Their lead was extended by substitute Alex Terra on the hour-mark, but a late Carlos Hernandez strike provided little consolation for the visitors, who had began the game highly fancied by those giving out soccer betting tips – and the result left Victory captain Adrian Leijer feeling a sense of having missed an opportunity:

“It’s disappointing for the fans more than anything because we know how much it means to them. We started off very well and probably should have been two-up, then they got a goal on the counter-attack and it changed the whole game.”

The game was a tough one to officiate from the first whistle with referee Strebre Delovski having to make a number of contentious decisions.

In the fifth-minute Archie Thompson was brought down by Heart keeper Clint Bolton and only dished out a yellow card when vast areas of the bumper crowd were baying for a red; there was a strong case for offside when Matt Thompson scored his second, and also a potential handball in the build-up to Terra’s decisive third goal.

Victory certainly had their chances to win the match and the live soccer betting favored the Blues for much of the game, with Hernandez first setting up Isaka Cernak’s with a perfectly-weighted through-ball in the 55th minute, only to see his shot brilliantly tipped wide by Bolton, and then he buried pinpoint header which was subsequently disallowed for offside.

The result leaves Victory languishing in sixth-spot, some way off the early pace being set by Central Coast, and they now have the opportunity to set things straight when they play Brisbane Roar in their New Year’s Eve fixture at the Suncorp Stadium.

But regardless of previous trends and stats, the psychological advantages of being out in front in the middle of a festive schedule that is one of the most hectic in world sport cannot be underestimated.

With Manchester City cruising their way to one of their easiest wins of the season last night at the Etihad Stadium, Stoke City slipping to a 3-0 defeat that was in fact far more humiliating than the scoreline suggests, their fans have been left celebrating their team’s position at the top of the table, the first time the northern side have achieved such a feat in a whopping 82 years.

Despite their win, City will have been watching on as their close rivals Manchester United thrashed Fulham away from home. With Fulham a club United traditionally don’t do well at, their 5-0 drubbing sends out a signal of intent to Roberto Mancini’s men that the second half of the season may not be as straightforward as they hope.

Should Roberto Mancini continue to prove himself to be a man capable of keeping the likes of the dissatisfied Wayne Bridge and Carlos Tevez quiet and not able to affect the atmosphere in the dressing room, those who bet on soccer games will back City to remain on the right road to push for EPL glory.

If, however, the minority of dissenting voices in the City squad starts to become a majority, with squad rotation unavoidable come January and February, you can bet your bottom dollar that Sir Alex Ferguson will be waiting with his sleeves rolled up and his mind games ready and prepared to further unsteady the ground beneath City’s feet.

Former skipper Paul Ince feels the Red Devils need to invest in a striker during the January transfer window in order to support Wayne Rooney.

Rooney, a leading contender in the Premiership top scorer betting, has hit14 goals in 19 games this season, with Nani the next top scorer on seven.

However, Ince fears that an over-reliance on the former Everton striker will prove counterproductive and could in fact damage Rooney’s form.

“There is a lot of pressure on Rooney and we saw what that did to him in the World Cup,” said Ince.

“If you are going to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea you need someone who is going to score you 20 goals a season and you can’t just rely on Wayne Rooney to do it year in and year out.”

Nicky Butt meanwhile – a former team-mate of Ince – believes the club’s young players will recover from their recent ‘blip’ and will all the more stronger for it.

Butt came through the United ranks along with a number of other talented young players including David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers.

They formed the spine of the team that defied the soccer betting bounced back from losing the title to Arsenal in 1998 to win a magnificent treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League – despite Alan Hansen’s famous quote “you can’t win anything with kids”.

Butt clearly retains faith in his old manager Sir Alex Ferguson to help the current generation to develop.

“They haven’t got the experienced players, they have young players and they started the season pretty well but they’re having their first blip now,” said the 36-year-old.

“Everyone goes through that in their careers and it’s up to them to prove they are good enough to play for this club.

“You’re there to be shot at when you play for a big club and they have to accept that,” he added. “They have to take it from certain people and maybe deserve that.

“Maybe they deserve a bit of a kick up the backside but with the people they’ve got around them and the manager they’ve got there, they’ll be okay with that.”

If you bet on the Champions League then you will have found mega rich City and last season’s finalists United among the favourites, so to see them drop out is a real game changer.

Manchester City were quick to play down the significance of their failure to finish ahead of Napoli and Bayern Munich. They stress that they are only just beginning and that the Premier League is the most important thing for them this season.

They are, of course, always going to say that and while it is true to an extent, with £500million spent, plus the very vocal and grand speeches of ambition about becoming the best and the biggest in the World, ever; to drop into the Europa League represents a failure on their part and their reaction represents a change in their stance as to the current position of the club.

