The biggest soccer betting event of the weekend is one of the most important games of the English Premier League season.  Manchester United will host Chelsea at Old Trafford and there’s a lot on the line.  Man U currently leads Chelsea by 1 point in the standings with just five games remaining after this one.  Arsenal is still in the mix as well, but they lost captain Cesc Fabregas to injury this week.  For some reason, its hard to see Arsenal contending for the Premiership crown.

The only thing that sucks about this game is that it starts at 7:45 AM Eastern/4:45 AM Pacific.  The British should be ashamed of themselves for holding such an important sporting event at such an ungodly hour.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE–MANCHESTER UNITED VS. CHELSEA:

Good betting value on the home team due to the well publicized injury to Man U’s superstar striker Wayne Rooney.  Rooney was injured at the end of a midweek Champions League loss to Bayern Munich, and since he’s expected to be the offensive catalyst for England’s World Cup team this summer the entire nation feared the worst.  The good news is that it ended up being a relatively minor ankle issue–they called it ‘minor ligament damage’.   He’s expected to be out 2 to 4 weeks which won’t help Man U’s bid to win the Premiership but he’ll be back in plenty of time to wear the ‘Three Lions’ this summer in South Africa.

Soccer is no different from other team sports, and fans frequently overreact to short term injuries.  In turn, bookmakers overcompensate for the absence of key players.  Rooney is arguably the best offensive soccer player in the world right now, but its not like Man U doesn’t have others.  Dimitar Berbatov filled in for Rooney last weekend in a game against Bolton, scoring two goals as Man U routed the Wanderers 4-0.  Granted, Chelsea is a better team but they’ve got a ton of injuries in their defensive ranks.  They will get Dieder Drogba back here, which will help them up front.

Chelsea beat Man U 1-0 at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, but keep in mind that it was their first victory over their rivals in their last six tries.  Last year, Manchester United won 3-0 at home.  Chelsea is only 8-4-4 on the EPL road this year, and are 2-2-2 in their L6 away games in all competitions.  Man U has been dominant here at Old Trafford this season, with a 14-1-1 mark.  There’s always the possibility of a draw in a game of this magnitude so we’ll play it on the straight moneyline but we like Man U to win.

PLAY MANCHESTER UNITED PK -120 OVER CHELSEA