Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has confirmed he is likely to try and sign a new defender in January to compensate for the loss of Joleon Lescott to knee surgery and Kolo Toure to the African Nations Cup (Man City 4/9 draw 13/5 Sunderland 6/1 match bets).

Hughes, speaking after the 3-0 Premier League defeat by Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, revealed 27-year-old Lescott underwent an operation at the beginning of the week to remove floating bone.

The England international is expected to miss the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg against cross-city rivals United at Eastlands on January 6 (Man City 9/4 Carling Cup - Outright).

Hughes will also be missing fellow first-choice centre-back Toure when he leaves for the African Nations Cup in January.

“We’ve lost Joleon for six to eight weeks, that is a big loss to us and comes on the back of losing Kolo Toure for the African Nations Cup,” he said.

“So it doesn’t leave much thinking about in terms of what we probably need in January.”

Don’t miss your chance to check out Totesport.com’s upcoming Premier League coupon and ante-post football betting opportunities.

England spinner Graeme Swann has defended Andrew Strauss’ decision to bowl on the first day of the first test against South Africa (13/10 to beat England on the Test match coupon).

The tourists made a bright start to the day with Stuart Broad dismissing Proteas skipper Graeme Smith for a nine ball duck with just one run on the board.

However, England (5/1 to beat South Africa in the cricket betting) were made to toil in the field for the rest of the day with the home side reaching 262-4 at stumps on a flat Centurion wicket.

Jacques Kallis (5/4 to be the next man out) was the star for South Africa as he made 112 not out and didn’t look troubled, even when England took the new ball at the end of the day.

Strauss is likely to come in for some criticism for his decision to bowl first, but Swann says the rest of the England team were behind their captain.

“I think we were justified bowling first. It looked green and seemed a bit damp yesterday so we were all behind the decision,” said Swann.

“No-one said Test cricket was easy. We’ve stuck in, taken four wickets and they’ve not got away from us. South Africa is renowned for good batting pitches so there’s a lot of hard work to come.”

England will be desperate to take some quick wickets at the start of day two to avoid South Africa racking up a big total.

Don’t forget to check out Totesport.com for all the Test series betting on England against South Africa.

Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole says he is worried the Black Cats (80/1 to win the Premier League without the big four) season could take a turn for the worse if they don’t get back to winning ways.

The Wearside club have won just twice in their last nine matches, coming up short against Aston Villa (100/1 to win the league outright) on Tuesday night, their third defeat in four games.

While Sunderland are still comfortably in middle table Cattermole has hinted that there is a fear they could be dragged into a relegation dogfight if they are not careful.

Steve Bruce’s side travel to Manchester City (9/4 to beat Tottenham on the midweek coupon) on Saturday with Cattermole hoping to make his first start since October.

Much of Sunderland’s recent poor form has been linked with the midfielder’s absent, although Cattermole dismisses this notion and says he will do his best to help the Black Cats get back on track.

“We’re in a tricky situation where it could go either way for us,” said Cattermole.

“I think quite a lot has been made of me missing games and that we have not won as many games, but we have had some tough games. I will do my best now I’m back to help the team get back on track.

“Hopefully we can keep things tight at Man City on Saturday and come away with something.

“We need to get back to winning ways and become more solid and harder to beat.”

Don’t forget to check out Totesport.com’s midweek coupon and antepost football betting. 

Defending champion Phil Taylor (1/3 to win the tournament on darts coupon) has been drawn to play Colin Monk in the first round of the PDC World Championship.

The 12-time world champion will go head-to-head with the qualifier from Basingstoke at Alexandra Palace in London on December 18th.

World number two Raymond van Barneveld (10/1 to win the title on coupon) has been drawn to face Warren Parry from New Zealand, while the 2008 champions John Part (100/1 to lift the trophy on coupon) will play Holland’s Toon Greebe in the first round.

Taylor recently looked impressive while winning the Grand Slam of Darts title for the third year in succession but said he is looking for ways to improve his game, such as clipping his flights to make them more aerodynamic.

He told The Mirror: “I’m always exploring ways of making myself better, trying to stay ahead of the pack.

“In 99.99 per cent of cases, they don’t work and I feel like I’m a mad professor. But trimming those flights gives you more room to squeeze three darts into a confined area of two square centimetres – and it works.”

The main ingredient to being a world champions is all in the player’s head despite what changes they make to their game, added ‘The Power’.

Don’t miss any betting opportunities from the PDC World Championship on Totesport.com.

Graeme Smith thinks his South Africa side (8/13 to win the series on outright coupon) have a better bowling attack than England for the upcoming Test series.

The South African captain believes England (11/4 to win the series, 7/2 draw on coupon) are missing the element of surprise in their bowling options and they have selected a “conservative” attack for the series which starts in Centurion on Wednesday.

England have been suffering with injury concerns and the selectors called James Tredwell into the touring party this week.

Smith thinks the absence of Durham pace bowler Steve Harmison removes some of the surprise from the English bowling attack, despite all of the tourist’s main bowlers being fit.

He told The Guardian: “They have gone for steady bowlers – reliable people they can trust to do a certain job. But they haven’t picked a Harmison, who can offer pace and bounce. They don’t have that in their squad.”

The Proteas captain added that England also rely too much on their opening batsman, particularly skipper Andrew Strauss, as he looked to stoke the fires ahead of the first Test (South Africa 6/5, England 14/5 to win the Test on coupon).

Assistant manager Mike Phelan has accepted Manchester United will have to get used to a more open Premier League title race this season (Manchester United 12/5 Premier League - Outright).

