A berth in the Soccer Betting Champions League final and a second place finish in the Premier League was not enough for Chelsea manager Avram Grant, as he was fired on Saturday.

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The loss to Manchester United in the Champions League final seemed to seal his fate. “Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September,” the club said, “We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made.” Grant took over for Jose Mourinho in September and did a fine job but coming away without a title was not acceptable for Chelsea. Owner Roman Abramovich has said that he wants a more exciting style of play and a trophy. Grant was facing an uphill battle replacing the popular Mourinho, especially after Mourinho led the Blues to back to back league titles.

It is possible that Grant may have been fired even if Chelsea had won the Champions League final. The heart-breaking loss on penalty kicks to United definitely made it easier for the club to let him go.

Read more on Soccer News: Chelsea Fires Manager Avram Grant

Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he will decide next week whether or not to stay with Manchester United or go to Real Madrid.

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It is expected that Real Madrid will make an offer of up to £100 million for soccer’s best player Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo had 42 goals in all competition this season as Manchester United won both the Soccer Betting Premier League and the Champions League. “My future will be clear next week. Everyone will be pleased - my club as well as me,” Ronaldo said, “I think I will definitely be here next season. Yes, I want to stay. I have played five years for this club and I’d love to stay here. I love the people, the players are fantastic, the atmosphere is unbelievable, the staff are great. That is the reason I want to stay. We won the most important trophies this season. I want to do it again next season but no one knows the future.”

Cristiano Ronaldo is aware that Manchester United has a great team capable of winning again next season. “This is a young team and we have everything to win next year,” said Ronaldo. “We want to win the Champions League again and we have a good chance. We have a good team spirit. I can get better. The goals are not the most important thing. Maybe I will…

Read more on Manchester United Soccer News: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Future to be Decided Next Week

Chelsea won 2-0 at Newcastle on Monday to keep their Soccer Betting Premier League title hopes alive. With the win they drew even with Manchester United in the standings although Man U holds the goal difference advantage. Chelsea will now need to win their final game at home against Bolton and hope that United either loses or ties at Wigan.

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Chelsea didn’t score the first goal of the game against Newcastle until the 61st minute as a foul was called on Newcastle’s Abdoulaye Faye. Didier Drogba was able to put the ball into position for Michael Ballack who put a header past Steve Harper. The Blues scored their second goal as Florent Malouda took a pass from Frank Lampard and scored in the 81st minute.

Read more on Soccer Betting Preview: Chelsea Keeps Title Hopes Alive

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.”

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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.

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A look at the Premier League standings would show that Manchester United should have no trouble at home against West Ham on Saturday as the Red Devils look to stay ahead of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League standings. It has not been easy recently though for Manchester United against West Ham, as the Red Devils have lost their last three matches against the Hammers. The last time Manchester United played at home against West Ham they lost 1-0 on a goal by Carlos Tevez who is now with United. That game last year meant nothing to United since they had clinched the league title at the time. Saturday’s game means a lot more to United.

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Manchester United is even in points with Chelsea but the Red Devils have the far superior goal difference which means that if they win on Saturday at home against West Ham and next week at Wigan the title is theirs. Manchester United is coming off a big win in the Champions League against Barcelona that puts them in the May 21st final against Chelsea. “It’s a big bonus to beat Barcelona,” United defender Mikael Silvestre said. “It makes it much easier to recover in time for Saturday.

Read more on Premier League Betting Preview: West Ham at Manchester United

Bayern Munich won the Soccer Betting German Cup final 2-1 over Borussia Dortmund as Luca Toni scored twice. Toni scored the opener just 11 minutes in taking a cross from Franck Ribery and putting it home. Dortmund shocked everyone as they scored two minutes into stoppage time to tie it on a goal by Mladen Petric. Near the end of the first extra period, Toni took a Lukas Podolski cross-shot and turned it into his 35th goal of the season. Dortmund finished with 10 men as Jakub Blaszczykowski was sent off for a second yellow card. Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld was extremely pleased with the win. “It was a great send-off here in Berlin,” he said. “We had to win it because, for me, there would be no chance to repeat it again next year. Dortmund fought well and would have deserved the win themselves, but we were the lucky winners.”