The looming financial fair play rules may also become a bit harder to reach as the TV money would go a long way towards recovering the massive losses incurred thanks to Abu Dhabi’s generosity.

However, their elimination was perhaps overshadowed – much to their delight I suspect – by Manchester United’s failure in Switzerland.

The Red Devils have no excuses; they have played Champions League football for nearly 20 years and were given and infinitely easier group than City. But a failure to beat Benfica or Basel has cost them dear. The last time they went out at the group stages they finished bottom of the table and went out of Europe completely. Now they will have the hangover of the Europa League to stretch right into next year.

Patrice Evra said it was a ‘catastrophe’ to go out and ‘embarrassing’ to be in the Europa League, but the accountants may be using even stronger words. The estimated £20million lost from TV money and gate receipts courtesy of their early exit will make the £50million they pay in interest payments all the more harder to find. The club are used to the riches the Champions League provides and for the tap to suddenly run dry maybe  a difficult adjustment to make.
You can bet on the Premier League taking on greater significance for the two clubs this season as they seek to massage those bruised egos that have come from these stinging eliminations.

The Republic’s 1-1 draw with Estonia in Dublin on Tuesday was a mere formality after their thumping 4-0 first leg win in Tallinn on Friday evening.

It means they have reached their first European Championships since their one and only appearance in 1988 and their first tournament of any kind since the 2002 World Cup.

Since that tournament in Japan and South Korea it has been tales of play-off heartaches for Irish fans, with the most frustrating being their clash with France in November 2009, where Thierry Henry’s blatant handball set up an extra time winner for France, with neither linesman nor referee spotting the clear infringement. True, it made for some of the most dramatic Live Football matches of recent years, but that proved scant consolation for those of a Gaelic persuasion.

Henry and co joined Spain, Holland, Turkey and Belgium as conquerors of the Irish at the play-off stage, with only a win over Iran to qualify for World Cup 2002 the bright spot among the play0ff gloom.

Until now that is. After years of having to Watch Football Live from their armchairs the Irish are now able to dig out their passports and plan for a trip to Poland and the Ukraine, with the prospect of playing England in the group stages a real possibility.

Speaking after the game in Dublin boss Giovanni Trapattoni couldn’t hide his delight, saying: “I am very, very proud for many reasons. We came here with an important objective.

“We have started the last campaign in a difficult group with Italy and then we had France, and we could have achieved qualification.
“But we started again and we have discovered new important options in terms of players. They have shown how important they have been for us.

“We have improved our quality, like against Russia. We have started again with new mentality and the players believe in our system.”
“I like the Irish people. I live in a little village and it is like Ireland.

“For me, it is like my life in Italy. For this reason, I am proud. I understand what the Irish people wish for and for this reason, I am very, very happy.”

With all this talk about cats and guns you might think Trap has lost the plot. But a cautious approach such as this will hopefully filter through to the players and help them produce the type of performance that will ensure qualification for the Euro 2012. Ireland have one foot on the plan to Poland and Ukraine, but need to respect their opponents to ensure the FAI coughs up for first class seats.

The current Euro 2012 betting odds for this game put Ireland as firm favourites at 4/11. After Friday night, you would expect Ireland to coast through. Howver the Estonians did threaten at times and could be worth a punt at 9/1 over the 90 minutes. Don’t be surprised though if Ireland does deliver with a home win. Captain Robbie Keane is showing no mercy and wants to go for the jugular. He wants to show no sympathy for Estonia and still feels the pain of Ireland not qualifying for the World Cup two years ago. Keane said “Why should I feel for Estonia?” and that “no one felt sorry for us in Paris two years ago. We were devastated in the dressing-room that night”.

Perhaps with Keane after bagging a brace in the first leg and wanting to seal the deal he may be a very good shout to bag another if you are into goal scorer betting. Keane is Ireland’s record scorer and will be looking to increase his tally. Hopefully Ireland can produce the goods and go some way to repairing the damage and heartache caused by Henry in Paris in 2010. Come on you boys in green!

It is clear the deep wounds of that night and that handball are still raw and perhaps will only begin to heal if the current generation can nudge past Estonia and reach Euro 2012 – their first tournament since 2002.

The soccer betting is certainly pointing towards a Republic win. Estonia are the lowest ranked team in the play-offs, playing in their first ever play-off and therefore were the team Ireland would have chosen to play had they been given the option. It is little wonder then that Leicester defender Sean St Ledger believes it is meant to be.

“I’m a big believer in fate,” St Ledger says. “It was a huge injustice in Paris but who knows? We might get one ourselves this time. I won’t be complaining. I’ll be a complete hypocrite.”

