The Mole

Matt Stevens knocked in a 140, the highest break of the UK Championships first round. No one was bang on, but Mr MH was picked from those within one point. A £200 Total Goals bet will be winging its way to you soon, Sir.

It’s still a few days away, but on Monday night we’ve got one of the bigger games of the Premier League season to look forward to as Manchester City visit Chelsea at the Bridge. Chelsea finally found their feet against Valencia in the week, and well, we know that City are flying. It could be a cracker so take a shot at predicting Total Goal Minutes for a chance to win this week’s £200 bet. Email your answer to themole@sportingindex.com before 7.30pm on Monday.

Yours in tinsel

> Super Mario
POSTED 11.01PM 02 DEC 11

> Metaphorical cake
POSTED 10.19PM 25 NOV 11

> Bovvered!
POSTED 12.09PM 18 NOV 11

> Going ape with delight
POSTED 10.31PM 11 NOV 11

> Without RVP it's RIP
POSTED 15.31PM 04 NOV 11

> Piri was poor
POSTED 11.09PM 28 OCT 11

> Wager of doom
POSTED 12.02PM 21 OCT 11

> 'Hymns and Arias'
POSTED 15.02PM 14 OCT 11

> The RWC goes serious
POSTED 17.02PM 07 OCT 11

> No Wayne no pain
POSTED 17.55PM 30 SEP 11

> Squeaky bum time
POSTED 14.55PM 22 SEP 11

Wolves' average cards per match this season

Percentage of games in which Man Utd have kept a clean sheet this season

Inter Milan's league position in Serie A

Meetings since Fiorentina last beat Inter Milan

Red cards shown in the last 7 meetings between Real Madrid and Barcelona

Messi average goal minutes in the last 7 meetings between the 2 sides

Amount of games Leinster remain unbeaten for in the Heineken Cup

Average points scored by Bath in their first 2 Heineken Cup games

Denver average rushing yards per game - currently the highest in NFL

This week’s good trade comes thanks to an even better one three-and-a-half months ago. Venky’s and Steve Kean haven’t got an awful lot right at Blackburn, but the £1.5m gamble they took on Yakubu Aiyegbeni looks to be an inspired one. His nine goals in as many Premier League appearances are pretty much the only thing keeping Rovers off the bottom of the table. They sing “Feed the Yak and he will score” and, well, the Nigerian striker certainly had a weekend feast as he helped himself to four goals against sloppy Swansea on Saturday. Clients could buy the former Pompey, Middlesbrough and Everton forward’s Goal Minutes at 20 pre-match, and that’s just what one spot-on punter did. The quadruple Yak attack heralded a hefty total of 204 Goal Minutes and a £5100 return for our man who bought at £25.

When the Mole woke up on Monday to read the headline: “Tiger Woods ends two year drought”, my first thought was, how could a guy who’s had that many affairs stay celibate for so long? Then I realised my mistake and my thoughts turned to wondering how many people had lost money backing Tiger in the 26 tournaments since his last victory. Well, there were a few unfortunate punters who lost out on him winning - that’s the dual beauty and cruelty of spread betting right there. Being of the mind that Woods had forever forgotten how to win, one Sporting Index client was prepared to sell Tiger’s Leaderboard Index for the Chevron World Challenge at 46 for £220 on Saturday. Tiger’s celebratory fist pump as he sunk his birdie putt on the 18th of California’s Sherwood Country Club signalled a loss of £3080 for our anti-Tiger punter.

NFL Index
Denver’s shocking start to the season under the leadership of QB Kyle Orton gave them little hope of making the playoffs. With a record of 1-4 and having lost to both divisional rivals the ‘Denver Division’ Index was being quoted as low as 0-2. Tim Tebow was handed a starting spot and fortunes started to turn for the Broncos. A Tebow inspired victory against the Dolphins seemed to have motivated his team mates and despite losing to the Lions the following week, the Broncos have since gone on a 5 game winning streak – beating divisional rivals Oakland, San Diego and Kansas City in the process. The current quote is 32-35 and if their form continues they have every chance of making a run well into the post season.

Description: Continuing our series of appalling ads, it’s only right to share this one for a bottle of Man United endorsed plonk at Christmas time. “Guys, we have a problem.” Yes, Wayne, you do.

Imagine if David Cameron won an award for fan’s footballer of the year. That’s sort of what happed in Bulgaria, where Prime Minster Boiko Borisov, a sometime striker in the third division beat Dimitar Berbatov in the poll! Here he is in action.

Robin-no.

*Mole Competition Terms & Conditions: Unless otherwise stated, the one winning Mole competition entry will be randomly picked from all correct entries received by the stipulated deadline (or in the case of no correct entries, the entries nearest to the correct answer).