Spanish Grand Prix 2013

Last years Spanish Grand Prix saw Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado take a hugely surprising win in his Williams, after managing to outwit the experienced Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso at the Circuit de Catalunya. It was a thrilling tactical race, won by Maldonado who was only his second season of F1 racing. The success for Williams (which their first win since 2004) was all down to the timing of pit-stops, which just allowed Maldonado to keep himself in front, although he was helped a bit by Alonso waiting too long to go in and take his second pit stop of the race. But it wasn’t just a great win for Maldonado, it was a race in which he had gone from pole position as well. It was a great result, but for the 2012 drive, you will be looking towards the favourites.

The favourite of the favourites will naturally be Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel. The German took two wins in the first four races of the 2013 season to start laying some dominance down as he goes in search of his fourth consecutive title. There are just signs, even though still early in the season, that could have ominous bearings for the rest of the season. Vettel was a comfortable winner of the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen in mid April and the way he dominated the field sets him up to the be the one to catch again. He found some incredible speed in his Red Bull and if the teams have sorted their set up issues in the new regulations, then he is going to take some stopping.

Sebastian Vettel has winning experience at the Spanish Grand Prix a well, taking the win in 2011 but could only managed a sixth place finish last season after going from pole position in the race. He picked up a race penalty and had to stop to get his front wing changed in the race, but still didn’t produce a bad finish. The Red Bull team do have an advantage of speed and innovation over the rest of the field and Sebastian Vettel is the one to press it all home. There have been seven different winners of the Spanish Grand Prix in the last seven seasons, so there is some unpredictability at the event, but Vettel is usually the one to demolish that.

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus, sitting second in the 2013 F1 Drivers World Championship, is a two time winner of the Spanish Grand Prix, winning it both with McLaren and Ferrari in his career. Raikkonen looks to be the main challenger to Vettel for the world title this season and will want to desperately try and close the gap. Even with the pace and power of the Lotus, he still couldn’t make a dent in Vettel’s lead in Bahrain, and that means ascendancy should still be with the German world champion. But Raikkonen has been consistent with his finishes this season and should be a contender.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso won the Spanish Grand Prix back in 2006. The Ferrari driver went into the new season with big confidence after a title challenge which only faded away in the final race of last season. But even at the early stage of heading into the fifth race of the season, he recognised that Ferrari need to pull their socks up and get as near to perfection as possible. They were bothered with problems over the first four races of the season, throwing away points, points which could prove costly in the long run..Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes, which isn’t as far away from the big guns as many had expected, remains the best outside shot in the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix betting,

English Premier League 2013-2014 Betting

It is always worth looking ahead at ante post markets for Premier League betting, and with the 2012/13 title heading to Old Trafford and into Manchester United’s hands for the 20th time in their history, looking a year beyond that, who is likely to be crowned English champions for the 2013/14? Looking ahead, summer transfers can always be a game changer for sides but as usual, there are the big clubs, the ones with the money and the power are still naturally going to be dominating the ante post market. But still, there is the big question of who it will end up being.

Manchester United
The Red Devils, with 20 English League titles under their belt are naturally going to be the favourites to take the title. They will be the defending champions and they will have the most at stake to lose. They have all the experience and of course the guile of Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm and that is why before the close of the 2012/13 season, Man United were already 13/8 favourites to successfully defend it the following season. They have tremendous scoring power in Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, who is likely to stay at the club despite transfer rumours. Not only that, Sir Alex Ferguson always gets the best out of any player that he drafts in on top. Man United are not likely to be big spenders over the summer, although if they target an upgrade in a very suspect midfield area, they will be strong front runners again.

Manchester City
The 2011/12 Champions couldn’t successfully defend their title, and it is a tough thing to do. Boss Roberto Mancini blamed their failure to do so on missing out on signings last summer to boost their squad. That having been said, the Citizens came into terrific form, about four months too late into the 2012/13 season to mount a realistic title challenge. Their defense is mobile and strong enough to rack up clean sheets, but they likely will look for a summer strengthening of the forward corps. Sergio Aguero wasn’t quite at his best all season and that, along with dodgy away form, cost them. So strengthening things up front, and having an extra world class body in the centre of midfield as well would likely take City to the next level and get them closer to their bitter rivals again. They certainly can’t be counted out, and Man City will take some popular backing at a price of around 15/8 in ante post 2013/14 Premier League betting.

