In 2010 he seems to have reached new heights both for club and country, single-handedly dragging Man U into a title race that looked lost a month ago and having banged in nine goals in England’s World Cup qualifying matches.

A nation’s hopes once again rest with Rooney, and that has helped drive England’s odds on winning the World Cup in to 6/1. Only Brazil and Spain are above them in the betting to lift the FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg in July.

And you’d have to be either blind or foolish to argue with that order. Both Brazil and Spain have beaten Fabio Capello’s England, in both cases without too much trouble.

England’s World Cup failings
Throw in the fact that England have a horrendous record at penalty shoot-outs and more grudge matches to deal with than almost any other country and you are simply not looking at the world champions.

Penalty shootouts are critical to doing well in World Cups. The Germans haven’t had a really good side since reunification but they get to the semi-finals or further, more often than not, because they can take penalties.

And England inevitably fall to pieces in big games against such rivals as Germany, Argentina, France and Holland. For every Wembley 1966 (or, with the Dutch, Wembley 1996) there’s a St Etienne 1998 or a Lisbon 2004 (or, with the Germans, Wembley 1996). Big games against big teams where England should have won and didn’t.

No potential World Cup winners except Rooney
But the biggest reason for being bearish about England’s World Cup chances is exemplified by Wayne Rooney: apart from him, there are no potential World Cup winners left in the team.

Gerrard, Lampard, Rio Ferdinand and – please, please, please – one of the lacklustre goalies Capello has used so far all have chances to prove me wrong. But they’re so far behind Rooney in terms of skill and mental aptitude that watching England has become less like watching Brazil and more like watching Manchester United – when they’re being outplayed by Fulham or Leeds United, that is.

Spain’s performance against England demonstrated how far behind the leading nations England have fallen. Every Spanish player on the field could hold the ball, pass intelligently and play to a controlled tempo that suited their needs. And that’s without mentioning the match-winning potential possessed by players like Xavi, Iniesta and Fernando Torres – who isn’t even Spain’s biggest scoring threat: that honour falls to David Villa.

So why are England 6/1? It’s the same old story.

The bookies’ best friend
The patriotic pound is the biggest friend the bookies have. We saw it with Andy Murray last weekend: how could he have been favourite to win a tennis tournament while Roger Federer, the greatest player of all time, was still involved? The layers would have been literally laughing all the way to the bank.

So, with England at such ridiculously short odds, it’s time for the cunning punter to put aside their flag of St George and lay England on Betfair. I would love to be wrong, but the current lay price of 7.2 (just over 6/1) looks like an almost-guaranteed 16% profit on your investment.

At least it should pay for a few beers when England get knocked out of the World Cup on penalties again.

World Cup betting tip

• 60 points lay England (7.2, Betfair) to win the World Cup

Not got a Betfair account? Sign up today and get a £25 free bet. Follow this link to find out more.

The organisation, known as Right2Bet hopes to persuade the European Commission to act on behalf of gamblers across Europe, and now carries the logo of Betfair – which matches bets between millions of gamblers around the world – on its website.

Right2Bet wants the European Commission to enforce EU laws on free trade and force member states to allow their citizens to use any betting providers licensed in other member states, rather than restricting their choice to just state-approved providers based within their own borders.

The organisation hopes to persuade a million Europeans to sign a petition which they will then present to the EU parliament. Under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty – a framework for running the EU being ratified by the Union’s member nations – the Parliament must look at any issue backed by one million signatures from European consumers.

Michael Robb, a spokesman for Right2Bet, said, “Betting fans in Europe are fed up of being told by politicians how and where they can bet.”

Visit the Right2Bet website now.

Chelsea v Manchester United kicks off at 4pm on Sunday and is live on Sky Sports 1. There’s only one thing that could make it more exciting: a bet on the match. And there’s only one thing that could top that: a free bet on the game.
So here at A Cunning Punt we recommend you head to William Hill and sign up – if you haven’t already.

Free Chelsea-Man U bets at William Hill
New customers can Get a £25 free bet. Just stake up to £25 (or currency equivalent) on any sporting event – this Saturday’s football, say – quoting free bet code F25, once your initial bet is settled, you’ll get a free bet of the same value credited to your account. So provided your first bet is settled before Sunday, you can bet up to £25 FREE on the Chelsea v Man Utd game. Read more on the William Hill website.

Existing William Hill customers can also get up to £40 in free bets on Chelsea against Man Uthanks to some whopping offers on the Breeders’ Cup. Every race from Saturday’s action at Santa Anita that you stake £10 or more on gets you a £5 free bet of some description on the Chelsea versus Man U game. take £20 or more on the 90-minute result (see here for odds) and you’ll automatically get a free £5 bet on total bookings.

Other football free bets this weekend

• Get £200 in free bets from Bet365
  The daddy of free bet offers from one of the most sophisticated online bookies, especially when it comes to betting on football. Bet up to £50 with your first bet and they’ll match it; then you’ll get another free bet of up to £50 bet after you’ve placed five further bets of at least £5 (note that your free bet will be equal to the value of your smallest bet). Another five bets gets you another free bet – you can get four free bets in total up to the £200.
  
  Ideal for:
  Anyone. Why would you not want to claim four free bets up to £200?
  
