Premier League News, Tips and Odds – Monday

Joe Cole moves to Anfield while Spurs ban Vuvuzelas

Liverpool pulled off the surprising signing of England midfielder Joe Cole, beating off the competition of Tottenham. Chelsea let Cole walk on a free transfer in the summer, citing the reasons as economic, and insisted there had been no problems between the player and boss Carlo Ancelotti. This will be some good news for Liverpool fans, who will have been worried about attracting new talent because of the lack of Champions League football this season. The Reds have a couple of qualifying rounds to get through before reaching the group stage of the Europa Cup, with their first step coming near the end of the month. Cole will become new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson’s second signing after picking up Serbian midfielder Milan Jovanovic on a free transfer as well. These are shrewd bits of business by Hodgson, who probably cannot afford to dip into any transfer funds with the club in a lot of financial difficulty. Liverpool are 13/8 at Paddy Power to finish in the top four in the 2010/11 season, and also 13/8 at SkyBet to do the league double over Fulham. Despite his words about keeping his star players, there are still rumours that Hodgson may be tempted to part with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, although the speculations have slowed a little bit. Liverpool have shown Fabio Aurelio and Emiliano Insua the door and will be looking for a new left back. Liverpool play two friendly matches this week, one on Wednesday at Grasshoppers, and then on Saturday at Kaiserslautern. The first leg of Liverpool’s Europa League qualifier against either Rabotnicki Kometal/Mika Ashtarak is on Thursday, July 29th. Meanwhile, in betting, Liverpool new boy “Joe Cole to Score on Debut” is 7/2 at SkyBet while “Joe Cole To Be Booked on Debut” is also 7/2 at SkyBet. Meanwhile, you can get over 6.5 goals at Stan James at 5/4 for Cole’s total goals for the season at his new club (he’s only managed more than that, three times in his entire professional career).

Chelsea meanwhile have insisted that Real Madrid are not getting their hands on full back Ashley Cole, despite strong rumours of him heading to Spain, and boss Ancelotti has said that he is not making a move for Fernando Torres either. Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel returned to action in Chelsea’s friendly against Crystal Palace, with Essien scoring the only goal of the game. Chelsea’s season starts on August 8th when they take on Manchester United in the Community Shield. Chelsea’s London rivals Fulham are reportedly going to announce former Spurs manager Martin Jol as their new boss. Jol, who is coaching at Ajax, is now favourite to take the job, even though every man and his dog have linked with the empty seat at Craven Cottage after the departure of Roy Hodgson. So strong are the convictions, that Jol is 1/6 at BetFair now, with the rest trailing in his wake. Apparently the lack of money at Ajax is driving him away, claiming that the club is not backing his plans to dip into the transfer market.

Manchester City, who are looking to push on further up the league, are bringing in left back Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio, a player who has a wicked shot on him. City are already the Premier Leauge’s top spenders again this summer, after signing David Silva, Jerome Boateng and Yaya Toure. Boss Roberto Mancini, after drafting in David Platt as a coach, has added Attilio Lombardo to his backroom staff. You may remember the former Sampdoria star from his days at Crystal Palace, that or just his bald head. Some specials on Spain’s forward David Silva for his new season at Eastlands. David Silva to Score on Debut is 3/1 at SkyBet, and to David Silva to Get Booked on Debut is 6/1 at SkyBet. West Ham, who are being touted as potential relegation candidates for the new season, have been strengthening their squad. Boss Avram Grant has added Mexico’s Pablo Barrera after making a positive impact at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne. Grant is expecting to add to his squad even more over the next week or so.

There is plenty of Champions League and Europa Cup qualifying going on this week, and there is a spattering of Premier League’s sides back in friendly action on Wednesday. A lot of eyes will be on Liverpool, to see how they are setting up for the new season, and they play Swiss side Grasshoppers, and Joe Cole is flying out to join up with the squad. Bolton are over in the Great White North, taking on Toronto FC, while Arsenal are away at Sturm Graz. Arsene Wenger has been keen to put rumours about the future of Cesc Fabregas to bed, saying that he will remain at the Emirates for another year. Barcelona’s star Carlos Puyol is insisting that Arsenal should give Fabregas the respect he requires by letting him move to the Catalan side, the destination of his transfer rumour. Birmingham play Beijing Guoan on Wednesday, while Blackburn make a visit to Huddersfield. Tottenham meanwhile have taken a commendable step by banning Vuvuzela’s, the plastic trumpets which blighted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, from their ground. The Vuvuzela’s were blamed for taking away a lot of the atmosphere of South Africa 2010, as they were completely tuneless and drowned out the singing and chanting that one wants to hear at a football match.

Wednesday, July 21st Friendly Matches
Toronto FC to win: 9/5 at William Hill
Draw: 5/2 at SkyBet
Bolton to win: 6/4 at Boylesports

SK Sturm Graz to win: 4/1 at SkyBet
Draw: 13/5 at Boylesports
Arsenal to win: 11/17 at Bwin

Grasshoppers to win: 7/2 at William Hill
Draw: 11/4 at William Hill
Liverpool to win: 3/4 at Bwin

Beijing Guoan to win: 7/2 at William Hill
Draw: 11/4 at Boylesports
Birmingham to win: 11/18 at Coral

Huddersfield to win: 2/10 at Bwin
Draw: 23/10 at Bwin
Blackburn to win: 11/10 at Bwin