Chelsea
Third favourites in the ante post betting at around 4/1. That is quite a distant price for the London club, who last won the league title in the 2009/10 season. They will have a new manager next season with the temporary tenure of Rafa Benitez coming to an end, so new systems will be implemented. Chelsea have a wonderful crop of attacking talent, youngsters like Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar. They definitely need a boost up front through in bringing in a world class striker, as Fernando Torres is cutting it, and that leaves just Demba Ba. They need more than that to mount a title challenge, as well as adding some extra bodies at the back. They shouldn’t have any trouble in attracting big names over the summer, especially if they have Champions League football to look forward too. With them being attached to big names like Andre Schurrle and Radamel Falcao, if they team it up with the right manager, then they could make up a very strong third title challenging team.

Arsenal and Tottenham
The two North London sides are still yet to prove that they have title winning credentials in them. Hard to argue about the fact that they will likely be top five clubs against next season, but just how close they can get to the three aforementioned clubs is really up for debate. It is still not likely to happen unless major investments are going to happen. Few are betting on Arsenal who last won the league title back in the 2003/04 season and Tottenham is very definite long shot with a last league title coming all the way back in the 1960/61 season.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2013

The Bahrain Grand Prix is an event which has courted a lot of controversy over the past few years. The running of the event was canceled altogether in 2011 amid protests in the Kingdom. There was a touted rescheduling, but it didn’t come into fruition amid all the unrest. Then in 2012, the race was back on the calendar, and Human Rights Activists wanted the race canceled again, due to concerns over the treatment of prisoners in captivity in the country. There were also major safety concerns for the drivers and members of the teams in Bahrain as well, but amid more turmoil the race did go ahead and it was won by Germany’s Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull. That was a win which would help Vettel to eventually power on to take this third F1 World Championship title in a row.

The build up for the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix has not been all plain sailing either, with MP’s in Britain calling for the race to be canceled again. But the race is going ahead once more as drivers head to the Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit, where all but one of the Bahrain Grands Prix have been held. There are some great straight sections at the track, combined with a really tricky section of left and right hand cornering. The race is one of the most difficult in the season for the teams because of the high temperatures in the desert which has a big influence on tyre wear and driver fatigue. It is probably a race which is going to rely heavily on pit stop strategy, with an expected three per driver during the race.

2013 will be only the ninth edition of the Bahrain Grand Prix, and Spain’s Fernando Alonso has taken the win in four of those races. He secured back to back wins in the 2005 and 2006 while he was driving for Renault, and then took a win at the Sakhir Endurance Circuit where the race was hosted in 2010. Combined with some good early form in which he took a win, and a dominant one at that in Shanghai for the 2013 China Grand Prix, he will be favourite at Bahrain. That is form and track record on the side of the Spaniard as he looks to keep himself fully in the 2013 F1 Drivers Championship race.

But Alonso should be sitting around the mark of joint favourite Sebastian Vettel, who is not only the reigning champion, but he also won the Malaysian Grand Prix earlier in the season. With the conditions and style of the Malaysian Grand Prix being fairly close to that of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the power of Vettel should be making a strong challenge for back to back titles at the event He took a comfortable win at the 2012 edition ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus and while he was defended off by Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix, keeping Vettel just off the podium for the first time this season, the threat that the German Red Bull driver poses in qualification alone should put him inside the top three.

Lewis Hamilton has been producing some very solid stuff in his Mercedes this season, even taking a surprise pole position at the China Grand Prix. He also fired in a good qualifying time last year in his McLaren, taking second on the grid. Given that he has got more out of the car than was ever expected at this stage, he looks a good prospect for a top three finish. He could also produce good value in Pole Position betting too. Back in the outright race winner market for the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen in his steady Lotus is worth a look. The Finnish driver took second place in China and add to his win in Australia has produced well. He finished second behind Vettel in last season's Bahrain Grand Prix, yet to win the title there in his career. 

