Betfacts / Top Dog / 14 August 2007 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Betfair's Top Dog sniffs around the truth behind the latest tabloid tales.

Betfair's top dog sniffs around the truth behind the latest tabloid tales.

Cruft's champion - Top stories that can dominate the news agenda
Pedigree chum - Insights that tell you something you don't know
Dog's dinner - Speculation, guesswork, or ideas that just don't come off.

Top Dog says:

All the papers lead on Wayne Rooney's injury - and Michael Owen's return to action for Newcastle reserves. Most go on Sir Alex Ferguson's promise that Rooney could be back in time to face Russia in October, but the Sun leads on Steve McClaren's reaction to the news.

Cruft's:

The Sun - Alves in Strike storm - now David Beckham has gone Eric Beauchamp is one of the few English journalists left in Spain. That means he is on top of the story of Daniel Alves trying to force through his move to Chelsea. A glass of Sangria to celebrate!

Daily Mail - Today's boots are lightweights - star columnist Jamie Reknapp sounds more like his Dad grumbling about the lack of protection given by modern boots, but still an interesting contribution to the debate over what causes Wayne Rooney's foot injuries.

Daily Star - Axed on the internet - The Star's London man David Woods is close to Gilberto and hears his reaction to losing the club captaincy. The Brazilian World Cup winner says he found out that William Gallas was taking over when he read the Arsenal website, and isn't happy that Arsene Wenger didn't tell him to his face. A top exclusive.

Pedigree Chum:

Daily Mail - Off to a flyer - Simon Jones interviews Micky Quinn, Tony Cottee and others on the impact of debut goals. Altogether 11 new boys celebrated their start with a fresh club by scoring in the weekend's Premier League programme.

Daily Mirror - Ashton's England role hope - Darren Lewis has an exclusive with West Ham striker Dean Ashton on his hopes of getting into Steve McClaren's plans.

Dog's dinner:

The Sun - Crouch in rage at Rafa Elbow - Dave Kidd claims an exclusive that England striker Peter Crouch had a showdown with Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez over being left out of the squad at Villa. Kidd's well enough informed to be right that Crouch was unhappy but the headline takes the story a stage further.

The Sun - No fear - Chief Sports Writer Steven Howard's interview with Carlos Tevez is dressed up to look like an exclusive, but don't be fooled. It's the same press conference the other papers covered.

Daily Express - Big Sam targets Nev - speculative stuff, but with by-lines from both Merseyside reporter Paul Joyce and North East man Niall Hickman there's a grain of truth behind Newcastle's interest in Phil Neville even though Everton don't want to sell.

Daily Mirror - Egg tries one last time to get Eidur - Alan Nixon has been following Eidur Gudjohnsen's £100,000 a week pay demands and says West Ham think they can bring him back for a mere £80,000 a week. The Daily Star says Lyon are also trying to get the former Chelsea man

Today's other stories:

Daily Mail - David Moyes backs Andy Johnson for a big season - Carlisle make Neil McDonald the first managerial casualty of the season - Carlos Tevez on his United debut

The Sun - Columnist Ian Wright says Arsenal will finish fourth at best - Stephen Hunt on meeting Petr Cech again - Freddy Eastwood could make his Wales debut - Everton are close to signing Manuel Fernandes

Daily Express - Kanu previews United's trip to Portsmouth - Sammy Lee tells El Hadji Diouf he's going nowhere and will play at Fulham tomorrow - Derby put a £6m price tag on Giles Barnes - Stuart Pearce tries to convince Victor Anichebe to play for England rather than Nigeria - Nike defend Rooney's boots

Daily Star - Eight pages of football - Who can fill Roo's boots? - Tevez press conference - Jens Lehmann on his first day blunder - Benitez plans to shuffle his team again - Darren Bent will fight for his place at Spurs

Daily Mirror - The Tevez press conference - Martin Jol on Spurs' early wobble - Gerrard on the importance of three early points for Liverpool - Stephen Hunt on Peter Cech - Arsenal tracking Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen

Tags: Gudjohnsen, Rooney injury, Tevez debut