Paddy Power will refund losing bets if Manchester United lose the match.

Paddy Power is famous for their Money-Back Specials, but this is their all-time most generous offer, giving customers a 50:50 chance of having losing bets refunded. To compound the generosity – this match is likely to be the biggest sports betting event of all time.

In another world first, the offer was not decided by the bookmakers, but by their customers. Paddy Power Punters were given a choice of seven different offers, and 37% of them plumped for this one.

Imogen Thomas - The Hottie Behind Manchester United Footballer Sex Scandal

Paddy Power said: “Our biggest offer, on the world’s biggest match. What’s not to love – provided you’re a Paddy Power Punter. With such an offer who else could we choose to front our advertising than Imogen Thomas – the most talked about woman in Britain this week. We did consider the Middleton sisters – but they were otherwise engaged”

“At the very least it will provide a silver lining and small crumb of comfort for the thousands of Man Utd fans out there to get their money back should their team fall at the final hurdle.”

Giggs Gambles

Paddy Power are also betting on Ryan Giggs’ performance in the match, offering 7/1 the winger scores in the final and 7/2 he is caught offside during the match.

Paddy Power have also brought back their famous Commentary Cliches on the match betting on the first phrase used in their list by the ITV commentators on Saturday. “2009”, a reference to the final between Saturday’s two teams is the 3/1 favourite followed by “Bobby Charlton”, who scored two goals in the Wembley 1968 final, at 8/1. “Imogen” is 25/1 to be the first phrase used with “Giggs has been caught offside” at 40/1.

Imogen Thomas

Champions League Final – Money-Back Special

If Barcelona win this match in normal time Paddy Power will refund correct score, first/last goalscorer, and scorecast singles on the match.

Terms & Conditions: Singles placed before kick-off only. Barcelona must win in 90 mins, extra time or penalties do not count. Max Refund €/£100 per customer. Paddy Power football rules apply.

Champions League Final Latest Betting

Match Betting (90 mins)
Evs Barcelona
12/5 Draw
11/4 Man Utd

To Lift The Cup
1/2 Barcelona
6/4 Man Utd

Champions League Final Specials

7/2 Ryan Giggs to be caught offside in the match
9/1 Ryan Giggs to be first Man Utd player caught offside in the match

First Man Utd player to be caught offside
5/6 Hernandez
Evs Owen
6/4 Berbatov
9/4 Rooney
5/1 Nani
6/1 Valencia
7/1 Park
9/1 Giggs
16/1 Evra
16/1 Fabio
20/1 Rafael
20/1 Scholes
20/1 Fletcher
20/1 Carrick
20/1 Anderson
25/1 Vidic
25/1 Ferdinand

15/2 2009 Repeat – Barcelona to win 2-0

3/1 Barcelona player to be booked for diving in 90 minutes
7/1 Final to be Alex Ferguson’s last match in charge of Man Utd
9/4 Any Man United player to wear a green/yellow scarf when collecting their medal (must be seen on ITV broadcast)
20/1 Player to drop the trophy from the top of a double decker bus during victory parade (must be shown on Sky Sports News)
100/1 ITV to miss a goal through a broadcast disruption

Paddy Power’s Commentary Cliché

First Phrase Used By ITV’s Commentary Team During The Match
3/1 2009
8/1 Bobby Charlton
9/1 1999
12/1 1991
12/1 1968
14/1 The best player in the world
14/1 Total football
16/1 2008
16/1 The famous trophy
18/1 George Best
18/1 End to end stuff
18/1 Cancelling each other out
20/1 Weight on his shoulders
20/1 Wembley arch
20/1 That night in Barcelona
20/1 That night in Wembley
20/1 Nervous moments
20/1 There’s danger here
20/1 Tika taka
20/1 He’s missed it!
20/1 He’ll be disappointed with that
20/1 Two footballing giants
20/1 There’s Sir Bobby
22/1 League and Champions league double
25/1 Imogen
25/1 Missed the final in ‘99
25/1 The greatest manager in the history of British football
25/1 He’s gone down a little easily there
25/1 Squeaky bum time
25/1 Hero of the night
25/1 He is human after all
28/1 At the end of the day
28/1 A clumsy challenge by Scholes
33/1 Super-injunction
40/1 Giggs has been caught offside
40/1 Villain of the piece
40/1 Off their perch
50/1 Fergie’s looking at his watch
66/1 Football, bloody hell

The Croatia international picked up the facial injury on international duty last week and lost his race against time to feature in Bayern’s 3-0 home win over Hanover on Saturday.

