Category: Football Tips

Premiership Preview April 11th – 13th

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

It’s a fantastic weekend of sport with The Grand National at Aintree, The US Masters at Augusta and the Manchester derby.

The Premiership action gets under way at 12.45 with Swansea against Everton but the action hots up during the afternoon. Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood will have mixed feelings as he takes his relegation-threatened side to White Hart Lane. The former Spurs boss looked as if he had just had six rounds with Mike Tyson by the end of Villa’s 3-3 draw against QPR on Monday night and he can expect another roller-coaster ride at his old club.

Tottenham remain a bit of an enigma, capable of producing great football but just as likely to disappoint. They were pretty poor at Burnley last weekend and their motivation must be in doubt with their season effectively petering out. I cannot see Villa going down and 5-1 looks quite tempting, especially with Christian Benteke back to his best.

Burnley had chances to take all three points last week and now face a resurgent Arsenal who are now Chelsea’s closest pursuers. Having produced a great run to move into second, I don’t see Arsene Wenger’s side slipping up here.

Other relegation-threatened sides in action are Hull at Southampton, Sunderland at home to Crystal Palace and Leicester at West Brom. All three are capable of picking up points but Hull look particularly wobbly at present. They are meeting the Saints at a good time as they have also seen their season dribble away in recent weeks. I just don’t know if Hull are good enough to take advantage.

The match of the weekend is undoubtedly the Manchester derby on Sunday with City in the unusual position of trailing their rivals by a point. City did not play badly at Crystal Palace but the Eagles rode their luck for a famous victory. Manuel Pellegrini is not exactly flavour of the month but he will surely be able to motivate his players for this one. A draw may be the outcome which will suit Chelsea and Arsenal above them.

The Blues have been flirting with disaster in recent matches but have managed to creep ever closer to the title. They travel to QPR who have found a new lease of life in recent weeks and this should be a very feisty encounter. A win here would be a fantastic result for Jose Mourinho’s side and what about John Terry scoring the winner? That would not go down well with Rangers fans!

The final game is on Monday night when Liverpool play Newcastle. The Reds stopped the rot with a hard fought win over Blackburn in the Cup in midweek. Fortunately for them, Newcastle have been playing poorly and are unlikely to cause them too many problems.

Southampton (-1.0) to beat Hull @13-8 Skybet

Aston Villa to beat Spurs @5-1 Bet365

Arsenal (-1.0) to beat Burnley @6-4 Paddy Power

John Terry to score first @20-1 Coral

John Terry scores and Chelsea win @7-1 Paddy Power

Man Utd v Man City DRAW @5-2 Boylesports

Liverpool (-1.0) to beat Newcastle @6-5 Skybet

Premiership Preview April 4th – 6th

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Premier League returns after the International break and kicks off with the lunchtime clash between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates.

Arsenal have the incentive of moving above Man City into second place with the champions not due to play until Monday. Their recent form has been impressive, including their brave attempt to overturn a 3-1 deficit in the Champions League against Monaco. They could not quite manage the 3-0 win that they needed but I was impressed with their all-out attack that night.

Olivier Giroud is the man in form with Alexis Sanchez having gone off the boil slightly in recent weeks. Arsene Wenger has plenty of attacking options including Theo Walcott and they should be able to unlock the Liverpool defence. The visitors are currently on a run of six away games without conceding but the suspension picked up by Martin Skrtel could prove damaging.

Liverpool’s hopes of a top four spot will be severely dented if they lose this one with Manchester United also having improved in recent weeks. The Red Devils grabbed a 2-1 win at Anfield last time, courtesy of two goals from Juan Mata. The Spaniard has been steady rather than spectacular this season but produced a piece of individual brilliance to seal the points.

With Wayne Rooney also in good form, it is difficult to see Aston Villa coming away with anything from Old Trafford this weekend. Tim Sherwood should be able to steer them to safety and they still have the FA Cup to chase.

Jose Mourinho has been busy with his calculator and the Blues need six wins and a draw to seal the title from their remaining nine games. Those fixtures include Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United so they cannot afford to drop points at home to Stoke. They have a phenomenal record against the Potters but may start without Diego Costa. His hamstring is still an issue, although he is in Saturday’s squad.

Harry Kane did not hit the target for England against Italy but will still be basking in the glory of his goal against Lithuania on his debut. Tottenham travel to Burnley on Sunday and should be good enough to take all three points. Sunderland take on Newcastle in desperate need of points but they cannot expect any favours from their Tyneside rivals.

Man City could find themselves in fourth place by the time they face Crystal Palace on Monday night. They could be trailing Chelsea by nine points so they will need to dig deep to keep their title hopes alive. Sergio Aguero has a habit of bailing them out when they need it and he can do so again on Monday.

