Champion trainer Paul Nicholls was more than surprised to see Taranis return to the track after a 766-day absence to win the Argento Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday and was thrilled to report that the nine-year-old was ‘absolutely fine’ on Sunday.

The former Ryanair Chase winner is now available at 20/1 for the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup after his six-length success over Carruthers (50/1), and Nicholls believes that Taranis will give market leaders Kauto Star (5/4) and Denman (15/8) a run for their money.

“He’s a very good horse, but to say I am surprised is an understatement,” Nicholls said after the win. “He’ll go straight for the Gold Cup now. Obviously Kauto and Denman are out in front but if this fellow improves a bit, and he should, he won’t be far behind them.”

Speaking on Sunday, Nicholls was delighted to report no problems after such a long lay-off.

“Obviously we were absolutely thrilled with him and it is always fantastic when a horse comes back so well after such a long time off,” he said.

“It’s even better news that he is absolutely fine this morning.”

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Manchester United demonstrated their title credentials on Sunday with a convincing 3-1 victory at rivals Arsenal to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table to one point.

On his third successive start for the Red Devils, who are now priced at 2/1 to make it four titles on the bounce, Luis Nani proved to be a constant thorn in the Gunners’ side and his brilliance set United on their way, although his deft chip was turned into his own net by Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia.

The Gunners, who have drifted to 9/1 for glory this season, were given a taste of their own medicine just minutes later when a swift counter saw Nani run half the length of the pitch before setting up Wayne Rooney for his 100th Premier League goal.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men sealed the victory just seven minutes after the restart when Ji-Sung Park was allowed to run through on goal from the half-way line before cooly slotting past Almunia, while Thomas Vermaelen grabbed a late consolation with a deflected strike from the edge of the box.

Leaders Chelsea remain strong favourites at 4/7 to regain the title and have the chance to pull four points clear when they travel to relegation-threatened Hull on Tuesday night to play their game in hand.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men are odds-on favourites to land the spoils at the KC Stadium, with the Tigers available at 8/1 and the draw at 7/2.

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John Higgins believes he is playing as well as he ever has done heading into Sunday’s final of the Welsh Open against defending champion Ali Carter (15/8 to beat Higgins in the match result market).

The world champion had to twice come from behind in his semi-final against Ronnie O’Sullivan, winning the final three frames against the world number one to take the match 6-4.

O’Sullivan (3/1 to win the 2010 World Championship) had led 2-1 and then 4-3 in the evening session at the Newport Centre before his form seemed to desert him and the Shanghai Masters winner went half an hour without potting a ball.

Higgins (66/1 to whitewash Carter in the frame betting) made a tournament-high break of 138 in the fourth before showing his battling qualities to take the subsequent frames after the rocket had taken the lead for the second time.

The Scot will now face Carter in the final, a man he has never lost to, and says he is keen to add the Welsh Open to his trophy cabinet.

“I feel as good as I ever have and feel confident in my game,” said Higgins.

“I’ve lost in a couple of semi-finals so I’m hoping I can win this one. Ali is next door to me in the hotel so I’ll keep the television on all night to try and put him off.”

Carter, who beat Joe Swail in last year’s final, came through a much more straight forward semi-final against Stephen Maguire.

The 30-year-old opened up a 3-0 lead over Maguire and despite a late fight back by the world number two booked his place in Sunday’s final with a 6-3 victory.

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Jamie O’Hara says he is up for a relegation battle with Portsmouth (2/9 to go down in the relegation market) after re-joining the club on loan for the rest of the season.

The midfielder spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Fratton Park, making a big impression down on the south coast, and has now returned from Tottenham (11/4 to be league winners without the big four) to finish the job of helping Pompey stay up.

After another traumatic week for the financial stricken club, which has seen their players not paid again and the sale of Younes Kaboul go through, Avram Grant takes his side to Eastlands on Sunday to face Manchester City (8/11 to beat Pompey with a minus one handicap).

City are likely to be desperate to get back to winning ways after being knocked out of the Carling Cup in mid week by bitter rivals Manchester United and will see the visit of Portsmouth as a perfect opportunity to pick up a much needed three points.

Rock bottom Portsmouth are 11/1 to get a win at Eastlands this weekend with Grant likely to struggle to fill his bench with players thin on the ground at Fratton Park.

Despite their current dilemmas O’Hara believes Pompey are good enough to avoid relegation and says no matter what happens he will battle on until the bitter end.

“I would much rather come here, have a scrap and if we go down, at least I can hold my head up high and say I’ve done my bit for the club,” said O’Hara when asked why he had re-joined Pompey.

“But we’ve got a good squad and we’ve got to believe that we can get out of trouble.”

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Andy Murray (13/10 to win – match coupon) is preparing to take on Roger Federer in the Australian Open final and has admitted he will need to play better than ever to beat the Swiss star.

Murray has never won a Grand Slam, compared to the 15 titles that Federer (8/13 to win – match coupon) owns, and is competing in only his second final.

The 22-year-old world number five has only dropped one set on course to the Australian Open final and could be buoyed by the fact he has beaten Federer six times in ten matches, but stated he is aware of the challenge which awaits him at Melbourne Park on Sunday.

Murray (11/2 to win 3-2 – match coupon) said: “I’m going to need to play my best match ever. That’s what I plan on doing. I’ll try and play my best. If I do, I’ve got a good chance of winning.”

“I think if I play my best I’ve got a good chance against anyone. At the top of any sport it can come down to a few points here or there, sometimes a little bit of luck.”