Bahrain F1 and Motor Racing Betting

Monte Carlo Masters 2013

The Monte Carlo Rolex Masters is one of the seven ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments during the course of the season. This is the highest tier of tournament behind the Grand Slams and naturally produces big fields. The action in Monte Carlo, the event being known as the Gem of the Mediterranean is the first of three Masters 1000 events to be held on clay. Big money and big Tour points are on offer in this one, and there is a lot of prestige about this tournament in the luxurious location. The other Gem of the Mediterranean, Rafael Nadal, will be back for the 2013 edition of the event to continue what has been a truly amazing affinity with the red clay surface of Monte Carlo.

Sometimes picking out a favourite for a tennis event is just an easy thing. Sometimes it has been made all so simple for you. This is the case here, with the dominance of Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo. His match record at the event stands at a staggering 44-1. He first lifted the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters title in 2005. Since that maiden win he has defended the title seven times in succession and goes for an unbelievable ninth title in 2013. In the 2012 final he snapped a seven match losing streak against Novak Djokovic to hold on to the title, so the Spaniard does not look as if he is going to let his grip on the event slide too easily. Since coming back from injury, Nadal won three of his four events on his return.

That is what champions are made of. Current World Number One Novak Djokovic hasn’t been in the winners spotlight at Monte Carlo yet in his career. He has finished runner up twice there, including last season. While his run to the final came in a difficult week for him after the death of his grandfather, this time his pre tournament build up has been trying to shake off an injury. He rolled his ankle for Serbia in a Davis Cup match, but he still soldiered on with the rolled-ankle to win the decisive rubber in the match for his country. Djokovic has two titles under his belt this season but didn’t make the final of either of the first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in 2013.

2012 US Open winner Andy Murray has just a 10-6 match record in Monte Carlo heading into his latest attempt in 2013. Clay has been Murray’s weakest surface without much question really, but he has been trying make a concerted effort to improve his game on there. It may take time to pay off though and his best efforts have been semi final runs in 2009 and 2011. The benchmark on clay court tournaments of course is Rafael Nadal and in both of Murray's semi finals in Monte Carlo, he lost to the Spaniard. Murray would bump into Nadal at the semi final stage of this season’s tournament and the Spaniard would have to be favourite.

Arguably Rafael Nadal will be favoured in 2013 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters tennis betting, whoever he goes up against. Will he be able to make it a record nine titles in a row? If so the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 record holder will take his tally of those titles to 23.

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Nathan Cleverly v Robin Krasniqi Boxing

Current WBO Light Heavyweight world champion Nathan Cleverly steps into the ring on April 20th to take on German Robin Krasniqi. This is going to be an important bout for the Welshman, because if he wins, then he has been promised a shot against American Bernard Hopkins in a world unification title fight. But before he looks that far ahead, he has to take on the mandatory challenger Krasniqi in April. The fight will take place on April 20th at Wembley Arena and if Cleverly needed motivation to impress, then it is the long awaited chance to have a shot at IBF champion Hopkins. The importance on this fight for Cleverly is immense.

A defeat and the Welshman would simply not get the shot at Unification and will be well off Hopkins’ radar. Cleverly is undefeated in his professional career, and the last time that he was in the ring was at the back end of 2012 when took on Shawn Hawk in Los Angeles, the Welshman successfully defending his WBO Light Heavyweight title. Since claiming the WBA Light Heavyweight Title, Cleverly has gone through three title defences and is looking in good shape. He will start as favourite to take down the German, but his opponent is really not going to a pushover, given his professional career record.

Having posted a career record of 25 wins, 12 knockouts, 0 losses and 0 draws, this is going to be a pivotal point in the career of the 26 year old Welshman. Nathan Cleverly is the former British, Commonwealth and European champion. He will be wrong to step into the ring and underestimate his opponent at Wembley, but that is just what Krasniqi is hoping will happen. The German is ready and primed to take on the challenge of Cleverly, and with such favouritism going towards the British boxer for the bout, the German is hoping that it will play into his hands. He has some deadly hands as well.

The 25 year old German was ready for this fight last year, and finally get his shot at the Welshman after the bout needed rescheduling twice. It was first planned for April of 2012. Krasniqi thinks that he is just being used as a stepping stone by Cleverly to get to Hopkins. But Krasniqi is no slouch, having currently strung together a run of 38 wins in a row after losing two of his first three professional fights. Just to add to that, the German has knocked out his last four opponents and is clearly highly motivated for this one. He has been waiting a long time to stand toe to toe with Cleverly in what should be an explosive bout.

