Author: Online Betting Pro

I am a punter that loves to follow the horse both in Australia and the United Kingdom. I enjoy writing about sports betting and also casino, poker and bingo. In my spare time I like to keep fit by playing football and going for long bike rides. I also like to travel the world and see amazing place s and meet wonderful people along the way.

Can Stoke Tame the Toffees?

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There are some matches in the Premier League that are tough to call. Stoke City versus Everton is one of them. The Stoke manager Mark Hughes must be one of the most underrated managers in the top division. For several seasons he has guided Stoke well clear of the drop zone and into mid-table safety. That kind of record doesn’t get talked about, but keeping a club at that level in what is the most competitive league in world football is no mean feat.

His Stoke team host Everton and both teams are going into this match on the back of impressive results. Stoke was seconds away from beating Manchester United before Wayne Rooney scored a spectacular stoppage time equaliser. Stoke City have 28pts from 22 games and are currently 16pts clear of the drop zone. So once again, they are well clear of any potential relegation threat.

Koeman has Transformed Everton

Everton will prove to be very tough opposition for Stoke despite having home advantage at the Bet365 Stadium. Since the beginning of December, Everton has lost twice in the league. They were unlucky to lose 3-2 at Watford and the Merseyside derby at home to Liverpool. They gained a creditable draw against Manchester United but have recorded some positive wins since then.

This includes beating Arsenal and Leicester away in December while also beating Southampton and Crystal Palace in January. The “jewel in the crown” with regards to their recent results was their 4-0 hammering of Manchester City. This has left Everton in seventh place just five points behind Manchester United.

Backing Stoke is Clear Value

There is very little to choose between these two teams. Everton clearly has a slight edge but with Stoke having home advantage then value should be easy to find. Once again it is worth repeating that Stoke was seconds away from beating Manchester United. The gap between Stoke and Everton is a mere eight points. You can get almost 2-1 on a Stoke City victory as Betfred quote odds of 15-8.

You can also get odds of 12-5 on the draw with BetVictor who also quote 8-5 on an Everton victory. Both of these teams lack a top class proven finisher. So the odds of 6-5 from BetVictor that both teams will not score may be of interest. If you expect either team to win by the odd goal then PaddyPower quote 17-2 for a 1-0 win for Everton while Bet365 quote odds of 9-1 for a 1-0 win for Stoke.

West Ham v Man City: Hammers out for revenge

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Just three weeks ago West Ham United endured the worst night of their season to date when Manchester City rolled into town and clobbered them 5-0.

The destruction they faced at the London Stadium that night resulted in an early and embarrassing exit from the FA Cup for Slaven Bilic’s men at the third round stage of the competition. However, they haven’t had to wait too long for their opportunity to exact revenge.

Revenge the order of the day

This coming Tuesday evening, Pep Guardiola’s stuttering City return once again to East London looking for another decisive victory to give a semblance of still being title challengers in the wake of their recent patchy form. The Hammers, on the other hand, will be hoping to make amends for that painful five-goal mauling in early January by putting a major dent in City’s fading title aspirations.

In the continued absence of want-away French star Dimitri Payet, who has been upsetting the applecart with his desire to move back to former club Marseille, Bilic will be hoping that the fit and rejuvenated Andy Carroll can continue his recent impressive form and fire West Ham to a third league victory in succession.

City favourites but Hammers better value for money

Guardiola’s men will enter the match on Tuesday as the overriding favourites with the bookmakers for another victory, Bet365 quoting them as low as 4/7 to prevail. However, if you’re looking for value for money when contemplating your next betting fix, it’s difficult to look past a wager on a home win, with massive odds of 21/4 still available at BetVictor. Given City’s recent iffy away form, with away defeats at Leicester, Liverpool and a 4-0 drubbing at Everton fresh in the mind, coupled with West Ham’s improving results of late, a small flutter on a home win has to be worth some serious consideration.

Carroll to continue recent hot streak?

