Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches Weekend of 30th-31st August
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Goodwood, Newmarket, Redcar, Windsor and York and over the jumps at Cartmel.
- Football, the Premier League fixtures include Liverpool v Arsenal.
- Cricket, the Final of the 2025 Hundred.
- Formula One, the Dutch Grand Prix.
- Golf, The Irish Open on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, the US Open continues
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Ante-Post part two, Player Markets out Monday midday.
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The Hundred Eliminator at The Oval Saturday 6pm
Trent Rockets v Northern Superchargers
Second and third in the league table meet in Saturday’s eliminator, the winner heads to Lords for The Hundred final on Sunday where they’ll meet the Oval Invincibles looking for their third title in a row and likely to have Australian leggie Adam Zampa in their line-up replacing Rashid Khan. Zampa has played for the Invincibles in 2023 and 2024 and played a key role last year with 19 wickets at 11.5 in nine matches. Khan is required at an Afghanistan series this month, a big loss that will no doubt have both of Saturday’s teams thinking they have a shot at toppling the Hundred’s best team over several years.
Good news for this game, and probably for both teams, is that it’s at the Oval. In a tournament beset by low scores and slow, tired pitches the Oval (and Headingley) have provided the best batting surfaces including teams chasing 180 down during the league stages.
The Northern Superchargers first (with Andrew Flintoff at the coaching helm), They’ve won 10 of 15 matches with Harry Brook as captain. They're the only team that Oval Invincibles haven't beaten in the last two seasons by the way. Interesting if they make it through this game. They’ve won 5 of the 8 matches this year. I think it’s fair to say the batting line-up is key here, and probably more powerful than the bowling line-up.
Zak Crawley (that renowned Northerner from Canterbury) has 280 runs in this season’s Hundred, third behind Jordan Cox and Jos Buttler, off 172 balls at a strike rate of 162. Alongside him Dawid Malan has 182 runs off 128 balls.
The real stardust of course is provided by Harry Brook with 221 runs off only 134 balls, batting four, and a strike rate of 164. With Dan Lawrence at 3 and David Miller at 5 this is a high-powered unit.
The bowling line-up sees Durham’s Matt Potts as top wicket-taker with 9 with New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy and England A’s Tom Lawes with 8. Mitch Santner’s loss through injury has been a blow, Samit Patel has come in as the slow-bowling all-rounder.
Turning to the Trent Rockets who won on Wednesday night to get to a league record of 6-2.
Leg spinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed is a front-runner for player of the tournament in The Hundred. He’s scored runs batting at number three, taken wickets and been a huge part of the Trent Rockets success. That, along with his 5 hundreds in the Championship should give him a good chance of being on the Ashes trip this winter. Rehan took 3-15 and scored 37 off 23 in the last league game.
At the top of the order the dasher Tom Banton opens with Joe Root and both have scored 228 runs so far at identical strike rates. Ahmed has 189 runs and they are the only three batsman with over 100 runs as the team strategy packs the team with all-rounders beginning with Willey and Stoinis at 4 and 5.
I think its definitely the case that the Rockets have a deeper bowling line-up. Lockie Ferguson, Sam Cook and David Willey supported by Marcus Stoinis is a strong experienced unit and Rehan leads all of them with 10 wickets.
Outright odds for the game are the Rockets 4/5 Superchargers 1/1 and I’d agree that the Rockets should be modest favourites.
Interesting player prop prices are:
- Rehan 5/1 top Rockets batsman (behind Root 11/4 and Banton 3/1) In a competition where top scores can come at big prices down as low as 7-8 this is rare as the market is usually a three-way go. Willey and Stoinis come next at 6/1.
- Harry Brook is 100/30 joint favourite to be Superchargers top batsman alongside Crawley with Lawrence and Malan 4/1 or below. This though is a more competitive market than the one above.
10 points Rehan Ahmed top Trent Rockets batsman at 5/1 BetVictor, 9/2 with Bet365 and Ladbrokes/Coral
What now?
At Red Bull Racing Max Verstappen sealed his fourth consecutive world title last season but it is now in a period of change with the departure of Christian Horner their team principal for all of the 405 races they competed in until he was sacked.
Laurent Mekies has moved from the sister team Racing Bull and has now been thrown in at the deep end with the future of Max Verstappen top of his inbox.
