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With HMRC cracking down on tax avoidance, most highly skilled workers will be considering their options when it comes to making savings on their income. Exchequer Secretary David Gauke stated prior to the budget that the Government are looking to introduce legislation to tackle schemes that avoid or defer the payment of income tax and  NICs.

Back in January HMRC targeted Premier League footballers as one group who could be involved in tax avoidance due to the way that they earn a large portion of their salary via image rights deals. These deals mean that football players avoid PAYE on their image rights, so they save having to pay NICs as well as being taxed at the top rate of income tax of 50%.

Gordon Taylor, head of the Professional Footballers Association, defended the scheme; he understands that it is legal and that only a small number of top players use the image rights schemes. He tried to argue that as many footballers only have a short playing career they try to make their earnings as tax efficient as they can. However, schemes like this can cost HMRC over a billion pounds every year in unpaid taxes.

Although this type of scheme does not affect contractors, they might be interested to discover how an Umbrella Company can help them legally increase the amount they bring home each month. There are a number of benefits to working under an Umbrella Company and contractors can find out how much more they could earn by completing a Self Employed tax calculator. Whilst highly skilled contractors can demand high daily rates, they obviously do not compete with footballers , with some of the top players in England earning over £200,000 per week. It is this kind of number which makes it hard to quite understand for what reason some footballers still attempt to avoid paying the taxes that they are obliged to.

Correct Predictions of the week: 

“Correctly predicting Scotland to lose to Spain (not that hard really) & Wales to lose to Switzerland who had like them lost both their opening two games ” 

Hello everyone. The last round of International fixtures saw me correctly predict 4 out of 9 results. I thought England would manage to break down Montenegro but alas they didn’t. Northern Ireland also let me down by failing to beat the Faroe Islands which doesn’t help their chances of qualifying. I have now predicted 9 out of 18 correct for the International games this season which is of course a 50% success rate. 

Onto the Premiership & last time out a couple of weeks ago I correctly predicted 5 out of 10 which was a 100% improvement on the previous week. “My best prediction was Everton Winning at Birmingham especially as Everton had failed to win prior to the game & Birmingham had not lost at home since September of last season”. I also got the correct score for Chelsea beating Arsenal 2-0. 

My other correct results were Manchester United drawing at Sunderland, Stoke beating Blackburn & Manchester City beating Newcastle. 

Good luck for this weeks fixtures. 

Attendance Review: 

I have decided to list the Attendance predictions week by week. I have included week 6 & week 7 so that you can see how I am doing. You be the judge (Dredd)… 

I have considered a correct attendance to be one within a thousand to my prediction. 

Week 6 Attendance predictions: 

Arsenal – WBA – 60,000 (60,025) – Correct 
Birmingham – Wigan – 23,000 (22,186) – Correct 
Blackpool – Blackburn – 17,000 (15,901) 
Fulham – Everton – 25,000 (25,598) – Correct 
Liverpool – Sunderland – 44,000 (43,626) – Correct 
Manchester City – Chelsea – 44,000 (47,203) 
West Ham – Spurs – 36,000 (34,190) 
Bolton – Manchester United – 25,000 (23,926) 
Newcastle – Stoke City – 45,000 (41,915) 
Wolves – Aston Villa – 27,000 (27,511) – Correct 

Week 7 Attendance predictions: 

Sunderland – Manchester United – 43,000 (41,079) 
Wigan – Wolves – 15,000 (14,042) – Correct 
WBA – Bolton – 24,000 (22,846) 
West Ham – Fulham – 34,000 (34,589) – Correct 
Birmingham – Everton – 24,000 (23,138) – Correct 
Liverpool – Blackpool – 44,000 (43,156) – Correct 
Stoke – Blackburn – 26,000 (25,515) – Correct 
Chelsea – Arsenal – 42,000 (41,828) – Correct 
Manchester City – Newcastle – 46,000 (46,067) – Correct 

I didn’t include the Aston Villa Spurs game because I messed up & got the fixture the incorrect way around in that the game was played at Spurs & not Aston Villa as I previewed. Apologies. My editor punished me by giving me a free night out with Wayne Rooney & his wife plus the added bonus of a years subscription to “Hello” magazine. Bastard…. 

