In stark contrast to a relatively low-scoring World Cup, the Premier League has started with a bang. Already there have been 61 goals in just two weeks of football, including three 6-0 results from the weekend. And Week 2 isn’t over yet, as Liverpool and Manchester City face each other tonight at Anfield.

For all the latest football betting action, make sure you head to Bodog this week. Back your favorite club with the best online football sportsbook around:

Manchester City: +130
Draw: +220
Liverpool: +210

Now, onto the weekend wrap. We were lucky enough to enjoy a weekend of football where every match was a thriller. With so many spectacular fixtures on show it’s always tough to name the best, but here’s a review of the most entertaining games from Week 2 in the Premier League.

Arsenal 6 – 0 Blackpool: The Gunners gave Blackpool a harsh lesson on Saturday, as the Premier League newcomers learned just how tough it is going to be to stay in the top tier of English football.

Things didn’t look too bad for Blackpool in the opening minutes, despite a lack of possession and chances. With their 4-0 win over Wigan still fresh in their minds, they were perhaps a little too relaxed and paid dearly for it when Theo Walcott grabbed his first goal of the new season in the 12^th minute. Things went from bad to worse on the half hour mark when Ian Evatt was given his marching orders after he was deemed to have brought down Maraoune Chamakh inside the box. Andrey Arshavin converted the resulting penalty, and seven minutes later Theo Walcott had his second.

The match was already over by half-time, but that didn’t stop Arsenal from turning on the flair. Abou Diaby struck just three minutes into the second period, before Walcott grabbed a deserved hat-trick and sent a clear message to England manager Fabio Capello. Lacklustre defending was to be the death of Blackpool, and despite missing a sitter a few moments earlier, Maraoune Chamakh netted his first Premier League goal with a clinical header in the 82^nd minute.

Newcastle United 6 – 0 Aston Villa: With their first home game back in the EPL, Newcastle United embarrassed their opposition as they ran home 6-0 winners.

Hindsight is a handy thing to have after the fact, but Kevin MacDonald will be ruing a few of his team selections after admitting to making a mistake by playing too many youngsters. Stephen Ireland should have known he wouldn’t be in for the best of birthdays with his new side after John Carew shot a 10^th minute penalty embarrassingly high. Two minutes later it was Newcastle with the edge after Joey Barton snatched a rare – and spectacular – goal. Things took off for the Magpies after that, and two goals in three minutes by Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll put the game to bed before the half-time whistle had even blown.

The home side kept up the pace in the second half, and Carroll grabbed a brace by the 67^th minute. The young number 9 always looked dangerous with the ball, but it was Nolan who scored Newcastle’s fifth on 87 minutes. Not content to sit back and defend their massive lead, Carroll struck in injury time to complete his first career hat-trick in front of more than 43,000 supporters (including Newcastle legend Alan Shearer) at St. James’ Park.

Fulham 2 – 2 Manchester United: A late surge by the home side meant Mark Hughes’ Fulham side grabbed a point against a Wayne Rooney-free Manchester United outfit on Sunday.

Sir Alex Ferguson chose not to include Wayne Rooney in yesterday’s match squad care of a stomach bug, so the Mexican Javier Hernandez took his first Premier League start alongside Dimitar Berbatov. Things started well for the Red Devils as a wonderful move from Antonio Valencia set Paul Scholes up for his first of the season. Combination play between Berbatov and the United midfield was encouraging but ultimately produced nothing, and it was Edwin van der Sar that the players were thanking for their lead after a fabulous double save just before the break.

As the match wore on, it was obvious that Fulham were beginning to get the upper hand. Simon Davies equalized for the Cottagers thanks to a magnificently worked move that saw the ball rocket into the back of the net. However, Brede Hangeland thought he’d lost it for his team when he sent the ball into his own net after 84 minutes, and just a few moments later saw Nani with a penalty chance to give United a 3-1 lead. David Stockdale was on hand to give his side a final shot with his penalty save though, and Hangeland took full advantage of the situation by giving Fulham their second equalizer just a minute from full-time.

Nikolai Valuev, also known as ‘The Russian Giant’, has been noticeable absent from the ring since his loss by points to David Haye in November 2009. Has he been training? Has he been preparing his caveman-ish self for a fresh opponent? Not at all. Not even close. Nikolai Valuev has – apparently – been honing his skills as a professional poker player.

Online poker room PokerStars.com is now home to a page entitled Valuev’s Room, which hosts special tournaments allowing players to share a virtual table with the Russian Giant himself. Now, clearly this will draw ridicule from Valuev’s critics. There will be quips about his gigantic mitts struggling to hold a hand of cards – or, as it is online poker after all – crushing a delicate mouse between his solid steel fingers. Also, cynics are not about to attribute the strategic ability needed to be a successful poker player to the man they call ‘the missing link’ and frequently liken to a Neanderthal or Cromagnon. Well, they have it all wrong.

Firstly, the tournaments at Valuev’s Room are not designed as pure competition as such. Players can either compete against Valuev or coach him through the tournament. That’s right: Valuev is looking to other online poker fans for advice to make him a World Series Of Online Poker champion – and poker fans can pay for the privilege of improving the gentle giant’s game.
Secondly, it does not matter that Valuev is probably not brilliant at poker – if it is in fact himself who competes in these tournaments. The point is that after not entering a fight in ten months and not winning a fight in almost two years, Valuev has manoeuvred himself back into the spotlight. He may not have done it elegantly or in a subtle fashion, but he did it nonetheless.

