Good times aplenty for the religiously ambitious in 2013. Not only is the Chief Rabbi set to retire, but last month it was revealed that the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will also hang up his beard at the end of 2012.

It would certainly save both the United Synagogue and the Church of England a fair whack of money to combine the two jobs, but given the unlikelihood of that happening, the next Archbish will probably be one of the following two Christian gentlemen.

The favourite on the Betfair market is the Bishop of Norwich, Graham James (3.1). After the current incumbent’s controversial reign, James would be a sign that the Church fancy a quiet few years, with a man who won’t rattle any cages.

A bolder choice would be Jordan’s fellow columnist in the Sun on Sunday, John Sentamu. Third favourite and drifting at 6.4, the man from Uganda is a confident, outspoken self-publicist. One problem Sentamu may have is his age – at 63 he is younger than the chap standing down. A second issue may be he is quite religious (i.e. his recent aggressive stance against gay marriage.) And the last thing the Church want right now is somebody religious as Archbishop.

Whilst the next Pope is declared through the rising of white smoke, the British are slightly less dramatic. The Crown Nominations Comission suggest a name to David Cameron, who then goes to the Queen for her final approval. So what are you waiting for? Get right on it!!!

There are just four games left for some of the clubs in the Premier League this season and by the end of the weekend, Wolves could have three games left in the Premier League full stop. Whilst time is running out for the Molineux men, here are our picks this week.

Whilst Arsenal can still lay claim to having won nine of their last 11 League games, their performance against Wigan was as bad as they have been all season. Without Arteta they will lack creativity and even a Chelsea side that is likely to be changed from the XI that saw off Barcelona shouldn’t be underestimated. Drogba has a tremendous record against the Gunners and in the event he starts, 11/5 with Bet365 for him to score at anytime looks value. Chelsea have not conceded in the first half of their last 15 games, so our first bet is for them to continue that (Evens with Ladbrokes). Our second bet is take Chelsea or Draw at 4/5 with Bet365.

Newcastle play Stoke and we’re confident they can continue to put the pressure on the teams around them in the battle for 4th. Stoke have won just one of the last seven, whilst Newcastle are the most in-form side in the Premier League with five straight wins. At 37/20 with Bet365 we quite like Newcastle -1.5 on the handicap market, given their last four wins have all been by a two goal margin.

Blackburn’s hopes for survival are getting slimmer by the week after five successive defeats in a row and we don’t think it is going to improve at home to Norwich this weekend. Norwich’s last eight trips on the road have brought four wins and four losses and at 7/4 on the ‘Draw No Bet’ we’re happy to play. We fancy goals in this one - Blackburn have gone over 2.5 goals in four of the last five whilst Norwich have done so in all of their last five. It’s a 27/40 shot with Bet365.

Sunderland’s revival under Martin O’Neill ended some weeks ago and their drab 0-0 draw with Wolves suggested many of the players may already be thinking of their summer holidays. Aston Villa are still not out of trouble, but we think they will be after this game. Whilst they were well beaten at Old Trafford, they led against Stoke and Liverpool before drawing and should just edge this one. Sunderland haven’t won any of their last six away games and we like Villa at 7/5 with Blue Square.  

Many refer to the World Championship as the “marathon of the mind,” and with 17 days of intense action on the green baize, all sorts of things can happen. We think there is therefore some tremendous betting value to be found.

First up is a tip for a bet at the earliest opportunity of the tournament as Luca Brecel becomes the youngest ever participant aged 17 and 45 days when he faces Stephen Maguire in the first round. The Belgian impressed everyone by seeing off World Number 31 Mark King in his final qualifier whilst Maguire arrives in decent form having reached the final of the China Open Final. We think the value could be with a small bet at 4.8 on the youngster whose confident swagger should see him settle quickly.   

The market over whether there will be a 147 break during the tournament always attracts interest. It’s mainly priced up as 8/11 ‘No’ 11/10 ‘Yes’ and we are happy to back ‘No’ with Bet365. Interestingly there was a maximum break in qualifying last week, but there has only been a maximum during the World Championship tournament in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009 in the last fifteen years.

You can also have a bet on which player will win each quarter of the draw and make their way to the last four and we like the look of John Higgins to win the first quarter. He’s a 13/8 shot with Bet365 and we feel last year’s winner has the easiest of all the sections of the draw to navigate.

In the outright betting we’re happy to place our faith in Ding Junhui at 11/1 on Bet365. He played brilliantly last year before losing a sensational semi final to Judd Trump and we’ve already seen him lift the Welsh Open and Championship League this season. Most recently he bowed out of the China Open in the semi-final to eventual winner Peter Ebdon, but he did enough to convince us he’s good enough to last the distance.

