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All the evidence points to England's Euro 2012 rematch against the Azzurri being a low-scoring affair...


England v Italy, Wednesday 20:00, ITV1, Match odds: England 2.68, Italy 3.18, The Draw 3.3

With the Premier League season imminent, this mistimed friendly has unsurprisingly attracted several pull-outs, with Joe Hart, Daniel Sturridge and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain among the withdrawals.

Therefore, Roy Hodgson makes the trip to Berne to face the Euro 2012 runners-up with just two goalkeepers, with the uncapped John Ruddy and Jack Butland expected to make their international debuts in either half. Hodgson is also left with only two recognised strikers in Andy Carroll and Jermain Defoe, so Ashley Young might be called upon as a second striker as at the start of Euro 2012.

Italy surprised everyone in Poland and Ukraine but like England arrive with a fairly experimental squad in Switzerland, with only five of those who played a part against the Three Lions in June expected to start here. Manchester City target Daniele De Rossi and new Roma teammate Federico Balzaretti played notable roles that day and look set to start alongside Fiorentina's former Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

The Italians generally raise their standards when playing tournament football but the Azzurri's friendly form is pretty poor lately, losing all three proceeding the Euros to nil - against USA, Uruguay and Russia respectively. It will probably be harder than ever for those involved in the disappointment of the Euro 2012 final defeat to get themselves up for this one.

Given this undesirable friendly record, England are understandably priced as slight favourites, but having failed to beat Italy in their last four encounters, backing the draw at 3.3 seems preferable.


Over/Under 2.5 goals

With the Roy Hodgson era still in its infancy, it's difficult to gauge how the former West Brom boss will approach things. However, in his six games in charge to date England have only scored more than one goal once, against Sweden in the Euros. Frank Lampard aside, England's eight midfield options have only produced as many international goals over a combined 90 caps.

This fixture is traditionally fruitless when it comes to goalmouth action with only one of the last six encounters producing over 2.5, with two scoreless draws thrown in to the mix. Italy themselves have only managed to find the net more than once twice in their last seven so 1.62 is certainly reasonable.


Half Time Score

There have been three goalless draws from the last eight meetings between the teams and in the last four encounters the score at half-time has also been 0-0, the most recent of these coming this summer in Kiev, so the likelihood of a first-half stalemate priced at 2.54 has a real attraction.

England's penultimate match of the Euros against Ukraine also entered the break goalless.

Recommended Bets:
Back the draw @ 3.3
Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.62
Back the 0-0 half-time draw @ 2.54


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Sunderland fan Jonathan Wilson hopes that Martin O'Neill can keep his team clear of danger this season. Meanwhile, how will the likes of West Ham, Reading and Southampton fare? And can Wigan cheat the drop once again?

How much do stats matter in football? In the first four months of Martin O'Neill's reign at Sunderland most fans were pretty happy. He had taken over at the beginning of December with Sunderland 17th in the league, having taken just 11 points from their first 14 games of the season, 13 of them under Steve Bruce. O'Neill's first 16 matches brought 29 points and lifted them to eighth and the quarter-final of the FA Cup. That was the high point; O'Neill's well-known ability to get moderate sides over-performing seemed to be working again.

But a glance at the Opta stats suggested the optimism was misplaced. They showed that, at that point, Sunderland had had fewer shots under O'Neill -the second worst in the league, despite averaging 1.44 goals per game - than they did under Bruce; that they had less possession (42 percent as opposed to 47 percent) and made fewer passes of which they completed fewer; they put in fewer crosses; and they won a lower percentage of their tackles, although they did make slightly more challenges.

The only two basic metrics in which Sunderland noticeably improved were in the number of fouls committed and in the productivity of their shooting: 19 percent of their shots yielding a goal as opposed to 11 percent before, an improvement from 13th best in the league to second. That might, of course, have meant that they were creating better opportunities before taking a shot, but an awful lot of goals in those first heady days under O'Neill came from long range.

Was that confidence or was it luck? Either way, it didn't seem sustainable and, sure enough, there was a regression to the mean: of the final eight games of the season, Sunderland drew five and lost three. Was that because the sense was that, with relegation avoided and the FA Cup quarter-final lost, the season was over? Or was that an accurate reflection of how good they were?

I speak as a Sunderland fan and I know I am inclined to pessimism, but the summer's transfer activity hasn't exactly been encouraging. So far the only player to arrive is the former Aston Villa centre-back Carlos Cuellar, taking the place vacated by Michael Turner, while there is a clear need for a centre-forward and a left-back and, ideally, a more creative central midfielder, particularly if Stephane Sessegnon is as unsettled as he appears. I don't really think Sunderland will go down, but equally 13.0 seems very long.

