Let us hope that the Queen was kept unaware of this. She had hoped to see Murray previously at Wimbledon but had failed to be able to do so, but this year she made a special attempt to meet him by visiting the tournament during the first week when there was at least a fighting chance that Murray would still be in the competition. Luckily she has not left it too late and fortunately Murray had a change of heart and momentarily swallowed his contempt for all that is English give her a polite bow. He said that he had been practicing in front of the full length mirror in the players’ dressing room.

He won his first match against Jan Hajek and the Queen turned up to watch him play in his second match against Jarkko Nieminen. Actually he played magnificently winning in three straight sets but he was not up against very strong competition. As he walked off the court he gave the Queen a bow which was delivered in exemplary fashion. It is to be hoped that the Queen enjoyed the tennis, though she did not seem to get particularly involved.

Yesterday we had to endure what was probably the most boring match ever played at Wimbledon as John Isner and Nicolas Mahut broke every tennis record by playing 118 games and still ending up even.

Are you a big Wimbledon fan? Why not have a go at betting on this year’s Wimbledon champion? Andy Murray certainly looks on top form this year. Visit www.onebooker.com/es today and check out the latest odds.

Since Man City’s takeover by the Abu Dhabi investment group, headed by Sheikh Mansour, they have been continually linked with the World’s top players and have already signed several players once thought beyond their means, players such as Robinho and Carlos Tevez have joined the club and they continue to be linked with the World’s top talent.

This summer has been no different and City have been reported to be interested in players such as Serbia and CSKA Moscow winger Milos Krasic, Wolfsburg forward Edin Dzeko and midfielder Fernando Gago from Real Madrid.

One link that refuses to go a way is the one though is the one that links city to former Sweden international Ibrahimovic as the forward used to play under Mancini at Inter Milan, where the striker was somewhat of a hero.

The situation at Barcelona also makes a move for Ibrahimovic look likely as the Catalan giants have already signed Spain international David Villa and with a new President in office at the Camp Nou, new signings will be extremely likely and selling Ibra may be a way to free up some transfer funds.

This has led to the continued rumour that the Swede and the Italian manager could be reunited at Eastlands and the latest quotes from Mancini have done nothing to douse the flames of rumour surrounding the player.

“Many players are linked with City, often for convenience,” he told Tuttosport.

“We are used to raised prices, but in reality we cannot buy dozens of players.

“Of course we aim to strengthen. Krasic or Dzeko? One really interests us, the other doesn’t. Who? I cannot say.

“Ibrahimovic? In my opinion, Ibra is the best striker in Europe. It makes me laugh when people say he misses crucial chances.”

Man City are 7/1 with Betfred to win the Premier League next season, skybet and 888sport are offering 5/1 and 6/1 respectively.

The midfielder was sent of for a challenge on the Czech playmaker and feels that a combination of Rosicky diving and Arsenal players putting pressure on the referee Andre Mariner was to blame for his dismissal.

I thought they were lucky getting a goal and lucky the referee sent me off, which was an absolute joke,” Henry declared.

“I have gone in to win it, Rosicky has gone across me to shield the ball. By that time, I have already gone to ground.

“One of their players has come in, (Thomas) Vermaelen flying in and whoever else, trying to get me sent off.

“I certainly wouldn’t be running over, trying to get a player sent off.

“I have seen it again and I have nicked the ball. It was never a red card, it is an absolute disgrace.”

Controversy has surrounded the Arsenal side for most of this season, with manager Arsene Wenger reacting to midfielder Aaron Ramsey’s horrific leg break by claiming that teams deliberately go into tackles heavier against his side.

Henry, though, feels that Arsenal are the guilty party in many instances, heading to ground even when a tackle is fairly made.

He is up and running around two minutes later, absolutely fine,” the 27-year-old said.

“That is what they do here, I don’t think it’s pretty.

“Their players moan when they get tackled when they get hit hard and so does Arsene Wenger.

“Here in particular, Arsenal moan a lot, their players go down like a sack of spuds.

“They get hit hard like any other clubs do and we are hearing about it for weeks and weeks.

“They play good football here, and are a great side, but it is not nice to see.

“We love Arsenal’s great football, but when they are rolling around getting people sent off, it makes you not want to see them do so well.”

Wolves take on Stoke at home next weekend and are currently 11/8 favourites with Stan James to win.

The midfielder limped off the field following his penalty saying: “I fear the worst, which is that I have broken something,”

“It is the fibula. I think I put my leg between [Carles] Puyol’s when I was fouled, and kicked it.”

What Arsenal received in terms of an excellent comeback result, they more than paid for in injury costs – with defender William Gallas picking up a suspected calf injury, and Andrey Arshavin also facing an absent spell.

Gallas was stretchered off before half-time and is likely to miss the rest of the Gunners title campaign, while Arshavin’s injury seems less serious as he told his website he expects to be back in only two to three weeks.

Arsene Wenger admitted he had taken a risk playing Gallas.

“Gallas has a calf strain and will be out for a while now,” said Wenger. “I took a gamble that didn’t pay off. Yes I regret that now. Arshavin has also done his calf.”

Fabregas was visibly in pain after scoring his spot-kick, leaving the Emirates on crutches only after helping his side pick up a draw against his boyhood club.

“When I took the penalty, I was quite strong, but after when I went to get the ball, I could not walk any more,” he added.

The Spaniard will miss the return leg in Barcelona regardless after picking up a second booking during the competition, however, he will be hoping the injury will not affect his World Cup prospects.

“We have to wait, but I hope I can wear the Arsenal shirt again this season,” he added.

“I do not think it is going to be good news, but still I hope there will be.”

Victor Chandler have Barcelona at 2/5 to win when the two sides meet in the return leg.

