Megson: Wants technology

Referees hit the headlines once again this weekend following more high-profile blunders and Sky Bet believes it's just a matter of time before video technology is brought into the English game.

While Bolton reportedly wait for an apology from referee Rob Styles for the penalty he awarded to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, Everton have appealed to the FA after Tim Cahill was shown the red card by Mike Riley in the Merseyside derby.

There was even more controversy in Sunday's clash at the JJB Stadium where Manchester City boss Mark Hughes was feeling particularly hard done by when Steve Bennett gave Wigan a penalty after Wilson Palacios went down in the box with minimal contact from Javier Garrido.

Hughes joined Gary Megson in calling for the introduction of video technology and Sky Bet make it 13/2 that it's brought in during the 2009/2010 Premier League season while it's 7/4 that it's first used in the 2010/2011 season.

Ramos on the brink?

Juande Ramos has been cut to 3/1 favourite with Sky Bet to be the next Premier League manager to go following Tottenham's latest poor result at the weekend.

Spurs remain rock bottom of the league after a 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth, during which their fans chanted 'You don't know what you're doing' at Ramos when he replaced lone striker Roman Pavlyuchenko with Darren Bent after 73 minutes.

With just two points on the board from six games, it is clear the fans are losing patience with the Spaniard and a UEFA Cup exit this week at the hands of Wisla Krakow would put him under unbearable pressure.

Gary Megson is Sky Bet's 6/1 second favourite with his Bolton side hovering just above the relegation zone on goal difference after a 2-0 loss at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Everton's miserable start to the season continued with a Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool and David Moyes has been trimmed to 7/1 to leave next.

Four-midable

Sky Bet are offering a variety of special markets ahead of this week's Champions League action, including 4/1 for the 'Big Four' Premier League clubs all to win their respective groups.

An English winner is quoted at 6/5, with a second all-English final priced at 7/2.

Chelsea are Sky Bet's 6/4 favourite to be the furthest progressing English team in the competition, with Manchester United quoted at 2/1 and Liverpool and Arsenal both priced at 4/1.

It's 2/1 for any club to win their domestic league and the Champions League this season.

Titleholders Manchester United are 4/11 to beat Aalborg on Tuesday and are 11/2 favourites with Sky Bet to be the highest scoring team of the evening. The Red Devils are also 6/1 favourites to score the fastest goal of the evening (by minute).

Extended stay?

Joe Kinnear was taking training for the first time at Newcastle today and Sky Bet reckon his stay could be a little longer than many expect.

The new interim chief, whose appointment was not exactly well received, is in temporary charge until the end of October.

But Sky Bet make it a 4/7 chance he's still the manager on November 1 and he's 11/2 to remain in the hotseat at the start of 2009.

Mind the gap

Lee Westwood is 5/2 with Sky Bet to win the European Order of Merit after his agonising second-placed finish at the Quinn Insurance British Masters.

The 35-year-old narrowly failed to retain his title at The Belfry, losing on the third hole of a play-off to Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano despite holding a three-stroke lead with 10 holes remaining in Sunday's final round.

Last year's five-shot victory in the same event remains his last success, but he's now had 14 top-10 finishes since then and with the £200,000 runners-up cheque from the weekend has brought Ryder Cup team-mate Padraig Harrington within range at the top of the money list.

Five weeks remain in that race and both are at this week's Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

Harrington's lead is down to just under £180,000 and he's now 4/5 favourite with Sky Bet to cling on. However, of the Order of Merit events left, the Irishman is planning to play only this week and the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama, whereas Westwood also has the Portugal Masters in two weeks' time.

The other two players realistically in the hunt are Robert Karlsson and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who are available at 13/2 and 15/2 respectively.

Does Cheryl have the X Factor?

There was plenty of drama for X Factor fans on Sunday night as the judges were finally told which category of pop star hopefuls they would mentor this year.

Cheryl Cole was handed the 14-24 year-old girls, regarded as the strongest category, and Sky Bet now make her the 5/4 favourite to be the winning manager in her debut series.

Simon Cowell is now the second favourite at 5/2 having been given the boys while Dannii Minogue was delighted to be taking control of the over 24s and can now be backed at 7/2.

