FRIDAY..... THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE....

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21st

After a very solid start to the week we have given a couple of units back over the last two days, Anzhi conceded an injury time winner, Tottenham had three goals disallowed, at least one and probably two of which were "good".AVB put out a strong line up, including Defoe, Bale, Dembele and Lennon, which vindicated the thinking that Andre Villas-Boas would treat the tournament with great respect, unlike Happy Harry last season.

On a happier note, Tiger is tied for the lead after the first round of the Tour Championship ( see below) and those of you who are of the "take a profit" persuasion, can close out at circa 1.67 on Betfair/ exchanges. Here are a few  comments from his post round interview....

THE MODERATOR: Tiger Woods joins us in the interview room, after a 4 under par 66. Tiger, quick start, two birdies on the first three holes, and then two coming in on those last four. Comment on the day as a whole for us.

TIGER WOODS: As a whole, I played well today. I hit a lot of good shots. Made a few putts out there, but actually I had a couple of good up and downs, which is nice. This golf course was, I think it was probably gettable today. Because it was playing so hot the ball was flying forever.

And you know, with the fairways being soft, just you can drive it in the fairway, you can be aggressive. Just hope you don't get a mud ball out there. Unfortunately, I had two of those out there today. But that's the way it goes.

Q. You were playing quite well today. Your distance control was great, especially on the greens. Do you feel you left a few putts out there?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, but I hit a lot of good putts too. So I'm not really disappointed in that at all. I hit them online, but I just didn't have enough speed on a couple of the putts. The green was snagging it late, and they dove across the front part of the lip.

Q. You looked very relaxed on the golf course. Was that the case, and what benefit does that have for you?

TIGER WOODS: I've been playing well. You know, most of the summer I've played well, so I'm very pleased with the things that Sean and I are working on, and it's just a continuation of it. It was nice to get that week off last week and get a little bit of rest. I felt fresh today.

Q. Obviously, there are a lot of courses that suit you. But what is it about this place that you perform so well and seem so comfortable with?

TIGER WOODS: It's one of those courses?? I don't know. I've had a few golf courses that fit my eye, but they're all very different. You know, you've got Torrey or Firestone, Muirfield, here, Augusta, they're all very different golf courses, and I've played well on them quite a few times. I think it's just I prefer the old, traditional golf courses like this. Trouble is just right there in front of you. It's very simple, but it's hard.

It's rare that you see guys go low here, but it's very simple. Really, not a lot of trouble out here, but guys just have a hard time getting it low out here.

Q. You mentioned today that the greens were perfect. Would you attribute your play a little bit to the pace of play in such a small field that you were able to get into a rhythm?

TIGER WOODS: You know, we were talking about that out there today, Rory and I. It's so nice to be able to play like this. We wish every tournament had this kind of pace of play, where we can get up and just play. I think everyone enjoys it. No one enjoys playing six hours out there.

But everyone enjoys playing at this pace. It's nice and fast, and very little wait, and we're just going. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the group in front of you. That's nice.

There will be a follow up email at 18.00 today, covering some of the early Saturday action, main focus of which will be J-League and in that, I will also outline the plans and schedule for the rest of the weekend.

Football all the way now and I have also reproduced our early Ligue 1 bet for this evening, at the foot of the email .

FRANCE: LIGUE 2 :

Four matches to discuss today, comments are going to be brief, but I will cover all the important points.

GAZELEC AJACCIO- ANGERS

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GFC Ajaccio : Maury, Rastello - Rachidi, Landre, Bocognano, Laïfa, Seymand, Colinet, Romey, Poggi, Touré, Saadi, Colloredo, Mandrichi, Chevalier, Verdier, Dufau, Sinapi. 

 

Angers : Malicki, Letellier - Fall, Hénin, Diallo, Frikeche, Boyer - Gomez, Ravet, El Jadeyaoui, Auriac, Manceau, Diers - Keserü, N'Samé, Doré.

LAVAL - CAEN

We should see two very motivated teams here. Hosts have scored just once inside 90 minutes in five home league and cup games, that game came against struggling Niort and even that goal was outside regulation, as it came in injury time ! They will be keen to put in a performance in front of their own supporters. The visitors will definitely be looking to bounce back after their home defeat to Le Mans last week and they won three in a row after their first loss of the season, so the omens are good.

