South Korean electronics firm, Samsung, have indicated that their sponsorship deal with London outfit, Chelsea, could be jeopardised if the Blues fail to defeat Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League.

Worryingly, for the Londoners’ bank balance, at least, Chelsea are not expected to triumph. The Blues are 7/4 for the win in the Champions League betting charts.

Samsung have been associated with Chelsea for seven years, but the Blues’ less-than-stellar performance in the Premier League, this season, has Seoul-based executives concerned about their brand.

Sunny Hwang, Samsung’s sports marketing chief, intimated that Chelsea no longer fit the mould of a “winning team”, given that Roberto di Matteo’s team finished sixth in the table, behind all but one (Liverpool) of their major rivals.

“Being associated with a winning team is much better than a failing team, so it’s natural that Samsung should wish Chelsea could win”, Hwang explained. “Of course that will play an important role when we decide whether or not we renew the contract.”

Chelsea – or, more specifically, Roman Abramovich – are interested in selling the naming rights to Stamford Bridge, according to Goal.com. However, Samsung have reportedly shunned the possibility, fearing a lack of exposure.

“No media mentions Samsung, but just the stadium name”, Hwang continued. Fans of Newcastle United will sympathise with Samsung’s marketing arm; supporters in the northeast continue to refer to the Sports Direct Arena as St. James Park, despite the rebrand.

Whether Samsung will look for another club to sponsor in the Premier League, should Chelsea lose, on Saturday, is unclear. However, the firm will retain a presence in the English leagues, given that they recently negotiated a deal with Leyton Orient.

Orient chairman, Barry Hearn, said that he was “thrilled” to have brokered an agreement with the Asian giant. “We’re really looking forward to working with them.”

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Reading took a massive step towards automatic promotion with a 4-2 win at Upton Park on Saturday.

Those placing a regular soccer bet note how the Royals are now four points clear of West Ham in third, but Manager Brian McDermott is shrugging off any talk of promotion.

“It’s three points, that’s all it is.” said the Reading boss.

His side had gone 1-0 down at Upton Park and McDermott praised his side for fighting back and showing the character to take all three points.

McDermot added: “It’s never easy to go 1-0 down here but we stayed in the game, got ourselves a goal and to go in 2-1 up was massive. Then in the second half I felt we deserved to win. But I’ve been around this game a long time so I’m not cock-a-hoop yet.”

Reading have now won three out of four in the Championship and know that a ticket back to the promise land is in their own hands.

McDermot was also full of praise for veteran striker Jason Roberts who came through 90 minutes. The Reading boss said “He’s got such experience, it was a real tussle with the centre half. He played a full part, you can see what he brings to the table”

The result was a real blow for Sam Allardyce and his West Ham side who now have it all to do to challenge the Royals.

Allardyce blamed the defeat on ’10 minutes of madness, saying: “We shot ourselves in the foot.

“We gifted them three goals. We can’t afford to make those errors and that’s ultimately why we got beaten.”

Allardyce knows his team are going to have to produce something special to catch up with Reading and the 57-year-old has suggested nothing else but 100% record will do from now on.

“To keep up with Reading we have to win six on the trot.” he said.

West Ham have now only won one of their last seven matches. Birmingham could move to within six points of the Hammers with a win over Burnley tonight.

Allardyce suggested that two games over the weekend could put their season right back on track with two wins on the bounce.

“We must go and break the away record and win 12 away in one season, which has never happened before.”

“Then when we get back here against Birmingham, we must use the strength and depth of the squad and see if we can give the fans something that we’ve all wanted for a long time. Not just a good performance but a win.”

With just six games left its going to be a thrilling end to another fantastic Championship season.

Stoke City striker Peter Crouch has spoken of his desire to return to the England squad in time for Euro 2012.

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Crouch fell out of favour with former England manager Fabio Capello, but now that the Italian has resigned, the forward hopes he can work his way back into the reckoning.

Speaking about his international future, Crouch said: “I’ve not been in the last few squads. Whoever takes over hopefully will start picking me again but it’s only what you do for your club that warrants getting in the England set-up again.”

“I’ve got to play well for Stoke, score goals and hopefully that will come.”

With this in mind, Crouch will have to focus on his Stoke form between now and the end of the season. He is unlikely to get into the squad for the friendly against Holland at the end of the month, so it is a case of forcing himself in by the summer.

