Right Said Fred: Talking betting With BetFred Boss Fred Done

Donald Trump is continuing to prove popular with Betfred punters ahead of the US election on November 3.

Arguably the most controversial President in the country’s history has been heavily backed into 11/8 from 15/8 just last week to win a second term at The White House.

This substantial market move comes ahead of the second and final live TV debate between Trump and his Democrat rival Joe Biden on Thursday.

In the hope of avoiding the disruptions that impacted their first debate, organisers have announced that a ‘mute’ button will allow each candidate to speak uninterrupted during their opening statements.

The President’s health remains up there as a major issue for the US electorate, and will likely be top of the agenda for Biden during the debate, after he was recently diagnosed with COVID-19.

It is likely that Trump’s often divisive policies will lead to the biggest ever turn out – and the numbers could be so high that it may be several days before the winner is announced.

Trump’s success in 2016 led to an upsurge in political punting at Betfred, after he overcame massive odds to beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

We at Betfred has since reported record numbers betting on the Brexit referendum and both party and general elections – particularly when Jeremy Corbyn came from nowhere to be elected leader of the Labour Party.

Trump may be proving popular with our punters at the moment, but with Biden still 4/7 favourite at Betfred to be the next president of the USA, he has plenty of work still to do.

As for the popular vote, Biden is still heavily expected to emerge on top, at very short odds of 1/7 to win over the majority of the electorate – with Trump as big as 9/2.

Meanwhile Sergio Aguero has an added incentive at City who he has served so brilliantly.

The talisman striker has surprisingly been told he still needs to do more to earn a new contract at the Etihad now he’s in the final year of his current deal.

May be something has been lost in translation but that does seem a bit rich to me considering his consistently getting the ball in the onion bag brilliance over the years.

Some fans would even say he is City’s greatest ever player who is the all-time record goal scorer rivalling the King – Colin Bell – as THE Goat.

Well it is always tough comparing different eras but what I do know is that the Argentine costs me a fortune every season on our double delight, hat-trick heaven promotion as he so often scores the opener.

Betfred naturally have the 32 year old at 3/1 to score first against West Ham on Saturday.

The Blues showed grit and determination to edge out Arsenal at the weekend and are now back as favourites at Betfred for the Premier League title.

There was a big shift in the Betfred odds not just because  Liverpool and Everton had to share the spoils in a headline-grabbing Merseyside Derby but Liverpool’s loss to injury of probably the best defender in the world game  Virgil van Dijk.

He’ll possibly be out for the rest of the season so expect manager Jurgen Klopp to already be scouring the market for central defenders ready for the January transfer window.

City are now 5/6 at Betfred to win the Premier League, with Liverpool drifting to 9/4 – while Spurs have been cut to 12/1, despite throwing a 3-0 lead against West Ham on Sunday evening.

League leaders Everton are next up at 20/1 alongside Chelsea, with United 20/1 and Arsenal 28/1.

Leicester are on the slide after that last-minute loss to Aston Villa, who remember were many so-called experts’ tip for relegation yet are proving this season’s surprise package so far and are now as short as 60/1 at Betfred for the title.

Sadly VAR continues to dominate the headlines – and it really is reaching the stage where we should consider abandoning it and just keeping goal-line technology.

It’s a case of us being reminded we should be careful what we wish for!

Remember, it was only brought in because of referees getting it wrong – well now it’s VAR getting it wrong more times than it is right.

When I was in short pants, the referee would never get a mention in newspaper reports, but now it’s all about the man in black checking offsides, handballs… and even on-going debates about whether they have gone to check the monitor.

What happened to the beautiful game that never needed such drastic changes?

Finally in rugby league, the Challenge Cup proved to be a great spectacle, showing the worldwide audience once again just how great the sport is.

I’m saying that despite my home town club Salford going down by the narrowest of margins after a late drop goal from Luke Gale.

It was agony for the Red Devils, but Ian Watson’s team showed their never say die attitude but ultimately just came up short on the day but that character will stand them in good stead now we are entering the business end of  in Betfred Super League season.

Congratulations to both the RFL and the BBC for putting on a great spectacle during the most testing of times. Despite no crowds being allowed in our national stadium, the coverage on TV sold our game superbly and showed just how resilient we are.

Like he did to Saints in the Betfred Super League play-off semis in 2017, the England half back  Gale kept his cool  with the winning drop goal in the 75th minute.

A mention too for league leaders St Helens who turned in an outstanding performance against basement boys Wakefield, taking the two points with a 48-6 demolition.  The scoring was opened in  the thIrd minute...by who other than that man James Roby!

Following a seemingly impossible offload from Jack Welsby, skipper Robes walked over in the corner for his 100th Super League try one the Red V.

In his 17th season at the club, aged 34 he just continues to lead from the front week in week out. The only other hooker in the history of Super League to score more tries is his mentor and club legend Keiron Cunningham.

I am indebted to Oldham-born RL legend Paul Sculthorpe who told me how Roby is an ultimate professional. His preparation in regards to his fitness, skill level and game awareness is second to none. He is not the most outspoken of captains, rather someone who likes to lead with his own standards and performance, and this is something that has made him one of the greatest players...not just of the Betfred Super League era but of RL since its inception.