  Why choose Bet365?
  Market-leading website with the ultimate in football betting functionality – fast, secure, in-depth and exciting. Get your free bets now.
• Get a £10 free bet from Blue Square
  Open an account with BlueSquare before the Chelsea v Man U game, place a win single bet on the match (on a selection priced at odds of even money or longer) of up to £10 and you’ll automatically get a free bet token of the same value to stake on a market of your choice (providing, again, you choose a selection with odds of evens or greater).

  Ideal for:
  Placing a bet on the match result (ie Chelsea win, draw, Man United win) and getting a free bet on the correct score.

  Why choose Blue Square?
  It’s not the best introductory offer in the world but these guys know their football and consistently offer good odds on a wide range of markets from Chelsea v Man U down to the Conference leagues – which they sponsor. Get your free £10 bet now.

• Claim your £10 free bet when you try Betfair
  Open an account using a promotion code which you can find here. Place a bet of up to £25. If your first bet loses you’ll claim your cash in up to 48 hours.

  Ideal for:
  Laying a team not to win – for example, if you don’t think Man U will beat Chelsea or vice versa you can lay them on the exchanges. If they draw or lose your bet wins. And if they do win, you’ve got this £25 free bet to cover you!

  Why choose Betfair?
  Betfair has revolutionised sports betting and it’s always worth having an account handy when you want to hedge a position you’ve taken with a traditional layer (known as ‘laying off’) or just lay a selection not to win. Sign up for your free bet now.

Make sure you check the T&Cs on all these offers before signing up – some may not refund free bet stakes on winning bets, so make sure you’re aware what returns you’ll get.

• Get £200 in free bets from Bet365
  The daddy of free bet offers from one of the most sophisticated online bookies, especially when it comes to betting on football. Bet up to £50 with your first bet and they’ll match it; then you’ll get another free bet of up to £50 bet after you’ve placed five further bets of at least £5 (note that your free bet will be equal to the value of your smallest bet). Another five bets gets you another free bet – you can get four free bets in total up to the £200.

  Ideal for:
  Anyone. Why would you not want to claim four free bets up to £200?

  Why choose Bet365?
  Market-leading website with the ultimate in football betting functionality – fast, secure, in-depth and exciting. Get your free bets now.

• Get a £25 free bet from William Hill and a free £5 Live Score bet
  Place up to £25 on the game and you’ll get an equivalent free bet token once your qualifying bet is settled. Your free bet cannot therefore be spent on the Liverpool v Man Utd game but you can claim a free £5 Live Score (in-play correct score bet) when you stake at least £20 on the Total Corners market in the game.
   
  Ideal for:
  Getting a free bet to stake on something else after the football’s finished and you’ve ‘done your dosh’.

  Why choose William Hill?
  Consistent market leaders thanks to their High Street reputation and competition-beating odds. They also consistently throw inventive free bet offers into the mix which, even if they aren’t always that tempting, at least show they value us customers, unlike some bookies. Sign up now.
  

• Get a £10 free bet from Blue Square
  Open an account with BlueSquare before the Liverpool v Man U game, place a win single bet on the match (on a selection priced at odds of even money or longer) of up to £10 and you’ll automatically get a free bet token of the same value to stake on a market of your choice (providing, again, you choose a selection with odds of evens or greater).

  Ideal for:
  Placing a bet on the match result (ie Liverpool win, draw, Man United win) and getting a free bet on the correct score.

  Why choose Blue Square?
  It’s not the best introductory offer in the world but these guys know their football and consistently offer good odds on a wide range of markets from Liverpool v Man U down to the Conference leagues – which they sponsor. They’re also best price on both Torres and Rooney to score first in Sunday’s game. Get your free £10 bet now.

• Claim your £10 free bet when you try Betfair
  Open an account using a promotion code which you can find here. Place a bet of up to £25. If your first bet loses you’ll claim your cash in up to 48 hours.

  Ideal for:
  Laying a team not to win – for example, if you don’t think Man U will beat Liverpool or vice versa you can lay them on the exchanges. If they draw or lose your bet wins. And if they do win, you’ve got this £25 free bet to cover you!

  Why choose Betfair?
  Betfair has revolutionised sports betting and it’s always worth having an account handy when you want to hedge a position you’ve taken with a traditional layer (known as ‘laying off’) or just lay a selection not to win. Sign up for your free bet now.

Make sure you check the T&Cs on all these offers before signing up – some may not refund free bet stakes on winning bets, so make sure you’re aware what returns you’ll get.

Otherwise, what are you waiting for? Claim your free bets now – and enjoy Liverpool v Manchester United!

But a fourth straight win would be a truly historic achievement for Yeats, who is now eight years old. He has shown signs of losing his awesome staying power – and it must be a surprise to anyone but the most romantic of punters that he is around 9/4 to win the Gold Cup again.

He can be laid at 3.25 on Betfair to lose the race, and either Ryan Moore’s mount Patkai and last year’s beaten runner-up Geordieland could beat him this time out. That must be the lay of the festival.

Lay a 5-point bet on Yeats for a liability of 11.25 points. It’s a risk worth taking given his age and fading form. This is no time to be romantic.