The Premiership circus rolls onto our screens on Saturday and every club will contribute to make another post World Cup season the biggest yet from a media perspective.

The World Cup Finals generate tremendous enthusiasm the following season, and with even the top managers under severe pressure this season for one reason or another, no Premiership job is totally safe this time around.

Should Martin O’Neill be at Old Trafford instead of Sir Alex, and will Chelsea fans tire of another season of ‘meaningless’ Premiership victories if European glory slips through blue fingers again?

‘Harry’ has been busy down on the south coast, whilst Charlton have to learn to live without ‘Curbs’ who might have jumped before being potentially pushed as the Addicks face a potential nightmare season.

Agatha Christie would have struggled to pen a more compelling start to a new term, whilst web sites offer advice to potential punters on how supporters can add profit to their enjoyment by placing bets of all varieties relating to matches that endanger the strongest of marital relationships.

Football punters are increasingly important to bookmakers who realise that horse racing has shot itself in the foot too often to entice new customers, albeit that Italian football is under scrutiny after some dodgy activity of late.

The ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar was accused of match-fixing in this country several years ago, but all Brucie's blog seemed to achieve related to punters increasing their gambling on soccer, as opposed to the potentially terminal diagnosis in the horse racing sector. The ‘story’ (Bruce won substantial damages from a leading newspaper) merely boosted interest in fixed odds football betting!

Too many punters have their head in the clouds when they bet on football, with their hearts coursing the blood through the veins as betting slips are completed at breakneck speed as supporters back their team to achieve unrealistic targets.

Thierry Henry was a short priced favourite to score the first goal of the game in Arsenal’s matches last year, yet the Golden Boot winner only achieved the feat on five occasions.

Conversely, Darren Bent was on offer at rewarding odds by comparison and the Charlton striker opened the scoring in eight matches. ‘Sven’ made the mistake of ignoring Darren’s ability for this year’s World Cup, and the lesson for punters should be staring them in the face.

Punters need to delve into the information that is readily available these days, and rid themselves of laziness that will inevitably cost them money throughout the winter campaign. James Beattie scored the opening goal of the game seven times in matches involving Everton, yet James netted all those goals at Goodison Park.

Ignoring the potential of opposing teams for this example, the realistic odds for James to score the first goal at home this year should be around the 5/2 mark, with 12/1 freely available in matches away from Goodison Park. Those odds will not be reflected by bookmakers however, and punters need to hammer home the advantage, whether laying or playing the markets this season.

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