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ALI'S BIG MATCH PREVIEW - SPURS v MIDDLESBROUGH, CARLING CUP THIRD ROUND 26-9-07
Alastair Brownlee
Although it was disappointing to have been given an away tie in the Carling Cup I think that Wednesday's trip to White Hart Lane gives Boro a real chance of staying on the road to Wembley and trying to reproduce the glory of 2004.
Spurs seem to be a club in crisis with constant speculation surrounding the future of Martin Jol, a situation not helped by a 1-1 draw at Bolton over the weekend that leaves the north London club third bottom of the Premier League.
The pressure on the likeable Jol will grow if we knock Spurs out of the Carling Cup but sympathy has to be put to one side as the aim has got to be progress in a competition that has silverware and a place in Europe as the prize.
Boro are starting a tough run of matches and fans will be clocking up the road miles with Premier League away days at Everton and Manchester City to come before the next home game with Chelsea and then a journey to Old Trafford.
With such a testing set of fixtures there was huge relief around the treatment room on Monday that Mido and Tuncay did not have long-term injuries after the bruising encounter with Sunderland and that both have a chance to play at Goodison Park on Sunday.
The potential lack of striking options was a main talking point with Bernie and I on the Simply Red show on Century on Sunday. Some texts we received even suggested that Mr Slaven himself gave his boots a polish but its far too late for that!
Nevertheless with Aliadiere ruled out for a month and the Carling Cup tie coming too soon for Mido and Tuncay, it looks as if Dong Gook Lee will be the lone striker at Spurs.
The South Korean did score his first goal for Boro in the previous round in the 2-0 victory over Northampton so let's hope that the competition is a lucky one for a striker who has yet to make his mark in a Boro shirt. It's certainly a big chance for him on Wednesday night.
Going back to the derby on Saturday, the pain of the late Sunderland equaliser is still hard to take especially as I thought that we were good value for all three points.
Stewart Downing's goal was top class and it was a refreshing change to hear on a national football phone in fans of other clubs praising Stewy and even calling for his selection in the next England starting eleven.
This is going to be a massive season for the lad from Pallister Park and I am backing him to add to his tally of three goals for the season so far at Spurs, a club he actually supported as a schoolboy!
The biggest blow though at the Riverside wasn't the Miller goal but the loss of Julio Arca for two months with medial ligament damage. Arca is a terrific footballer to watch and I just hope he is back to his best as soon as possible.
It is a pity that Gary O'Neil is cup-tied for the match at Spurs as on his home debut he really looked the part and was our Box Clothing Stores man of the match.
A midfield with O'Neil on the right and Downing on the left should ensure that our strikers receive top class service during the season.
Any visit to White Hart Lane brings back memories of the Carling Cup quarter-final from December 2003.
After conceding an early goal to Darren Anderton the exit door was looming until Michael Ricketts scored with just four minutes left.
The press box at Spurs is quite cramped and I can still see Bernie's face as Steve Ollis, who is a big Boro fan and was seated next to Slav, throw his arms around Bernie in delight and screamed "YES!' into our effects microphone!
The emotion continued with the penalty shoot out and after Taricco missed for Spurs a successful spot kick for us and we were through. At that moment Franck Queudrue picked up the ball and started to walk towards the penalty spot juggling the ball on his head like a seal.
I am not sure that Steve McClaren knew that Franck was going to take the kick and the manager yelled "What the **** is Franck doing" as the full back continued his balancing act towards the penalty spot.
Thankfully for all concerned Franck scored and the commentary of 'Sacre Bleu Franck Queudrue!" echoed around the airwaves and was even printed on Boro scarves.
As we all know Boro went onto lift the cup and lets hope it's the same this season.
I will provide score updates on Century FM on Wednesday and be back again with the Everton preview on Friday.
RETURN TO ALASTAIR BROWNLEE INDEX PAGE HERE
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.20 ON PORTSMOUTH v FULHAM
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Sunday afternoon's Premiership clash between Portsmouth v Fulham, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.20, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £41.20 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match and we will collect £115.00 if Portsmouth win, £112.20 if Fulham win and £114.13 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet
 .
This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £26.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet
account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on Portsmouth at 3.00 (2/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Portsmouth as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Portsmouth.
Back the draw with £25.00 at 3.7 (11/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £26.00 on Fulham at 2.2 (6/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £51.00 riding on Fulham.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £115.00. That's £90.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £114.13. That's £89.13 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Fulham win you collect £112.20. That's £87.20 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Fulham match is Fulham win and you make £41.20 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £43.13 and if Portsmouth win you make £44.00. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
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