No, they're not really. They had a fine run of wins before Christmas but since then have settled into a mediocre groove which Sunderland, in fairness, would kill for.

This is not to do down Paul Jewell's achievement, all but securing Premiership safety before Christmas was no mean feat. But he's not exactly Charlie Mulgrew. He has bought wisely, but he's had the money to do so, courtesy of rent-a-quote chairman Dave Whelan.

Getting to the Carling Cup final provides a great day out for those in rugby league country who have secretly harboured a love for soccer, but that's all it will be.

Wigan have only won two games since the turn of the year. One of these was, admittedly, at home to Arsenal, but this was during a period when the Gunners were going through an astonishingly poor run away from home.

In the Premiership, they have gained only one point from a possible 21 against the top four, and an inexperienced side are likely to struggle to adapt to the big occasion.

At just above 1/2, United are worth a punt outright, but add in the fact that they've built up a habit of leading at half-time (10 of their last 13 victories) and the win-win double result becomes more tempting at just over 6/4.

BACK Bolton and Fulham to draw this afternoon 3.5 (5/2) Betfair Fulham's position in the Premiership table is not representative of some of the quality they've shown this season and Chris Coleman's team have been unfortunate on more than one occasion.

Bolton have slipped slightly after looking like shoo-ins for a top-six place although they do hold games in hand on Wigan and Blackburn. But they've only managed draws in their last three home games and with confidence rattled after their European exit midweek, Fulham should have enough to take something back to London. Odds of 5/2 are long for a stalemate.

And here's a look at what you could have lost. . .

BACK Arsenal to beat Real Madrid last Wednesday 7.5 (13/2) Betfair Didn't matter what analysis you took, this bet still looked like the definition of folly.

Arsenal had lost six of their last 11, Real had won 10 of their last 11. Throw in Arsenal's tradition of spectacular failures on the European stage and you had what looked like a home win banker. The market responded as such, and the Gunners were more than 13/2 before the match, the longest odds they've been in 10 years.