Champions League
Arsenal host Dinamo Zagreb tonight knowing that anything other than a win will all but end their hopes of qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition. Arsenal lost in Zagreb after having Olivier Giroud sent off in the first half, however that was Zagreb's only win in four games so far and they are level on points with Arsenal.
The Gunners have been extremely unlucky with injuries so far this season and another important player in Francis Coquelin suffered an injury in the defeat to West Brom on Saturday and looks like being out of action for at least two months. They should still be far too good for the Croatian team and I expect them to win by a few goals. The other two teams in the group - Bayern and Olympiakos - play in Munich and Arsenal will be hoping the Germans can do them a favour by winning to realistically keep their hopes alive.
Chelsea won for the first time in four matches when beating Norwich at Stamford Bridge at the weekend. This should have helped with their confidence issues as they travel to Israel to play Maccabi Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv have looked well out of their depth in this competition and have lost all four games so far, conceding eleven goals in the process and scoring just once. Chelsea are far superior to them and should have no problems winning this match by at least a couple of goals.
Elsewhere Barcelona and Porto both appear to be home bankers against Roma and Dynamo Kiev respectively and Lyon should overcome Gent in France.
14:30 Lingfield
Rock Of Leon for Dan Skelton battled really well to win last time out at Lingfield on heavy going, and although he has been raised six pounds for that win he is a progressive four year old and has plenty of improvement in him. The conditions today are again on the heavy side which will pose no problems at all and with Harry Skelton taking over the reins, I definitely think he is the one to beat.
Sirop De Menthe won really nicely in his previous race at Huntingdon and will carry an extra six pounds because of that. This is much tougher though and in heavier conditions. It is also a bit of a step up in distance, therefore I think he will do well to stay with Rock Of Leon.
Lovcen hasn't raced for over 500 days so it is impossible to know what kind of condition he will be in. He was a very good hurdler at his best and had a high rating of 150. Any support in the betting could be highly significant.
Today's Selections
Arsenal minus 2 and Chelsea minus one double - 1 point at 4/1 (Paddy Power)
Acca - Arsenal, Chelsea, Barca, Bayern & Porto - 1 point @ 3.96 (Paddy Power)
Lingfield 14:30 Rock Of Leon - 2 points @ 19/10 (10Bet)