The former Portsmouth man certainly has plenty of matches to impress, with the Potters in Europa League, FA Cup and Premier League action over the next few weeks.

Keeping focus on other England news for now though, there is still plenty of discussion about who the new captain should be. If Crouch does make it in, who will be his skipper?

Well, one man being backed is Manchester City and England keeper Joe Hart with Gareth Barry – who is also in contention to get the nod – giving his team-mate plenty of backing.

Barry said: “I’d give it to Joe, my friend. Harty has been fantastic all season. It wasn’t just against Villa that he’s made a world-class save, he’s done it in a few games. That is why he is being talked about as one of the best in the world.”

Fellow England and Manchester City man James Milner agrees, saying: “It’s nothing to do with me in terms of the decision. ”

“I’m sure he is going to be England’s number one for a long time, so he is as good a candidate to be captain as anyone.”

“He has been absolutely unbelievable for us this season. He’s a world-class goalkeeper, definitely one of the best I’ve played with, and he is going to get better and better as well.”

“But he is a great character, he talks, he is not afraid to say what he thinks.”

Crouch won’t worry too much about this though. He will just focus on getting himself back into the reckoning by scoring plenty of goals for Stoke City.

Sunderland secured their place in the FA Cup fifth round after claiming a 2-1 extra-time victory against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in a thrilling fourth round replay.

The two teams couldn’t be split in their fourth round clash earlier in the month, forcing the tie into a replay, which itself couldn’t find a winner between the two over 90 minutes, with it taking extra-time before a victor could be crowned.

A stunning Jack Colback strike in the first half gave the Premier League side the lead going into the break, only for Tony Mowbray’s team to come out of the half-time interval rejuvenated, Lukas Jutkiewicz grabbing a deserved equaliser just after an hour to give the hosts belief of causing an upset. Those following Betfair will know how tight the game was.

In-form forward Stephane Sessegnon popped up at the right place with the tie only seven minutes away from penalties, clinically finishing from inside the area to send Sunderland into a fifth round clash against Arsenal, earning O’Neill his ninth victory in 13 matches since he took over.

The Northern Irishman was delighted after seeing his side claim the win, admitting he felt Sunderland were the better team on the night although the FA Cup betting suggested they should have made lighter work of it.

“I thought we were the better all-round football team and I’m delighted that we won the game.”

“It’s a fantastic effort by the players. I thought they did exceptionally well. I thought we were comfortable when we conceded the goal and in a thrilling Cup tie we’re through.”

Arsene Wenger will certainly know his Arsenal team will have their work cut out when they travel up to the Stadium of Light later this month. O’Neill has turned Sunderland from relegation candidates into one of the country’s most in-form teams. This year’s FA Cup could well be a tournament that Sunderland will be looking at with realistic chance of success.

Wesley Sneijder has maintained his belief that Inter Milan are still in with a very good chance of challenging for this season’s Scudetto title, despite the club sitting fourth in the Serie A table – five points behind leaders Juventus.

The midfielder, who has once again in for speculation linking him with a move to the Premiership, believes that Inter’s recent 2-1 victory against Lazio was a sign that the club are capable of mounting a second-half of the season push for the title anyone looking at the Betfair Serie A Betting Odds should bear this in mind.

“If we continue to play like we are then we can target the Scudetto. The win against Lazio means a lot. They were a difficult opponent to face, especially after our derby tie against Milan,” he said.

Sneijder only recently returned to action following his knee injury and has already regained the form he showed before his enforced spell on the sidelines. If Inter do indeed have a chance of winning the league this year, then it’s almost certain that the playmaker will be integral to those targets.

The Nerazzurri were last week dumped out of the Coppa Italia at the hands of Napoli; although, the defeat could yet be a blessing in disguise should it inspire the club to pile more focus on clawing back the Serie A frontrunners. With the season only half way done, there is still plenty of time left for the league to go through some dramatic changes between now and the end of the current campaign and those following betfair.com need to remember this.

The club have been going through some tough times since their double-winning season of 2009/10 under Jose Mourniho. The club’s current position in the league is quite an achievement in itself, following a start to the season that saw them down in the relegation zone as recently as November.
Winning the title seems an extremely tough ask at the moment, however, Claudio Ranieri has installed a confidence in this squad that could well see them surprise a few people during the second half of the season.

Wesley Sneijder has maintained his belief that Inter Milan are still in with a very good chance of challenging for this season