Check here for the latest Nathan Cleverly and Boxing Betting Bouts

British Superbikes

The 2013 British Superbike Championship, sprinting off the line in April, goes for nine exciting rounds of action, concluding over the weekend of September 6th at Donington Park. Then comes three further races in The Showdown. At the end of the regular season, all riders can then get rid of their two worst scores for the season. With that settled, the top six in the points standings become the Title Fighters, each starting the three-round Showdown with 500 points plus bonus points for podium finishes over the regular season added. This shake up was done to ensure that excitement continues all the way to the end of the season, while all the riders who are outside of the Title Fighters places just continue to race for the BSB Riders’ Cup.

The 2012 season was the 25th edition which saw some new regulations come in as well, notably being limited to sixteen two bike teams. There was a fascinating three way battle for glory last season, with Englishmen Shane Byrne and Tommy Hill picking up the same amount of wins on the season as Australia’s Josh Brookes. Those three really kept the British Superbikes championship driving last season, each having their strong swings through the season. Things really went to the wire last year, with the championship not being settled until the final event of the season, the three races at Brands Hatch. The meeting was dominated by Shane Byrne on his Kawasaki, who won all three races to power himself to the title.

The Englishman is favourite to take another title this year. He turned down the chance of a return to Moto GP as well, instead targeting an unprecedented fourth British Superbikes title. After previous British Superbike titles, Byrne had left the sport to try his hand elsewhere, so this will actually be his first ever title defence season. He is hungry and he's the favourite for the season with the bookmakers. Fellow countryman Alex Lowes has been trading well after taking a fourth place finish in last season’s British Superbikes championship. The 2011 Champion Tommy Hill, who also has experience in the World Superbikes, will be a popular rider to back ahead of the new season, challenging Byrne well last season on his Yamaha, taking third overall in the final standings.

Australia's Josh Brookes is going to be the other main contender again this season and it is hard to see that aforementioned triumvirate being broken up. Brookes came on strongly through the middle and latter half of the 2012 season on his Suzuki, where he finished 2nd overall, unable to make the impression at Brands Hatch in the final Showdown meeting as he had wanted to. That was the second time in four seasons of British Superbike racing that he had finished second overall. There is a high probability that one of those three are going to be crowned champion in 2013. For added excitement this time around, three times British Superbike winner Ryuichi Kiyonari makes a return. The Japanese rider is back with his old Samsung Honda team for the 2013 season and makes the best outside shot of the strong three of Byrne, Brookes and Hill.

Superbike and Motorcycle Betting

2013 Chinese Grand Prix

The 2013 Chinese Grand Prix has taken on a slight new context and interest surrounding it has been hyped following the clash between the two Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The furore started when Webber was the leading the race, but Vettel, under team orders to hold his second place in the race, decided to take matters into his own hands and go and take the win by passing, his arguably slower teammate. That sparked a team fall out, even between support staff and rumours circled that Mark Webber was even considering his future in the sport. However, the Australian has calmed things down by saying that it isn’t true and he will be out and competing at the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix in April.

Could this be a case of beware the wounded beast? Are the troubles likely to spur Webber into life and take a firm grip of the race? No, it doesn’t work like that and it is not going to be that straightforward. Vettel is far faster than his teammate Webber is, and even though Webber was leading the Malaysian Grand Prix, he was holding up the rest of the race, one which would have been ran at a quicker pace without him at the front. Webber really hasn’t the consistency, track record or car to really come out of the blocks and start heading up fields. If his car and set up was as quick as Vettel's, the three time World Champion Vettel would still be edging things out of the two.

Looking back of the past history of the Chinese Grand Prix, in what will be its tenth year this edition, Webber hasn’t take a victory. Incidentally, Vettel has only taken one title in China, with the McLaren’s taking back to back wins in 2011 and 2010. So it is McLaren who may take some precedence at this year’s running, even though the two McLaren’s of Sergio Perez and Jenson Button are still playing catch up with other front runners this season. The McLaren team went well again at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, taking second and third. The question is, will they have learned enough from the first two races of the season to really make an impact in the latest renewal? Button was going well at the Malaysian Grand Prix until he had a problem in the pits with a tire change, ruining what could well have been a podium finish. A podium finish has to be a strong target for this year’s race.

