on Saturday afternoon. Man City's desire should be in little ...