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Top Dog: The force is with Chelsea as Lampard does it for mum

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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:
Raw emotion across the back pages this morning with superb pictures of Frank Lampard's penalty and the celebrations - and tears - that followed. Top Dog still isn't sure if Chelsea are winning because of Avram Grant or despite him, but there's no doubt the force is with them. They are [3.85] to win the Premier League and [2.18] to lift the big trophy in Moscow. That's [8.16] on Betfair multiples.

Cruft's: The Sun - Rooney out - Manchester man Neil Custis reveals that Wayne Rooney will miss both United's last two Premier League games because of the hip injury he suffered at Chelsea. United's record without Rooney is poor. They have lost five of the 12 games he's missed this season, including at West Ham. That makes Hammers at an incredible [18] to win at Old Trafford on Saturday and complete the double a bit tempting.

The Sun - Banned - Trouble at the Madejski Stadium where Steve Coppell has banned Ibrahima Sonko and Emerse Fae from training after they refused to play in a reserve game. Not good news for Reading who are [3.45] to go down despite having the worst goal difference of all the clubs in trouble

Pedigree Chum: Daily Mail - Anyone seen Scholesy - Ian Ladyman makes the best use of the shared after-match quotes from Michael Carrick about the qualities of Manchester United's semi-final match winner. Scholes is [1.35] to collect a Premier League winners' medal to go with his place in the Champions League final

Daily Mail - What's it like to suffer from a Ginger tiger bite? - The Mail makes good use of columnist Jamie Redknapp who can talk from first hand experience about Paul Scholes and his tackling. He reckons Scholes deliberately leaves a foot in from time to time rather than just being clumsy.

Daily Mirror - Carry on Eriksson - More confusion at Eastlands. Thaksin Shinawatra's son says Sven will stay at least to lead the club on their Far East tour at the end of the season. Then he'll be axed! Eriksson is [2.52] in the managerial change market, no change is [1.67]

Daily Star - Wig wham - Steve Bruce is warning Antonio Valencia and Wilson Palacios not to rush into a move if they end up as squad players at a bigger club. But Valencia's agent has confirmed Manchester United and Liverpool are both watching the Ecuador star. Bruce could be worth backing to get something at Villa this weekend. You can lay Martin O'Neill's team at [1.58]

Dog' s dinner: Daily Express - Down to the wire - Top Dog got a first edition of the Express delivered today, which had gone to press on 90 minutes. What's the point of a back page that tells you a game's gone to extra-time when you already know the result? Somebody in distribution needs to do better on big match nights! It's all very well them trumpeting they are now10p cheaper than the Mail, but what's the point if the news is so far behind?

Daily Express - Jose's the target - Harry Harris was definite yesterday that Slaven Bilic was going to take over Manchester City, and a few hours later he signed a new contract with Croatia. Now he reckons Jose Mourinho is the target. It's guesswork.

Today's other headlines:

The Sun - Blue beauty - Russia with love - Lampard proves bravest of the brave - Scholes is a legend says Carrick - Beware foreign owners says Redknapp

Daily Express - Forget final, we must win title first says Ronaldo - Torres stunner holds Chelsea - Player character does the talking - Enemies had more in common - Scholes talks with his feet

Daily Star - That's for Mum - Frank's heroes make it to final - Av shows fans who is special - Silence is Scho-lden - I'm so glad I stayed says Wes Brown - I'll send my o ld mates down warns Queudrue

Daily Mirror - To Russia with love, Mum - Mourning glory, the bravest goal you will ever see - Simply the best - Scholesy got really excited, he actually smiled says Mikael Silvestre - Barry's not the villain - Villa lead Chimbonda hunt

Daily Mail - For you, Mum - Blues head to Red Square - We all grieved with Lampard - Travel guide to Moscow - Bilic stays on for World Cup