Match 1: Arsenal – Birmingham: (Saturday October 16th: 3pm): 

Arsenal need to get back on track after two defeats on the trot. They lost their last game 2-0 at Chelsea (as I predicted) after they had rather surprisingly lost at home to WBA 3-2. Don’t let that scoreline deceive you , West Brom were 3-0 up until Arsenal got two late goals back. 

Arsenal have now dropped to 4th in the table after those two defeats. They need obviously to get back to winning ways as do Birmingham who lost their unbeaten home record of 13 months standing to Everton last time out. Utter smugness prevents me from mentioning that I predicted their loss, err…. 

Birmingham have only won one game this season & that was at home to Blackburn. They have drawn a few however including away draws at Bolton & Sunderland. The problem for Birmingham is that I can’t remember the last time that Arsenal lost two League games on the trot at home & I can’t see Birmingham about to challenge that theory of mine. 

Arsenal have beaten Bolton (4-1), Blackpool (6-0) in the league at home as well as Braga (6-0) in the champions league in their other home games so Birmingham have a stiff test in this game one that I can’t se them passing even though I think they will have a good go & might lose to a late goal(s). 

A home win then & Arsenal back (just) to winning ways. 

Match prediction: Arsenal to win 
Score prediction: Arsenal 3 Birmingham 1 
Attendance prediction: 60,000 

Match 2: Bolton – Stoke: (Saturday October 16th: 3pm): 

Both sides are doing well at present. Bolton may have only won one game so far (3-1 at West Ham) but they have only lost one. They continued their drawing sequence with a 1-1 draw at WBA in their last game which was a good result considering WBA’s recent good form. Bolton have drawn all their home games so far with Fulham (0-0), Birmingham (2-2) & Manchester United (2-2) in their last game. 

Stoke have of course picked up after a bad start in which they lost their first three games. Since losing at Chelsea they have beaten Aston Villa, Blackburn, Newcastle & drawn with West Ham. Their latest victory over Blackburn has lifted them to 7th in the table on 10 points. 

This game then a fixture between two sides in form. Bolton have to win at home sooner or later & I can’t see why it shouldn’t be this game but it will be close I suspect. Last season this game was a 1-1 draw with Bolton grabbing a very late goal with a penalty which annoyed me somewhat as I had predicted an away win for Stoke. Let’s hope for better luck in my prediction this season. 

A home win then. 

Match prediction: A home win 
Score prediction: Bolton 2 Stoke 1 
Attendance prediction: 22,000 

Match 3: Fulham – Spurs: (Saturday October 16th: 3pm): 

Fulham like Bolton are the draw specialists of the Premiership this season. The difference between the two is that Fulham have yet to lose while Bolton have. Therefore Fulham along with Manchester United are the only two sides that are unbeaten since the start of the season. 

Fulham won their last home game when they beat Wolves 2-0 (as I predicted) & will be hoping for revenge over Spurs for their FA Cup quarter final defeat to them last season. 

Spurs have improved of late for as well as taking 4 points in their first two Champions League games they beat improved Aston Villa 2-1 at home to go up to 5th in the table & only behind their arch rivals Arsenal on goal difference. 

Spurs have lost twice this season at West Ham & at home to Wigan. I think they are due another defeat & it will come in this game against Fulham who themselves are due a win for the way they are playing under Mark Hughes. 

A home win then 

Match prediction: Fulham to win 
Score prediction: Fulham 2 Spurs 1 
Attendance prediction: 26,000 

Match 4: Manchester United – West Brom: (Saturday October 16th: 3pm): 

Manchester United should win this game against in form West Brom but you never know with the way results in the Premiership have been going this season. 

West Brom of course won their last away game at Arsenal 3-2. This result has made a lot of people sit up & take note Albion, me included. On the other side of the coin to that great win at Arsenal Albion are the only side to lose to Liverpool this season but to be fair it was albinos third game of the season & they have since improved. 

United have won all their home games so far in the League beating Newcastle (3-0), West Ham (4-1) & Liverpool (3-2). Their away form is what is holding them up at present as they have yet to gain three points away as they have drawn all their away games, the latest at Sunderland (0-0). 

This dropping of points away from home means that United are third in the table behind leaders Chelsea & their nearest rivals Manchester City. 

I think that United will win this game but it could be close & also because I can’t believe that a side like West Brom can go away to Arsenal & Manchester United in successive away games & gain six points. 