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The win in the German Cup could be just the start of things for Bayern. They are solid favorites to win the UEFA Cup. They are in the semifinals and are heavily favored to turn away Zenit St Petersburg. They also have a big 10 point lead in the Bundesliga.

Soccer News: Bayern Munich Wins German Cup Over Borussia 2-1

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.

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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

Manchester United dominated Liverpool 3-0 to move five points clear of second place Chelsea in the Soccer Betting Premier League. Wes Brown scored a first half goal while Ronaldo and Nani scored in the second half for United. Liverpool played much of the game without Javier Mascherano who was sent off for arguing.

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Liverpool could not match United in the second half playing with only 10 men. Goalkeeper Pepe Reina played well stopping Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez but United kept the pressure on and after Reina stopped Ronaldo again it resulted in a corner in the 79th minute that Ronaldo headed home. Two minutes later Nani added the third goal.

Chelsea did their part to stay within striking distance of Manchester United getting a huge 2-1 home win against Arsenal. Didier Drogba scored twice in the second half as Chelsea came from behind to win 2-1. Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal the 1-0 lead and the Gunners were looking to end Chelsea’s long winning streak but Drogba took over and saved the Blues.

Read more on Premier League Betting Preview: Manchester United and Chelsea Win

Arsenal will try and increase their lead at the top of the Soccer Betting Premier League standings as they travel to face Wigan on Sunday. Arsenal is currently one point clear of Manchester United who is in second place. Arsenal could be getting back Robin van Persie for the match against Wigan. He has played only eight matches this season. The Gunners should also welcome the return of Tomas Rosicky and Kolo Toure on Sunday. Arsenal will be without Theo Walcott who has a thigh injury. Abou Diaby may also be out with a calf injury. Arsenal is already without Emmanuel Eboue who is still suspended.

Arsenal is a one goal favorite at SBG Global with a total of 2.5 under -130.
The three-way line has Arsenal -175, Wigan +450 and the Draw +225.

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Wigan should be at full strength but is still a big underdog in Sunday’s match. Ryan Taylor and Kevin Kilbane are both back from injuries. The only two injury concerns are Ryan Taylor and Erik Hagen but both may play. Wigan is in 14th place in the Premier League standings and could be facing relegation. They are only two points clear of Reading who sits in 18th place.

Read more on Premier League Betting Preview: Arsenal vs Wigan

Arsenal has extended their lead in the soccer betting Premier League to five points after a 2-0 win over Blackburn on Monday. Philippe Senderos scored early and Emmanuel Adebayor scored late for the Gunners. It would have been more of a rout if not for Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

The win by Arsenal was a big one considering Manchester United was upset by Manchester City 2-1 on Sunday. Arsenal has 12 games left as they try and hold off the powerful United club. The loss by United to their rivals was a shock as Manchester City swept United for the first time since 1970. The 2-1 win was their first win at Old Trafford since 1974. The loss ended United’s 13 match winning streak. Darius Vassell and Benjani Mwaruwari scored first-half goals for City and United’s only goal in injury-time came from Michael Carrick.

United played without suspended players Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra, and Owen Hargreaves was on the bench. In the 25th minute City took the lead as Ireland, Petrov and Vassell combined for the first tally. United nearly tied it but Hart made a key save on Carlos Tevez and got a break when Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick went over the bar.

In the second half Petrov’s cross was taken by Benjani and he scored just inside the far post. United thought they had gotten back in the game but Tevez was ruled offside. Carrick scored in injury time for United but it was too late to do any good. “It was probably the result that City deserved really,” Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs said, “They played better than us. City scored at important times in the game and we didn’t recover.