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ALASTAIR BROWNLEE'S ARSENAL v BORO MATCH PREVIEW 14-3-08
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The pain felt after the humiliating FA Cup exit at the hands of Cardiff City will take a long time to ease but the spirit shown by the players in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Villa Park has at least ensured that the healing process has begun.
Significant questions about the players were thrown up by the quarter final defeat, however the performance in the Midlands proved that they are determined to regain their pride.
Most importantly of all, they also proved that they are aware of the need to rebuild bridges with the supporters, together with putting in performances worthy of their manager who has done so much to shield them from criticism.
Quite rightly, many will wonder how the team could be so energetic and competitive in the Premier League at Villa and so inept in the FA Cup but one area that was crucially different on Wednesday was central midfield.
It would be cruel to blame the Arca/Rochemback combination for the Riverside Cup heartbreak, as in truth the whole team failed to perform, but the impressive ninety minutes put in by George Boateng and Mohamed Shawky has given them a strong claim for a long run together in the team in the games that remain.
As the players head to league leaders Arsenal, they must still be frustrated at not getting the full three points from Aston Villa, but yet again they failed to take a number of good chances. This has been a problem for the majority of the season.
Boro have scored more than one goal in a league match on only one occasion in 2008 - the trip to Anfield on February 23 - and over the course of the season we have only won one game by a two goal margin. That was back on September 1 in the 2-0 home win over Birmingham City.
The forward line will be strengthened by the return from a ludicrous four-match ban of former “Gunner”, Jeremie Aliadiere, and by the inclusion in the squad of record signing Afonso Alves who missed the match at Villa Park due to illness.
Nevertheless, the strikers need to find a more clinical approach to finishing chances, especially at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal will give Boro few opportunities.
On their day, Arsene Wenger's side are not only as good as any in the Premier League but also amongst the very best in Europe as their superb demolition of AC Milan in the San Siro in the Champions League underlined.
They can, however, be vulnerable as they followed up their European success with a goalless draw at Wigan and in their last home game were fortunate to scramble a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
Boro can also point to the corresponding match at the Riverside back in December as encouragement ahead of the journey to North London.
On that occasion, Boro tore into the Gunners from the start and after Stewart Downing’s early penalty gave them the lead, the Boro never looked back and were full value for the 2-1 win after Tuncay scored the second goal.
Tuncay was back to his best in midweek and if the Turkish international can reproduce that form on Saturday, then Boro could cause an upset.
Last season Boro grabbed a point from their first visit to the Emirates thanks to a James Morrison goal.
Morrison is now playing well for West Bromwich Albion and, bearing in mind the strong Boro connection with the ‘Baggies', and as we can no longer win the FA Cup, I hope it is them who go on to pick up the trophy in May.
Looking back over games I have covered against Arsenal, one of my favourites was also one of the most bizarre as Boro travelled to Highbury in April 2001 still in need of points for survival.
Terry Venables was inspiring the great escape from relegation but even he must have been stunned at half time as the scoreboard at Arsenal displayed:
Arsenal 0 Boro 2
Visitor’s shots on target 0
The reason was two own goals had given Boro the advantage and in the second half a great goal from Hamilton Ricard rounded off a 3-0 win. Let's hope for the same result on Saturday!
Apart from the Villa point, the best news this week was that full back Andrew Taylor continued his battle back from injury with an outing for the reserves.
Taylor has been absent since November and it is good to see he has taken another step on the road to full recovery.
After the trip to Arsenal, Bernie and I will be back with Simply Red on Century Radio this Sunday.
We will have all the usual features including a Sunday lunch for two to give away for the Bluebell Hotel in Acklam and tickets for the Boro v Derby match courtesy of the Hillstreet Shopping Centre in the Boro and  Ladbrokes.
Special guests will include David Armstrong, Curtis Fleming and Gary Pallister so why not join in the fun by giving us a call on our usual number 08450021100 or text 85102.
We are on air from 11 until 1pm.
Up the Boro!
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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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