A home win. 

Match prediction: Manchester United to win 
Score prediction: Manchester United 3 WBA 1 
Attendance prediction: 72,000 

Match 5: Newcastle – Wigan: (Saturday October 16th: 3pm): 

Let’s be honest, Newcastle’s home form is crap. Since that fantastic first home win against Aston Villa when they thrashed them 6-0 they have lost at home to Blackpool & Stoke. These are games that I predicted them to win & typically I predicted them to lose to Aston Villa. 

On the other side of the coin Newcastle’s away form is good with victory at Everton & a draw at Wolves. They lost at both Manchester clubs, the latest one being at Manchester City in a 2-1 defeat. These results leave Newcastle 16th in the table on seven points just one point above the drop zone, which more or less where I think they will finish this season. A complete lack of investment by the present owner Mike “I’m a twat” Ashley leaves them in a position of no ambition from anyone apart from the fans & judging by their dip in attendances in comparison with their last season in the Premiership it would appear that the fans are getting really pissed off. 

Wigan have started to pull clear of the drop zone after a really bad start to the season & their last game which was a 2-0 win at home against Wolves has seen them go upto 14th above Newcastle. 

Newcastle have to improve their home form & so for the third home game in a row I am going to predict that they will win at home. If this prediction does not come off I will subscribe to “The News of the World” as punishment, so come on Newcastle. 

Match prediction: Newcastle to win 
Score prediction: Newcastle 2 Wigan 1 
Attendance prediction: 43,000 

Match 6: Wolves – West Ham: (Saturday October16th: 3pm): 

Wolves need a win & badly as they have not won since the opening day of the season when they beat Stoke 2-1. They have drawn twice since then, away at Everton & at home with Newcastle, both 1-1. 

They have now lost 4 games on the bounce, the latest being a 2-0 defeat at Wigan. Obviously these defeats have seem them slide down the table into the bottom three in 19th place. The good news is that one or two wins will see them climb out. 

They now face a West Ham side who are the only side keeping them off the bottom of the table as they are behind Wolves but only on goal difference. A crunch early season relegation battle then. 

West Ham drew at home with Fulham last time out but then again so has everybody else. I predicted at the start of the season that West Ham would go down & Wolves stay up so on that basis I am going to go for a Wolves win as despite their position their home form is not bad. 

Match prediction: Wolves to win 
Score prediction: Wolves 2 West Ham 1 
Attendance prediction: 27,000 

Match 7: Aston Villa – Chelsea: (Saturday October 16th: 5.30pm): 

Aston Villa will be pissed off they lost at Spurs last week after they went in 1-0 up at half time. Their mini rival therefore came to an end with defeat. 

They now face probably the hardest test so far of their season with a home game against champions & league leaders Chelsea who have only lost the one game so far & that was in their last away game when they lost 1-0 at Manchester City. Chelsea have won all their other games so far including their last game which was a very good 2-0 home win over Arsenal. 

Villa are unbeaten in the League at home with victories against West Ham, Everton & a draw with Bolton in their last home game. They did however lose at home in Europe to go out early in the UEFA Cup. 

I really can’t see Chelsea losing two away games on the trot away from home & Villa appear to be in transition since Martin O’Neil has left. 

An away victory for Chelsea then on a ground they have not feared too well on in recent years which was proved when they lost 2-1 last season.

Match prediction: Chelsea to win 
Score prediction: Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2 
Attendance prediction: 36,000 

Match 8: Everton – Liverpool: (Sunday October 17th: 1.30pm): 

This is a great fixture, not just generally but this season as well when you look at the position of the two clubs in the table. 

To me Everton are in slightly better form especially after they won their first game of the season against Birmingham away two weeks ago which ended Birmingham’s thirteen month unbeaten home record. Liverpool of course lost at home to Blackpool. That result means that Liverpool are in the bottom three for the first time since the titanic sunk. Everton are above them but only on goal difference. 

Liverpool won a very important victory on Wednesday when the courts decided that their American owners had to obey the wishes of their board & sell the club. How long before that matter is sorted out only time will tell but in the meantime they are in the shit on the field as a legacy of their owners & their previous managers bad signings. 

I can’t believe that Liverpool or Everton will go down but from what I have seen & read in reports Everton are playing better than Liverpool so far this Eason & with the monkey off their back in a great away victory last time out I think they will win this game. 

