Manchester City's new signing Mario Balotelli will have to wait to show off his talents after being ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury. The Italian striker picked up the knock during his goal-scoring debut against Timisoara in the Europa League. The 20-year-old aggravated the injury in training and has been forced to have surgery in a bid to clear up the problem.

After such a drawn out transfer saga, the Eastland's faithful would have been eager to see what all the fuss was about when he made his home debut. The powerful striker finally signed for City for around £22 million after prolonged negotiations and made an instant impact with his winning goal on his debut. He'll have to wait a while before testing himself against the Premier League's best, even though the Betfair Football predictions suggest he will do well.

It a somewhat surprising move, Balotelli came out in response to AC Milan's vice president Adriano Galliani who claimed the club want to sign the striker in the future. Balotelli, who is known to be a Milan fan, said: "I'm pleased for the words of Galliani. I like AC Milan, they are a strong team."

Not the best comment to make considering he has only been at his new club for a matter of weeks, but then again Balotelli has a history of saying things without engaging his brain.

Balotelli's absence from the Manchester City first team will mean Emmanuel Adebayor should be given a chance after starting the season on the bench. The Togo striker will face a battle this season to get past Balotelli in the line up. Manager Roberto Mancini gave Balotelli his chance at Inter and has gone on record to say how much of a fan he is of the young forward. It was Mancini's persistence that made the Balotelli deal go through.

Adebayor will be desperate to use this chance to prove his worth to Mancini. If he manages to find the back of the net on a regular basis then it would be hard for Balotelli to just walk into the first team. With Carlos Tevez currently captaining the team and scoring, it looks as though the battle will be who partners the Argentinean. With a squad bursting with talent, this competition for places will be happening for nearly all the positions in the team. That fierce competition for places will only benefit City in their quest for silverware this season.

So, you’re sitting with your mates, watching the soccer, and one of them proclaims: "You know what, Sydney FC are going to win this game 4-0". Fast forward to the end of the game and, wouldn't you just know it, Sydney FC have only gone and won 4-0, leaving your mate with a big grin on his face. Why, however, is his grin a little wider than usual? Well, that's because he acted on his prediction and placed an in-play bet when Sydney FC were only one goal to the good. You, on the other hand, are sitting there thinking that, although you're glad about the result, it doesn't feel quite as good as you simply didn't put your money where your mouth is.

With soccer games always throwing up shocks and surprises throughout the 90 minutes, and in-play betting markets offering bettors the chance to spice up the action by betting on events as diverse as who will score the next goal and who will be awarded the next corner, it's a great way to enhance the excitement of watching a game.

If, for example, you were watching a tight game and had a sneaky feeling about the identity of the next goalscorer, you could just have a quick look to check the odds, and then watch the rest of the action unfold on the edge of your seat as you wait for your bet to reach its conclusion.

So, when you’re sitting with your mates as the Asian Cup unfolds next year, perhaps watching that first Socceroos match against India, and a heated discussion kicks off about who will be the first player to get a goal during the game, you can wait a while (for as long as you dare) in order to assess which Socceroo looks on fire up front before placing an in-play bet to show your mates you're fully prepared to put your money where your mouth is when it comes to soccer.

Sound tempting? Well, the best place to be for in-play betting is Betfair. You can learn how to use Betfair on the Betfair Education website and it really is worth getting to grips with the process so you don't delay when you badly want to place your next in-play bet.

With three games gone in the season, Simon Grayson can be satisfied with how his Leeds team has started.

Despite losing their opening match at home to Derby, they bounced back to beat Lincoln City 4-0 in the Carling Cup and followed that up with a battling draw away to Nottingham Forest in their second league game.

The new players have settled in pretty well at Elland Road, Lloyd Sam and Kasper Schmeichel have taken most of the plaudits since signing for the club this summer. Sanchez Watt has looked dangerous in attack and both full backs, Paul Connelly and Fede Bassone, have looked decent.

While there have been plenty of positives for Grayson, his need to strengthen his squad further has been clear.

Another central defender wouldn't go amiss, Richard Naylor has looked a bit slow for this league so far but with Patrick Kisnorbo due to return from injury before Christmas, Grayson may sit tight on that issue.

The midfield has looked creative but has lacked a holding player to shore things up in the middle of the park. Up front Luciano Becchio has scored twice this season but has looked a little lonely at times. Despite the clubs reluctance to admit it, they still need to replace Beckford. Billy Paynter should return from injury soon but the former Swindon striker is a similar player to Becchio and lacks the blistering pace of Beckford.

Craig Bellamy's Manchester City career is all but over after suffering a double blow this week. After comments he made earlier in the week, Bellamy will be fined a reported £180,000 by the club's hierarchy. The Welshman was also left out of City's 23 man squad for the upcoming Europa League qualifier against Timisoara in Romania. With only 25 first team players allowed to be registered for the Premier League season, it looks as though it's a matter of when not if Bellamy leaves the club.

The 31-year-old forward said earlier this week that he would consider quitting the game altogether if he was left out of the Premier League squad. It seems is that most teams in the Premiership and abroad will be clambering over themselves to try secure Bellamy's signature. Previously Bellamy has hinted at the possibility of signing for his boyhood team of Cardiff. Although it's a nice idea, Cardiff's financial issues would probably prevent that deal. Celtic are keen to take Bellamy on loan to Glasgow once again. The forward had a successful loan spell in 2005 with the Scottish club, scoring nine goals in 15 games. He has also been linked with a move to London with Fulham. The fact many Fulham betting tips suggest they could struggle this season mean he would be an ideal signing.

The Wales captain, who was the man of the match in his country's 5-1 win over Luxembourg, was an instant crowd favourite when he signed for City in January 2009. The ex-Newcastle and Liverpool man has been in the best form of his career at City. Last season Bellamy was probably City's best player with 11 goals and 14 assists. The player replacing Bellamy in the Europa League squad is Robinho, who was loaned out to Santos last season after not living up to expectations after his £32 million transfer from Real Madrid. But Mancini seems unconvinced by Bellamy since taking over from Mark Hughes last December and looks as though he has other players in mind in place of Bellamy. The Betfair football rumour mill suggests even more players could come in.

Despite being 31, Bellamy is still one of the fittest players in the league. His performance against Luxembourg the other night showed he is head and shoulder above any other player on the pitch. With his relationship with his club at a new low, potential new suitors won't have to break the bank for Bellamy. Any deal would be better for football fans than Bellamy retiring from the game. Despite his love hate relationship with most fans throughout the country, it would be a real shame if football lost this fiery character.