Football Predictions | SoccerAss

Manchester City needed a last-minute goal from Paul Dickov to clamber out of the third-tier of English football just 11 years ago, but after spending many millions now stand on the precipice of winning the Premier League (5/1).

Goalkeeper
City are spoilt for choice here, with two of the league’s best keepers to pick from. 34-year-old Shay Given is described by manager Roberto Mancini as “one of the best five goalkeepers in the world”, while Joe Hart made the PFA team of the year for his displays between the sticks at Birmingham City.

Defence
The signing of Jerome Boateng will sure up an area City were weak in last term, having conceded 45 league goals. Able to play anywhere across the back, the 21-year-old has all the coolness you would expect from a German defender.

Serbia’s Aleksandar Kolarov is sure to follow from Lazio, displacing Wayne Bridge at left-back, and Mancini will hope a £17million price tag doesn’t look as exorbitant as the fees for Jolean Lescott and Kolo Toure after each had disappointing seasons.

Indeed, those two will need to improve if City are to finish in the top four (1/2), especially with Pablo Zabaleta not looking top quality on the right.

Midfield
Clever signing shave been made in this department. Securing defensive midfielder Yaya Toure from Barcelona was impressive, as was the swoop for Valencia winger David Silva – the pair are real top quality

A Toure and Nigel De Jong partnership would be near impenetrable, given the former’s slick passing and the latter’s dogged tackling. Gareth Barry could be pushed further forward, while Patrick Vieira would be a reliable replacement.

Despite not featuring much at the World Cup, Silva is a big player for a Spanish side who have conquered all in recent years. An ability to play on either wing will be important and problems for opposition defences should follow if he and Adam Johnson switch flanks during games.

Attack
Carlos Tevez had a remarkably productive year last season, scoring 29 goals in 40 games. He is 11/1 to win the Premier League Golden Boot.

Despite City’s attack grabbing a scorching 73 goals in the league, he and Emmanuel Adebayor don’t look quite right as a partnership, and Mancini would do well to get target Mario Balotelli in.

With a squad brimming with potential, Mancini really does have genuine title hopes. But whether he can blend all these elements into a cohesive team is a big question, suggesting they will fall short. See the full Premier League market betting.

Three of the summer’s long-running transfer stories progressed further today as it emerged that Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano is ready to demand a move from Anfield.

Aston Villa’s James Milner is amazingly refuting Martin O’Neill’s claims that the England man wants a switch to Manchester City, and Nemanja Vidic is to be offered an improved contract at Manchester United.

The twists in the latter two cases directly contradict news reported yesterday, when each of the club’s bosses appeared open to the possibility of the players leaving – making Villa’s chances of a top four spot, at 9/1, and the prospect of seeing United win the title, at 2/1, seem less likely.

Mascherano’s demands, however, were to be expected, with new gaffer Roy Hodgson revealing earlier this week that the Argentina midfielder had not yet returned any of his calls.

Reports say that Mascherano is ready to ask for a transfer to push through his proposed move from Merseyside to Inter Milan.

Ex-Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez’s Inter are unwilling to offer the £30million that the 18-times league champions want (14/1 to win it this year) and instead they intend to put forward £20million with former Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari thrown in as a makeweight.

Such a deal could prove attractive to Hodgson, who would swap a wantaway player for one of proven Premier League quality, while at the same time amassing a big pot of money to bring in new signings. Hodgson is 20/1 to win the Champions League with Liverpool.

Meanwhile, a friend of Milner has responded to the Villa manager’s statement yesterday that the PFA young player of the year wanted to leave the club by saying: “James has never asked to leave Aston Villa”. Villa are 15/8 to finish in the top six.

Milner is seeking talks with O’Neill to rectify the situation amid reports that City (5/1 to win the league) are ready to offer £24million for the former Leeds United youth.

Elsewhere, United are close to offering Vidic a new £90,000-a-week deal in an attempt to steer him away from the clutches of Real Madrid.

Such is manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s desire to keep the player, he will break with contract protocol to persuade the Serb to stay at Old Trafford.

Maintaining Vidic, with whom United have a markedly better record when in the team, would increase the club’s 6/1 chances of winning the Champions League.

See the full Premier League betting market.