One thing is for sure & that is that Liverpool won’t be playing in the Champions league again next season. 

Match prediction: Everton to win 
Score prediction: Everton 2 Liverpool 0 
Attendance prediction: 39,000 

Match 9: Blackpool – Manchester City: (Sunday October 17th: 4pm):

Blackpool had a great 2-1 win at Anfield against Liverpool last time out. Despite this I still think they will go down come the end of the season which of course will be a shame for them & football in generally. 

That win at Liverpool was Blackpool’s third win this season but all of them have been away at Newcastle, Wigan & of course Liverpool. They have only managed one point at home & that was against Fulham, the other home game they lost to Blackburn which could be viewed a three very important points come the end of the season. 

City are second in the table above their neighbours Manchester United which will please their fans. They have now won three games on the trot in the league. They beat Chelsea & then won at Wigan which was the game before they beat Newcastle in their last game. 

City may be out of the League cup but they are more concerned I think with finishing 4th come the end of the season which I think they will manage. Can’t see Blackpool being good enough to hold City in this game but they will put up a great effort. 

Match prediction: Manchester City to win 
Score prediction: Blackpool 1 Manchester City 3 
Attendance prediction: 17,000 

Match 10: Blackburn – Sunderland: (Monday October 18th: 8pm): 

Blackburn lost for the first time in three away games when they went down 1-0 at Stoke in their last game. They had managed to win at Blackpool & more impressively draw at Manchester City before that. In their last home game they could only draw with draw specialists Fulham 1-1 despite taking the lead. 

Both sides should stay up this season & I predict Sunderland to finish higher. Sunderland drew at home with Manchester United last time out to remain unbeaten at home. Their away form which was crap last season is slowly showing signs of improving as they have drawn their last two away games at Wigan (1-1) & last time out away 2-2 at Liverpool when they were pegged back twice. As Blackpool won their the following weekend they will be slightly shoved off that they didn’t hang on for the win. 

Last season Sunderland drew this game 2-2 to get a rare away point & this time I am going to go for them to go one better & get all three points as their away form is improving. 

Match prediction: Sunderland to win 
Score prediction: Blackburn 1 Sunderland 2 
Attendance prediction: 24,000 

That’s all for this week everybody. 

See you next Monday for the Champions League round 3. 

Douglas Martin 

October 13th 2010 

Sportsbook odds list Span and Brazil as most likely to win with England not far behind. Argentina and Italy are also in the mix with single-digit odds. Spain and Brazil are 4-1, England is 5-1, Argentina is 8-1 and Italy is 9-1. Four other teams have odds of less than 20-1. Those teams are Germany at 10-1, the Netherlands at 11-1, France at 12-1 and Ivory Coast at 19-1. The only team from that group getting some action is the Ivory Coast. The team’s odds have lowered since they opened months ago. Ivory Coast has legendary scorer Didier Drogba and he could be a major factor. Drogba lead the Premier League in goals this season for champion Chelsea.

Portugal is listed with odds of 25-1, but they are not really considered a major threat even though they have Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal has the skill but whether they have enough players who are healthy is the question. No other team on the odds board at the sportsbook has odds of less than 45-1 to win the World Cup. Chile is 45-1 while Serbia is 48-1. America is listed at 55-1 and they could have a better chance of advancing than a team like Portugal. The U.S. team has earned respect and might be worth a look as a prevailing underdog.

At 60-1 to win the the chamionship is Ghana and Paraguay. Cameroon, Denmark and Mexico are 70-1. The host country South Africa is 90-1 along with Uruguay, Nigeria and Australia. Listed at 110-1 is Greece. Switzerland is 120-1 while Slovenia and Slovakia are 180-1. Algeria is 200-1. Japan and Korea are 250-1. The lowest ranked on the board are Honduras, Korea DPR and New Zealand at 500-1.

The hometeam South Aftrica starts the World Cup as they take on Mexico on June 11^th. Also on that day will be France playing Uruguay. Both of those matches will be broadcast on ESPN. South Africa is an underdog in sportsbook online odds but they could be surprising against a Mexico team that is overrated. France should have a little trouble with Uruguay in the other match.