World number one Federer (11/4 to win 3-0 – match coupon) recently came out and said the pressure was more on Murray than himself because he is looking for his maiden Grand Slam title, but claimed this match may not be as tough mentally for the Scot than their meeting in the 2008 US Open final.

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Sir Alex Ferguson thinks three teams are now embroiled in a battle for the Premier League title and his side’s clash with Arsenal (6/4 to win – match coupon) could be pivotal as to where the trophy is going to go.

The Manchester United (7/4 to win, 23/10 draw – match coupon) manager has seen themselves, Arsenal and Chelsea start to pull away at the top of the Premier League and he thinks nothing is settled as of yet.

Ferguson takes his side to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and is having to do without Rio Ferdinand, who is starting a four match ban for failing in an appeal against a ban for violent conduct.

The Scottish manager has said there is now consistency being shown by the top three now, which has seen them pull away from Aston Villa, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool.

“There are more points being dropped by those trying to get the fourth position than those in the top three now, which makes it very competitive,” said Ferguson.

“Fourth looks like a league of its own. You cannot dismiss any of them. But I don’t think anything is settled. We are not certain to win the league. Neither are Chelsea or Arsenal. But we have all got a chance.”

Arsenal could give a second Premier League debut to former England defender Sol Campbell (12/1 Anytime Goalscorer) in the crunch tie as Thomas Vermaelen is struggling with a leg injury sustained in the midweek draw against Aston Villa.

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Ronnie O’Sullivan (11/8 favourite Welsh Open - Outright) passed up a golden opportunity to reach 10 career maximum breaks on his way to securing a place in the semi-finals of the totesport.com Welsh Open.

The world number one is locked on nine 147 total clearances in professional tournaments with Stephen Hendry and twice, in his 5-2 win against Mark Allen in the last eight, missed chances to clear.

His first miss came in the fourth frame when he potted 11 reds and 11 blacks and then, in the next, the 34-year-old cleared 15 reds and 15 blacks, but having potted the yellow he missed the green.

O’Sullivan later said: “I wasn’t quite straight on it and had to pinch a bit of the pocket.”

O’Sullivan needed just 55 minutes to beat Jamie Cope on Thursday and this time prevailed after 68 minutes when Allen waved a handkerchief on the end of his cue in reaction to breaks of 92, 88, 90 and 50 on top of a century from the three-time world champion.

O’Sullivan, who will now play world champion John Higgins (O’Sullivan 4/7 Higgins 5/4 - match betting), added: “I was pleased with my performance, it was a professional display. Mark is a top player and he will win lots of matches so I’m pleased to get through.”

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Mervyn King (10/1 second favourite - Players’ Championship Outright) fought back from the brink of defeat to secure a remarkable victory over world number three James Wade at the totesport.com Players’ Championship in round one – then declared “I don’t care who I play next”.

‘The King’ was trailing 5-2 and poised for an early exit at the Circus Tavern when he reeled off four successive legs to set up a second-round showdown with Jelle Klassen (King 4/7 Klassen 5/4 - match betting) of the Netherlands.

Wade, a semi-finalist at the event in 2009, looked to have wrapped up a comfortable win when he edged ahead at the interval with a 65 checkout and then raced into a three-leg cushion.

However, King broke Wade’s throw twice to take the match into a sudden-death leg, which he took with a nerveless 14-darter.

King, who averaged 102.18, said: “I felt comfortable, he shouldn’t have been 5-2 up. I should have been 4-1 up at the break in my mind.

“I was thinking ‘what is going on here’ but I dug in and thankfully James missed a couple of shots to let me back in.”

He added: “I don’t care who I play next, if I go up there and play as well as I can do I’ll win, if I don’t it does get a bit scary sometimes.”

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Phil Taylor (4/11 Outright) admits he has some improvements to make despite starting the defence of his totesport.com Players Championship with a routine 6-2 win over Peter Manley on Thursday.

Taylor powered into a 4-0 lead before losing the next two legs at the Circus Tavern but he eventually proved too strong and will take his place in the second round.

‘The Power’ said afterwards: “I’ll have to improve throughout the tournament but I’m through and that’s all that mattered.

“At 4-0 I could feel Peter coming back at me but I dug in and ground out the win.”

The first round concludes on Friday evening in Purfleet before Taylor returns to action on Saturday against Terry Jenkins (25/1 Outright).

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Chelsea (4/6 Half-Time/Full-Time) will still be without the Ivory Coast duo of Didier Drogba and Saloman Kalou at Burnley (8/1 to win) on Saturday evening despite their return from the African Cup of Nations.

The forward pair will not be considered until the trip to Hull next week as they re-integrate with their Stamford Bridge team-mates who surged back to the top of the Premier League table on Wednesday night.

Midfielder John Obi Mikel is still away in Angola with Nigeria, who will face Algeria in the third-place play-off, while Brazilian Juliano Belletti is still out with knee trouble as is Michael Essien.

The Clarets signed Celtic left-back Danny Fox on Friday but did not beat the deadline for the former Coventry man to be available for an instant debut.

Recently-appointed Turf Moor chief Brian Laws has doubts over Graham Alexander and Chris McCann while Steven Caldwell is out with groin trouble.

The Blues were 3-0 winners at Stamford Bridge back in August with the goals coming from Nicolas Anelka (10/3 First Goalscorer), Michael Ballack (8/1) and Ashley Cole (20/1).