Today's Papers / Top Dog / 03 April 2008 / Leave a comment

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

Top Dog

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:

The trouble with tight games is there's nearly always a crucial referee's decision along the way - and Arsenal were fuming when they didn't get a penalty for Dirk Kuyt's pull on Alexander Hleb. All the back pages go on Arsene Wenger's complaints, ironically on the day that Sir Alex Ferguson got charged by the FA for moaning about the ref after United's FA Cup exit to Portsmouth. Liverpool are now [1.64] to qualify when the second leg comes around on Tuesday, but [4.0] to win at The Emirates in the Premier League on Saturday when Rafa Benitez will almost certainly be rotating his squad again.

Cruft's:

The Sun - I'm not going to stop doing my tricks - Most of the papers carry the moants of Roma's players that Cristiano Ronaldo was showboating and showing them disrespect during Tuesday night's Champions League game. Only The Sun reacted to Ronaldo's reply. 'If someone thinks my moves are mockery then they are wrong. I play for the team and not to show off', he says. Chief critic David Pizarro is threatening Ronaldo will get the treatment in the second leg, but with a 2-0 lead United head back to Old Trafford as an unbackable [1.04] to qualify.

Pedigree Chum:

Daily Mirror - City told to move fast for Zarate - James Nursey has got hold of Mauro Zarate's agent Christian Otero who says Birmingham can keep the brilliant young Argentine but will have to move quickly because other clubs are keen. But then a good agent would say that, wouldn't he?

Daily Express - Safety first then Keane wants GBP 50m - Roy Keane is revving up his summer transfer demands with a warning to chairman Niall Quinn that he'll want pots of money to spend in the summer. Keane can make the Black Cats all but safe with a win at Fulham this weekend. They are a generous [3.35] to do it

Daily Express - Spurs eyeing a passage to India - while Sunderland work out what they can spend in the summer, Tottenham are plotting how much cash they could make with an end of season trip to India. They want £1m to play Calcutta club East Bengal on May 18, and have also talked about playing games in Singapore and China.

Daily Star - Mart's GBP 3m raid on Cup hero Steve - Midlands man Dave Armitage says Aston Villa fancy signing Barnsley's Cup hero Brian Howard in the summer, and also want goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen who is out of contract after deciding GBP 10million is too much to pay for Scott Carson. The Bolton keeper gets a chance to impress O'Neill up close on Saturday, he's [5.4] to keep a clean sheet.

Daily Star - Special K's just right - A couple of wins and suddenly Kevin Keegan is back to being a genius! Now Obafemi Martins is telling anybody who'll listen that Keegan has made him happy again after being in and out of the team under Sam Allardyce. The Toon are [1.82] to beat Reading on Saturday

Dog' s dinner:

Daily Express - Recession? You must be joking - Harry Harris has put together an unofficial rich list of earnings for top players. Would be fascinating, if he didn't admit it's mostly guesswork!

Today's other headlines:

The Sun - Dirky Tricks - Av slams sleepy Blues - Child's play - Gerrard magic the real moment of truth - Blues canned by the Coca-Cola kid - Vidic injury fear

Daily Express - Gunners are Kuyt napping - 'Big head' warns Barca - Benitez finds a Dutch of class - Deivid's Goliath act floors Blues - Ronaldo shows he really is in full cry - Wembley return will help Jones get final say - Papa Bouba Diop interview

Daily Star - High as a Kuyt - Deivid deals Blues a blow - Dirty Dirk cuts down Weng guns - Avram hell as Deivid hits late stunner - This is the Ron I really want - I'd swap Cup glory to keep us up says Kayode Odejayi - Harry makes us feel special says Kanu

Daily Mirror - The Dirk destroyer - Rafa has a spring in his step again - Fener bashed - Kazim clobbers Chelsea - I want my own Champions League glory says Ronaldo - Brilliant player but a big had say Roma - Dave Jones on Cardiff fans' hate mail - Kanu on fall-outs with Bryan Robson

Daily Mail - Cliffhanger, but it's advantage Liverpool - Salute the carnival of creativity - Chelsea blow it big time - Not quite hell, but Istanbul cauldron plays its part - Vidic injury blow as Fergie faces FA rap - You show-off say Roma to Ronaldo - The new Kanu

Tags: Arsene Wenger, Dirk Kuyt, today's papers, Top Dog