The encouraging thing from Sunderland's point of view is that there are an awful lot of sides who could get drawn into trouble. Norwich, Swansea and QPR have shown that it is possible for all of the promoted teams to avoid relegation but with neither Reading 2.44 nor Southampton 2.4 having the sort of backing to make the investments QPR did last January, both of them need a good start.

West Ham 3.3 have eight new additions, Alou Diarra perhaps the most impressive and, with Sam Allardyce's nous, should be alright, but if things start to go wrong, the dissatisfaction at Allardyce's style of play could make Upton Park a poisonous place.

Swansea 3.02, having lost a manager in Brendan Rodgers and key midfielders in Gylfi Sigurdsson and Joe Allen, may struggle; their new manager Michael Laudrup is likable and eloquent but his success at Getafe wasn't matched in subsequent spells at Spartak Moscow and Real Mallorca. Norwich 2.68, similarly, face a test of how much of their success was down to Paul Lambert, now at Aston Villa 7.6.

Wigan, you feel, can't keep cheating the drop indefinitely; even Rasputin died eventually, but given their knack of surviving 2.7 doesn't look generous. And how will West Brom 5.0 react to the departure of Roy Hodgson? Steve Clarke has a good reputation as a number two, but can he upgrade to the main role? And have Stoke 7.0 at last been worked out?


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Jermain Defoe has made the most of limited opportunities in recent years but, with Tottenham under new management, Ralph Ellis reckons we might see a lot more of the England striker this season...


I never imagined there might come a day when I'd turn down the chance to see the Community Shield and watch women's modern pentathlon instead. But then even footballers went Olympics crazy.

Jermain Defoe, for instance, has hardly been on his Twitter account all summer but on Saturday night was suddenly posting pictures of Mo Farah celebrating in front of him on the track at Stratford. "Unreal to witness that live," he said.

It has been a tough summer for Defoe. He had to fly home from Euro 2012 when his father lost his battle with throat cancer, and then in July the family suffered another tragedy when Jermain's cousin Hannah was killed in a freak accident while on holiday in St Lucia.

So if he got the chance to have a great night out in the Olympic Stadium, you certainly can't begrudge him.

Defoe might envy some things about an athlete's life. When Mo wanted to become the world's best, as an individual he was in complete control of his destiny. If he went to America and worked harder, ate the right things, got the right rest, did the right work, it could all come good for him. For a footballer things are never so easy.

A year ago Defoe also took himself abroad to improve his performance. He spent the summer of 2011 in France working with a specialist bodybuilding coach to improve his strength holding up the ball. And when he scored three goals in his first three League games for Tottenham it looked a pretty good move.

But then Harry Redknapp signed Emmanuel Adebayor, and from then on Defoe spent far too much time on the bench to get any benefit from his work. With Rafael van der Vaart floating off the front man he didn't fit the system and it hardly mattered what he did after that. He played half a game here, a few minutes there, and sat watching the rest of the time. Incredibly, he still finished with 11 Premier League goals - and if you add up the minutes on the pitch and divide by 90 then he scored them in just over 14 games.

Redknapp is gone, a new season is looming, efforts to bring back Adebayor have stalled, and Modric may be leaving. All of which would suggest that Defoe - who by the way is still doing his bodybuilding workout every day - might just be about to get some benefit from his dedication. Andre Villas Boas has suggested that there could be more opportunities. And meanwhile Martin O'Neill, who made several attempts to sign him when he was Aston Villa manager, is testing out the possibility of taking him to Sunderland.

Either way it suggests that Defoe will have plenty more game time this season to display his deadly finishing ability, which makes him a standout bet at between 13.5 and 18.0 to finish in the top four Premier League goalscorers.

And he's not the only England striker that the markets seem to have forgotten. Darren Bent also had a disappointing campaign in 2011-12 but has cause for optimism this time.

The Aston Villa striker is another whose goal tally looked bleak last year - he got just nine goals in a struggling side. But injuries meant they came in just 21 games and Bent's career record still runs at roughly a goal every two games in the Premier League (although like Defoe you have to average out the minutes during his time at Tottenham when he also fell foul of Redknapp's selection policies).