However, overall precedence really has to stick with Vettel, as clearly his own team can’t even stop him winning. He’ll probably want to prove a point he can win cleanly and fairly. The Ferrari’s haven’t been doing great at the Chinese Grand Prix over the past five seasons or so, and with Fernando Alonso not totally showing up in the 2013 season yet, may be worth looking over. If there is a solid outside shot to take a look at in 2013Chinese Grand Prix betting then it could be Lewis Hamilton. It was Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg who took the win last season in China, and Lewis Hamilton himself, moving to Mercedes for this season’s drive, is the only multiple winner of the Chinese Grand Prix (2008, 2011). Quietly, his Mercedes has been quicker and more competitive than expected. This could be where he makes his breakthrough for his new team.

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2013 Moto GP

The 2013 Moto GP World Championship season will commence in April, with the first round coming at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar in Doha. That goes over the weekend of 5th-7th and with all the pre-season done and dusted out of the way, it will be time to knuckle down over eighteen physically demanding rounds of action across the course of the year. The culmination of the season will come on November 10th in Valencia, Spain. Starting the 2013 season as favourite will be Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who was edged out into second place last season in the Championship, despite a strong second half of the season in his duel with fellow countryman Jorge Lorenzo. They were the two dominant riders for the season and it is unlikely that anyone else is really going to get close to them again.

Pedrosa was setting some seriously hot and challenging pace through pre-season testing and many will be jumping him on as favourite. He finished the 2012 season with a bang, winning six of the last eight races on the season, the two he didn’t win came as a result of retirements. So momentum was all with him last season, and even though it was head and shoulders his best ever Moto GP season, the Honda rider still couldn’t get his hands on the elusive championship. He started his Moto GP career in 2006 with a 5th place finish, and since then has finished runner up three times and third twice. He has been knocking seriously hard on the door, but just hasn’t been able to get over the line. Will it happen for him this time around? The bookmakers have generally across the board, installed him as favourite.

Jorge Lorenzo is the reigning world champion in Moto GP and that was thanks to consistency last season from his Yamaha. He was the quickest out of the blocks on the new season, winning four of the first six races. With Pedrosa coming on strongly over the second half of the season, Lorenzo was pretty cool under pressure and even though the wins dried up (taking just one in the final eight races), he never finished outside of the top two. In fact, with only two retirements all season, in all of the other races he was either first or second. It was that consistency, which Pedrosa didn’t have over the first half of the season, that got him his second Moto GP title. Lorenzo won the world championship in 2010 and came second in 2009 and in 2011, so isn’t going to be far out of the picture.

What about the outside shots behind the powerful Spanish duo this season in 2013 Moto GP betting? Another Spaniard, Marc Marquez is taking some decent backing ahead of the new season, as he takes a step up from Moto 2 for what will be his Moto GP debut. He was impressive during pre season testing on his Honda and doesn’t look as if he will be too far behind Pedrosa and Lorenzo this season. It would be some accomplishment for him to come in and knock off the other two. The experience of Italian Valentino Rossi may be looked at, but was disappointing last season on his Ducati, really not recording any finish of note. He was quick in testing at Jerez though, along with Britain’s Cal Crutchlow who will be confident for the new season after topping the timesheets on the final day of pre-season testing on his Yamaha.

Motor Bike Race Betting

Cycling Paris Roubaix 2013

The Paris-Roubaix road race is the third race of what is known as the Monuments. This is part of the Spring Classics, and alongside the Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Giro di Lombardia, takes a lot of precedence for riders for being some of the most prestigious and highly regarded races of the calendar year. The Paris-Roubaix in France, is actually known as the Queen of the Classics and like the other Classics, is a one-day race that has a tremendously long history. It was first raced all the way back in 1896 and has naturally undergone changes and growth along the way. It takes part in early April every year, just a week after the gruelling Tour of Flanders in Belgium, so riders don’t get a lot of rest. Heading into the Hell of the North, or the Sunday in Hell as it is known, takes a lot.

