WHETHER you have a little wager on Prince Charles and Camilla finally tying the knot or a quick punt on the awful possibility of Jordan and Peter Andre releasing a single together, it's the perfect time for predicting which weird and wonderful events might become reality in the New Year.

According to British bookmakers, 19-year-old football wonderkid Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin are hotly tipped as the celebrity couple who are most likely to have a baby in 2005.

The Liverpool pair are 3/1 on to hear the patter of tiny feet in the next 12 months, and Ladbrokes are already offering odds of 50/1 that baby Rooney will follow in his dad's footsteps and end up playing football for his country.

The Manchester United star and his 18-year-old fiancee are also dubbed as the showbiz couple most likely to tie the knot next year, sharing the same odds of 1/3 with British actor Jude Law and his Alfie co-star Sienna Miller.

''Wayne and Coleen are big favourites to have a baby this year,'' says Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush. ''During Euro 2004 we took loads of bets that Coleen was pregnant - we think it's only a matter of time before Wayne is kicking a football around in the garden with a little baby Rooney.''

But while the footballer's England team mate and captain David Beckham is a dead cert to become a father for the third time in 2005, Ladbrokes are also offering 4/1 odds on the Beckhams divorcing. (William Hill has a slightly more optimistic view of the marriage lasting with 10/1 odds on the divorce...)

Ed Pownall, communications officer at Blue Square interactive betting (www.bluesq.com), adds that one of the most popular bets waged since Christmas is on which character will die in the next Harry Potter book.

''All suggestions are welcome when it comes to bets but everyone still seems to be obsessed with Peter Andre and Jordan - whether they have a number one single together, get married or have a baby, it doesn't seem to matter,'' he laughs.

Pownall says that most bets are placed on the big sporting events and reality television shows where you can vote, such as I'm A Celebrity and Celebrity Big Brother.

''Really anything celebrity-based seems to capture people's imaginations - it's a trend that has emerged over the last three years with the advent of the first Big Brother, and of course the rise in Internet usage, and now everyone is betting on whatever is live on television at the time.

''The big showbusiness bets used to be the Oscars but people feel much more connected to UK stuff instead - in fact, I think that the Oscars are considered a bit elitist and boring now.''

More men than women take part, but when it comes to Internet betting the ratio of men to women is only around two to one, whereas in the traditional betting shops it is still around 95 per cent men, according to Pownall.

''Internet betting has certainly gone some way to redress the balance and the popularity of betting in general is definitely growing at a massive rate,'' he says. ''The market is opening up all the time because you can bet on just about anything you like nowadays and that appeals to lots of different types of people - everybody is having a flutter.''