Villa's change of style under Paul Lambert will suit him. Last season the sale of wingers Ashley Young and Stewart Downing meant the chances dried up, and it got tougher still as Alex McLeish's side suffered massive injury problems and went into their shell. This time Lambert is promising an adventurous approach and Bent showed he's enjoying life by poaching two goals in the club's final pre-season warm up in Germany on Saturday night.

Bent is 30.0 to win the golden boot, which is a long shot. But on the other hand 7.8 to finish in the top four goalscorers is good value. That's exactly where he's been in two of the last three seasons.


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Paul Krishnamurty advises four outright winner wagers ahead of today's second round at the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island...


On the first day's evidence, Pete Dye has done it again. The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island offered nothing to justify the tag of 'toughest in America', but does seem certain to provide a dramatic, exciting PGA Championship.

All of the dynamics required for optimum In-Play trading conditions are in place - a tightly bunched leaderboard with a market disproportionately dominated by a few big names, changeable weather and a course that offers birdie and bogey potential on every hole, including a finishing stretch made for drama.

There are clear similarities with Dye's last PGA venue, Whistling Straits, which played host in 2004 and 2010. Both went to play-offs, involved bunched, constantly changing leaderboards and naturally, dramatic betting fluctuations. The lesson from both was to 'back high, lay low' on players coming from off the pace. 2010 champion Martin Kaymer came from five back on day one, while play-off loser Bubba Watson started the final day six off the pace.

At least the 87 players currently within seven of leader Carl Pettersson can still win this, but for day two, the best strategy is to focus on players with a decent chance of getting to -7, and therefore a potential halfway lead. That means the 31 players within four of the lead, amongst whom just five - Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley and Graeme McDowell - take out nearly 50% of the entire book. All are respected, but none are infallable by any means, or certain to appreciate today's stiffer breeze.

As nobody is likely to run away with this event, there's little risk in ignoring these big guns for now, whilst retaining the option to get on later on if necessary.

Much of course depends on the weather. If it doesn't rain, the warm Atlantic breeze will dry the greens out and Kiawah Island will begin to truly show it's teeth. Alternatively if, as seems likely, there are thunderstorms at some point, receptive greens will make scoring easier.

According to Windfinder's forecast, early starters will enjoy around 5mph lighter winds, although that advantage is less significant than the first day.

With so many variables, it would be folly to assume a strong bias towards either early or late starters, so my plan is to back two of each. In the morning, Aaron Baddeley and Padraig Harrington are recommended at 40.0 and 60.0 respectively. Both are great wind players and scramblers - arguably the two key ingredients for success here. The firmer and faster it gets, the better for this pair.

Just as Harrington was a pre-tournament tip, Ian Poulter is faring best of my Find Me a 100 Winner picks and is worth pressing up on. A two-under par 70 was a good, solid start - much more so than when staying on for top-tens in the Masters and Open.

On the same score, Thomas Bjorn is also way overpriced at 180.0. Not only does Bjorn have a strong links and wind pedigree from the Open Championship, but he's finished top-three in the PGA twice before.

Of the five players currently within a shot of the lead, only McIlroy started the tournament at less than 100.0. If any of our candidates, all between -2 and -4, take advantage of the early birdie opportunities, they could be soon challenging for the lead.

The trading advice is to stake ten units in total, then place a lay order on each player at 8.0 for 15 units. If we get just one lay order matched, we're guaranteed at least five units profit, plus a further forty-plus if the player goes on to win.


Recommended bets

4u Aaron Baddeley @ 40.0
3u Padraig Harrington @ 60.0
2u Ian Poulter @ 80.0
1u Thomas Bjorn @ 180.0

Place order to lay each player 15u @ 8.0


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Jack Houghton previews the day's Athletics schedule. Could there be a world record in store on the track?


Men's 200m:
It's hard to see why Usain Bolt (1.2) won't confirm 100m-form with Yohan Blake (6.2), but the price is unattractive. I think Christophe Lemaitre (120.0) - whose win at the Crystal Palace Grand Prix in July was the best piece of form shown by any non-Jamaican this season - has a chance at the bronze, but again, the odds are doing nothing to excite me.

Men's 800m:
David Rudisha (1.09) is phenomenal: he broke a long-standing world record in 2010 at the age of 21, and won the World Championships in Daegu last year despite having struggled with injuries earlier in the season. This season he has been on fire, remaining unbeaten and setting the four fastest times in the world for the event, including twice going sub-1.42. That tells us that he is in the kind of form to break his own world record of 1.41.01.