Manchester United V Liverpool – The World’s Biggest Football Rivalry

For numerous many years Liverpool FC have held the title as the most productive club in England thanks to their report breaking 18 First Division/Premier League titles. However in recent many years Manchester United have had a extended operate of constant success and now tie with Liverpool’s record of 18 League titles thanks to their Premier League title for the 2008/09 period.<br>

Manchester and Liverpool are each in the North West of England and are situated around 34 miles apart, with the M62 motorway the simplest way to get among the two cities.

The rivalry among inhabitants of both cities transcends Football and is component of the culture, and originally stems from the Industrial revolution period of the late 1800′s and early 1900′s. Liverpool’s port was significant and brought in massive quantities of ships and cargo providing jobs and wealth to the location. As Manchester floundered they decided to create the Manchester ship canal that linked the city of Manchester with the Irish sea.<br> Whilst this brought prosperity and jobs to Manchester it induced unemployment in Liverpool and much resentment.

On the footballing side Manchester United have been the 1st team to lift the European Cup in 1968 under the stewardship of the legendary Scottish manager Sir Matt Busby. Liverpool did not win the European Cup till the 1970′s but have now won the trophy 5 occasions to United’s three instances.<br>

While the 1970′s and 1980′s were definitely most surely Liverpools glory time period of achievement, the 1990′s and 2000′s have been Guy Utd’s glory period of time of success.<br> Liverpool have now gone 19 several years without winning the League title in England.<br>

Through the 2008/09 Premier League season Liverpool did the double over Man Utd, beating them 2-1 at Anfield and 4-1 at Old Trafford, it was Liverpool’s finest league campaign in many years but they nevertheless came up short as United won the league by four points.

Games among the sides are fiercely fought occasions and tickets for these game titles are quite challenging to get hold of due to the very high demand, if you are not a year or so ticket holder the only way to get 1 is to use a reputable ticket agent.

Brazil played North Korea on Tuesday in a match where they were greatly favored at the sportsbook in 2010 World Cup odds.

Of all the starting World Cup betting lines, this 1 had the highest probabilities. North Korea is 1 of the poorest squads in the field while Brazil is one of the favorites to win the 2010 World Cup in soccer betting.

Brazil is getting 2.5 goals to North Korea with the total on the match at 3. The three-way line that features the draw has Brazil at -1050, North Korea at +2350 and the draw at +675. It would happened to be a huge surprise in this competition to have anything less than a persuasive Brazil win.

Brazil are co-favorites along with Spain to win the title this year, and they’re a 5-time World Cup champion. Brazil has a gifted lineup that includes Kaka, Robinho, Maicon, Lucio, Luis Fabiano, Michel Bastos, Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo. Fabiano, who obtained 9 goals, was the foremost scorer for Brazil in qualifying. The important player for Brazil is likely Maicon who is 1 of the best right-backs on earth.

North Korea is going to be making only their second-ever World Cup appearance as they also played in the 1966 World Cup. North Korea will attempt to win with defense and truthfully that is their only possibility to contend vs a team like Brazil. They were not supposed to outscore Brazil. In fact, they are not likely to outscore any of the teams in this group. Just getting a point could be regarded as an achievement.

North Korea doesn’t have many big names on the roster. In reality, only 3 participants even play outside of the nation. Captain Hong Yong-Jo plays on the Russian Premier League side FC Rostov. Jong Tae-Se and An Yong-Hak both play in Japan. Hong Yong-Jo was the leading scorer in qualifying. He obtained four times.

North Korea isn’t supposed to win a game in Group G but they might have a say in who moves forward. If they can grab even just one point versus Portugal or Ivory Coast they might keep 1 of those two teams from the next round. It is really unlikely they can do anything against Brazil other than lose although on the betting line they’re gaining 2.5 goals so conceivably they can keep within two goals and cover the line.

But North Korea offered Brazil a much tougher game than they were anticipating. Brazil, being the number one squad in FIFA rankings, was supposed to totally rout the North Korean squad. Instead, they had a tough night and had to wait until the 55th minute to crack the deadlock. The North Koreans basically proved to be more capable opponents than was supposed.

Brazil warranted the win for their dominance in possession, especially in the second half, but North Korea’s earlier unknown competitors can be proud of themselves after a display full of passion and no little skill either.

While Brazil did win the match with a 2-1 score, it’s nonetheless to the credit of the North Korean team that they put up the competition they did.