Olic told German Sports newspaper Bild he “can’t breath properly” after an operation last Tuesday and the injury has added to a long list of absentees for the struggling Bundesliga giants.

Last season’s UEFA Champions league finalists were already without Dutch duo Mark van Bommel and Arjen Robben, with Daniel van Buyten, Franck Ribery and Miroslav Klose completing the list of high-profile absentees.

Fringe players Breno, Diego Contento, and David Alaba add to boss Louis van Gaal’s woes, but the return to action of Bastian Schweinsteiger against Hanover was a timely boost.

Mario Gomez ensured the stars were not missed as his hat-trick lifted Bayern up to tenth position, although they still trail early leaders Dortmund by ten points after eight games.

‘Yankees Doo One’ by Jamie Casey, January 2008

How have Tom Hicks and George Gillett caused so much unrest at a football club in such a short time? Is it because they’re businessmen and not football men? Or do they simply dislike Rafael Benitez? Liverpool FC’s American owners came clean this week over their secret talks with Jurgan Klinsmann on the subject of him taking over from Benitez.

Their statement is the latest example of how the American duo seem clueless when it comes to dealing with the British media and, more worryingly, decision-making when a manager is under pressure. The Yank duo admitted meeting with Klinsmann in November [2007], when Liverpool were in danger of crashing out of the Champions League, but an impressive 4-0 win away win at Marseille ensured the Reds progressed to the knock out stage. The secret talks suggest the owners have a lack of faith in Benitez’s ability to produce these kind of results, despite an exceptional European record.

If you compare the two to Aston Villa’s American owner Randy Lerner, you can understand why he has gained more respect from their fans. Lerner has quietly taken over Villa, shying away from the media and provided manager Martin O’Neil with transfer funds from his own pocket to build what looks like a promising young team.

The difference is Lerner’s trust in O’Neil as a proven football manager, and it has paid dividends so far. We’re just shy of a year since the Hicks and Gillett takeover, which came with the promise that they would not saddle the club with debt while building a new stadium. Yet it appears Hicks and Gillett are reluctant to fund the project with their own money, despite both being billionaires.

Liverpool’s proposed new Stanley Park ground will more than likely be franchised like Arsenals “Fly Emirates” stadium, which goes against everything the club’s current ground Anfield is famous for. Yes, they forked out £23million to bring Fernando Torres to the club last summer, but would the player have joined if fellow Spaniard Benitez wasn’t in charge? Probably not. And would he stay if Benitez was to leave? Probably not.

The latest media frenzy surrounding the club is slowly turning England’s most successful club into a laughing stock and is strikingly similar to the situation Spurs found themselves in earlier in the season. The Tottenham board’s shocking treatment of former boss Martin Jol lead to extreme criticism from fans and media over their deceitful actions in sounding out Jol’s successor, Juande Ramos.

The handling of Liverpool at present is very unfamiliar. I wonder what Bill Shankly, the man who made Liverpool a great club, would make of the current owners. Likewise, former chairman David Moores must be wishing he’d sold his club to owners whose best interests were in the football club, such as life-long fan Steve Morgan, who has now bought Wolves instead.

And so back to the Klinsmann meeting. It’s somewhat bizarre that they came out and admitted the meeting to the media this week after all this time and one can only question their PR skills. Also, why was Jurgan Klinsmann the man they wanted as a replacement? The German has never managed at club level before. Sure, he showed his ability with the German national side, but who knows what he’s like in the transfer market. However, he’s since been handed the Bayern Munich job for next season so he’s out of the running in any case.