Conventional wisdom tells us, of course, that the days when middle- and long-distance athletes target world records at major championships are a distance memory. But I just have this sneaking feeling that, provided conditions are right, Rudisha is looking to resurrect those halcyon days and attempt to go sub-1.41 in the final. If he goes for it, I reckon he has an even-money chance of being successful, so I'm more than happy to have a speculative interest in the World Record market at 9.4.

In the race itself, it's pointless opposing Rudisha, because only a gross misjudgement on his part, or some kind of accident, can prevent him winning. With that in mind, I wouldn't discourage anyone from lumping on at 1.09, but I don't have the nerve to join you. For those looking for bigger odds, it makes sense to get involved in the Top Three market. Obvious candidates for a medal are Abubaker Kaki (1.93), who followed Rudisha home at the World Championships last year, and the high-profile youngsters, Mohammed Aman (1.4) and Nijel Amos (2.2), but I'm more interested in the 17-year-old Kenyan, Timothy Kitum (4.8), who finished second to Amos at the World Juniors this year, and doesn't need to improve much to secure a place at the medal ceremony.

The medallists here might be decided on the basis of who tries to race Rudisha, and who instead only races for silver. And if the other Africans adopt the latter tactic, it's not impossible that Team GB's Andrew Osagie, and the two Americans, Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds, could sneak a place, but otherwise they should be pleased with having made the final.


Men's Triple Jump:
As reigning world champion and the best in the world this year, Christian Taylor is the most likely winner. He is young, proved he can perform when it matters in Daegu last year - where he became the fifth-best triple jumper on the all-time lists - and could well go over 18.00m in the final. But his odds of around 1.751 are nothing to salivate over, and I'll be looking elsewhere.

Those prohibitive odds are largely the result of the absence of Teddy Tamgho, who was banned for six months by French officials after an "altercation" with a female athlete and who has subsequently been ruled out of the Games with an ankle injury, and the farcical Phillips Idowu situation, which saw him fail to qualify for the final. In the eyes of the market, then, Taylor's closest competitor is William Claye (7.4), but I'm more interested in Lyukman Adams in both the Gold Medal (16.0) and Top Three (2.9) markets. Unbeaten outdoors this year, the young athlete - who is making waves in Russia for being non-white - could spring a surprise against more well-known names.


Recommendations:
1 point back New World Record at 9.4 in Men's 800m.
2 points back of Timothy Kitum at 4.8 to medal in the Men's 800m.
1 point back of Lyukman Adams at 16.0 in Men's Triple Jump.
1 point back of Lyukman Adams at 2.90 to medal in Men's Triple Jump.


For more 2012 Olympics betting articles go to http://betting.betfair.com/betting/2012-olympics/

Back-to-lay
Back Dustin Johnson 6u @ 27.0
Place order to lay 25u @ 4.0
It is safe to say that champagne will be flowing here at betting.betfair should Dustin Johnson win his first major this weekend. Steve Rawlings makes a very strong case for this South Carolina resident gaining revenge for an unlucky defeat at Whistling Straits two years ago. I wholeheartedly agree. My detailed verdict on Johnson and other 29 leading candidates can be found here, but in short, I would rate Dustin the rightful favourite.

My trading advice is to take the 27.0 before it disappears, staking six units, then place a lay order for 25 units at 4.0. If he hits that target, we'll be guaranteed 19 units profit and retain a 'free bet' for a further 62 units should he win.

Back Ernie Els 3u @ 70.0
Back Padraig Harrington 4u @ 50.0
Place order to lay both players 25u @ 6.0
There's even greater agreement amongst the Betfair team that Ernie Els is completely overpriced. It's as if last month's second Open title didn't happen and as Mike Norman explains, the Big Easy will once again have his ideal Open-style conditions.

So, by definition, will another links master and twice Open champion, Padraig Harrington, who looks primed for further majors success after making the top-ten at both the Masters and US Open. If this actually was The Open, with wind forecast to blow around 15mph throughout, both Els and Harrington would be trading at less than half these odds.

Here, the trading plan is to stake seven units in total, then place lay orders on both place for 25 units at 6.0. In this case, either man hitting the first lay target would guarantee 18 units profit, with potentially 50 more to come if one of them wins.

Tournament Matchbets
Back Ernie Els to beat Hunter Mahan 6u @ 1.91
The best match bet of the week also involves Els. When Mahan is finishing seven over par for the Bridgestone, a title he won two years ago, you know his game isn't in great shape. Moreover, Hunter has rarely impressed on a windy links.