At Racing Bulls he worked in tandem with Peter Bayer, who took on the role of chief executive while Mekies was team principal. Mekies will have to do both jobs at Red Bull, at least in the short term, a tough ask for someone with no experience in the chief executive side of the role. However, the real decision-maker is Oliver Mintzlaff, the Red Bull GmbH managing director, even though much of his background is in football. Perhaps the leadership roles will ultimately be split with a Chief Exec coming in from parent Red Bull.
Yuki Tsunoda, who is particularly struggling at Red Bull, performed well under Mekies for Racing Bulls. Perhaps instilling confidence in the Japanese driver is one quick fix the Frenchman can look at.
Is there a possibility that, for the greater good of Red Bull, they may need to hit rock bottom before they can rebuild? Verstappen stays for the 2026 season with new regulations instead of a move to Mercedes and he will be driving a car with an engine expected to have a deficit, from early wind tunnel results, to their biggest rivals, and doing so with a splintered leadership team.
When Verstappen is not winning, he is unhappy. Red Bull are 288 points adrift of McLaren in the constructors’ championship and Verstappen has 69 points to make up on Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings.
Were Verstappen to leave, the immediate future would be bleak. Red Bull may not just be mediocre but if the dismal form of Tsunoda is more typical of what the majority of the drivers can get out of their car rather than the exceptional talent of Verstappen they could be at the back of the grid.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st June 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,960 All bets have an ROI +2.55%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,960, a 1649% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 23rd-24th August
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Goodwood, Newmarket, Redcar, Windsor and York and over the jumps at Cartmel.
- Football, the Premier League fixtures include Manchester City v Tottenham and Newcastle United v Liverpool.
- Cricket, the 2025 Hundred continues.
- Rugby Union, the Rugby Championship: South Africa v Australia and Argentina v New Zealand.
- Golf, The European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, the US Open
2025 NFL Season
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Rugby Championship Round 2 South Africa v Australia, Cape Town Saturday 4.10pm
It’s not often you get an 18-point favourite turned over in top level Rugby. At 22-5 to South Africa at half time having scored 22 points in the first twenty minutes in the Johannesburg game to open the Rugby Championship last weekend Australia were any price you like.
At half time I was called away to go to a barbeque (I mean, who arranges one of these things when there is sport on TV?) and was resigned to a losing bet. I checked the score an hour later and did a huge double take on seeing that Australia had scored 33 unanswered points from five tries in the second half to win 38-22 and win for the first time in Johannesburg since 1963. Crazy stuff.
In the first 25 minutes the Australian tight five forwards were in trouble playing at altitude but as the half wore on the back row began to win the break-down battle and scoring the first try before half time gave them a tiny foothold in the game.
South Africa then went away from their strengths in the second half and played very expansively but inaccurately and Australia were absolutely lethal on the counter-attack. Australia certainly have a tremendous backline in these circumstances, led by full-back Tom Wright whilst winger Max Jorgensen can finish from anywhere. Ikitau and Suaalii are gelling in the centres and after a wobbly start at fly half James O’Connor’s outrageous passing came off.
One factor that came into play was the South Africa have a new defense coach, installing a new system and the wide defenders were constantly left exposed and beaten one-on-one in the second half.
South Africa pride themselves on the basic metrics of the cornerstones of Test rugby – the breakdown, the aerial battle, defence and set-piece. To read that overall they achieved just 68% in the lineout, missed 26 tackles and lost the post-contact metre battle by some 70 metres (325m playing 395m from the Wallabies) was very unexpected.
Only two of the Australian tries came from less than 22 metres out, four were run in from the area between the 22 and halfway line, really unusual and a measure of how many times the hosts coughed the ball up and were in turnover.
Looking ahead to Cape Town this week. I expect South Africa to win. Certainly last week Australia were battle-hardened by three Lions tests and I’d expect South Africa to get back to basics, be more tuned up and leave the fancy stuff alone for large parts of the game. They have made 10 changes from last week notably Handre Pollard at 10 and a lock Franco Mostert at 7 which suggests a more physical approach with more of a kicking game, plus a 6-2 bench so the “bomb squad” is back. In the backs Inside centre De Allende and winger Kolbe are back too, both big boosts.
In addition Australia are injury-hit. Winger Dylan Pietsch broke his jaw and starting prop James Slipper has an Achilles injury. Captain Harry Wilson misses out too, important given how well the Australian back-row went but at least Rob Valetini is back.