To be honest, Caen could have won easily last week, but little went their way and Le Mans keeper Jeremie Janot was in inspired form and when he wasn't standing in their way, the woodwork was. Laval had better luck, coming back from 1-0 down entering the final quarter of the match, to record an unlikely 3-1 win at Sedan.

Caen will have old hand Nicolas Seube ( 6-0-0) back in the holding role and his calming influence will be very welcome, fellow defensive midfielder Laurent Agouazi (4-1-1)  has passed a test and travelled, the visitors have conceded only twice in the four matches both have started. Left back Alexandre Raineau ( 3-0-0) and striker Romain Poyet (7-0-0) are missing along with a couple of fringe players.

Hosts are without strikers Ghislain Gimbert (5-0-0) and Jerome Lebouc (4-0-0), plus key defenders Pierre Talmont (6-0-0) and Makan Traore (6-0-0), arguably their two best performers this season.

Injuries look much worse for Laval and their lack of goals in a huge concern, defensively they look weaker, especially down the left and they will not be gifted two goals and a way back into the game  (like v Sedan), so easily tonight if they fall behind. 1.5 units Caen level ball 1.96 asian line.

Laval : Balijon, Hautbois - Belaud, Adéoti, Falette, Rose, Perrot, Gonçalves, Betsch, Le Baron, Gamboa, Hamdi, Ewolo, Traoré, Viale, Do Marcolino. 

 

Caen : Perquis, Bosmel - Calvé, Wague, Pierre, Sorbon, Guerreiro, Agouazi, Seube, Fajr, Moulin, Cuvillier, Nangis, Nabab, Duhamel, K. Traoré.

LE HAVRE- NANTES

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Le Havre : Placide, Boucher - Rivierez, Genton, Touré, Mendy, Louvion, Nouri, Zola, Mesloub, Bonnet, Fontaine, François, Koïta, Malfleury, Rivière.

 

Nantes : Riou, Zelazny - Cichero, Cissokho, Djilobodji, Madouni, Veigneau, Bessat, Deaux, Eudeline, Pancrate, Touré, Trébel, Veretout, Djordjevic, Gakpe, Mayenga.

RACING CLUB LENS- MONACO

 

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Lens : Kasraoui, Riou - Bergdich, Démont, Nomenjanahary, Touré, Yahia, Baal, Coeff, Ducasse, Le Moigne, Sow, Valdivia, Diakité, Pollet, Touzghar. 

 

Monaco : Caillard, Sourzac, Subasic - Appiah, Kagelmacher, Raggi, Tzavellas, Wolf, Bajrami, Dingomé, Dirar, Ferreira Carrasco, Mendy, Ndinga, Poulsen, Barazite, Germain, Touré.

PGA :TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP: TOP 4  ( Written 20/09)

This is a bet I am VERY keen on, it is one from the school of the blindingly obvious, but i make no excuses for that. It is not often I back Tiger, but I did put him up as a maximum bet at the end of last season and he obliged and now he is back to , if not exactly his best, then as good as he has been in three years and this competition is tailor made for him. Just 30 elite runners and you could make a case for ruling out maybe a third, in what is the strongest line up for years. We have the Ryder Cup starting next week, that is an event which transcends golf and one which will distract a lot of players this week, who will have won eye on Medinah, 17 of the field will be playing there. I doubt Tiger will have his mind anywhere other than East Lake and he has a good record this season ahead of major events, with two of his three wins coming in his last outing before a Major and the other with just one tournament inbetween.

Woods ended last year with wins in the Chevron Challenge and Presidents Cup and in 2012 has started 18 US Tour events, winning three and posting five other top four placings, that is a 44.44% ( odds 2.25) for him to post a top four finish and most of those events had fields almost five times the size of this one . We spoke the last month about how we have had two tremendous tournaments in the Playoffs series with the cream rising to the top, in the Deutsche Bank and BMW Championships with the best of the best fighting it out right to the line. Tiger finished top four in each and having seen Rory McIlroy win both, he will be hugely motivated to win this one and the course suits him perfectly.

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I just cannot see Tiger out of contention, he is in top form and on a course where he is very comfortable. 1.75 unitsTiger Woods 2.44 + on the exchanges Top 4 finish ( there is £4k plus available on Betfair at this price +), my own price in a 100% book was 1.90 so this offers real value.

LIGUE 1: MONTPELLIER - ST ETIENNE (Written 18/09)

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Good Luck.

 

Contact: gowi8@btinternet.com