Many punters will undoubtedly look at the first goalscorer market as a source of potential winnings as always. And while it’s difficult at 5/2 with Paddy Power to look past City’s top goalscorer Sergio Aguero to bring home the bacon, serious thought should be afforded to the big man Carroll, who has notched three goals in his last two outings and is great value at 8/1 also with Paddy Power. Aside from the big guns, a significant alternative in the first goalscorer stakes could be West Ham’s man of the season so far, Michail Antonio, who has top-scored with eight goals and is a huge 11/1 with everybody’s favourite Irish bookmaker.

Lightning to strike twice?

City will be reticent to drop any further points with the club already an intimidating 12 points behind league leaders Chelsea. Anything less than a win would surely signal the end of any realistic title-winning hopes. And for anybody with a few quid burning a hole in their pocket and looking for a long odds special, how about a wager on another 5-0 whitewash in City’s favour? Aha, but lightning doesn’t strike twice you say. Well, although unlikely, think Liverpool 4 Newcastle 3 at Anfield two seasons on the bounce in the nineties. Impossible is nothing. Sky Bet will give odds of 50/1 for City to repeat the trick. I might just have a fiver on that myself.

Elsewhere, for any Hammers fans looking for more than just retribution on the pitch and instead some reprisal in the shape of cold hard cash in the pocket, how about a tempting 6/1 with Bet365 for the Hammers to go five better than last time and completely shut out City’s attack? It should be an interesting contest.

Liverpool To Breathe New Life Into The Title Race

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WHAT a match to welcome back the Premier League this midweek when Liverpool host table toppers Chelsea at Anfield.

It’s been a contrasting few weeks for both of these footballing giants with Liverpool struggling for any form after just one win in their last six matches, and Chelsea pulling NINE points clear at the top of the Premier League table after 13 wins from their last 14 matches.

This is a mini crisis for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his side have to win this to stand any chance of winning their first English title in 25 years; and although their form is shocking at present, their record against the top teams is very good and they can’t be overlooked.

The Reds’ have no problem when they are up against the best, it’s the lower sides that they can’t find a way past as they’ve let odds-on punters down FIVE times now in their last six matches.

Liverpool isn’t odds-on to win this one, which means they stand a good chance; you can get 2.50 on them for the win and in a game where it arguably means more to them than the visitors, that looks a decent bet.

Earlier on in the season Liverpool went to Stamford Bridge and came away with three points in a 2-1 win, and despite Chelsea’s excellent form, the 3.00 on the Blues’ isn’t a price that I would want to take against a side that they’ve had problems beating recently,

Recent History not Good for the Favourites

In the last six meetings between these two rivals, Chelsea has just one win and it will be interesting to see the tactics that Antonio Conte goes with at Anfield, as a point is a good result for the Londoners’ and Liverpool have struggled this season when teams have come to Merseyside to defend.

In six of the last seven meetings, both teams have scored and that will be a popular bet with punters at 1.66, but in a game that means so much for both sides, I am expecting this one to be tight. I would rather swim against the tide and play “no” at 2.25 with BetVictor, and also get involved in the under 2.5 goal market which is 2.00 with William Hill, which has been a regular winner in Liverpool’s recent matches.

I always like to take Liverpool when they are not expected to perform and on big nights like this under the Anfield lights, the “Kop” can inspire them to a slender 1-0 win, which is a general 9.50, to get their title hopes back on track and a result that will be cheered on by all the other title contenders.

Thirty-Somethings Continue Dream Run At Melbourne Park

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Just eight players remain in the running for the respective Australian Open singles titles with three of the four semi-finals scheduled for Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena today. The fourth, between Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov, will be played on Friday night (AEDT).

Men’s SF1: #17 Roger Federer (Switzerland) v #4 Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)

To say these players know each other well is a huge understatement. This semi-final match-up is their 22nd at the top level, with the head-to-head count 18-3 in Federer’s favour. His record against Wawrinka is even more impressive on hard courts, a perfect 13-0 while winning 28 of 32 sets. Federer, who’s aiming to reach his sixth Australian Open final, beat Wawrinka the last time they played on hard courts at a Grand Slam, a straight-set win in the 2015 US Open semi-finals. Wawrinka is out to reach his second Australian Open final and his fourth in a Grand Slam. He has a 12-match Grand Slam winning streak dating back to his US Open title last September. Given Federer’s huge edge over his compatriot on this surface, he’s actually nice value at $1.70 straight up on Sportsbet.