But there still are many questions surrounding Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The Liverpool fans are growing impatient with their new owners and have already gave their backing to Benitez. The current crisis has got fans sweating at the future of the club, many of whom, will be hoping the American cowboys give in, sell up and return to America with their tails between their legs.

October 2010: Liverpool, now managed by Benitez’s eventual successor Roy Hodgson, have won just one of their opening seven Premier League games and lie in the relegation zone as the club’s fall from grace reaches a new low with Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to newly-promoted Blackpool.

Spurs, in fact, are not even used to any sort of European football of late, never mind the dizzy heights of Europe’s premier club competition, as boss Harry Redknapp refused to take the Europa League seriously when given the chance.

‘Arry may live to regret his dismissive approach to Europe’s secondary club competition, as his squad look a little startled by their new-found gruelling schedule come the weekends.

So far, that hasn’t stopped the North Londoners getting Premier League points under their belt with only Wigan taking full advantage in a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane, but Spurs face a difficult task in Gerard Houllier’s Villa this time around.

Emile Heskey has shown he only needs a manager to believe in him for him to fulfil his potential, but backing the big man to score for a third game running may get me sectioned.

The former England international can still have a big impact on play, however, and our tip ahead of the meeting is SkyBet’s tasty offer of 12/1 for no goals to be scored between the two sides.

Your bet remains valid should only own goals be scored and SkyBet’s odds beat Paddy Power’s and Ladbroke’s measly 8/1 offer for the same outcome hands down.

Best of the rest

Not confident of your money on them odds? If you prefer to lump your funds on a specific result, Bolton are a great price with Sky Bet at 23/10 to pick up a win over West Brom at the Hawthorns.

The Baggies are bouncing at the minute with ten points from a possible 18, almost a third of their final total in their last Premier League campaign. However, Albion remain relegation candidates and Owen Coyle’s solid Trotters are well equipped to bring them back down to earth.

Despite three defeats on the spin, Wolves kept up their record of having scored in each of their six Premier League games this season to date. That run must come to an end sometime, while goal-shy Wigan have drew a blank in four of their opening league fixtures.

On the basis of that, SkyBet’s offer of 9/1 for a correct score of 0-0 should prove very tempting for the ambitious punter. Ladbrokes offer 8/1 while Paddy Power just 7/1 as Sky earn the plaudits for best prices this weekend.

The draw brought to an end a run of five straight wins on Dutch soil for Liverpool, who have enjoyed a good record over PSV in recent years.

The hosts were the better side throughout, with striker Fernando Torres once again looking out of sorts as tournament top-scorer David Ngog warmed the bench.

Pepe Reina kept the Eredivisie division side at bay, despite struggling with crosses, while Liverpool occasionally threatened on the break.

With ten minutes on the clock, Raul Meireles got the visitor’s first shot on target, but his left-foot effort was too central and weak to trouble Michel Vorm in Utrecht’s goal.

And the Portugal international was involved again eleven minutes later as he was left unmarked inside the penalty area, but he could only guide Glen Johnson’s cross in Vorm’s direction once more.

Lucas picked up a soft yellow card on 35 minutes as he tugged back Edouard Duplan, but Tim Cornelisse could only drill the resulting free-kick into the Liverpool wall.

The visitors were on top towards the end of the opening period, but the Dutch outfit struggled to test Reina early on.

Cornelisse then went close for Utrecht twice in the space of a minute as he tested Reina from a tight angle before heading over the bar from the corner which followed.

Kuyt handed the home side a reminder of the English side’s threat on the break but, once again, the effort was tame and central as Liverpool failed to offer any significant threat to Vorm in the entire first half.

Second half

Torres again looked lacklustre after the restart and he confirmed his poor form by firing a volley way off target early after the restart.

The effort had Hodgson eyeing up the possibility of bringing on top scorer David Ngog as Torres’ confidence looked well short of re-emerging, but the former boss overlooked the Frenchman.