Ding dong indeed.

Four of the last six years have seen the side finish third in the Championship get promoted via the play-offs. West Ham United look most likely to find themselves in that berth this year, and we like the 11/10 generally available on their promotion. Expect perennial phone-in bothering West Ham fans to be talking Premier League football once more, in just a few months time.

Over in League One, Sheffield United look set to come second to Charlton and even at the short odds to get promoted of 1.15 (Betfair) we’d back Danny Wilson’s side to go up.

Rochdale, Exeter and Chesterfield look doomed down at the bottom of League One, but we don’t think a lay of Wycombe to be relegated at 1.1 on Betfair is the worst idea in the world. Wanderers have only lost one of their past nine matches. Whereas 20^th placed Leyton Orient have lost their last five. Wycombe’s fixtures look tough on paper, but they play already promoted Charlton and a Sheffield Wednesday side who by then should have one eye on the play-offs.

Finally in League Two, our tip is to back Crawley Town to complete their second successive promotion – at odds of 1.6 on Betfair. They are only three points behind third placed Torquay (with a game in hand) and given their recent form of five wins and three draws from their last eight, you have to think the momentum will carry them through, even if they do need the play-offs.

Chelsea may have benefitted from the “rub of the green” on Sunday with that extraordinary second goal against Spurs, but they haven’t always been so lucky with the men in black. Ahead of their Champions League semi-final showdown against Barca, we cast our minds back to the 2009 clash between the sides, when Drogba went mad, Barca went through and Tom Ovrebo went into hiding.

Following a controlled stalemate in the Camp Nou, Hiddink’s Chelsea knew only a win would do at the Bridge. With United steamrollering past Arsenal the night before, England expected another all-English final, indeed another Chelsea-United scrap as in ’08.

All looked as if it was going to plan, when Michael Essien smashed home an incredible volley inside the first ten minutes. But that was just the beginning of the evening’s drama. In the first half alone, Chelsea had two clear penalty shouts rejected by the referee, first when Alves dragged down Malouda, and then when Drogba was pulled back in the box by Eric Abidal.

With ten minutes to go came arguably the clearest penalty appeal of the lot, as Gerard Pique punched the ball inside the area, only for Ovrebo to wave away the protests.

Andres Iniesta may forever be remembered for his World Cup winning goal, but never has he stunned a stadium like he did that night. His equaliser in the final minute of added time was sensational, and was the away goal that sent his side through to the final.

To add insult to an already very bad injury, there was just time for Samuel Eto’o to handle again in the box, leading to the magnificent scenes of Michael Ballack harassing the referee, chasing him down the pitch.

Betfair offer 8/1 of a repeat 1-1 scoreline, whilst footage of that incredible night can be found below.

Given the amount at stake, it should be a cagey, old affair, and we therefore like the 2.18 shot on Betfair that the scores will be level at half-time.

The other semi-final sees two clubs with violent supporters who will be drinking all day, descend into a small area late at night. Well done the FA. As the first team to win an FA Cup Semi Final at Wembley way back in 1991 (‘is Gascoigne going to have a crack? He is you know’ etc), Spurs will want to fare better than in their two other subsequent Twin Towers semi efforts (1993 defeat to Arsenal and 2010’s calamity against Pompey.) In their way stand di Matteo’s Chelsea – a man who knows all about FA Cup finals at Wembley. The two sides have drawn three of their last four meetings, so we fancy the 12/5 available at BlueSq on the fixture going to extra time.

Another bet that would have been a winner in three of their last four meetings is the under 2.5 market, and we also recommend having a tipple at that, available at 39/40 with our friends at Bet365.

113 is the magic number. That’s right folks, there are just 113 days to go before the start of London 2012, the most amazing sporting event ever to take place in your back yard. 113 is also the phone number of the Iranian intelligence agency, should you ever be stuck in down-town Tehran and find yourself with some useful ‘information’. But what about betting intelligence? Is there any value to be found at this stage?

Bluesq are offering prices on all the major athletics events at the moment, as well as a market on just how many golds that scamp Usain Bolt will win.

Ladbrokes offer markets on the mens’ and womens’ tennis competitions, as well as some cycling odds. Our view however, is that to back anyone at this stage for any individual event is complete craziness, given how far away from race day we are. Unless the price is ludicrous value (Bolt not at odds-on for example), we advise you to keep cash in your wallet for better days ahead.

It is in the medal markets where we are interested however. With Clive Woodward in charge, Team GB will be well-prepared to say the least, with every single aspect of their performance no doubt diligently planned in advance. We like the 6/5 (Ladbrokes) on them being the top-medalling European nation.