For South Africa Captain Kolisi and Du Toit are out too, which is two of last week’s starting back row, but generally we’d regard the South African depth as a real strength.
South Africa were -18.5 points at kick-off last week and lost by 16. This week they go off -13.5 points. I’d love some Australia +14 an important number representing two converted tries, if you see that.
11 points Australia +13.5 points at 10/11 generally
Slow Horses.
Slow over-rates were a feature of England’s Test Series against India and an issue across all series in recent years
Only 72.3 overs were bowled on day two of the third Test at Lord's. 15 overs were lost from the match not because of rain or bad light but because of the slowness of play. A further 19 overs were lost over days three and four.
England were subsequently docked two points in the World Test Championship (WTC) and fined 10% of their match fee for a slow over-rate.They were deemed to be below the required rate despite mitigating circumstances.
The rules are as follows:
In a five-day Test, 90 overs are scheduled for each day.
To prevent teams tactically wasting time to ensure a draw, all of the overs must be bowled on the fifth day, barring interruptions for the weather. On the previous days, the overs must be fitted into the six hours of play, with an extra half hour made available at the end of the day. While time can be made up for overs lost to the weather, there is no such provision when the reason is simply slow play. If overs are not bowled in that time they are lost from the match.
There are some penalties already in place in the International Cricket Council's playing conditions but they have limited impact.
An umpire can, after an initial warning, award five penalty runs to an opposition if one team are deemed to be wasting time. This rule has never been enforced in Test cricket.
A stop clock was also introduced last month where a timer counts down from 60 seconds between overs. Again, five penalty runs can be awarded but, despite warnings during the first two Tests, neither captain was punished.
More common are fines against captains and, in the WTC league phase, points deductions.
At the end of a WTC match various caveats are taken into accounts, such as injuries and umpire reviews, and a calculation is made as to how far behind the required over-rate a team was.
The regulations state: "A team will have one point deducted from its points total for each penalty over it incurs."
England were docked 22 points during the 2023-25 cycle. Captain Ben Stokes has pointed out his team are at a disadvantage because pace bowlers, with their longer run-ups, bowl more overs in the UK than other countries where spin plays a greater part.
The number of overs bowled per hour has dropped steadily throughout the history of Test cricket, in part down to developments in the game such as umpire reviews, boundary checks, concussion protocol and TV advert breaks. Prior to World War Two the average over-rate was about 21 per hour. That dropped to 18 between 1945 and 1974, 14.3 from 1975 to 1999 and 14 since 2000.
A major factor in the recent series was the ball. Both teams have repeatedly asked for the ball to be changed because it has gone soft and out of shape. This has led to delays to allow umpires to check the shape and possibly replace the ball.
Joe Root has suggested teams should only be allowed three attempts to change the ball per innings to save some time. Others believe that fines will never work, nor docking WTC points and you have to impose penalty runs.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st June 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,960 All bets have an ROI +2.55%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,960, a 1649% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 16th-17th August
Coming up this weekend:
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Doncaster, Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk.
- Football, the Premier League season starts on Friday night with Liverpool hosting AFC Bournemouth.
- Cricket, the 2025 Hundred competition continues.
- Rugby Union, the Rugby Championship: South Africa v Australia and Argentina v New Zealand.
- Golf, The Tour Championship on the USPGA Tour and the British Masters on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Winston-Salem Open.
York Ebor Festival
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Free Tip
The Rugby Championship
Round One South Africa v Australia, Johnanesburg 4.10pm Saturday
Current Rugby Championship winners South Africa host Australia for the opening two rounds of the 2025 tournament in Johannesburg and Cape Town with the All Blacks heading to South America to face Argentina to open the competition. South Africa will then hit the road taking on the All Blacks in New Zealand while the Wallabies will return home to host Argentina.
The Springboks are currently the number one world ranked side. They have sealed back-to-back Rugby World Cups and followed up that success in 2023 with an impressive 2024, winning 11 of their 13 matches including five of their Rugby Championship six matches while the Wallabies will be determined to build on their final Lions Test win and redeem themselves from last year's Rugby Championship where they finished with just one victory.
This will be the last tournament before the beginning of the Nations Championship in July 2026 involving 16 teams worldwide which will see the Rugby Championship move to a biennial basis.