On 57 minutes, Reina had to be on top form to deny the Dutch side from close range and a bombardment on the Liverpool goal ensued, with Meireles clearing off the line before the keeper claimed and launched a counter-attack.

From the counter, Kuyt teed up Torres in the centre but the Spaniard’s woeful form continued as he clipped his effort straight into the path of Vorm, who was down quick to parry wide.

The hosts continued to be on top, though, and Michael Silberbauer went close from range, thumping a shot just off target with Reina scampering.

Silberbauer almost grabbed the breakthrough ten minutes from time as he drilled a low effort through a sea of bodies after collecting a clearance, but Reina was alert to make the save.

If Liverpool were going to find a breakthrough, you sensed it would have to be something spectacular and they almost found it in that form from Maxi Rodriguez, who acrobatically executed a volley just over the bar moments after being introduced for the ineffective Joe Cole.

The Dutch side responded well, though, and Jacob Mulenga almost sneaked in with the opener as he beat the Reds’ defence in straight race, but he couldn’t steer he shot on goal as the onrushing Reina narrowed the target.

The game began to filter out in the final ten minutes as both sides seemed content with a point, which keeps Roy Hodgson’s boys top of Group K.

On Tuesday, Arsenal built on their impressive opening, a 6-0 home win over Braga, with a hard earned 3-1 win away to FK Partizan Belgrade. Andrey Arshavin put the Gunners ahead early on, only for Brazilian striker Cleo to level from the spot before half-time.

Marko Jovanovic saw red for the hosts before Marouanne Chamakh edged the North Londoners into the lead once more on 71 minutes and French centre-half Sebastien Squillaci put the icing on the cake eight minutes from time.

In Group H’s other game, Shakhtar Donetsk ran riot in Portugal, where they prevailed 3-0 over Braga in Estadio Municipal courtesy of a Luiz Adriano brace and a Douglas Costa penalty in stoppage time.

Meanwhile, in Group F, Chelsea made it two wins from two despite barely breaking a sweat in a 2-0 win over Marseille. John Terry poked the Blues in front on seven minutes and Nicholas Anelka doubled their advantage from the spot before half time.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men top the group only on goal difference, as Spartak Moscow also got their second win in a comfortable 3-0 win over MSK Zilina. Brazilian striker Ari netted either side of half time and Barreto Ibson added the third a minute from time.

In Group C, Real Madrid moved top with their second win as Angel di Maria grabbed the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Auxerre. But AC Milan lost ground on their main rivals for top spot, as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Ajax, with tournament top-scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic salvaging a point for the Italians.

2010 finalists Bayern Munich also made it two from two, registering a 2-1 win over Basel. In Group E’s other game, Roma left it late to see off the challenge of CFR Cluj in a 2-1 home win.

On Wednesday night, Tottenham ensured they kept up the pace with holders Inter Milan as the Londoners trounced FC Twente 4-1 at White Hart Lane. Rafael Van der Vaart stole the show, missing a penalty, scoring a spectacular opener and being sent off in a night of mixed fortunes for him and his side.

Inter went one better than Spurs, racking up four without reply to top Group A after a 4-0 win over Werder Bremen. Samuel Eto’o scored a hat-trick while Wesley Sneijder also got his name on the scoresheet.

In Group C, Javier Hernandez sealed a 1-0 victory for Man Utd over Valencia late on while Rangers registered a home win over Bursaspor by the same scoreline, with Steven Naismith providing the goal.

Lyon top Group B with six points following a 3-1 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv while Schalke 04 got their campaign up and running with a 2-0 success over Benfica.

Favourites Barcelona will be most disappointed with their result as they could only manage a 1-1 draw with Rubin, with both sides scoring from the penalty spot. Cristian Noboa opened the scoring for the Russian side before David Villa levelled in the same matter on the hour mark.

Barcelona drop down to second as a result, being displaced by surprise package FC Copenhagen, who triumphed 2-0 in Panathinaikos’ own back yard for the second win in two.