Arguably the most unlucky judge was Louis Walsh, who tried to hide his disappointment after receiving the news he would mentor the groups - a cursed category that has never won a series. As a result he's the 9/2 outsider with Sky Bet.

The firm have also priced up which of the 24 remaining contestants will win the show as they now head to their mentor's home for the final selection procedure.

Laura White has been one of the most impressive girls so far and she's the 3/1 favourite while Rachel Hylton - from the 25 and overs - is the 9/2 second favourite. The pick of the boys is 6/1 shot Austin Drage while JLS are regarded the best of the groups at 9/1. All bets placed now will count, even if they fail to make the live stages of the show.

Strictly Stevens

Rachel Stevens is Sky Bet's joint 3/1 favourite to win this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing after impressing the judges on Saturday's show.

The pop star scored 31 marks out of 40 having performed a Salsa to a latin version of "Can't Buy Me Love" with her partner Vincent Simone but it wasn't the best score of the night.

That accolade went to actress Cherie Lunghi, who was awarded 33 alongside James Jordan for a sophisticated Foxtrot to "Sweet About Me" and she has now been cut right down to 8/1 fourth favourite.

Judge Arlene Phillips claimed Cherie will "give that rugby-playing motor car Austin Healy a run for his money" although he's the other 3/1 joint favourite following his performance in the men's group dance to "She Bangs".

Meanwhile Gillian Taylforth became the first woman to be booted off the show. The former EastEnders actress was in the bottom two after the viewers vote and she was sent packing after the judges opted to save model Jodie Kidd.

City slipping

Manchester City have drifted to 11/4 with Sky Bet to win the Premier League without the 'Big Four' after they lost 2-1 at Wigan on Sunday.

Amr Zaki converted a debatable penalty in the 34th minute after Javier Garrido was deemed to have brought down Wilson Palacios inside the box but the contact looked minimal.

Antonio Valencia had earlier seen his spectacular 16th-minute opening goal cancelled out by Vincent Kompany's close-range finish from an Elano free-kick five minutes later.

Aston Villa are 5/4 favourites in the market after Saturday's 2-1 victory at home to Sunderland put them fourth in the table.

Portsmouth are 13/2 third favourites having claimed a 2-0 triumph over Tottenham, who remain rock bottom without a Premier League win to their name this season.

Sky Bet make Juande Ramos' troubled side 12/1 to finish best of the rest but their odds have been further cut to 14/1 for relegation.

Hamilton cut

Lewis Hamilton has been chopped to 2/7 with Sky Bet for the F1 World Championship following a dramatic Singapore Grand Prix.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso staged a stunning recovery to secure an historic victory in the sport's first night race.

The Spaniard had started 15th on the grid after fuel-feed problems brought an end to his qualifying campaign in the second session on Saturday.

But the Renault driver produced a superb performance to secure his first win of the year.

Williams' Nico Rosberg finished second while Hamilton took third to boost his lead in the drivers' standings as he looks to mastermind a first World Championship title.

And Hamilton's chances were improved further by the fact that Ferrari's Felipe Massa could only finish 13th having started the race on pole.

Massa had started the race superbly, streaking ahead of Hamilton straight away, but his hopes of a podium finish came to an end on lap 18.

The Brazilian entered the pit lane but was then shown the green light while the fuel hose was still attached.

Massa injured a member of his crew as he moved away before mechanics struggled to remove the hose to allow him to rejoin the race.

It's all led to a real shake up in the betting with Massa eased to 5/2 with Robert Kubica available at 66/1.

Tigers lose their bite

Leicester are still Sky Bet's favourites to win the Guinness Premiership regular season but have been eased to 11/4 after the weekend's action.

The Tigers are now third with 12 points after they suffered a 28-19 defeat at Weford Road on Friday as Jeremy Staunton inspired champions Wasps to their first win of the season.

As a result Wasps, who now have six points, have been cut to 7/2 second favourites to top the table at the end of the season while Gloucester have slipped to 10/3 after they lost 23-9 to Sale.

The Sharks have now won four out of four and can now be backed at 6/1 alongside second-placed Bath, 37-19 winners over Worcester on Saturday.

Saracens picked up their second win of the season after brushing aside Northampton 26-12 and they're now sixth favourites at 8/1.