Arsenal is already facing a must-win game in the Soccer Betting Premier League as they host Manchester United on Saturday. Manager Arsene Wenger has said the team must come away with a win if they expect to contend for the title this season. A loss would make it very difficult for the Gunners because they would be four points back of United and could fall as many as nine behind Chelsea and Liverpool. “It’s a massive game of massive importance for us,” Wenger said. “Manchester United-Arsenal is always a special one. It’s important for us that we do well in the big games in this league now.”

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Arsenal has not won in any of its last three matches. They played to a 4-4 draw with Tottenham after leading 4-2. One of those matches was a draw to Fenerbahce at home in the Soccer Betting Champions League. Wenger is not happy with his players or with the referees. “In the second half, we dropped physically and were less dangerous from then on,” Wenger said, “We were not sharp enough to put our strikers into good positions. You expect us to make chances in the last 20 minutes and this didn’t come because physically we didn’t have the resources.”

Wenger is really upset about the amount of penalties his team is getting in the Premier League. “Look at the fair play table. Who is top? Arsenal,” he said. “Look at the team that makes less fouls. Arsenal. (Yet) who gets more yellow cards after four or five fouls? Arsenal. Some teams get their first yellow cards after 15 fouls.”

Soccer Betting Preview: Arsenal Facing Must-Win Game on Saturday

The Soccer Betting Premier League has been dominated by Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in recent seasons. Liverpool wants to join those three teams and so far in the 2008 season, they have. Liverpool star Dirk Kuyt believes his team can stay at the top. Every three games we have a big game. We had Everton and PSV last week, and our target is just to win every game and try to be there by the end of the season. But it was vital to keep pace with Chelsea before the internationals. We can leave with a good feeling. We’ve already had one international break and we came back in our first game after it and beat Manchester United, so I wouldn’t say it comes at a bad time. Anyway, we don’t need any excuses. We’ll just keep on going and see how we do against Wigan in our next game.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

One problem for Liverpool is that they will be without defender Martin Skrtel for months after he suffered damage to his posterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

Read more on Soccer Bettin Preview: Liverpool and Chelsea Lead Premier League

The top of the Soccer Betting Premier League is expected to be a battle between Manchester United and Chelsea once again this season. The Blues are doing their part, starting the season with two wins while United has a win and a tie.

Manchester United was able to get a 1-0 win against Portsmouth even without a number of their key players including Cristiano Ronaldo. Also missing were Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp believes it is a two-team race in the Premier League once again. “They are still so strong that I can see them and Chelsea being the two slugging it out again for the title. They will probably meet again in a repeat of the Champions League final too, I shouldn’t wonder. Certainly, I think Arsenal and Liverpool have it all on to finish above them. Chelsea were very strong last week and United will be even stronger than they are now if they sign Dimitar Berbatov (from Tottenham), as I think they will, in the next few days.”

Read more on Soccer Betting Preview: Manchester United and Chelsea both get 1-0 Wins

Arsenal won the first leg of their Soccer Betting Champions League qualifying match, 2-0 against FC Twente on Wednesday. The victory puts Arsenal in excellent shape to advance to the group stage. The first half against Twente was not what Arsenal expected but captain William Gallas and Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored in the second half as Arsenal got the win.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Arsenal now doesn’t have to be too worried about advancing in the Champions League after the 2-0 win. They can now focus on their Premier League opener against West Brom on Saturday. Arsenal started slowly against FC Twente and could have been trailing at the half but Twente couldn’t put away their chances. The second half was controlled by Arsenal as they proved they were the superior squad.

Another Premier League team escaped in first leg qualifying action. Liverpool was able to get a scoreless draw against Standard Liege in a game they easily could have lost. Liege easily could have won by two or three goals and now probably won’t advance as the return leg is at Liverpool.

Read more on Soccer News: Arsenal Looking Good in Champions League Qualifying

The Premier League season gets underway on Saturday with seven games including Arsenal hosting West Brom. Defending champion Manchester United and second place finisher Chelsea will start their seasons on Sunday.

Manchester United will not start the season at full strength so manager Alex Ferguson will have to mix and match early on. Last year Manchester United started slowly with just two points in their first three games but came back to win the title. Manchester United will start this season without superstar scorer Cristiano Ronaldo who is out until October. Ronaldo had 42 goals last season. Also missing to start the season for United will be striker Louis Saha, Nani and Anderson. “Last season we had a staggered start, Tevez and Anderson joined us and weren’t 100 percent fit, Ronaldo got suspended for three games after the first game, then Rooney got injured in the first match against Reading and was out for three games,” Ferguson said, “By the time we got everyone focused and fit, we then went on a fantastic run with our consistency and really good football. I’d prefer to get a good start, we want that, but we are also able to go the long distance.”

Read more on Soccer News: Premier League Season Begins Saturday

Everton will try and clinch a spot in the Soccer Betting UEFA Cup on Sunday as they travel to face Arsenal. With just two games remaining the Toffees have 62 points, three clear of sixth place Aston Villa. Manager David Moyes is confident his club can get the necessary points in one of their final two matches even after blowing the lead against Aston Villa last week and settling for a 2-2 draw. “The boys played well and it was a decent game,” Moyes said, “Apart from conceding the goals, I don’t think we can really complain about their effort. I saw signs on Sunday that we were coming back to form and we are looking forward to the last two games.”