Back Luke Donald to beat Tiger Woods 5u @ 2.2
Again, the respective profiles for this pair explain my considerable preference for Donald over Woods in greater detail. Luke's consistency makes him an ideal match betting candidate and he appears to have perfect skill-set for a Pete Dye links-style set-up. In complete contrast, Woods has an appalling record on Dye courses by his standards, missing the top-20 in both PGAs at Whistling Straits and rarely performing well at Sawgrass.

Top-10 Finish
5u Dustin Johnson @ 4.0
3u Padraig Harrington @ 6.0
3u Ernie Els @ 6.6
2u Sergio Garcia 8.8
1u Aaron Baddeley @ 16.5
1u Davis Love @ 19.5

My strategy in the top-ten market is basically to get onside with the best Open Championship players. The career stats in that major, or at other links courses, of Johnson, Harrington, Els and Garcia bear no relation to these highly attractive odds. Baddeley doesn't have anything like their Open pedigree, but is a wind specialist and finished like a train last week. Finally, 1997 PGA champion Davis Love has the all-time best record on Dye layouts and a fine Open record. Just one winner amongst our team of six would more than cover the 15 unit outlay.


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There have been developments over the last 24 hours in each of the three leading Premier League transfer sagas...

Robin van Persie
Arsenal's goal-getter is keeping fans waiting regarding his future, but the weight of gossip is shifting towards a potential change of heart from the want away striker, who is 2.4 to stay at The Emirates. His inclusion in The Gunners' pre-season jaunt to Germany follows the news that Serie A champions Juventus have set an August 7 deadline for his transfer to be concluded. With Roberto Mancini admitting that it is highly unlikely that Manchester City will be the Dutchman's next port of call, it's looking like Old Trafford or bust for RVP, who is nonetheless 1.5 to leave his current club.

Luka Modric
Modric continues to train alone as another summer of transfer discontent drags on for the Spurs playmaker, a juicy 5.14 to see out the window at White Hart Lane. Since chairman Daniel Levy has refused to entertain offers below his asking price, La Liga kingpins Real Madrid have thus far been thwarted in their attempts to sign the Croatian. However, with The Guardian reporting Real assistant coach Aitor Karanka as confident declaring that "the club would be happy to sell if they get the right money", the deal is by no means dead in the water and Modric is favoured at 1.13 to be packing his bags in the near future.

Andy Carroll
Carroll looks set to ignore pleas from friend and mentor Kevin Nolan to join his ex-Newcastle team mate at West Ham as news filters through that Sam Allardyce has admitted defeat in his bid to the striker. Despite the east London club being willing to break their wage structure to sign the hulking Geordie, ESPN report Carroll was not even tempted by the prospect of an eight-year deal worth an estimated £36 million. With few reports of interest from other suitors at home or abroad besides Newcastle, Liverpool's £35 million hit man is 1.34 to end the window at Anfield.


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Another week of competition begins at London 2012. Many events are just beginning, but there are still medals to be won today and Richard O'Hagan previews the best of them...


Beth Tweddle has won gold at every major championship except one. The Olympics. Today she has a chance to put that right in the final of the asymetric bars competition. After the men's team racked up three medals (two bronze and a silver) the women are desperate to win a medal of their own. Tweddle, former world champion on this piece of apparatus, represents their best chance of doing. It is her last Olympics and there would be no more fitting send-off for the 27-year-old than a medal in the event for which she is rekowned. She's a 2.3 chance to win gold, but in that market the best bet is overall winner Gabrielle Douglas of the USA. This is not her best event, but 8.2 is too good a price to pass up on, especially considering her fine all round peformances here in London.

Also going for gold in the gymnastics will be Kristian Thomas in the men's vault. South Korea's Hak Seong Yang is a 1.82 favourite and Thomas is out at 7.2, which reflects their relative standings in the world order. You should therefore look to back Thomas in the 'top three' market instead, because although bronze would be an overachievement for him, overachievement is what the British gymnastic team has been all about so far.

Also gunning for gold will be Jason Kenny in the men's sprint cycling. He faces the surprise of the cycle events, Trinidad and Tobago's Njsane Nicholas Philip in the semi final, which should prove no problem, but in the final he is likely to face 3.3 second favourite Gregory Bauge of France. Bauge is a formidable competitor and whilst Kenny is favourite should anyone be able to push him into a mistake it is Bauge.

