What are the odds Tottenham finish in the top four? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

By Derek McGovern in Betting Blog

Published 22:00 12/12/11

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Three successive Stoke victories have finally forced pundits to accept that Tony Pulis has a realistic chance of getting the England job.

Surely he can’t do any worse than predecessor Martin Johnson.

There’s strength and depth in every position at the Britannia this season, especially at the line-out.

Pulis should be credited for unearthing Stoke’s latest long-throw specialist Ryan Shotton who lives only a stone’s throw from the Stoke boss, some 32 miles away.

On Sunday, Stoke dealt a blow to Spurs’ hopes of a top-four finish, but Harry Redknapp has seen an unbelievable return for his efforts so far this season.

His immediate concern is that the Inland Revenue may find his returns equally unbelievable.

Hills still make Spurs 4-6 to finish in the top four, with Arsenal 11-10 and Liverpool 15-8.

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BET OF THE DAY

Just to annoy people, I leave a message before the beep.

Get on Oldham at 6-5 to beat Southern in their FA Cup second-round replay on Tuesday.

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There's a saying in the fight game that the result of a rematch will generally mirror the outcome of the first meeting – and you only have to look at World Wars I and II.

So I wouldn’t be in a hurry to back Amir Khan to beat Lamont Peterson next time they meet, mainly because the fight is months away so there’s no need to rush.

Khan said Peterson’s victory in Washington DC owed everything to home advantage, but for his first 14 years Peterson didn’t have a home.

Critics are split over the reason for Khan’s defeat. Half say Khan, looking ahead to a mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather, had dollar signs in his eyes.

The other half say the judges had the sun in their eyes.

Hills make Khan 1-5 to win the rematch, which suggests they have Bette Davis eyes.

Peterson, the 11-2 underdog, came to fight and had no problem showing his boat; Khan preferred to go showboating. That’s why he lost.

The American gets a 3-1 quote. Come fight night that will be much shorter.

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After winning X Factor, Little Mix can dream of major tours – as Tulisa’s backing singers.

The four-girl group beat the curse of the bands on X Factor.

They managed to avoid Louis Walsh as mentor.

Girl bands never do well on the show because voters are mostly females who fear they will come around and steal their boyfriends while they are out at bingo.

But during X Factor even Frankie Cocozza gave Little Mix a wide berth.

“Girls don’t feel ­threatened by us,” said roly-poly Jesy and she’s right. Only pork pies feel threatened by her.

The girls originally entered the show not as a band but singing on their own – which gives them a taste of what to expect at their first gig.

The Puppyfat Dolls are said to be a marketing dream, but only if you’re marketing The Saturdays.

Boylesports offer 4-1 for Little Mix not to have a No.1 in 2012 and that bet has ‘hit’ written all over it. In fact it could go ­platinum.

Their record company plan to release a string of Little Mix singles next year – unless their demands are met.

First task is to get to Christmas No.1 with their debut single Cannonball.

A Cannonball is, of course, fired – by March, ditto Little Mix.

Normally, the X Factor winner is odds-on ­favourite to top the festive charts, but Hills have the ­Military Wives Choir as their 4-7 jolly.

The Military Wives have stormed Amazon’s bestseller chart.

Their husbands plan to storm the Amazon.

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