Check out the current line for this game at SBG Global

Arsenal is on the outside of the Premier League title race, trailing Manchester United by four points with only two games left. They will probably be eliminated before Sunday’s game begins since Manchester United is expected to easily handle West Ham on Saturday. Arsenal may not have much motivation on Sunday but Everton is not playing well of late having won only one of their last eight Premier League matches.

Premier League Betting Preview: Everton at Arsenal

Manchester United effectively eliminated Arsenal from the Soccer Betting Premier League title race with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Sunday. United is now six points ahead of Chelsea although that will probably change on Monday as Chelsea is expected to win at home against Wigan to pull back within three points. United is now nine points clear of Arsenal.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his team’s title hopes are now gone. “Yes we are out,” he said, “We played with quality and spirit, and I’m very proud of our performance. What can you do? We had plenty of chances and we were really unlucky not to win.” Arsenal actually led 1-0 on a goal by Emmanuel Adebayor. It was a mistake by United’s defense that led to the goal. Rio Ferdinand said, “I heard a shout of ‘keeper’, but Edwin said he didn’t say it, so I’ve left it and it’s gone in. It was on my head really.” United tied the game on Ronaldo’s 38th goal of the season in the 54th minute. William Gallas was given a penalty for handling a shot by Carrick and Ronaldo scored into the top corner to tie the game. Owen Hargreaves scored in the 72nd minute on a great free kick to give United the win. That kick was a surprise to Arsenal as they thought Ronaldo would take the kick but Hargreaves said he was the first choice. “That’s a good distance for me so I didn’t ask him,” he said.

Read more on Manchester United Gets Big Win over Arsenal

Two of the semifinal spots in the Soccer Betting Champions League look to be going to Manchester United and FC Barcelona as both teams won on the road in the first legs last week and now are at home. The other two spots are up for grabs with Liverpool facing Arsenal and Chelsea hosting Fenerbahce on Tuesday.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Chelsea lost 2-1 on the road at Fenerbahce in the first leg but they are heavily favored to win at home and advance. The game between Liverpool and Arsenal is a definite toss-up. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in their first leg and they also played to a 1-1 draw in league action on Saturday. This will be their third meeting within a week’s time. Arsenal has played a lot of draws lately. They have seven draws and two losses in their last 11 games. They have now fallen out of the title chase in the Premier League as they are now six points back of United and three back of Chelsea. “We will play our own game on Tuesday night and try to win, give absolutely everything,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “Now we need to recover physically and mentally because the players gave everything against Liverpool on Saturday. However, we have enough resources to qualify on Tuesday night.” Arsenal and Liverpool both rested a lot of starters in Saturday’s league match, instead putting the focus on Tuesday’s huge Champions League match.

Read more on Champions League Semifinal Spots on the Line

Soccer Betting Preview - Ferdinand Injury Not Serious

Manchester United breathed a huge sigh of relief as a scan on defender Rio Ferdinand revealed that his left foot is not broken. Ferdinand left Middlesbrough on Sunday with his foot in a protective boot but the club said he did not suffer a break. With huge games upcoming for United in the next few weeks they will need a healthy Ferdinand.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Manchester United plays AS Roma on Wednesday in the Soccer Betting Champions League quarterfinals but they already have a 2-0 lead and are in good shape to advance. They will definitely want Ferdinand back this month though as they have key Premier League matches against Arsenal and Chelsea. United was able to get excellent play out of 21-year-old Pique as a replacement for Ferdinand against Middlesbrough but they can’t always assume that will be the case. “Pique came on and did brilliantly. He was marvelous.” Manager Alex Ferguson said, “The lad’s a terrific player and I think that actually helped us. We’ve got great confidence in the lad and he’s come through very well.” United is already missing defender Nemanja Vidic, who has been out for three weeks with a knee injury. Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said that missing Vidic has hurt recently. “Of course we miss him, he is a very important player for us.

Read more on Manchester United Defender Rio Ferdinand Injury Not Serious

Manchester United and FC Barcelona won first leg road games in the quarterfinals of the Champions League putting them in excellent position to advance next week when they play the second legs at home. Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney scored as United defeated AS Roma 2-0 while Bojan Krkic scored for Barcelona in a 1-0 win over Schalke. “We can’t take anything for granted, but we definitely feel like we can reach the semifinals,” United manager Alex Ferguson said. Wednesday’s other two quarterfinal first legs have Arsenal hosting Liverpool and Fenerbahce home against Chelsea.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

Ronaldo scored a brilliant goal to give United the lead against Roma in the 39th minute as he jumped over Marco Cassetti and headed in a cross from Paul Scholes. Roma put on some pressure in the second half but couldn’t get the equalizer and Rooney scored in the 66th minute to put the game away. “Ronaldo’s goal changed the game for us,” Ferguson said. “I thought Roma had some good chances the first 15 minutes of the second half. But there are breaks in a football match and I think they were with us today.” Roma was missing injured captain Francesco Totti and his absence hurt their offense.

Read more on Manchester United and FC Barcelona Win