Men’s SF2: #9 Rafael Nadal (Spain) v #15 Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)

In a year where the veterans have occupied all the headlines, can the highly touted 25-year-old Dimitrov finally deliver on the promise he’s shown to reach his first career Grand Slam final? He’s won his past six sets, and to go with no less than 75 per cent of first set points in his past three matches. The Bulgarian has also won 10 successive matches on hard court. In his path stands one of the game’s greats. Nadal is into his first Grand Slam semi-final since the 2014 French Open as he eyes his fourth career Australian Open final berth. He barely put a foot wrong in his straight-sets win over Milos Raonic and has been broken just six times in his past four matches. Look for this one to go the distance (five sets at $3.50 on Crownbet).

Women’s SF1: CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) v #13 Venus Williams (USA)

This all-American affair pits the unseeded world No. 35 against one of the legends of the game, who is making her first appearance at this stage at Melbourne Park for 14 years. Vandeweghe (priced at $800 to win the tournament pre-post) came through one of the toughest draws possible to reach the semi-finals, while Williams faced just one seeded player (Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and has won each match in straight sets. In their one previous meeting (on clay in Rome last year), Williams emerged victorious 6-4, 6-3. The market appears to have this match completely wrong with Vandeweghe priced a $1.57 favourite. The seven-time Grand Slam winner has a huge edge on return in hardcourt events over the past 12 months, negating the slight advantage of Vandeweghe on serve. Take Venus to win ($2.40 on Centrebet).

Women’s SF2: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) v #2 Serena Williams (USA)

The world No. 2 Serena Williams has won 22 Grand Slam titles, level with Steffi Graf and just two away from Margaret Court’s all-time record. In stark contrast, a staggering 18 years after her first Slam semi-final appearance, Lucic-Baroni has reached the last four of a major at the ripe old age of 34. These two players have faced each other twice, but both contests date back to 1998! Williams, who is yet to drop a set in Melbourne this year, put in her best performance last time out as she cruised by World no. 9 Jo Konta. The world no. 79’s stunning run has featured wins over third seed Agnieszka Radwanska and World no. 5 Karolina Pliskova. Given Lucic-Baroni’s fighting qualities, she can keep this close (+5.5 game-total is $2.10 on Unibet).

Can Arsenal Stay in Title Contention?

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Arsenal are just about in the title race….just! They trail leaders Chelsea by eight points. Whilst that lead is far from insurmountable, it does look increasingly likely that Arsenal will drop more points than Chelsea between now and the climax of the season. Arsenal almost blew it at home to Burnley in their previous home fixture. It took a penalty seven minutes into stoppage time from Alexis Sanchez to rescue all three points for the Gunners.

This story has a familiar ring to it from previous seasons. Arsenal is simply too error-prone when it comes to dropping points in games where they shouldn’t.

Arsenal Can Close the Gap

On Tuesday, Arsenal entertains Watford on the same evening that leaders Chelsea travel to Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp has seen his Liverpool side suffer a dip in form since the start of the year but they are still tough to beat at home. This is a great chance for Arsenal to show their fans that they have what it takes to win the title.

The pundits and experts don’t rate Arsenal’s chances when it comes to winning the league. They let a huge opportunity slip last season when Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea all had mediocre seasons by their standards. Yet Arsenal still couldn’t land the title, which is proving to be more and more elusive season by season. While the Gunners have been picking up points of late, their Achilles Heel is in defence.

Papering Over the Cracks

Arsenal came from three goals down to draw 3-3 away at Bournemouth which was a great fight back and showed tremendous spirit and grit. The main problem was that they were three goals down in the first place. Arsene Wenger will be serving a touchline ban after being punished for his outburst at the fourth official during their home game with Burnley.

