Today's Papers / Top Dog / 08 November 2007 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

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

Top Dog

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:

Top Dog hates it when your owner pretends to throw a stick and you chase off only to find it's not there. That's a bit like how Spurs treated everybody by claiming Dimitar Berbatov is happy at White Hart Lane. All the papers report Juande Ramos' comments that he wont' keep the sulky Bulgarian against his will. The Sun's Charlie Wyett goes one better and has a long interview with his brother who says Dimi needs a bigger club.

Cruft's:

The Sun - My Dimi has outgrown Spurs - Once upon a time players gave interviews like this. Now they avoid a club fine by getting a relative to do it. Dimitar's brother Asen sends a "come and get him" message to Old Trafford. "Tottenham are ok but in Manchester things will be much better". The disruption might make laying Spurs at (1.61) in Happel Tel-Aviv tonight a good bet.

Pedigree Chum:

Daily Express - Bring me the General - Second city derbies are nearly always ugly affairs and Birmingham chairman David Gold is already winding up the spite by prolonging a boardroom row over ticket prices. Top Dog quite understands how attractive it can be to keep gnawing away at the same bone, and it makes a price of anything above (3.8) for a red card in the game rather appealing.

Daily Express - Now do it for Israel, Yossi told - Liverpool's hat-trick hero Yossi Benayoun has been told by Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard he must come up with some more goals in Euro 2008 against Russia. Don't hold your breath. The Russians remain (1.4) to qualify.

Daily Star - Becks needs a club - David Beckham is seeking an English club to keep him fit. LA Galaxy won't let him join anybody on loan but will let him train somewhere. Ipswich and Spurs have both backed away from inviting him. Bad news for his hopes of getting back into Steve McClaren's front line.

Daily Star - Cech out for four weeks - Danny Fullbrook confirms yesterday's Mirror story that Petr Cech's calf injury is serious. Only good news for Chelsea is the international break means he won't miss too many Premier League games. Blues still (4.5) to come through and win the title.

Daily Mirror - Whelan's waiting game - Alan Nixon, the man who forecast Gary Megson for the Bolton job, says Dave Whelan is willing to wait for news of Scotland's Euro 2008 qualifiers to see if he can get Alex McLeish. Stick a speculative couple of quid on McLeish at (16) while you still can.

The Sun - Eriksson in £20m takeaway - Manchester man Neil Custis reveals City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has lined up £20million worth of sponsorship in China and Thailand to be completed next week when Sven flies out East. More resources to make a price of (12) for Sven to stay in the top four at the end of the season look tasty.

Dog' s dinner:

Daily Express - Players too soft says Roeder - Glenn Roeder is moaning that nobody wants to move on loan to Norwich because they'd rather pick their money up in Premier League reserve teams. Just a week into the job seems a bit too soon to be making excuses. Norwich are (2.42) to finish the season in the relegation spots

Today's other stories:

The Sun - We're thRoo - Cech misery - Pique 'n mix - We Gun the Biz - Moyes in fan plea - Now be our bossi, Yossi - Harry Redknapp column - FA Cup first round stories

Daily Express - It's simply Dyn-amite - United near their Pique - Sweet 16 for Wenger's kids - Pele backs England 2018 bid - Moyes urges fans to keep cool - Megson the cone man - Chris Kamara column

Daily Star - Fergie flyers - Manuel to the rescue - Jewell waits for Wigan call - Now save England, Yossi - Derby go for Balde - Ramos can win it with us says Keane - Megson bibs for glory

Daily Mirror - Four-midable - Fergie key to glory - Wenger makes his point - Crouch: Do it for us, Yossi - Cech out rocks Blues - Moyes the merrier - Don't bank on Ramos to be a miracle man - Happy return for Megs

Daily Mail - United front - Fergie's boys are knockout - Seconds out, it's Arsenal - Vidic on verge of new deal - Rangers grit not enough - Crouch on the way to winning Kuyt fight - Whelan eyes a Jewell return - Adios, Berbatov

Tags: Betfair's Top Dog, Dimitar Berbatov, football betting, UEFA Cup betting