Leicester Favourites in Heineken Cup

Four of the six Pool matches in this season's Heineken Cup have now been played, and there are still eighteen clubs with hopes of making it into the last eight who will contest the quarter finals. The final two games take place on successive Saturdays, with the first on 8th January. Only two clubs have won four out of four. One of these is Leinster, who were made to work hard by an already eliminated Bourgoin side on Friday evening. A three point margin was enough to secure four points, and they are now seven clear in Pool 2, on 17 points. They have a very difficult game at the Recreation Ground against Bath to look forward to, but with Treviso visiting Lansdowne Road next, their progression should already be assured by then. 1/250 is the best price to be found about the Brian O'Driscoll's Dubliners topping the Pool, with 5/1 available about them winning the competition for the first time.The other side with a 100% record is Newcastle, after back to back wins over Edinburgh. They are the 4/9 Favourites for Pool 5, with Perpignan at 3/1, and he Dragons seen as 5/1 shots.Pool six is now also wide open, after Stade Francais surprisingly lost at Ravenhill to Ulster. The Northern Irishman must take great heart from that effort and now look forward to entertaining Gloucester in Round 5. Two wins for David Humpreys' men could be enough to give them a quarter final slot, although Stade (1/2) and Glaws (11/8) remain well ahead of them in the betting as they have been put at 40/1. The crucial match comes on the final weekend of this stage at Kingsholm, when the top two will fight it out. Fabien Galthie's Stade Francais currently have the edge by one point.Munster completed the hat trick for the Irish provinces in Round 3, with a strong second half display to overwhelm Castres. This maintained their 100% Heineken Cup record at Thomond Park, and puts them back on top of Pool 4. Harlequins are now out of the running after two humbling defeats at the hands of the Ospreys, who themselves are right in the hunt. Munster are 3/10 for the group, Castres at 7/2 and the Ospreys, who are four points behind leaders Munster, at 7/1.Pre tournament favourites Toulouse did enough to avenge defeat from the previous week against Northampton, winning by 25-12 at Stade Ernest-Wallon. Pool 3 is now in their hands, whilst Saints are in a good position to fight or one of two runner up qualification places. At present they are on 12 points with fixtures remaining against the two weaker sides, Llanelli and Glasgow. Toulouse have remained at 4/1 to win the competition, but now find themselves down as second favourites, with Leicester ahead of them at 7/2.Once again the highlight of the weekend came on Sunday, when Leicester and Wasps clashed, this time at Welford Road. As with in Round 3, Leicester raced into a commanding lead, only to be pegged back by the brave Londoners. However, as with the week previous, the Tigers had more than enough, and despite all the fighting qualities of the defending champions, Martin Johnson's men won through by 35-27. They are only second in Pool 1 though, with Biarritz surging to the top after a bonus point win over Calvisano. The pool was labelled as the group of death from the moment the draw was made, and this is proving to be true. The French are on 14 points and are 11/4 to win the pool, Leicester are on 13 and priced at 4/11, and Wasps are 8/1 Shots on 10 points.Biarritz face an away match at Welford Road, followed by a home contest with Wasps, whilst the two English clubs still have respective dates with Italian whipping boys Calvisano.The two remaining matches take place at 15.00 (GMT) on January 8th and 15th, and we shall be providing our usual in-depth analysis in the week's leading up to them. In the meantime, there is Powergen Cup rugby on December 19th, as well as Zurich Premiership action throughout the festive period, so be sure to check back here for the best rugby betting advice available