Today's Papers / Top Dog / 08 February 2008 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free 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:

No doubt what the papers think about Richard Scudamore's master plan to take an 'international round' of Premier League matches round the world. The Star says it must be an early April fools, the Mirror calls them Clowns, and the Mail and Express say the game is selling its soul. Nobody seems to have asked, let alone answered, the most important question: How do you decide who plays who in the 39th game? If you need three points to avoid relegation it matters a lot whether you play Arsenal in LA or Derby in Dubai.

Cruft's:

The Sun - Owen hurt by Fab snub - Shaun Custis, with a background and friends in the North East, reports that Micahel Owen was hurt and bewildered at being left out by Fabio Capello. Just like David Beckham missed out on his 100 caps, could Owen lose the chance to get 50 goals? Every chance he'll bounce straight back with a goal at Villa tomorrow. Newcastle as long as [4.8] to win.

Pedigree Chum:

Daily Mail - Capello's harshest lesson in English - Veteran Daily Mail man Jeff Powell wonders whether player power and not the imput of the manager improved the way England played in the second half at Wembley. Thought provoking piece.

Daily Mail - Torres blow to Rafa - Top Dog flagged up the injury to Fernando Torres that was only reported by the Daily Mirror yesterday - now Rafa Benitez is angry at losing his star man to a friendly in Spain. He could miss not only Sunday's trip to Chelsea and the FA Cup tie with Barnsley but the Champions League clash with Inter Milan too. Liverpool are already a long shot [19.5] to lift the European Cup

Daily Express - Brady no to move for Macca - The failed Carson Yeung takeover at Birmingham was behind a lot of the club's early season problems. The troubles won't go away because Yeung still owns 29.9 per cent of the shares and wants to put Steve McManaman on the board. The other owners won't have him. More trouble behind the scenes won't help Blues who are third from bottom and are [2.58] to go down

Daily Star/Daily Mirror - Box clever - So Fabio Capello actually did keep his team a secret and surprised the players when he named it just before they got on the bus. David James says it was like 'Deal or no deal' when the England boss turned over his flipchart and he expected to hear the crowd roar. James is an appealing [3.35] to celebrate his return to being England's number one with a clean sheet at Bolton. Looks a good bet.

Dog' s dinner:

Daily Mail - Alves brings Rio Brio to Boro - It must have sounded a good idea in Middeslbrough's marketing department when somebody said they could welcome new Brazilian signing Afonso Alves with a carnival. There's a key difference between Rio and the Riverside though - about 20 degrees!! A very cold looking Alves is pictured with an even colder looking couple of carnival goals.

Today's other headlines:

The Sun - What on earth is going on? - Global warning. Soccer divided by Prem plan - After one match Capello's damning verdict on our players - Rooney praise for Bentley - Fabio will realise he can't do without Owen, Terry or Hargreaves

Daily Express - Sold, football's soul for £200million - I'll show you who is boss says Capello - Owen is just a face in the crowd - James feels better despite edgy build-up - Bentley aims to outrun old DB7 - Why clubs will go global and ignore angry fans - Toshack: A steady ship has helped Wales

Daily Star - This must be an April fool - There's only 20 greedy b******s - Capello finds his dynamic duo - Defiant United to keep silence - Roo are the new Becks - Don't scrap Owen, Fabio - Rafa rages over Nando

Daily Mirror - Clowns - The £100m Premier sell-off - Capello's deal or no deal - We'll improve skill levels, we have to - Keegan: quitter tag is so unjust - John Hartson retires

Daily Mail - The man who sold our game - How money talks - Capello's England verdict: a bunch of long ball failures! - Fabio learns the hard way - Jamie Redknapp's England report

Tags: Fabio Capello, football betting, Michael Owen, Premiership