Given our outstanding golf tipping record this season it´s not the news European fans want to hear… but we really fancy Paul Azinger´s USA to win the 2008 Ryder Cup.

Europe have a stunning record with five wins in the last six stagings of this event but so many things look stacked in the home side´s favour this time around.

Massive home advantage from partisan Kentucky crowds, great recent form of players like Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard and Steve Stricker, strong local Valhalla knowledge from Kenny Perry and JB Holmes and no Darren Clarke for Colin Montgomerie for Europe.

European Captain Nick Faldo´s decision to leave out Clarke left many stunned, especially those of us mindful of Clarke´s outstanding Ryder partnership with best mate Lee Westwood.

Playing as a combination in the fourballs (predominantly) with Westwood, Clarke amassed a titanic Ryder record of 6W-2L-1T and surely that kind of points haul will be sorely missed this week.

Indeed, looking around the Europe side it is tricky to see who Faldo will pair together in the fourballs and foursomes. totesport have a plethora of Ryder Cup golf odds available.

With Luke Donald injured there will be no natural partnership between him and Sergio Garcia that brought so much past success. And with Monty not making the side this year has the team been stripped of its talismanic leader? We think so.

Many Europeans will point to the absence of the USA´s Tiger Woods as a huge boost. But behind the scenes Azinger looks to have fostered a genuine team spirit among his troops and totesport´s online betting golf odds looks too good to resist.

Click here for golf betting

Ryder Cup golf betting has reached fever pitch with totesport publishing an absolute swathe of online betting markets for punters to get stuck into.

One of the most interesting lists is the Top American player market, that is, which US player will score the most points.

Logic dictates that you naturally want to go for a man who skipper Paul Azinger will blood regularly over what promises to be three electric days of action.

With two sets of foursome matches, two sets of fourballs and the Sunday singles that’s a potential five points up for grabs for a man that Azinger plays in every session.

Looking at the US team it seems clear that Azinger will look to derive as much action as possible from leading lights Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink. Unsurprisingly, those three are located at the business end of the betting.

At golf odds of 7/1 we really like the look of mega-talented rookie Anthony Kim. He may be new to the Ryder format but make no mistake about it this boy will be a handful for any European player who has the misfortune to meet him.

The Valhalla lay out really favours long hitters which Kim, at a Tour driving average of 296 yards, certainly is and his current scorching form means that it would be no surprise to see him blooded over three days.

He finished third on his last outing at the BMW Championship and has won twice this season at the Wachovia and the AT&T National to prove his pedigree.

Click here for golf betting

New Premier League boys Stoke City look an excellent punt at football odds of 11/5 to beat Everton in Sky´s live TV game at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.

If they are to survive, manager Tony Pulis told the club´s devoted fans that they need to turn their Potteries home into a “fortress” this season.

And that was very much the case as the combination of a bear-pit atmosphere and an energetic team display proved too much for Aston Villa to cope with in the Potters´ first game back in the top flight for 23 years.

David Moyes´s Everton can expect more of the same and given his side´s iffy start to the season (2 defeats 1 win) it is hard to see why Stoke are made underdogs for this clash.

Pulis will have a full squad to choose from with the impressive Ricardo Fuller and Dave Kitson partnership spearheading their hopes.

Fuller is available at online betting odds of 15/8 to score at anytime and given his storming home display against Villa that looks a price well worth an interest.

Stoke´s long ball methods have come under fire from most quarters but to label them as the new “Wimbledon” is rank bad lazy journalism.

Going forward they are a match for most and anyone who witnessed the build up to Fuller´s strike against Martin O´Neill´s team will be left in no doubt about their ability to create and construct from inside their own half.

Click here for football betting

A Theo Walcott inspired Arsenal should have too many guns for Paul Ince´s Blackburn on Saturday.

The flying Gooner was the star of the show as England pulled off an extraordinary 4-1 win in Zagreb against Croatia.

And fresh off that hat-trick we expect the man renamed “Trio” Walcott to run a Rovers defence ragged. Ince´s back four shipped four goals to so-so West Ham in their last match.

Rovers were a disappointment in drawing 1-1 with Hull in their last home fixture and those persistent rumours that manager Ince is wanted by Newcastle won´t help their preparation.

Arsenal´s online betting odds of 8/11 look too good to resist.