Few would begrudge Ireland a bit of luck should fortune fall on their side after the injustice in France but they will have to do so without a number of key players. Leon Best had to pull out of the squad for the first game in Tallinn with a toe injury, joining Liam Lawrence and Shane Long on the sidelines. Kevin Doyle is also suspended, meaning Jonathan Walters or Simon Cox will partner the captain Robbie Keane in attack. Best, however, could return along with John O’Shea for next week’s second leg in Dublin.

On a personal level St Ledger admitted his respect for Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni for helping him progress over the past few months, especially as at club level the football scores haven’t gone his way.

He suffered relegation to League One with Preston last season before a big-money move to Leicester went sour, falling out of favour under boss Sven Goran Eriksson before his sacking earlier this month. However, Trapattoni has been lauded for helping him at international level, despite his owes in the domestic game.

“I have to thank Giovanni a million times for what he’s done for my career,” St Ledger added. “There have obviously been bad times and playing for Ireland has kept me going at times. For me, coming from Peterborough United, and to now be working alongside people like Giovanni and [the assistant manager] Marco Tardelli, and to be playing alongside the players in the Ireland squad … it’s surreal, really.”

A 4-3 horror show of a defeat to Blackburn in September left Gunners fans wondering whether the season was to be spent languishing in mid-table, a comfortable position for some, but not for a side who haven’t been out of the top four since 1996.

But the club have quietly begun to re-build the season, winning eight of their last nine games in all competitions since the disaster at Ewood– the sole defeat coming against north London rivals Tottenham.

The inspiration on the revival is undoubtedly Dutch striker Van Persie, who has hit 12 goals already this season, taking his Premier League tally for the calendar year to an astounding 28 in 27 games, justifying his tag as a favourite in the Premiership top scorer betting.

He also seems to be thriving in the role of captain, with the summer departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri leaving him as the obvious senior choice to take the armband. He is taking leading by example to a whole new level.

He isn’t alone in the Gunners’ quiet revolution, Aaron Ramsey has made great strides this season, almost revelling in the spotlight made free by the departures of Fabregas and Nasri. Theo Walcott, almost written off last season, has made great strides and is beginning to resemble the player we all thought he would be when he burst into the Southampton team six years ago.

The run-away Manchester clubs suggests that Arsenal’s lengthy premier league odds are justified – and Wenger himself has already ruled out the title, something he doesn’t usually do until mid-April. But their performance at Chelsea gave them the real belief that they could compete with the best in the country again – something that 8-2 hammering by United in August took away.

The key now for Arsenal fans is sustaining the run and thus ensuring their leader and main source of inspiration is happy to commit his future to the club, with the looming presence of money-bags Man City a growing concern.

That said, there was still a reluctance – maybe almost disbelief – to consider them title challengers, given just a few years ago they were considered Premier League also-rans.

This was reflected in the premier league betting, with their bitter rivals Manchester United – perhaps by virtue of their greater experience – leading that particular field. Punters, used to the status quo of United dominance for so long, kept asking – could City actually do it?

On Sunday they got their answer.

City’s Old Trafford destruction of United could go down as one of the most pivotal and symbolic results in the division’s history.

The sheer amount of long-standing statistics blown away by Roberto Mancini’s men is alone enough to mark this game as one for the history books.

It was United’s biggest home defeat since 1955, the first time United had conceded six goals at home since 1930, their first loss at Old Trafford since April 2010 and first time since 1926 City had scored six in a Manchester derby.

Those looking to Bet on the Premier League can no longer ignore the noisy neighbours. The sheer manner of the way United – England’s dominating force for nearly 20 years – were swatted away by a free-flowing, skilful and ruthlessly clinical City side has rightly placed them as favourites to win the Premier League.

That will bring pressure of its own but such is the pace of City’s oil-fuelled revolution, these are no wide-eyed players thrust into the limelight for the first time, these are expensive, well-paid international stars used to the pressures of football at the very top.

True, there were always going to be question marks about how a team put together so quickly would gel, but the individuals are so good the collective doesn’t really matter – though if Sunday is anything to go by it seems Mancini has already managed to form City into a unit capable of challenging anyone, anywhere.

Perspective is needed – it is only October – and United have shown time and time again that they won’t be kept down for long. But the City ‘project’ is like no other seen in football before. The Sheikh will spend and spend and spend until he gets the glory he craves and no-one – not even Sir Alex Ferguson – looks like stopping him.

Since then, i’ve banked approx €350 and still have about €200 in my betfair account, so things are still going well

Unfortunately, none of it is being recorded or means anything for my head to head battle with Enda. We’ve decided to change the rules for 2010 because it was just too time consuming to blog about every single bet we were placing.

It meant betting actually became a chore because we knew we had to bet AND then blog about it.. So stay tuned for then new rules. Once we get time to sit down and agree on them, we’ll be sure to let you know and we also have plans to revamp the site and get you guys more involved