Weekend Sports Preview 12 October 2012

Of all the exciting sporting events scheduled for the weekend ahead, there is no doubt that the 2014 World Cup football qualifier between England and San Marino will take precedent on TV screens across England this evening (Friday, October 12). Read more in our Weekend Sports Preview for October 12.

2014 World Cup Qualifier: England vs San Marino

What on paper should be a walkover for England (considering San Marino are ranked joint last in the FIFA rankings) could be problematic for the team if it gets too cocky It won't be lost on England football betting fans that last time out the national squad only managed a draw against the Ukraine, another team that on paper England should have beaten.

That said, England have not lost any matches since Roy Hodgson took over as manager, with six wins and three draws to their name so far. Add to that the fact that the last time San Marino won an international was in 2004 when they beat Liechtenstein 1-0 in a friendly.

But the pressure will still be on the English national side tonight in Poland, because they need to prove to themselves, their manager and their millions of fans that they are capable of excelling in the World Cup qualifying process to put themselves in line to be real contenders in 2014 in Brazil, after crashing out so spectacularly in 2010 in South Africa.

For just about every other FIFA top-ranked team, a match against a side as bad as San Marino would be a non-event and barely register in TV viewership numbers. But because England is playing - a side equally renowned for boasting one of the largest pools of talent in professional football as well as their annoying propensity to 'choke' in both big and small matches - the match will be watched all over the world.

As such, England fans will be holding thumbs that Hodgson's men will be able to hold it together and rack up an easy victory. Meanwhile, San Marino and their fans will champing at the bit for the kickoff because as the joint worse-ranked team according to FIFA, they have absolutely nothing to lose and so will most likely play their hearts out, which might prove dangerous to an already antsy England squad.

From a betting perspective, leading land and online gambling sportsbook William Hill has posted England as the overwhelming 1/100 odds on favourites over San Marino at 100/1, with a draw at 16/1 odds. For my football betting buck, this game may not result in the huge drubbing by England as expected. I may be alone here, but I predict a draw.

2012 Heineken Cup Rugby Tournament Kicks Off

European rugby union fans are looking forward to the highly anticipated start of the 2012 Heineken Cup Rugby Tournament this evening, one of the sport's premier annual tournaments which is contested between 24 clubs from across England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

Last year Irish club Leinster won the top honours, which is why they've been posted as the 4/1 betting favourites to win the tournament again this year at most online sportsbooks, William Hill included. Multiple Heineken Cup winners Toulose from France are the joint second betting favourites with countrymen Toulon on 6/1 odds.

Here are the 2012 Heineken Cup outright winner odds

4/1 Leinster
6/1 Toulon
6/1 Toulouse
8/1 Clermont
10/1 Harlequins
12/1 Leicester
14/1 Biarritz
14/1 Munster
14/1 Saracens
18/1 Ulster
20/1 Northampton
40/1 Ospreys
50/1 Castres
50/1 Scarlets
66/1 Montpellier
66/1 Racing Metro
80/1 Cardiff Blues
150/1 Edinburgh
150/1 Sale
200/1 Glasgow
250/1 Exeter
1000/1 Connacht
1000/1 Treviso
5000/1 Zebre

2012 Portugal Masters Golf Tournament

Yesterday (Thursday, October 11), the four-day stroke play 2012 Portugal Masters kicked off at Oceānico Victoria Golf Course in the town of Vilamoura, arguably Portugal most important annual golf tournament.

And even though it is missing many of golf's heavyweights like Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods (who have been busy fighting it out in the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final), the Portugal Masters is expected to deliver some solid golfing action.

Going into the tournament the chances of players such as Martin Kaymer, Padraig Harrington, Francesco Molinari, Darren Clarke, David Lynn and Rafael Cabrera Bello have been highly touted, but at the end of day one it was Ross Fisher and Stephen Gallacher who tied for the lead with a 6-under 65.

Fisher has had a good year by chalking up a none-too-shabby five top-10 finishes, while Gallacher is looking to get over his poor finish in the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. It will be interesting to see how both players fare in the rest of the tournament. Here are the complete 2012 Portugal Masters winner odds at William Hill.

2012 Portugal Masters Winner Odds

5/1 Bernd Wiesberger
6/1 Padraig Harrington
7/1 Ross Fisher
12/1 Jamie Donaldson
12/1 Stephen Gallacher
14/1 Thorbjorn Olesen
16/1 Danny Willett
20/1 Fredrik Andersson Hed
20/1 George Coetzee
20/1 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
20/1 Martin Kaymer
20/1 Rafa Cabrera-Bello
25/1 Lee Slattery
25/1 Shane Lowry
33/1 Alexander Noren
33/1 Miguel Angel Jimenez
33/1 Thomas Aiken
40/1 Francesco Molinari
40/1 Gregory Bourdy
50/1 Christian Nilsson
50/1 David Drysdale
50/1 George Murray
50/1 Henrik Stenson
50/1 Jbe Kruger
50/1 Kristoffer Broberg
50/1 Marc Warren
50/1 Marcel Siem
50/1 Simon Dyson
50/1 Thomas Bjorn
66/1 Anthony Wall
66/1 Daniel Denison
66/1 Edoardo Molinari
66/1 Jaco Van Zyl
66/1 Mark Foster
66/1 Matteo Manassero
66/1 Michael Campbell
66/1 Pablo Larrazabal
66/1 Ricardo Gonzalez
66/1 Soren Kjeldsen
66/1 Steve Webster
66/1 Tom Lewis
80/1 Anders Hansen
80/1 Richard Green
100/1 Darren Clarke
100/1 Robert Rock
100/1 Thomas Levet
125/1 James Kingston
125/1 Richard Finch
125/1 Robert-Jan Derksen
150/1 Andrea Pavan
150/1 Matthew Baldwin
150/1 Peter Whiteford

 Posted by Anton Johan at 13:22 on 12 October 2012