However, this is not to say that any boxer could have pulled of such a comparatively lame stunt with as much success. Nikolai Valuev is a promoter by nature; his physicality alone makes everything he does something of a spectacle. As an outrageously large man, measuring 7’0” (213 cm), with distinctly caveman-like features, Valuev is nothing short of a modern freak show. For him to turn his shovel-sized hands to something as popular as online poker is a brilliant strategic move; and not only because the idea of Valuev attempting a pokerface is absolute comedy gold.

There have been rumours about Valuev taking on a Klichko brother at some point this year, but they were either untrue or the plan never came to fruition. Perhaps Nikolai was too busy learning poker rules and clicking his night away on the tables…in any case, you now have the chance to get your very own piece of Valuev action on the internet. Whether you choose to go up against the Russian Giant in a non-life threatening way or rather teach him bad habits to corrupt his new career – everyone can join in the fun.

Then again, perhaps we should not make it fun. If you are looking forward to seeing the monster from Saint Petersburg in the ring again, it might be best to ignore his poker efforts. The sooner he is bored, the sooner his anvils of fists will start itching and we will have reason to cheer again.

The English Premier League is underway for another season, and we’ve already been privy to a handful of exceptional matches. Chelsea started things off with a bang after destroying newly promoted West Bromwich Albion 6-0, while Blackpool shocked the football world with their 4-0 away victory at Wigan.

Week 2 is set to be even bigger and better, and Bodog has all the odds on each fixture. Here are some of the most intriguing bets available for the coming weekend of football:

Arsenal: -550
Draw: +550
Blackpool: +1400

West Brom: +150
Draw: +225
Sunderland: +175

Wigan Athletic: +1100
Draw: +450
Chelsea: -400

Read on to find out about the best action from the weekend, and be sure to head to Bodog in order to back your favorite team throughout the 2010/11 season.

Tottenham 0 – 0 Manchester City: In one of the best goalless draws you are ever likely to see, Joe Hart was the star of the show as both sides were held to a nil-all scoreline.

Both clubs headed into this fixture with plenty of expectation on their shoulders, however it was Spurs who took the initiative in the first half. With hardly an attempt on goal, Manchester City were forced to defend for much of the opening 45, and Joe Hart absolutely justified his choice as England’s number one with a string of stunning saves. Peter Crouch had the first chance to put his side in front and was joined shortly after with shots from Jermain Defoe, Tom Huddlestone, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon added their names to the shots-on-target list, but nothing could give them the edge by half time.

The only real chance Man City saw in the first 45 was a wild attempt from Yaya Toure after Carlos Tevez broke free on the counterattack. Thankfully for Roberto Mancini however, City turned the tables in the second. Shaun Wright-Phillips had a chance to give City an unlikely lead after beating the offside trap, but was closed down well by Assou-Ekotto. After bringing on Adam Johnson, he created a handful of chances for Tevez and the like, but nothing really troubled Gomes in between the posts. One final chance for Spurs to grab all three points was sitting on a plate for Bale, but he blasted his shot wide with his weaker right foot.

Wigan Athletic 0 – 4 Blackpool: In what should have been a baptism of fire, Blackpool showed the Premier League that they are here to play with a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic.

Playing at the DW isn’t easy even for the biggest clubs in the EPL, as Arsenal will knowingly concede. However, Blackpool didn’t have a problem getting their season off to a blinder. New signing Marlon Harewood was the force behind the Tangerines, and his deft cross was put away by Gary Taylor-Fletcher in the 16^th minute to give the away side an unlikely lead. With hardly an attempt on goal for Wigan, Blackpool continued to press forward and they were granted a second when Harewood belted in his first for the club from outside the box. Five minutes later he was in again, and Blackpool were in dreamland at half time.

You could have forgiven Blackpool for sitting back and protecting their 3-0 lead, but they continued to move forward, creating chances and taking risks. The icing on the cake came in the 74^th minute when Alex Baptiste saw his touchline cross creep into Chris Kirkland’s near post, giving Blackpool their first top-flight victory since 1979.

Liverpool 1 – 1 Arsenal: It finished all square at Anfield as both sides ended the match with only 10 men on the field. Despite plenty of potential on the pitch, the scoreline was determined by some questionable goalkeeping from both teams.

The opening 20 minutes of the match dragged on, and it seemed as if we were in for a dull match-up. However, Milan Jovanovic brought Liverpool to the fore shortly after, showing great strength against Bacary Sagna before setting up his teammate for a shot on target. Chances were few and far between for both sides in the opening period, but Anfield had a reason to abuse the referee when new boy Joe Cole was sent off in injury time after lunging into Laurent Koscielny.

After the break, Arsenal should have taken advantage of their 10-man opponents, but it was the home side that broke the deadlock. Some poor passing from the Gunners saw David N’Gog with the ball at a tight angle, and he made no mistake with his strike by rocketing it past Manuel Almunia at his near post. Both sides pushed on for more goals, but the fans had to wait until the final seconds for one to arrive. Marouane Chamakh sent the ball driving into Liverpool’s goal post before Pepe Reina inadvertently carried the ball over his own line, levelling the score. The scoreline would remain at 1-1 but there was one more order of business before the final whistle: Laurent Koscielny being sent off for his second bookable offence within the space of a few seconds.

Other Results

Aston Villa 3 – 0 West Ham United
Blackburn Rovers 1 – 0 Everton
Bolton Wanderers 0 – 0 Fulham
Sunderland 2 – Birmingham City
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 – 1 Stoke City
Chelsea 6 – 0 West Bromwich Albion