It is a very tough road race because of the challenges of the surfaces. It part of the UCI World Rankings and it goes over some extremely rough terrain including cobblestones. It is one of cycling’s oldest cycling races in the world and riders really are tested over the cobblestoned sections. Just as an indication of what is involved, the winner actually receives a cobblestone as part of his prize. Not only is this a test for riders, but for equipment as well. It was Belgium’s Tom Boonen, who took the win in the race last season, just a week after winning the Tour of Flanders. With his win last year, he jointly holds the record for the most wins of the race, at four. So naturally, he will take a lot of heavy backing in this year’s race. You get established experience with him, and he has points to make up after refusing to take a restart at the first classic, the Milan-San Remo race, which was stopped and shortened because of bad weather.

Boonen is a class act and one of the great Classics rider, and Belgian riders have dominated the history of this race, with French riders being the second most successful. But it is Swiss star Fabian Cancellara who goes as favorite in 2013 Paris-Roubaix betting. Cancellara was third in the Milan-San Remo race and has won this race twice before, in 2006 and in 2010. He looks to be in good shape this season and should be a big threat in the race. Cancellara could be involved in a tighter race in Belgium a week before this one, than the Paris-Roubaix race, because he has the style and stamina to really excel in France more so than the Flanders race. He is a stronger option to win in France than Belgium and does just edge Boonen at the top of the market.

French rider Sylvain Chavanel has been riding well this season and looks as if he could have a good crack at things this year. He put in a great fourth at the Milan-San Remo race but perhaps will be a better shot in Flanders than here. A good outside option will be Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd who has gone well before in the race. He finished a disappointing eighth last season in what was a Tour De France year for him, but finished 2nd in 2010 and 3rd in 2009. So has generally put up a performance in the race. Outside shot though, with no great form in 2013 having been produced yet. But for 2013 Paris-Roubaix cycling betting, it’s hard to look past the fact that between them, Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara have won six of the last eight editions.

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Rugby League Super League 18

Some familiar names will be battling it out this season in Super League XVIII, as the race to be the best rugby league side resumes. The Leeds Rhinos are the reigning champions in the Super League after managing to gun down the powerful Warrington Wolves in the Grand Final at the climax of last season. It was a tough run to the title for Leeds through the play offs, who had to edge their way past the Catalans Dragons, Wigan and then Warrington in the final. It certainly showed a lot of steel about them and should keep them fired up for a title defence this season. Leeds are a good knockout rugby side, but last year through the regular season, they could only finish in 5th place in the standings, a good ten points adrift of table topping Wigan. The top eighth of the 14 teams in the Super League move through a knockout stage to determine the Super League Champions.

So it was the Wigan Warriors who grabbed top spot in the league last year, just beating Warrington to the post by a single point. Wigan are the most successful league club in Britain, having won the title nineteen times before. But Wigan haven’t tasted Super League success since back in 2010, and after throwing everything into finishing top of the table, they fell in the semi finals against eventual winners Leeds. Wigan lost that semi final match by a single point. So there is no reason why Wigan shouldn’t be back among the big threats to win the Super League title this year. While there is the power of Leeds clearly to contend with, there is also the Warrington Wolves.

Warrington have won the Challenge Cup three times in the last four years, but their last Super League title was all the way back in 1955. They almost topped the pile in the regular season, but couldn't quite get across the line, and they were favourites in last season’s Grand Final, but were toppled there by Leeds. They, along with St Helens are also drawing some big interest in the 2013 Super League betting markets, wondering if either of them could take the title. St Helens, the second most successful club in the Super League with 12 titles (the last in 2006) took third spot in the league standings last season and lost in the semi finals in a battle against Warrington. They do form a powerful big four, so is it worth looking at an alternative angle?

Who will win the Super League without Wigan, Warrington, St Helens and Leeds? In other words, take those four big guns out of the Super League XVIII season and who will finish the highest in the regular season standings? The French outfit, the Catalans Dragons look a very capable side and finished fourth in last season’s regular season standings before getting dumped out in the preliminary semi finals by Leeds. Huddersfield started the new Super League season with a bang and it will be interesting to see if they can sustain things. The Bradford Bulls and Hull may also represent value in the regular season winner market without Warrington, Wigan, St Helens and Leeds. 

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