Elsewhere, Liverpool are handed a generous 7/4 quote to see off Manchester United at Anfield. No doubt those football odds will attract plenty of support but we are more tempted by the 2/1 for Robbie Keane to score.

The Irishman has enjoyed a tongue-in-cheek exchange with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson this week with the Scot expressing his “surprise” that Liverpool paid so much for him. Keane hit back by questioning how John O´Shea doesn´t get a game every week.

Take Keane to hit back again and score his first Premier League goal since joining from Spurs in the summer.

Click here for football betting

The final Classic of the season promises to be a great race on Saturday and with soft ground likely stamina will be at a premium. Online sports betting favourites have had a very good record over the past decade with seven market leaders obliging.

The average winning SP has been just under 3/1 with totesport racing odds. Aidan O´Brien has been the most successful trainer with three winners and three placed from 18 runners over the decade.

He is mob-handed on Saturday (eight entries at the time of writing) with the Irish Derby winner Frozen Fire likely to be all the rage. There are grounds however to think that he may be vulnerable.

By Montjeu he showed signs of temperament when carrying his head awkwardly in the Dante Stakes in spring and not going through with his challenge.

He disappointed again in the Derby at Epsom running no sort of race. In the Irish Derby he was the chief beneficiary of his stable companion´s antics (Alessandro Volta) which did for the chances of his main rivals.

However, he did run on well on Saturday. With the horse not having run since the Irish Derby on June 29 and there being some reservations about his stamina he seems to be one to avoid.

The one we like each-way is the Sir Michael Stoute trained Dr Freemantle. By Saddler´s Wells out of a Rainbow Quest mare he has a stamina-laden pedigree and the step up to 1m 6f is just what he requires.

Fourth in the Derby he ran a fine trial for this race at Longchamp last time. Having been repeatedly hampered he stayed on well in the straight to take fourth place behind the top class Montmartre over 1m 4f.

Click here for racing betting

Totesport: Online Betting with Free Bets

This is a race which has thrown up many top class animals in the past with horses such as Cockney Rebel and Rock Of Gibraltar having been placed.

Favourites have a poor record with only two having been successful in the past decade. However eight of the past 10 winners have come from the top four in the online betting racing odds.

Form is most important with 80% of the last 10 victors having won their previous outing and 90% placed. The most successful trainers have been Barry Hills with three wins from 11 runners and Mark Johnston with two wins and one placed from eight entries.

Sir Michael Stoute has not won the race in the past decade but interestingly has had two placed from only two runners.

The two that catch the eye here are the Aidan O´Brien trained Rip Van Winkle and the Stoute trained Zacinto.

Rip Van Winkle, a 170k euro yearling by Galileo, made his debut at the Curragh on June 27 on easy ground. He was awarded the race having been badly hampered.

Next time out he was quite impressive when winning a Group 3 at Leopardstown over 7f on good-firm from the previously unbeaten Cuis Ghaire. The time, however, was slow and perhaps the form is suspect.

Zacinto, a beautifully bred colt by Dansili, was most impressive when making his racecourse debut at Sandown on July 4. Running slightly green he took up the running 1f out and was 8l clear at the line.

While the going will be much softer here than Sandown his sire´s offspring handles soft ground well and he is the selection.

Click here for racing betting

Wow. What a difference a week makes in football. Arabs buy Manchester City and Real Madrid’s Robinho, Manchester United sign Dimitar Berbatov and King Kev resigns.

It’s a crazy, crazy world as far as the English Premier League is concerned and who knows what else is in store over the coming weeks.

One of the more interesting stories is that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is on the verge of selling the club to Indian businessman Anil Ambani.

And guess what?

Newspaper rumours suggest Kevin Keegan could be back as manager in a matter of days if Indian billionaire Ambani gets his way.

As far as us punters are concerned we have to try and make sense of it all and whilst it would be wonderful to imagine a third coming of Messiah Keegan this one looks a bridge too far.

Make no mistake about, the Toon Army are in utter disarray right now and are heading nowhere fast. totesport online sports betting go 18/1 that they will be relegated this season and that’s a decent price considering the turmoil the club are embroiled in.

Morale among players and fans is at rock bottom and that just has to affect performances on the field. The bookies perceived certainties for relegation - Hull, Stoke and WBA - have shown thus far they are nothing of the sort. That brings into play at least eight sides fighting to avoid the drop and after the happenings of the past couple of weeks Newcastle are one of them.