Outright odds for the 2025 edition are as follows:
New Zealand 5/6
South Africa 11/8
Australia 9/1
Argentina 25/1
New Zealand are favourites as they have two home games against South Africa in rounds 3 and 4, hence the tougher task for South Africa this year compared to last.
Australia were certainly under-cooked at the start of the Lions series and improved markedly in the second half of the series with the introduction of three forwards Skelton, Valetini and Tupou central to winning physical battles up front.
Unlike in the first test in Brisbane where they found fire only when 24-5 down, or the second test in Melbourne where they let the initiative slip when leading 23-5, in the Sydney third test the Wallabies showed a ruthless edge leading for all 80 minutes, albeit the terrible weather was a huge leveller in terms of any side being able to come back from an early deficit which the Lions had to do.
For this game Australia will be without the two first choice fly-halves with Tom Lynagh ruled out with a concussion and Noah Lolesio out for the season with a neck injury sustained in the Fiji Test in July. They also lose the preferred scrumhalf Jake Gordon to the hamstring twinges that cost him an appearance in the third Test.
That means the attack in South Africa will again fall to an unfamiliar combination. 35-year-old James O’Connor is in at fly-half for his first appearance since 2022 having rekindled his career with the Crusaders in New Zealand. Scrum half Nic White was due to retire post-Sydney but is needed for at least this game against the Springboks.
The key to South Africa’s success in the 2024 Rugby Championship were the two home victories over New Zealand 31-27 and 18-12. Last month at home they eased to two victories against Italy and one over Georgia and have been in training camp since.
Given their massive player depth and forward strength (all the big guns Nche, Marx, Etzebeth, Du Jager, Kolisi, Du Toit etc have been selected) and with the first game at altitude (although Australia have been in Johannesburg for a fortnight prior to the game) this is a huge step up for Australia compared to the Lions Tests. Bar Handre Pollard, the suspended Jasper Wiese and backs Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe who have been given another week to recover it’s a first choice South Africa side and the visitors will need to replicate their approach that proved successful in Sydney of quick line speed and dominant tackles merely to be competitive. Fall off this and the game might be quite one-sided.
Australia went off for the three Lions Tests at +12 +8 and +8 and covered all three times. The step up here is obvious and the market recognises this, Australia are +18.5 in Johannesburg and the spread has risen from the first published lines. That’s a huge spread for a South Africa side playing their first really competitive game for nine months though.
South Africa will win, but I like Australia to cover.
10 points Australia +18.5 points at 10/11 generally
Clubbed.
The ECB is exploring the viability of a revamped "World Club Championship" for T20 cricket, more than a decade on from the final edition of the defunct Champions League T20 (CLT20).
Several countries have launched new short-form leagues in the last five years, including England (The Hundred), South Africa (SA20), the UAE (ILT20) and the United States (MLC). Global club-based tournaments are also emerging in other sports: football's expanded 32-team Club World Cup recently was one, and rugby union will launch its own Club World Cup in 2028.
The ECB are interested in the idea of bringing a CLT20-style event back to life with a global tournament that could add context to the recent proliferation of franchise cricket seen as the next logical step in the sport's evolution.
The CLT20, which ran from 2009-14, was run by the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa, and was discontinued after six seasons. Organisers cited a limited public following as the primary reason for its demise, and the tournament struggled commercially despite initially securing a lucrative broadcast deal.
The ECB was not actively involved in the governance of the CLT20 and English teams did not take part in the final two editions due to a clash with the final stages of the County Championship season. Finding a suitable window in cricket's packed global calendar is among the biggest challenges in relaunching a similar tournament.
A World Club Championship would also require significant buy-in from Indian franchises: eight of the 10 IPL owners and four of the five WPL owners have interests in short-form leagues outside India. England would likely be represented by the winners of the Hundred, rather than the T20 Blast, if the event were to go ahead.
Last year Guyana launched a 'Global Super League' which brings together teams from five different leagues. The second edition of the tournament took place last month featuring the champions of three global leagues, Australia’s Big Bash League, New Zealand's Super Smash and the UAE's ILT20 but remains invitation-only.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st June 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,960 All bets have an ROI +2.55%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,960, a 1649% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 9th-10th August
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Doncaster, Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk.
- Football, the Premier League season starts next Friday night with Liverpool hosting AFC Bournemouth.
- Cricket, the 2025 Hundred competition continues.