At the end of the day Britain's team captain, Dai Green, goes in the final of the men's 400m hurdle. He had a terrible semi-final and had to qualify as a fastest loser from a race he should have won easily. The advantage of that is that it has pushed his price right out to 13.0 in the gold medal market and 2.52 to take a medal. He doesn't look in the sort of form to beat his great rival Javier Coulson of Puerto Rico, but if he runs as well as he had done before that semi-final he could well slip into one of the medal places.

Recommended Bet: Back Gabrielle Douglas for gold on the asymetrical bars at odds of 8.2

For me 2012 Olympics betting articles go to http://betting.betfair.com/betting/2012-olympics/

It is hard to believe that we are already a week into the Olympics. Today sees the start of the Athletics, with some big British hopes in action. There are some exciting finals elsewhere, too. Richard O'Hagan previews it all.


This time last week we were still looking forward to the opening ceremony and wondering if, well, it was going to be a bit rubbish. The only competitors to have seen any action at all were footballers and archers. So much has happened since then that it is hard to remember that it was only seven days ago. And yet there is the sense that things are only just getting started.

For the daddy of all events, the athletics, it all begins today, albeit with a reduced programme. Only two gold medals - the men's hammer and the women's 10,000m, will be decided, but some British medal hopes begin their competition. Jessica Ennis has the hurdles, high jump, shot putt and 200m elements of the heptathlon to get through and will be looking to lead the event by some distance, knowing that her second day is much weaker than her first. She's currently at 1.81 but faces some stiff competition, with reigning indoor champion Nataliya Dobrynska looking a particularly good bet at 7.0.

GB captain Dai Greene also gets underway, with the heats of the men's 400m hurdles. He looks a good bet at 4.0 for an event which he has been dominant in for the last couple of years.

Over in the Velodrome there are chances for Britain to add to their gold medal tally as the men's pursuit team go for victory. After breaking the world record in qualification they are a mere 1.11 but after the disqualification dramas of day one of the track cycling it might be worth considering second favourites Australia at 11.0 as well. Victoria Pendleton will hope to put the events of yesterday behind her as she goes for gold in the Women's Keirin (the slightly bonkers event where the entire field chases a motorcycle for all but the last couple of laps). She's currently 4.6 for that event but after missing out in the team sprint she'll be a lot fresher than she would have been and is therefore a serious candidate for gold.

You can tell how busy a day it is going to be when Katherine Grainger's attempt to finally win a gold medal on the water is relegated to the end of a column. Great Britain are 1.2 favourites to win that double sculls.

Last of all, at around 1925hrs, Becky Adlington will hope to retain her 800m freestyle crown in the pool. She's the fastest qualifier and a huge favourite at odds of 1.44

Recommended Bet: Victoria Pendleton to win the women's keirin at odds of 4.6


For me 2012 Olympics betting articles go to http://betting.betfair.com/betting/2012-olympics/

Michael Lintorn expects Liverpool to prove too strong for their Belarusian hosts but not humiliate them...


Gomel v Liverpool, Thursday 19:00, Premier Sports, Match odds: Gomel 10.5, Liverpool 1.41, The Draw 4.7

The first opportunity to check out Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool in a competitive environment arrives on Thursday evening as they visit Gomel, the third-placed team in the Belarusian Premier League, in a Europa League qualifier.

It seems reasonable to assume that the side put out by Kenny Dalglish's successor won't offer an entirely accurate impression of what to expect in 2012/13 though, as only one signing has been completed so far and three of his four senior strikers won't be involved.

While Fabio Borini, who has more cause than the rest of the travelling party to be genuinely excited about this match given a past affinity to the city, is available, Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy are away on Olympics duty and Andy Carroll hasn't travelled, reportedly due to a groin strain.

In addition to being enthused by the opportunity to compete in European competition for the first time in his brief managerial career, Rodgers is hopeful that an early start to the season will help Liverpool, allowing them to adjust to their new style before the domestic business begins.

Though far from household names, Gomel possess a fair amount of continental experience. They have participated six times before but this is the first occasion that they have progressed through two rounds, conceding only once in the process.

The Reds have scored just six goals in their last ten Europa League away games - and never more than two in one fixture in that period - so though they should justify short odds on them triumphing, this is unlikely to be an emphatic success.

Under 2.5 goals is an appetising 1.93 and the 2-0 scoreline that they won both legs by at this stage two years ago against Macedonian club Rabotnicki is 7.2 to be replicated.

Best Bet: Back under 2.5 goals @ 1.93
Other Recommended Bet: Back Liverpool to win 2-0 @ 7.2


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