Click here for football betting

Amir Khan looks a cracking bet with totesport’s boxing odds to hammer home an early finish in his clash against big-punching Colombian Breidis Prescott at the MEN Arena.

It’s Khan’s Sky TV debut (the eponymous satellite broadcaster has certainly rolled out all of the stops in terms of advert trailers) and although many doubt whether the fight should warrant pay per view status it still provides boxing punters with an opportunity to trouser a few quid with totesport online betting.

On paper his South American opponent would appear to be no mug given his 19-0 (17 KO) record but you’d need a highly skilled private investigator to unearth anyone of true worth he has beaten.

Make no mistake about it this is a huge step up in class for Prescott and we fancy the Bolton man to take out his man early.

Khan is now rated in the top 10 of three of boxing’s world governing bodies on account of 18 straight wins - 14 of which have come within the distance. We are pretty certain that record will read 15 this weekend.

Ten of Khan’s 18 wins have arrived before the start of the fourth round and with him so keen to impress on his mega money Sky debut we expect him to come out looking for the early strike.

We don’t expect a tough nut like Prescott to wilt straight away but he simply won’t be able to handle Khan’s dazzling hand speed. Two punts - for Khan to win in the third round at 9/2 and the fourth at 5/1 are the calls.

Click here for boxing betting

Online sports betting maestros totesport go 12/1 about Manchester City’s chances of landing this year’s FA Cup and with a veritable war chest behind them we expect Mark Hughes’s side to go mighty close.

The extraordinary signature of Robinho from Real Madrid was just the first in a long line of mega money arrivals that will get fully underway in the January transfer window.

The club’s new Arab owners have already spoken of their desire to see the likes of Kaka, Ronaldo and Cristiano Ronaldo at Eastlands and with a reported 555 billion fortune behind them anything is possible.

Their spend, spend, spend policy obviously throws up all sorts of ethical questions that will trouble most genuine football supporters – but a little investment ourselves at 12s will make us feel better should they go all the way to Wembley.

Like all Premiership sides City will enter the competition in the 3rd round proper that gets underway at the start of the New Year and by the time they play their 4th round match we could be looking at football’s equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Today’s football transfer gossip pages are awash with stories of Steven Gerrard and Michael Essien being lined up for January moves.

When the news broke that the Arabs had bought into City we considered tipping them for the Premiership title at 80/1 but even if Hughes buys a galaxy of stars it will take him several months to gel them together into a cohesive unit.

But one off cup games are a different story and offer the incoming stars the best opportunity of winning some silverware this season. Help yourself to those 12/1 footbll odds because the FA Cup is coming to Middle-Eastlands.

Click here for football betting

We don´t have much course form to go on for this week’s BMW Championship at the classy looking Bellerive Country Club in St Louis.

The course hasn’t been used as a US Tour venue since the 1992 USPGA and there´s nobody who competed then who can be taken seriously this week but it is worth noting that peerless iron player and supreme ball striker Nick Price won that event.

The course has undergone changes since then, with greens reduced in size and significant yardage from the tee added. It plays as a par 70 this week and at over 7300 yards it´s clearly an advantage to have length off the tee.

There is a theory that players who recently received Captain´s Picks will be eager to prove their form ahead of the Ryder Cup so keep an eye on the likes of Chad Campbell, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan and JB Holmes as they should all perform well.

But we prefer two US players who have missed out on Ryder selection who may just have a point to prove to skipper Paul Azinger.

Bubba Watson hits it a country mile off the tee but with an all-round ranking of 12th for greens hit it is clear that the man born in Bagdad (Florida) has more to his game. He can certainly ruffle a few feathers on a course many will be playing for the first time. Have a nibble each-way at totesport´s golf odds of 100/1.

DJ Trahan is another player who has a point to prove to Azinger. The Bobe Hope champ was in with a realistic shout of a Ryder wild card selection right up to last week only for an abysmal final round 80 at the Deutsche Bank probably putting paid to his chances.

We believe that Ryder jitters probably got the better of him but with the stress of that out of the way he can get back to playing his best golf. He finished 4th at the immensely tough US Open at Torrey Pines and a similar effort can see him make a huge impact at online betting odds of 150/1.

Click here for online golf betting