Right Said Fred: Can United hand City a boost by defeating Arsenal?

The longer it goes on at the top of the Premier League the more confident I am that I was right to pay out early to the tune of £750,000 on City retaining the title.

This weekend City are at Fulham on Saturday while leaders  Arsenal are at the Theatre of Nightmares on Sunda...and you just don't know what United are going to turn up.

We were absolutely pathetic on Monday with Crystal Palace outclassing us in every area of the game - and I couldn't understand why so many of our fans applauded the great underperformers on the final whistle. My theory is it's something to do with our history surrounding the Busby Babes, Munich and the all-conquering Sir Alex Ferguson regime.

Never mind 4-0 it could easily have been six or seven goals conceded such was Palace's total dominance.

Still anything can happen in a one off game so Betfred have United to win 2-1 (and in doing so hand City a huge title boost) at 16/1.

Just for United to win, well Betfred are 5/1 which is remarkable - and yet another indication of just how far we've sunk.

We are not even favourites for a top six finish behind Newcastle and Chelsea with those in Red looking like they are already on the beach.

Thinking about it United  looked like they were in flip flops against that powerful Palace team the other night!

City are meanwhile odds on to win at Fulham to pile the pressure on Arsenal - and if you think it will be the same 2-1 for the Blues scoreline as last season that's a tempting 8/1 at Betfred.

Meanwhile it's looking very interesting indeed at the top of Betfred Super League with SIX teams leading the way - all on 14 points.

Frankly I just can’t remember a closer competition with the biggest movement as far as the odds are concerned concerning Hull KR  - Wire's opponents at the Halliwell Jones on Thursday.

On the back of fantastic wins in successive weeks against Wigan and then Saints, Betfred now have them cut in to 9/1 to win the Old Trafford Grand Final.

Wigan are still clear 11/10 favourites with us to be champions again with Saints at 11/4 while Wire are at 8/1. Catalans are like HKR at 9/1 - and charging up the rails are my home town club in form Salford Red Devils at 33/1.

It will be a storming encounter on Thursday when we'll see whether Warrington can learn from Saints' defeat and stop the team of the moment HKR completing a memorable hat-trick of top scalps.

RL legend Paul Sculthorpe, a Betfred TV pundit gives his take on the latest Betfred Super League action:

"Knowing Paul Wellens as I do, he won’t rest until he’s established exactly what went wrong at Hull KR.

"The Saints coach was undeniably shell shocked as his team was taken apart  on Saturday, as the hosts ran out 40-20 winners.

"Wello spoke post-game about the lack of defensive intent, something not usually associated with this club, especially over the last decade or so. We're a club that prides itself on the effort based areas, speed of line and controlled aggression in defence. Something that was clearly missing on Saturday.

"He addressed  the players at half-time about this, but unfortunately things went from bad to worse, losing the second forty minutes  24-6.

"Coaches will inevitably come under scrutiny when times are tough, and Wello is no different, as we are at a club that demands success. However, that performance for me lies with the players who crossed the whitewash. Indiscipline, basic errors with the ball, and ultimately poor defensive play cost Saints the two points.

"Take nothing away from Hull KR though. They are for sure the form team in the Betfred Super League.

"Despite being on the losing side, Saints full back Jack Welsby collected the plaudits from his Head Coach after the game, constantly threatening the Hull KR defensive line. 

"The architect of Saints downfall was undoubtedly the best scrum half in the Betfred Super League at the moment, Mikey Lewis. A constant threat with his running game, kicking game or general organisation Mikey yet again displayed  his fast  growing reputation.

"Still on scrum halves and it has now been confirmed that Saints no.7 Lewis Dodd will join the South Sydney Rabbitohs from next season on an initial three year deal.

"Twenty two year old old Dodd, who has made 76 appearances in the Red V to date, has vowed to try and help bring more silverware to the TWS before his departure.

"In my opinion, both Doddy and his teammates need to significantly up their game if this is to be the case, and it must start this week with a statement against a tenth placed, but significantly improving Castleford Tigers.

"Saints travel to the Jungle on Friday in a must-win game. This is a game I expect a reaction and will go for a Saints win by 16 points.

"The ever changing league positions are a constant talking point, but one thing that is constantly dividing opinions is the referee’s interpretation on the latest tackle techniques.

'We all know the reasons for the clamp down on head contact, and I fully support the reasons behind player welfare…but also finding a balance between that and constantly seeing players sat in the dug out for minor misdemeanours. RL is a high speed contact sport, and one that attracts fans due to the fierce nature of the game. We cannot ever lose that…."

Finally a self employed builder is ploughing his big Betfred win into his business.

And that means  Ben Taylor's work mates will benefit from extra hours.

Father of two Ben, aged 35 won £25,000 from a £5 stake at our Betfred shop in Llangefni on Anglesey.

His numbers 3,12, 15 and 20 were all drawn on the 49s lotto  - and that meant he was in the money.

Jubilant Ben from the nearby seaside town of Rhosneigr said: "It’s great to win  a significant amount from such a small stake...and most of it is going into my business doing anything from new build to driveways.

"I will be looking at newspaper and online advertising because the work is out there and if it works I can increase the hours of those who work with me so lots of people will benefit.

"Next I will be booking a family holiday in Spain which will be something for us to look forward to. The numbers which I've used for a while are based around the birthdays of my brothers Danny and Joey.

"Naturally they will be after some of my winnings but there is no chance of that but maybe  few drinks on me!"

Ben is a regular customer of ours who fully deserves his good fortune. He's investing in his own business which is a very good idea indeed so all the best to him.