Right Said Fred: Talking betting with Betfred boss Fred Done

What a fantastic  Saturday of Sport we have this weekend.

The Olympics are of course reaching a finale but we also have the Betfred Super League first v second showdown between Catalans and Saints, Manchester City v Leicester in the Community Shield at Wembley  - and the South Africa v British Lions decider.

Saints at home are 1/ 2 favourites with Betfred to triumph while City are the same price to beat the Foxes and lift the trophy. The most common scoreline bet is incidentally 3-1 to Pep Guardiola’s  men available at 12/1.

In the headline-grabbing British Lions tour it should be another arm-wrestle in the final game with South Africa 4/6 to take the controversial three-game series while the Lions  are a tempting 5/4 with us – and the draw is 18/1. 

Meanwhile I’m putting my money where my mouth is and slapping £50,000 on my beloved United to win the Premier League this season.

The Reds are 8/1 at Betfred – and those are fantastic odds.

With the manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signing a new contract and two significant summer signings we CAN do it. It’s about time we were back at the top table.

In Jadon Sancho we have got that pace that all United players need, and he’s got it all to prove now he’s back in Manchester having left City’s academy – while with Raphael Varane, who is all but confirmed as a Red with a £34m deal-in-principle agreed with Real Madrid, we have the perfect partner for Harry Maguire at the back.

It is fantastic that United, for once, have got their big business sorted earlier than their rivals.

Too often in the past we’ve left it until the 11^th hour and then been scrambling to get them acclimatised to the team.

With that competition for places at the back, including between our two goalkeepers David de Gea and Dean Henderson, as well as up front, it’s only really the midfield that still needs sorting out.

Tying up Solskjaer is also superb business from United. 

He was dealt a terrible hand and left with some tough decision making when he took over from Jose Mourinho, but he’s handled it in a calm, intelligent way – and made some shrewd signings along the way.

I’m expecting the Norwegian to resolve the Paul Pogba situation sooner rather than later. I do hope he stays and works out how to co-exist on the pitch with Bruno Fernandes, while Scott McTominay adds the steel in behind in this key part of the team. 

United are definitely the value this season – I’d much rather put my money on them at 8/1 than our noisy neighbours City, who are clear favourites with us, at 4/6.

City’s price could shorten even further if they get Harry Kane or Jack Grealish from Tottenham or Aston Villa respectively.

The same could be said about Chelsea and Liverpool, who have been quiet on the transfer front but remain linked with Europe’s top talents. They’re both 5/1 at Betfred to win the title.

However, I do have high hopes that this will be United’s year – and that’s not just coming from my heart but my head too.

And finally my congratulations to a Betfred punter was so convinced his numbers would come up in the Irish Lotto draw, he put on the same bet twice.

The 63-year-old construction worker from South Manchester bet £15 in total on the numbers 14, 18, 23 and 32 - they were all drawn and won him a cool £125,000!

He now plans to splash out on a total renovation of his home which he plans to sell ahead of retirement.

The big City fan is also planning to buy himself a brand new Kia utility vehicle which he and his partner will use to travel on mini breaks in the Lake District and in his native Scotland.

He said: “I’ll have work done in virtually every room in our house, which we can then sell at a profit just in time for when I retire. The missus doesn’t like planes or boats so there won’t be any big holidays – just lots of trips in this country.

“I picked the numbers totally at random and put some on at the shop and online too. I’ve been using those numbers for a long time and they came in big time.”

Good luck to this fella who’s well and truly taken me to the cleaners. He’s probably chuckling to himself as he’s a big Blue while I’m of the red persuasion!