- Golf, The BMW Championship on the USPGA Tour and the Danish Championship on the DP World Tour
- Tennis, The ATP Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati continues
York Ebor Festival
We have added York Ebor Festival - Full Package (20th - 23rd August 2025) to our homepage here
2025 NFL Season
We have added the NFL 2025: 17 week regular season. Just £99 & includes the antepost which will be published later in August. Subscribe here
Free Tip
Cricket The Hundred: Oval Invincibles v Manchester Originals Saturday 2.30pm.
The fourth year of the ECB’s new franchise competition the Hundred began earlier this week. A reminder about the format. Eight teams in a 32 match Group stage running through August. Each team plays four home and four away matches with the top three teams competing in the knockout stages where second and third placed teams compete to play the top league finisher in the final.
Changes are afoot in The Hundred with six of the eight teams now having received huge foreign owner investment, the remaining two sides still to complete, with name changes, high profile new players and possible format changes all likely for 2026 onwards.
The Oval Invincibles host this match and are defending two-time Champions whilst the Manchester Originals were runners-up in 2022 and 2023 but only won one of eight games last year.
Teams draft domestic and overseas players (three overseas players allowed in each starting XI) within salary bands including marquee players and from year to year the draft allows teams to address weaknesses and become much more competitive quickly. More of that in a minute as it could be crucial this year for the Manchester Originals who I have backed before the tournament at 11/2 each-way to win the 2025 edition.
First the Invincibles (a core of Surrey/Kent players) who have lost two key overseas bowlers from last year, the Australians Adam Zampa and Spencer Johnson. Leg-spinner Zampa was the top wicket-taker in the tournament in 2024 with 19 wickets. Replacing Zampa this year is Rashid Khan and replacing Johnson is Jason Behrendorff.
The domestic line-up though is probably the strongest in the tournament led by Sam Curran (17 wickets last year), Will Jacks, Sam Billings, Jordan Cox and Gus Atkinson with lots of franchise experience worldwide and high strike-rate batting potential.
Manchester Originals (Lancashire players augmented from elsewhere) feature Jos Buttler and Phil Salt up top (Salt’s 228 runs last year were third highest in the tournament in a poor team) with new domestic arrivals Lewis Gregory (Somerset’s T20 captain, one of the best short format players) youngster Sonny Baker and Jimmy Anderson recruited too.
Last year Manchester had their overseas recruitment all wrong. The three players were Fazalhaq Faroozi, Sikandar Raza and Usama Mir (Afghan bowler, Zimbabwe batsman, Pakistani bowler respectively) for a combined £235,000.
Sikandar scored 59 runs in 8 matches whilst Faroozi and Mir combined for 13 wickets. This year there has been a change in strategy. £400,000 has been spent on drafted overseas players Rachin Ravindra (when he arrives from his current Test series) and Heinrich Klaasen (£200,000 combined) and leg spinner Noor Ahmed in the £200,000 highest salary band.
Noor Ahmed took 24 wickets for CSK in this year’s IPL, the second highest wicket taker in the competition.
The combination of these three players has the potential to be much more impactful than 2024.
For reference with the Originals spending £400,000 the Invincibles have spent £235,000 on their three overseas this year.
The Oval Invincibles began their season with an easy win at the London Spirit, one of the weaker teams in every season so far, on Tuesday night chasing down just 80 with 30 balls to spare. One of the problems for the Hundred so far has been a lack of star power (top salaries are capped at levels far below those offered on the current USA franchise series). However this game had Warner, Williamson and Rashid Khan and of the three only Rashid with 3 wickets produced a performance.
The Originals were two balls shy of defending 135 at home to the Southern Brave on Wednesday night. Phil Salt top scored with 60, Noor took 2-21 off his 20 balls and was a real handful, the “pace off” seamers went well and the Originals were the likely winner until a late tail-end flurry took the Brave home to a two-wicket win.
It was a feature of the Hundred last season that most scores were below par. The Hundred white ball was very unpopular with players, batsmen thought it did too much and this season it has been abandoned with the organisers targeting more consistent big hitting and bigger scores (understandably enough given its covered on two TV channels including the BCC and there’s a new cricket audience to retain). Early days but first innings scores of 80 and 135 suggest there is some way to go!
Another feature is that games have been often played on slow, tired in many cases used wickets. Again not helpful for producing high scores. A variety of reasons for this. By the time the Hundred comes around squares have had four months of cricket on them, the Womens games are played on the same pitch before the men etc. I expect the organisers would love every match to be played on fresh pitches encouraging hitting through the line after plenty of carry. We’ll see what this season brings.
