They say that points win prizes and for Mr MS it was a correct prediction of 50 in the Bookings make-up between Liverpool and Man United which has seen him pick up a £200 Total Goals bet. Our lucky winner has Paul Scholes (who else?) to thank after the Red Devils' red devil became the fifth player to find his way into referee Phil Dowd's notebook on Sunday.
Let's do something a little bit different for this week's comp. First name to emerge from the proverbial Mole hat with an accurate forecast of the total number of successful kicks – drops, conversions and penalties – from all three of this weekend's Six Nations fixtures will be the proud owner of a £200 Total Goals bet. Get your entries to themole@sportingindex.com before Italy v France begins at 2.30pm on Saturday.
number of tries Wales scored last time they played Ireland
England's avg tries per match this 6 Nations
avg pts per match that France beat Italy by
bookings M/U last time Man Utd and Arsenal met in the FA Cup
Da Costa's Goal Minutes against Stoke for West Ham this season
avg Total Goal Minutes M/U from last 10 games between Man Utd and Arsenal
England's avg kicking metres this 6 nations
Total Goal Minutes M/U in last meeting between Birmingham and Bolton
On Merseyside, Sloth from the Goonies became the first Liverpool player to score a hat-trick against United since Quasimodo, or Peter Beardsley to his nearest and dearest, in 1990. In doing so he made a lot of Sporting Index punters rather happy. Dirk Kuyt proved there are exceptions to the statement 'a face only a mother could love' when he netted his third tap-in a little after 3pm – I'm sure there were plenty of buyers of his Goal Minutes at 9 kissing his boat on their TV sets. That meant a market make-up of 138 and it's fair to say the Sporting coffers took a bit of an emptying. The biggest dividend was paid to the punter who went long at £20 a minute, for a total profit of £2580.
This week's bad trade came from the Honda Classic where Rory Sabbatini secured his April invitation to Augusta. His sixth tour title might have been celebrated back home in South Africa after a two-year trophy drought, but his victory created a number of unhappy golf traders who bought his Finishing Position at 45 and were therefore losers. One Sporting Index punter lost more than the rest on the market though, as he staked £10 resulting in a loss of £440. It has since emerged that Mrs Sabbatini's pre-tournament advice to calm down on the course helped her man gain the focus that saw him triumph. This week's loser would do well to heed the very same wise words.
Premier League This week's Market Move looks at the teams battling it out at the top of the English Premier League. Last weekend's results have blown the title race wide open again as Man Utd, following consecutive defeats, have seen their price on the Outright Index drop to 48-51.
However, their closest rivals are Arsenal and you know what that means. Yes, they failed to capitalise on United's latest setback and as a result of the 0-0 home draw to Sunderland have now dropped 2 points on the Outright to 42-45. Meanwhile it's the reigning champions Chelsea that have been big movers shooting up a huge 3 points to 30-33. That comes on the back of Man Utd's recent demise and their own solid victory on Monday against a very decent Blackpool side. They now stand just 9 points behind the leaders with a game in hand and a trip to Old Trafford still to come...
Above: Manchester United v Arsenal? Check. FA Cup? Check? That Ryan Giggs goal? Err, couldn't find that, so how about this gem instead. Sorry, Ryan.
There can't be many friends of the Mole who haven't seen this. It reminds me of another unusual pitch invasion when a dog collided with Brentford goalkeeper Chic Brodie in a game against Colchester United in 1970. Unfortunately the stray shattered his kneecap, forcing the stopper into early retirement. 'The dog might have been small,' said Brodie, 'but it just happened to be solid.' Can't find it on YouTube, but if anyone has a copy of Danny Baker's Own Goals and Gaffs on VHS then it's on there somewhere.