You can find more World Cup Betting markets at Party Bets’ new micro site.

All the bookies are in agreement, Australia will win this international and the odds are so conventional that the best price to be found on this outcome is a rather stingy 19/100 at Betfair. So, with this in mind, is there any money to be made on this game at all? Well, yes there is. For starters, assuming you are a little crazy, you could well put some money on the New Zealand boys claiming an unexpected (to say the least) victory. With odds as good as 11/4 at Sky Bet, it goes to show that the bookies don’t feel that such an outcome is completely impossible, just very very unlikely.

So, where is the real money hiding at? Well if you fancy placing a bet on this game, your best chance at making a profit comes from the Australian Top Runs Scorer option with Shane Watson being the favourite to claim the most runs for the Aussies. Even though Shane is the favourite however, at odds of 3/1 at Paddy Power and Stan James, it is certainly worth a punt. The nest favourite is Ricky Ponting who is also bringing in similar odds. So, if you simply have to place a bet on this one day international, then these are your best options. Sure, you can put some money on New Zealand winning outright, but safe to say that it might be unwise.

Shane Watson to lead scoring for Australia – 3/1 at Paddy Power and Stan James.

Rooney came off the bench to replace the injured Michael Owen, who had scored United’s opener, and popped up to head the winner home in the 74th minute despite playing with a slight knee problem himself.

Rooney stated after the game:

“It’s a great feeling to play a final at Wembley and to score the winning goal is unbelievable. Obviously I wanted to play but I had a bit of a sore knee. Fortunately for me I came on and I’m delighted with the winning goal.”

Rooney has been on fire of late and the press have made much of the fact that he is chasing the 42 goal target set by Crisitano Ronaldo two seasons ago, Rooney’s goal against Aston Villa left him on 28 so far.

“I am enjoying playing at the minute and enjoying scoring goals, hopefully that will continue. Cristiano got 42 but I am just looking to contribute to us winning medals. If that happens it would be great but as long as we win medals it would be even better.”

Despite the victory and Rooney’s marvellous display, the news that Michael Owen has suffered a hamstring injury will not go down well with a side that is still chasing glory in two other tournaments.

United’s manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on the matter:

“He (Owen) did really well for us and it was a good performance from him. It’s maybe our fault too. He’s not had a lot of minutes recently and that soft pitch didn’t help him. It’s a bad blow for us.”

With the Premier League and Champions League titles still very much within United’s grasp Ferguson will be hoping no more injuries effect his sides quest for more glory.

United are still slightly behind Chelsea in the league and the odds with Ladbrokes reflect this with the Manchester side at 6/4 to Chelsea’s 5/4 to become Premier League champions.

Though there are dangers of whomever finds themselves playing Premiership football next season being immediately slumped back into the Championship, it is no doubt a very exciting time for fans of a few teams right now with the carrot of Premiership football being dangled just in front of them and their players but just how far will some teams need to leap? Just who are certain to find themselves playing against the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cesc Fabregas next season?

Will, a given seems to be Newcastle United whose remarkable fall from grace last season looks to have been remedied at the first attempt. So expectant are the bookies that the boys in black and white will be back in the top flight next season that the best odds to be found on their promotion attempt is a measly 1/6 at Coral. The surprise package this season have been Nottingham Forest who, after a rather glorious history have found themselves lurking in the lower leagues for many years now. Well, the best odds to be found for Forest finally making a return to the Premier League are at Sportingbet.com who are offering 17/20.

However, in this writers opinion, perhaps the most interesting team are Blackpool who, hiding just outside of the play-off positions right now could well pull off what Burnley achieved last season and at 16/1 at Tote-Sport, there is clearly a chance to earn some money from the chaps in tangerine.

Nottingham Forest to win promotion – 17/20 at Sportingbet.com.

Blackpool to win promotion – 16/1 at Tote-Sport.

So, what exactly are the kind of bets being taken by some of the big bookies with regard to these two gentlemen being reunited on the field of play? Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, there is little money to be won by betting on these two not swapping shirts at the end of the game. In fact, so unlikely is this that the odds at Sky Bet are only 16/1.

Okay, so we have established that the chances of seeing Terry and Bridge touching tongues is rather slim, but what scenario is currently offering the best odds? Well, according to Paddy Power Bingo, there is little chance of Wayne Bridge being booked for a foul on John Terry but as we all know, at 40/1, it might just be worth having a flutter because passions may well get the better of the Manchester City left-back. Chelsea will play Manchester City at Stamford Bridge this Saturday.

There had been considerable speculation regarding Martin Johnson’s potential final team selection. Certainly the side struggled against Italy in a game where they repeatedly made major errors and only won the game by what could be considered to be more luck than judgement. In the end he decided to make no changes at all and for the first time since he took the job as coach he is playing an identical fifteen.

Since the game against Italy Wilkinson in particular has had to endure some severe criticism for the way in which he failed to lead play and his sudden lack of ability to kick the ball. Wilkinson has said that he can shrug off this criticism from outside, but what was more difficult to handle was his internal criticism.

Johnson has described the current side as “Work in progress” and that he thought that the criticism that Wilkinson had been receiving was unfair. Coach Brian Smith has also defended Wilkinson. He said that Jonny enjoyed the total support of both himself and the rest of the team. He pointed out that despite the kicking failures Jonny’s late drop goal had put the team back in the game and that he had been very much involved in scoring the winning try.

Brian Smith also slated the media saying that much of it was made up former players who were hired to provide sound bites, and writers who didn’t know enough about rugby to justify their criticisms.

With odds of 20/21 being offered by Boylesports, England remain the marginal favourites to win against Ireland this weekend.