Having spurned the chance to become Fulham manager, Ajax boss Martin Jol now turns his attention to another London club, as his Dutch side prepare to take on Chelsea.

Jol was convinced to stay at Ajax having been assured that the club would do its best to keep star players such as Luis Suarez and Gregory Van Der Wiel.

And Uruguay striker Suarez could be a particularly prickly thorn in the side for Chelsea’s defence. Ajax are 3/1 to win the match at the Amsterdam Arena.

At 8/11 to claim victory, Chelsea are favourites for the tie, and they could give their new signing Yossi Benayoun a run-out in midfield.

At 1am on Saturday, Manchester City face Sporting Lisbon, and Roberto Mancini’s big-spenders are 8/11 to beat their Portuguese opponents.

This match is part of a partnership between the two clubs, where Manchester City have the first option to sign Sporting Lisbon players.

In striking this deal, City have taken over from a partnership previously held by their rivals Manchester United, who had signed Cristiano Ronaldo as part of their affiliation with Sporting.

Paris Saint Germain meet Legia Warsaw in another of today’s European friendly matches, and the French club are 4/7 favourites to win.

Back in Britain, meanwhile, Crystal Palace take on Exeter City at Selhurst Park, where Palace are 5/6 to defeat their League One opponents.

You can bet on Exeter to claim a surprising victory at 5/2, and the Grecians will buoyed by last season’s narrow escape from relegation to League Two.

Will Ajax’s match with Chelsea be too close to call? The draw is 12/5. See the full Ajax vs Chelsea market.

James Milner wants to leave Aston Villa, and his manager Martin O’Neill has vowed not to stand in the player’s way should the club receive the right offer.

Villa have already turned down a bid of £20m from Manchester City, and they are thought to be holding out for a fee in the region of £30m.

Since arriving at Villa Park from Newcastle in 2008 for £12m, Milner has broken into the England squad and has become an integral part of the Villa midfield.

Losing Milner would be a blow to Villa, who are 15/8 to finish in the top six this season.

The England midfielder’s departure would also represent the second defection from Villa Park to Eastlands in successive seasons, following Gareth Barry’s move to Manchester City last summer.

“I had a conversation with James before the World Cup and he intimated that he’d like to go,” said O’Neill. “I’d imagine things will be resolved in the foreseeable future.”

Manchester City, who are 4/7 to claim a top four spot, are reluctant to bid more than £25m for Milner, and they could offer their midfielder Stephen Ireland to Villa as a makeweight in the deal.

Ireland would be a useful replacement for Milner in the heart of Villa’s midfield, and O’Neill could use the remaining funds to bolster a squad which is priced at 9/1 to secure a surprise place in the top four.

Aston Villa lost the Carling Cup final to Manchester United last season. Can they go one better this time around? See the full Carling Cup market.

Harry Redknapp has made the bold claim that his Tottenham Hotspur side will be challenging for the league title this season.

The Spurs boss can back that up with a wager, with odds of 28/1 on the White Hart Lane club to finish the Premier League in first.

Redknapp said: “We could contend for the title. We’ve got the players. We’ve got to aim for it. We could win it, it’s not impossible.

“Some people might look at what we achieved last season and say it was a flash in the pan. We have to prove them wrong and really go for it.”

After finishing fourth and qualifying for the Champions League, which Spurs are 33/1 to win, Redknapp’s assessment isn’t misguided.

Yet Tottenham have not won the league for 49 years and would have needed to pick up 17 more points to have claimed the trophy last season.

And while they demonstrated title-winning class in beating Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool at home, they also lost to Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Lane.

However, Redknapp’s talent is in his motivation and such self-belief could invigorate his players.

“Last year we started by saying we wanted to finish in the top four and got there,” the manager said.

“If you don’t aim for things, you’ve got no chance and the status quo will remain – with the big-spending teams winning everything.”

He continued: “Manchester City will be a massive factor in the title race because of the amount of investment they are making – and will continue to make until they win the title.”

A victory over City, who Spurs pipped to fourth, on the opening day of the season (a 6/5 chance) would be a great start to fulfilling Redknapp’s prophecy.

He added: “There are two, three players I want and they will make a big difference.”

Can the Tottenham players rally to Redknapp’s forthright view? Spurs are 15/1 to be the team with the highest points total at the end of the season, if given a +16 handicap.