Monte's Multiple: Maradonna's celebrations in the rain were both naive and premature

Monte's Multiple / Jaymes Monte / 12 October 2009 /

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Argentine celebrations on Saturday were both premature and grossly inappropriate; the extent of their problems could become all too clear in Uruguay on Wednesday.

Lay Argentina to beat Uruguay @ 3.0
Lay John Higgins to beat Stephen Hendry @ 1.8
Back Trinidad & Tobago to beat Deccan @ 2.9
Treble pays @ 9.5

Jaymes Monte takes a look at this week's action and picks out an improbable task for Diego Maradonna and two value bets in the worlds of snooker and cricket....

Bet 1: Football - World Cup Qualifiers

Those of you who opted for a Saturday night of sport this week will have witnessed the tactical master class that was Diego Maradonna's Argentina side. If you managed to watch the first 85 minutes without switching channels in frustration you were rewarded with a rain soaked action packed final five minutes which perfectly encapsulated the chaotic nature of the Albicelestes qualification campaign.

Maradonna's dive along the touch line at the end of the game showed more of his and his team's mindset that it did anything else. Whilst they should have been mopping their brow in relief at avoiding dropping points against a very poor Peru side, they celebrated as if they were lifting the World Cup in South Africa.

If they do manage to sneak into the finals they will have to improve dramatically if they are to make it past the group stages. But first they have to get past a Uruguayan shaped obstacle to book their place in South Africa, a task which on paper looks difficult but in reality looks even more improbable.

Argentina have won just one game away from home in this qualification campaign, and that came way back in October 2007 long before the Argentine FA came up with their masterstroke of appointing Maradonna as manager. And Uruguay's only home defeat came at the hands of group winners Brazil.

It would be no surprise to see yet another throng of changes made to the Argentine starting 11 and it is evidently clear that they do not know what system they should be playing. On the other hand the Uruguayan's are looking disciplined and well organised and come in to this game on the back of an impressive victory in Ecuador.

Selection: Lay Argentina to beat Uruguay @ [3.0]

Bet 2: Snooker - Premier League

Neil Robertson lifted his second Grand Prix title on Sunday beating Ding Junhui in the final. But the tournament will be remembered for a classic battle between Robertson and John Higgins in the semi-final which the Australian won on a final frame black.

John Higgins must pick himself up and dust himself down sharply as he returns to the green baize for this Thursday's round of Premier League fixtures. His opponent will be Stephen Hendry who lost out at the second round stage of the Grand Prix last week. The two share a perilously close head-to-head record which Hendry shades 12-11, but interestingly Higgins has a poor record between the two in the Premier League.

The last two years Hendry has beaten Higgins 4-2 in the group stage of the event and back in 2004 they drew their group stage game before Hendry took the title by beating Higgins in the final. Although the two have been heading in opposite directions in the rankings of previous years I think this is still a lot closer than the odds suggest.

Selection: Lay John Higgins to beat Stephen Hendry @ [1.8]

Bet 3: Cricket - Champions League

It was inevitable that the Indian sides would be installed as favourites for this tournament on their home soil, but as we have seen already it is not always wise to dive into backing them blindly.

Deccan Chargers opened their campaign with arguably the match of the tournament so far against the Somerset Sabres. It turned out to be a lot closer than maybe it should have been as Somerset made a hash of their run chase, but finally got over the line with the last ball of the game.

They have since played Trinidad & Tobago to complete their group stage games and were comfortably beaten by a massive 44 runs, now the group will be decided when Deccan take on Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday.

Again the Indian side are massively under priced in a game which could go right down to the wire. There are some big hitters in the side from the Caribbean who can be aptly backed up by their bowling attack and they are definitely the value bet here.

Selection: Back Trinidad & Tobago to beat Deccan @ [2.9]