That shouldn’t prevent Arsenal from taking the game to Watford who are resilient but nothing special. Arsenal can be backed at 1-4 with Stan James but there appears to be little value in those odds. Watford is a best-priced 14-1 with BetVictor while you can get 6-1 for the draw also with BetVictor.

Given that Arsenal is likely to score at home coupled with how dodgy they are in defence, the odds for both teams to score may prove better value. You can get even money with Stan James for both Arsenal and Watford to find the net. Having a bet on the correct score may also be a good choice. BetVictor offer odds of 9-1 on a 2-1 Arsenal victory and that bet may be worth a flutter as is the 13-1 on offer for a 1-1 draw.

Australia to Close Out Pakistan 4-1 Ahead of Chappell-Hadlee Trip

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The Adelaide Oval will host the final one day international of the tour between Australia and Pakistan on Thursday. The series has already been won by Australia, so Pakistan is simply playing for pride, which is a difficult proposition in any form of sport at the end of a long trip.

Adelaide last hosted these two teams during 2015’s World Cup. The sides met in the quarter-final – made famous for Wahhabi Riaz’s spell of fast bowling to Shane Watson – where Australia won by six wickets.

We preview the likelihood of a similar result in game five below.

The Series So Far

Australia leads the series comfortably by three games to one. The most recent win in Sydney came on the back of a massive David Warner hundred and a blitzing Glenn Maxwell cameo. In response to Australia’s 353 (which was helped massively by Pakistan’s clumsy fielding, in a similar way to the way they fielded in the test series), Pakistan only managed 267. They got a breathtaking cameo from Sharjeel Khan but needed it to continue for a lot longer.

With the series already decided, the best Pakistan can achieve is a dead rubber win to lose the series 3-2. It’s hard to know if that’s deserved given they are often their own worst enemies (despite some great cricket at times).

The Teams

Australia (probable)

1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Travis Head, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Peter Handscomb, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkener, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Mitchell Starc

Australia is likely to tinker with their line-up given they’ve already sown the series up, but it’s hard to know which personnel will be affected. Pat Cummins who has played every game, and in the past been pretty injury prone, might make way for Adam Zampa.

Pakistan (probable)

1 Sharjeel Khan, 2 Azhar Ali (capt), 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Hasan Ali.

There’s no reason why Umar Akmal should play after disappointing in the finisher role throughout the series. Asad Shafiq could replace him, although his series has been equally lean. The only other potential changes are in the bowling stocks info it’s deemed appropriate to rest Amir or Junaid.

The Key Players

Australia

Usman Khawaja has had a difficult series opening the batting instead of regular Aaron Finch. After Travis Head was tried in game one, Khawaja has been used in the remaining games to disappointing effect. He hasn’t passed 30 and now he’s been overlooked for the Chappell-Hadlee series against New Zealand starting on January 30 (he’s going to India early to prepare on turning wickets). Finch has been included in that series, so Khawaja needs to send the selectors a reminder of his worth in the one day game with a big knock in game five.

Pakistan

Sharjeel Khan was electrifying in Sydney. On a fabulous batting wicket, the left-handed smashed 74 off just 47 balls to heap the pressure on the Australian bowlers. The entertaining innings included ten fours and three sixes and it ended only when leg-spinner Adam Zampa was introduced to the attack. In a dead rubber, the powerful left-handed can throw caution to the wind, which is a dangerous thought for the locals.

The Match Odds*

Australia– $1.21

Pakistan – $4.45

*All odds from Sportsbet.

The Prediction

Australia to take the series 4-1 with another comprehensive victory. When touring sides enter the home stretch of a long, unsuccessful tour the final game is often a bridge too far. With one eye on the flight home, it’s hard to see the Pakistan side being motivated or competitive. Australia by 90 runs or 7 wickets.

The Best Bets

Azhar Ali has recovered from his injury woes and could be a good look for top run scorer. The patient opener doesn’t miss out often, and at $3.75 and a much better player than his teammates, he looks worth a punt.

Steve Smith is at $4 for the same bet. In a series where the captain’s been inconsistent, a strong finish looks likely.