Surprisingly, Paddy Power has yet to really roll out their Olympics markets. Their top offering right now is the option to bet on Irish boxing hopefuls (insert your own punchlines), but expect the usual PP madness between now and July.

Betfair’s most prominent market at this stage, is the chance to bet on how many golds Team GB will net. Having snagged 19 in Beijing, surely the chances of 23-25 are smaller than the 5.5 available with the ‘Fair. Get right on it!!!

Ah Augusta. Vivid colours, gorgeous sunshine, no women. What more could a man want from a Bank Holiday weekend? Well how about a two-way tussle between the greatest golfer ever, and the pretender to his throne? And how about if that legend is beginning a climb-back after a fall from grace so steep, it would make Franz Klammer stall in fear? And how about if the two of them don’t get on? At all. Throw in some homegrown challengers (including the World Number 1), and there can be little doubt that this year’s Masters is the most anticipated golf major of all time, at least on these shores.

So will it be Tiger, or will it be Rory who strikes first in this golden age of golf? Can Westwood or Rose challenge? Might the world number 1 (altogether now – Luuuuuuuuuke) pull his finger out and finally lift a major? Or could it be old Lefty to win his 4^th Green Jacket?

Whilst all those bets are tempting, we prefer to play for the value. Our winner is the American Steve Stricker – the man from Wisconsin is simply too good never to win a Major, and with his putting acumen, we like him at 50/1 with Ladbrokes.

The vastness of the field means each-way punts can still reap rich rewards. Don’t be shy about backing Y.E.Yang (20/1), Jason Day (13/2) or Brandt Snedeker (10/1) to finish in the Top 5 (also with Ladbrokes.) Other punts worth getting involved with include Justin Rose (a winner of that bet in ’04 and ’07) to top the Day One leaderboard (23 with our good friends at Betfair), with Peter Hanson to be top European at 60 (also at BF), another value bet.

In the outright tournament betting it’s initially hard not to look at the favourites, Chennai Super Kings. Winners in 2010 and 2011 they are a best price of 7/2 with Ladbrokes. However, we like a bit of value and think that in backing Kolkata Knight Riders at 15/2 with bet365 you may just get it. They were the surprise package of 2011, narrowly beaten by pre-tournament favourites Mumbai Indians and have added top players like Brendan McCullum and Sunil Narine to impressive batting talent like Jacques Kallis, Eoin Morgan and Gautum Gambhir. They have a group of young talented bowlers which should see them through to the knock-out stages at least, at which point you can expect their odds to have been slashed providing a good potential trading opportunity.

Twenty 20 cricket is of course about hitting as many runs as you can in your twenty overs and it makes for some entertaining batting. The ‘Top Batsmen’ market always attracts a lot of attention and ­last years winner, Chris Gayle who smashed 608 runs from just 12 innings is the favourite, priced at 11/2 with bet365. If you’re betting on this market, you want a player that is set to at least make the knock-out stages and in that respect picking a player from Chennai could be a good move. Mike Hussey, their top scorer last year (and fifth overall) is a 40/1 shot with bet365 which looks great value. They are paying out on the top five at ¼ of the odds.

The other main market to look out for is ‘Top Bowler’ and we’re finding it hard not to look at the favourite – Lasith Malinga. There’s little debate that he’s the most versatile bowler in limited over cricket, with the ability to vary pace and swing with an armoury of yorkers, slow balls and leg cutters in his weaponry. If you shop around you should be able to get 4/1, which given the Mumbai Indians are expected to reach the latter stages, could yet prove good value, despite the short price.

How was your summer? We enjoyed it, and with the warm weather packing away its bag for the year, it is time to focus on the football again.

It may be the last-chance saloon for Wolves this weekend. Winless under Terry Connor, defeat to Bolton would deal a hefty psychological blow from which they surely would not recover. We quite fancy them however. Spurs pummelled Coyle’s men in midweek, and Bolton’s away form, without even a goal in their last four, provides further fuel to our fire (don’t panic buy kids.)

Wigan against Stoke is unlikely to be a goal fest. Nobody has scored fewer than the 17 Wigan have at home, and only Fulham have fewer goals on the road than the 10 Stoke have netted. Under 2.5 goals at 4/6 with Blue Square seems to be free money.

Everton welcome the Baggies on Saturday afternoon, buoyed after booking their trip to Wembley in midweek. Bizarrely, West Brom have picked up more points on the road (22) than Everton have won at home (21) which makes a mockery of the generally available 4/5 on the home side. West Brom are as big as 7/2 with Ladbrokes and that looks great value.

QPR have had serious disciplinary problems this season and if there’s a side that’s going to punish you at the moment, it is Arsenal. The Gunners have won their last seven in a row and will be confident of making it eight – even at 8/13 with Ladbrokes they are a fairly solid bet.