When betting on any game in this format we have to be aware of the potential for simple game variance more than any other format purely because the games are so short, whether this is in the outright market or player markets.
Odds for this game are the Invincibles 8/15, Originals 6/4.
10 points Manchester Originals to beat Oval Invincibles at 6/4 William Hill, 11/8 Betfred, Ladbrokes/Coral 13/10 with Bet365, BetVictor
A Tangled web.
Article 5.01 of UEFA’s regulations for its club tournaments is straightforward.
“No one may simultaneously be involved, either directly or indirectly, in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition. No individual or legal entity may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition” by which it specifies “holding a majority of the shareholders’ voting rights” or “being able to exercise by any means a decisive influence in the decision-making of the club”.
That is why Crystal Palace’s dreams of competing in their first ever European campaign hung in the balance with the largest shareholder John Textor looking to offload his 43% stake to New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson because Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings investment vehicle is also the largest shareholder of French club Lyon, who also qualified for next season’s Europa League.
Crystal Palace have pointed out that, while Textor has been indeed the club’s largest shareholder, he has had just 25% of their voting rights. Textor has found himself conceding that his vision of integrating Palace into his Eagle Football empire with Lyon, RWD Molenbeek (Belgium), Botafogo (Brazil) and FC Florida (United States) had proved unachievable because the club is effectively run by chairman Steve Parish.
UEFA had to decide whether the scramble to sell Textor’s shares to Johnson meant Palace are in compliance. The deal, which will also have to be ratified by the Premier League, was not be completed before UEFA made their decision and they ultimately decided to relegate Crystal Palace to the Conference League from the Europa League over shared ownership issues with Lyon. Palace will no doubt appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
UEFA’s belated clampdown on multi-club ownership though doesn’t deter multi-club ownership at all. It just seeks to offer a semblance of compliance where UEFA’s competitions are concerned, as if the only issue with multi-club networks is the relatively small (but fast-growing) threat of teams under the same ownership playing each other.
UEFA’s most recent report detailed that 105 top-flight sides across Europe are now part of a multi-club structure. That includes 15 in the Premier League, 11 in Italy’s Serie A, 10 in Ligue 1 in France, 9 in Spain’s La Liga and 6 in the Bundesliga.
What UEFA are addressing is just the tip of the iceberg: small regulatory issues at a small number of clubs at a time when there is much more potential damage being caused to European football under the surface.
The further and deeper multi-club ownership spreads, the closer we come to a scenario where football could be dominated by a handful of rival networks who own the biggest teams in every league on every continent and whether those networks are owned by energy-drink manufacturers, venture capitalists or sovereign wealth funds, whether or not those sides are temporarily placed into blind trusts for appearances sake, it is a very different version of a game where clubs existed to represent their community.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st June 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,960 All bets have an ROI +2.55%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £69,960, a 1649% increase.
The Road to Riches Weekend of 2nd-3rd August
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing, On the flat at Doncaster, Goodwood, Hamilton, Lingfield, Newmarket and Thirsk.
- Football, the Football league season begins next Friday.
- Cricket, the start of the 2025 Hundred competition.
- Formula One, the Hungarian Grand Prix.
- Rugby Union, the British Lions series in Australia concludes with the third test in Sydney.
- Golf, The FedEx St Jude Championship on the USPGA Tour and the Scottish Championship on the DP World Tour.
- Tennis, ATP Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Free Tip
Australia v British Lions, 3rd Test Sydney, 11am Saturday.
After their last gasp win in the second Test in Melbourne last weekend the Lions secured a 2-0 series and therefore their first series win since 2013.
The Lions are gunning for another piece of history in this weekend’s final Test in Sydney, as they could become the first British and Irish Lions side to win a Test series 3-0 since 1904.
They’ve won their past eight matches in a row since heading to Australia and hold a huge +174 points difference in the process.
For the first time in this tour they were taken to the dark side in the second Test as the hosts led 23-5 after thirty minutes with Valenti and Skelton in the forwards providing the huge physical presence that they lacked in the first game with a much more direct game-plan.
Out of the ten top carriers in the match, nine were Wallabies and Australia beat 39 defenders the most against the Lions in any match over the past five tours.