Two goals inside the opening ten minutes saw off the challenge of Sporting Gijon at El Molinon courtesy of Mehmet Topal and Roberto Soldado in a 2-0 win for the visitors.

Champions Barcelona moved to within a point of the early leaders as they ran out 3-1 winners over Athletic Bilbao, with both teams finishing a man short.

Fernando Amorebieta saw red ten minutes before half time and the visitors took full advantage in the second half with three strikes thanks to Keita, Xavi and Sergio Busquets.

Striker David Villa then saw red for violent conduct before Igor Gabilondo grabbed a consolation goal late on. Elsewhere on Saturday, Real Madrid played out their second 0-0 of the season, as Jose Mourinho lost further ground on the frontrunners at the expense of Levante.

On Sunday, Atletico Madrid sealed a narrow 1-0 win over Real Zaragoza, despite having Jose Antonio Reyes sent off. Meanwhile, a David Trezeguet brace shocked Sevilla in a 2-0 win for the newly promoted side.

Elsewhere, Fernando Cavenaghi scored twice as Real Mallorca defeated Real Sociedad, While Espanyol registered a narrow 1-0 win over Osasuna.

Almeria shocked Deportivo with a quick-fire brace from Kalu Uche early on settling the 2-0 score and, finally, Getafe grabbed a 1-0 over Racing Santander with Victor Sanchez netting the winner.

The Hoops registered another 3-0 win, this time at home against Doncaster, with Kaspars Gorkss netting twice either side of Adel Taarabt’s strike.

Cardiff ensured they kept up the pressure with a 2-1 win over struggling Millwall while Watford registered a 3-1 over Middlesbrough.

Ipswich lost ground with a draw away to Scunthorpe while Leeds kept up their faint promotion hopes with a 1-0 triumph over Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United.

Elsewhere, Hull picked up an impressive three points away to Norwich, while Reading comfortably disposed of Barnsley with a 3-0 win, scoring three times in the final 12 minutes.

The only draw of the weekend came at Turf Moor, where Burnley played out a 0-0 stalemate with Bristol City while Swansea suffered a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Coventry’s bright start took a knock as they lost at home to Preston, but Derby had no such trouble at home as they thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 at Pride Park.

On Friday, Portsmouth got their first win of the season and in some style as they destroyed Leicester 6-1 at Fratton Park, with Liam Lawrence [2], Dave Kitson [2], David Nugent and Michael Brown on the scoresheet.

Carlos Tevez

It was a weekend of extraordinary upsets in the Premier League as Manchester City excelled in the stumbles of their rivals in the first weekend since December 2008 where each of the traditional ‘big four’ teams failed to win.

Roberto Mancini’s side set the tone for the weekend with a 1-0 win over champions Chelsea in Saturday’s early kick-off, with a Carlos Tevez solo effort in the second half enough to snatch the points.

The goal brought the Argentine’s tally to four for the season and was his sixth goal in his last five Premier League appearances against the Blues, dating back to his time at former employers Manchester United.

In the 3pm kick-offs that day, the pattern continued and perhaps the biggest surprise came at the Emirates, where Arsenal suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to newly promoted West Brom.

The Baggies had in fact raced into a 3-0 lead, also missing a penalty, before Sami Nasri was rewarded for his determination with two late strikes of his own, but to no avail for the Gunners.

At Upton Park, Tottenham lost further ground on their top-four rivals as they were subjected to West Ham’s first league win of the season, courtesy of Frederic Piquionne’s first half goal in a 1-0 win.

Liverpool ensured the theme of the day continued at Anfield as they had to come from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against a Darren Bent inspired Sunderland side.

The Reds took an early lead through Dirk Kuyt, a goal which Sunderland were adamant should not have stood, but Bent netted from the spot to even up the contest before half-time.

Bent put the visitors ahead with a sublime diving header before Reds captain Steven Gerrard rescued a point. Sunderland boss Steve Bruce, who has an enormous head, said the opening goal was “unjust, unfair and wrong,” despite officials explaining otherwise.