A 1–0 defeat by Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday means the champions trail leaders Chelsea by three points ahead of Tuesday’s visit of Wolves (Man United 1/6 draw 5/1 Wolves 10/1 match bets).

The result was perhaps not that surprising given that the visitors had arrived in good form to end a 26-year wait for maximum points at Old Trafford and on a weekend of coupon busters.

Chelsea could only manage a 3-3 draw against injury-hit Everton, Tottenham were beaten –0 at home to Wolves and Manchester City were held 3-3 by Bolton on their travels.

Only Villa and Arsenal emerged with any credit and Phelan is convinced there will be  more drama along the way.

“The competition is of a higher standard this year,” he said.

“There are a lot more good players about and plenty of good teams who are very well organised.

“There is nothing easy and every team will drop points.”

Don’t miss your chance to check out Totesport.com’s midweek Premier League coupon and ante-post betting opportunities.

John Terry has told his Chelsea team-mates to put their bottom lips away and concentrate on getting their Premier League title charge back on track against Portsmouth (Chelsea 1/6 draw 5/1 Portsmouth 10/1 match bets) at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

The west London club moved three points clear of champions Manchester United at the weekend thanks to a 1-0 win by Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

But a 3-3 home draw against injury-hit Everton means the Blues have now not won in four games and have been knocked out the Carling Cup (Chelsea 4/7 Premier League - Outright).

England captain Terry denied Chelsea were having a wobble and said they were still in pole position to claim the top domestic prize.

“I keep hearing that the top teams will win fewer points and suffer more defeats this time around, and, because we’ve already suffered three losses, people buy into that argument. I don’t,” he said.

Terry said his team-mates had no time to sulk and demanded they pick themselves up for the midweek visit of basement club Pompey.

He added: “We need to keep at the level we have set. There is no rest in football, we have to be prepared and perform at the highest level all the time.”

Don’t miss your chance to check out Totesport.com’s midweek Premier League coupon and ante-post betting opportunities.

Carlo Ancelotti has dismissed talk of a Chelsea crisis (4/7 favourites to win the title with ToteSport) following more dropped points at home to Everton on Saturday.
Ancelotti was asked after the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge whether he felt his side were in a mini-crisis as they struggle for form, with the high-scoring game leaving the Blues without a win in four.

But the Italian coach rejected any talk of a slump, insisting the draw was down to basic defensive mistakes.

“Who can say we are in crisis?” asked Ancelotti. “I don’t think so. I want to be objective and when I look at the game and the way we played I saw that my team played very well.

“We didn’t win because of mistakes at set-pieces. But we played very well for 90 minutes with intensity and good concentration.

“We created a lot of chances to score and were unlucky today. I am happy because Chelsea played very well for 90 minutes, (but) I am unhappy with the result. I didn’t have to say anything to my players because they did the maximum.

Everton, meanwhile, gave a fantastic account of themselves considering the injuries which had decimated David Moyes’ side and the Scot paid tribute to his players’ efforts in London.

“For the team that we brought here today to get a result was top notch,” he said.  “To come to what is probably the best team in the league with the players we have missing and draw is a great effort.

“We know were up against it at the moment but when we get players back we’ll be a match for most teams.”

Sir Alex Ferguson thinks Manchester United still have a great chance of winning the Premier League title despite missing out on an opportunity to draw level at the top (United 12/5 to win the title on Totesport outright coupon).

Chelsea (4/7 to win the Premier League on coupon) could only manage a 3-3 draw against an injury-hit Everton side on Saturday afternoon, however United slipped up on a chance to catch up win their title rivals as they lost 1-0 to Aston Villa.

A goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor was enough to give Villa (5/2 to win Premier League w/o traditional big four on coupon) victory and see them rise to third place in the Premier League.

Ferguson said after the game his side deserved to get something out of it as they bombarded Brad Friedel’s goal during the second half but failed to take any of the chances that fell their way.

The Scotsman told ESPN the defeat will not necessarily damage his side’s Premier League title bid.

“It’s not an easy league. I say that time and time again,” said Ferguson.

“If we get to January within touching distance of the leaders then we’re in with a great chance.”

With Chelsea and United both dropping points, Liverpool and Arsenal will both be looking to gain ground on their big four rivals with a victory at Anfield (Liverpool 5/4, Arsenal 11/5 for victory, 9/4 draw on match coupon).

Arsenal (7/1 for the title on coupon) are suffering with an injury crisis for their trip to Merseyside, while Liverpool (33/1 to win the Premier League on coupon) are set to be boosted by the return of Fernando Torres after six weeks out.

Arsene Wenger has said he is convinced his Arsenal players have recovered from recent successive defeats and is optimistic they are still in the race for the Premier League title (Arsenal 8/1 Premier League - Outright).

The Gunners head to Anfield on Sunday for a crunch clash against Liverpool (Liverpool 5/4 draw 9/4 Arsenal 11/5 match bets) eight points behind leaders Chelsea, albeit with a game in hand.

Back-to-back losses against Sunderland and Chelsea recently led to suggestions that the north Londoners are too lightweight to trouble their west London rivals and are toothless in attack without their talismanic striker Robin van Persie.

However, Emirates boss is optimistic Arsenal still have a chance of domestic honours because nether Chelsea or champions Manchester United are blowing teams away or creating too much daylight at the top.

Wenger said: “I do not believe there is any difference in the league at the moment where you can say that any team is dominating.”

He added: “I believe we still have all to go for, and have to show that.

“I am convinced we have the technical, physical and mental quality to cope with the pressure at that level.”

Don’t miss your chance to check out Totesport.com’s Premier League weekend coupon and ante-post football betting opportunities.