Then the match changed. The Lions scored two tries before half time. Valenti went off at half-time with a knock and Skelten left after 47 minutes (the aim had been to play both for 50 minutes) and Australia only scored three more points in the last half-hour of the game.
From 23-5 down the Lions won the last 50 minutes 24-3 with a last minute try to complete their biggest ever Test comeback. Australia just couldn't match the Liuons power as the game wore on with a deficit in fitness and a weakness in defense against the visitors’ multi-phase attack. In the big picture rugby down under has I think hurt by the South African sides moving hemispheres, the Super Rugby tournament is less physical as a result.
The Lions can thank their set-piece as one of the biggest influences in stealing this match at the end. A flawless lineout performance, led by player of the match Maro Itoje, gave Jamison Gibson-Park the freedom to exit out at will, and the Leinster half-back once again demonstrated what a brilliant exponent of kicking from the base he is. His 18 kicks amassed a massive gain of 264m, but key to his kicking strategy is the ability to get the hang time needed to get his aerial players challenging.
The scrum won the Lions three penalties and there may have been a couple more on another day, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong started the job, but the impact of Ellis Genge and Stuart cannot be overlooked. Both England props got the better of their opposite numbers in the tight, with Stuart making a key 23m run right at the end to set up position for the Keenan try and Genge making a number of thundering carries for 15m. The collective performance of both sets of props was huge in terms of the result and it demonstrated perfectly the importance of impact from front-row forwards.
Normally in these circumstances I would suggest the team that has wrapped up the series would spend the last week of the tour on the razz and therefore back the underdog (here, Australia) at 5/2 outright in this case.
I am sure there will be some partying but there is a motivation. Even before the series there was talk from the Lions of winning the series 3-0 for the first time since the great 1974 touring side did so.
The point spreads through the series have been Australia +12, then +10.5 and now +8.5 and Australia have lost by 8 and then 3 points with this game to come.
Australia were terrible and under-cooked in the first Test, improved for the first half of the second Test and are about to enter the Rugby Championship with successive away games in South Africa and with hindsight were certainly underprepared for the Lions series and maybe treating this it as a warm-up for the Southern Hemisphere tournament to come.
I think they will improve again this week, they must with a tough Rugby Championship to come. Lose again and they will have lost 10 of 14 games going into that tournament. The question after two winning series bets is whether to stick with the point spread, now +8.5, or chance Australia 11/4 outright.
The Lions have resisted the temptation to rotate into their squad depth, only two changes to the starting XV from last week and a 6-2 bench for the crucial last twenty minutes. They are all out to win 3-0. Eleven players have been picked to start all three tests. Picking this team saw their odds shorten slightly from earlier in the week.
Australia have made a handful of changes. Valenti is out which is disappointing but prop Taniela Tupou comes in at tighthead for his first appearance of the series.
10 points Australia to win at 11/4 Bet365, BetVictor, SkyBet, 13/5 Betfred.
Cut back.
The Welsh Rugby Union has decided to cut the number of professional clubs in Wales to three. The WRU board has agreed that reducing the number of professional clubs is the best way forward with the process set to begin this summer. As part of the WRU's One Wales strategy the initial plan was to retain four clubs (Cardiff, Dragons in Newport, Ospreys in Swansea and the Scarlets in Llanelli) under a new Professional Rugby Agreement which was meant to lead to increased funding and a refinancing of the debt acquired during Covid.
However the WRU's decision to take ownership of Cardiff Rugby following the club entering administration has altered the landscape significantly. While the Dragons have signed the new PRA, both the Ospreys and Scarlets refused to do so over fears the WRU would turn Cardiff into a super club.
The WRU and the two west Wales clubs have been locked in negotiations for the past couple of weeks but have not been able to get a deal over the line.
It appears there is not enough money in the new PRA to fund four strong professional sides, nor a sufficient volume of high-end professional players to service four clubs.
All four professional clubs have struggled to compete with the better sides in the United Rugby Championship and Europe, while the Dragons finished bottom of the table having won just one league game all season. The WRU want to create a structure which is financially viable and allows the game in Wales to not only survive but thrive. Cutting to three professional clubs could be seen as an ambitious move to concentrate talent and resources which should in theory improve standards across the board.
As to which club would disappear, no news yet. One option would be to put the licences out to tender after setting some strict criteria based on things like stadium, facilities, investors and players produced for Wales.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st June 2025. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £65,960 All bets have an ROI +2.55%
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