On Sunday, Manchester United were in a prime position to take advantage of Saturday’s slip ups, but they only managed a 2-2 draw at Bolton, twice coming from behind.

Zat Knight poked The Trotters in front early on, only for Michael Jackson lookalike Nani to equalise before the break. Martin Petrov, a bigger bargain that the KFC bargain bucket, restored Bolton’s lead on 67 minutes.

The lead was short lived, however, as some guy called Michael Owen nicked another equaliser shortly after leaving his favourite role on the bench. United are yet to win away from home in the league this season.

At Bloomfield Road, Blackburn came out on top of their Lancashire derby with Blackpool after Brett Emerton slipped in a stoppage time winner in a 2-1 win.

Charlie Adam had earlier gifted Rovers the lead with a comical own goal but the hosts drew level late on through teenage substitute Matt Phillips before Emerton pounced late on.

Draw specialists Fulham chalked up another 0-0 draw, becoming only the 2nd team to draw 5 of their opening 6 games in the Premier League – Ipswich did the same in 1992 – as they were held at home to Everton.

Meanwhile, Birmingham and Wigan played out the same score at St Andrews, where Craig Gardner was red late on for a ferocious high tackle on Franco Di Santo, who was stretchered off with suspected ligament damage following the foul.

On Sunday, Emile Heskey, who has scored in back to back games for the first time since April 2008, produced an outrageously good (for him) header in the 88th minute as Aston Villa snatched a 2-1 win over local rivals Wolves.

Stewart Downing, another average player who has sprung into life under new boss Gerard Houllier, netted the first goal of the game but Matt Jarvis equalised just after the hour mark.

Heskey proved the hero, though, as he bullet-headed the visitors towards a win in a manner he hasn’t managed since he worked under Houllier at Liverpool.

Finally, Newcastle were brought back down to earth with a 2-1 home defeat to Stoke City, who came from behind to earn a 2-1 win in a spirited second half fight-back.

Kevin Nolan had handed the Toon a half-time lead from the spot but the impressive Kenwyne Jones equalised with a thumping header after the break before James Perch’s laughable own goal won the points for the Potters.

Houllier paid a then club record £11million to bring Heskey to Liverpool from Leicester in 2000 and the former England international enjoyed his best years under the Frenchman.

Heskey netted 22 goals, an unthinkable tally for a player often criticised for his inability to find the net, in Liverpool’s cup treble winning season in 2000-01.

Houllier’s successor Rafa Benitez flogged the brutish forward to Birmingham for a cut price in 2004 and the former Wigan striker has since struggled to redeem his reputation.

However, with Houllier returning to the Premier League at Villa Park, Heskey has scored in back-to-back games for the first time since April 2008 in the Frenchman’s opening two games in league and cup.

Stretching back to the pair’s last collaborations at the Reds in 2004, the former England international has four in his last five games managed by Houllier, and he admits their reunion has played a part in his recent form.

“It’s nice to be reunited with the manager,” Heskey told Premierleague.com. “I know all about him and fingers crossed he will bring good times back to Villa.

“He did brilliantly at Liverpool and I am sure he can do the same here. He has many qualities and discipline on and off the park is one thing he definitely brings.”

Heskey has been made a scapegoat all too often in his time, and none more so than in his international career, as English fans and media must find someone to point the finger at when it all goes tits up, as so often it does.

Having retired from England duty with seven goals in 62 appearances, Heskey is determined to build on last season’s double cup run with Villa, and insists he has nothing left to prove.

He added: “You’ve got to keep yourself going. Football is a funny game with loads of ups and downs in my career and I’ve managed to keep myself sane.

“Has my Villa move lived up to expectations? I don’t know. Every move has its up and downs. I went to a cup final and semi-final last year. That’s the first time I’ve done that in four or five years. I can’t say it’s been a bad thing.

“I’ll just keep plugging away. I don’t need to show anyone I can play. I just go out there and perform to the best of my ability.”