Arsenal to beat Liverpool @10-11 William Hill

Olivier Giroud to score at any time @13-10 Bet365

Man United (-1) to beat Aston Villa @5-6 Paddy Power

Juan Mata to score at any time @2-1 Totesport

Chelsea (-1) to beat Stoke @5-6 Paddy Power

Tottenham to beat Burnley @5-4 BetVictor

Harry Kane to score at any time @6-5 BetVictor

Sergio Aguero to score at any time @9-10 BetVictor

International Soccer – Italy v England Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Although we landed five successful bets on the England v Lithuania match, we were left cursing as England failed to find one more goal to clinch our forecast 5-0 outcome. They now travel to Italy for a friendly International which should tell us more about the progress made by Roy Hodgson’s side in recent months.

Post-match quotes from Wayne Rooney suggesting that teams will start to fear England must be put down to over-enthusiasm from the skipper. I don’t think the Germans will be quaking in their boots just yet after a few comfortable victories against poor opposition. Germany have been spluttering themselves since Brazil and just about scrambled a draw at home to Australia while the likes of Brazil and Spain have plenty of problems of their own.

Italy beat England in the World Cup but showed a lack of adventure which ultimately cost them dear against Uruguay, albeit in a game marred by the Suarez biting incident. The Italians have a new coach and are going through a re-building phase so it should be fairly evenly matched. Had the game been at Wembley, you would fancy England to come out on top.

Of course, I have to mention Harry Kane as the hype machine has gone into overdrive after his debut goal. Hodgson will be under pressure to give the Tottenham striker his first full cap on Tuesday and that will provide him with valuable experience. I don’t like these friendly games much as a betting medium and a draw seems the safest option.

The pick of the evening’s International games has to be the clash between The Netherlands and Spain. The visitors will be spurred on by the prospect of revenge for that 5-1 thrashing in Brazil which effectively brought their World Cup dreams crashing down. They too are trying to rebuild and are likely to introduce some new players on Tuesday night.

Both sides struggled in their weekend Euro qualifiers, Spain scraping a 1-0 win over the Ukraine and the Netherlands rescuing a point in a 1-1 home draw with Turkey. The Dutch are without the influential Robben and Van Persie at present while Diego Costa is an absentee for Spain. I expect this game to be tight as well but Spain may just be good enough to grab the victory. The Netherlands are struggling under Guus Hiddink in his second spell with four defeats in seven games.

Italy v England DRAW @9-4 Ladbrokes

Italy 1 England 1 @11-2 William Hill

Spain to beat The Netherlands @6-4 Betfred

Netherlands 0 Spain 1 @8-1 Paddy Power

Euro 2016 – England v Lithuania Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Marco Reus struck early for Germany against Australia to give Betcirca followers a 5-point profit but what a great effort by the visitors to draw with the World Champions. Admittedly it was only a friendly but it continues a worrying run of form for the Germans since their famous win in Brazil.

Attention turns to England on Friday and their Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania. England have already got one foot in the next round with four wins out of four and are not likely to slip up here. Roy Hodgson has not been blighted by the Premiership managers on this occasion and should be able to field a strong side.

A stray bit of paper indicating that Harry Kane will lead the attack was enough for the media to go into a frenzy but it is hardly a surprise. With 29 goals in all competitions and a relatively easy home game, this is surely the ideal time to see if the Tottenham man can fulfil his potential on the International stage.

He has come a long way from being a fringe player at the start of the season and is now the first name scribbled on the team sheet at White Hart Lane. Bookmakers are apparently dreading goals from the Spurs man on Friday with 20-1 proving surprisingly popular for a Kane hat-trick. I’m not sure if he will accomplish that on his debut but there are probably worse bets than the 4-5 that he scores during 90 minutes.

Let’s not forget the great form shown by Wayne Rooney since he took over the captaincy. He is also on hand for any penalty awards that go England’s way so is also worth considering in the goals markets.

Lithuania have beaten San Marino and Estonia but were thrashed 4-0 by Switzerland and this could be one of those nights when England can bag a few goals. The odds on 5-0 and 6-0 make plenty of appeal and that would underline England’s dominance in the group.

England/England H-T/F-T @1.45 Sportsbet

Over 3.5 goals @8-5 888Sport

England 5 Lithuania 0 @17-1 BetVictor

England 6 Lithuania 0 @40-1 Coral

Kane to score and England win @10-11 Ladbrokes

Rooney to score and England win @8-11 Ladbrokes

England to score 4 or more goals @5-2 Coral

International Soccer Preview – Wednesday 25th March

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The domestic action takes a break this week with some Friendly Internationals ahead of this weekend’s Euro 2016 qualifiers. The top match on Wednesday night sees Scotland welcome Northern Ireland to Hampden Park while there is also a fascinating clash between Germany and Australia.

A game between Scotland and Northern Ireland is unlikely to be the recipe for a half-hearted kick-about, even if many International friendlies go down that route. Both teams have given their supporters plenty to cheer about in the early qualifying games for Euro 2016 and will be keen to keep the momentum going here.

Scotland face Gibraltar on Sunday while Northern Ireland host Finland so neither team will line up at full-strength. Both managers will be intent on using this match to add the finishing touches to their preparation for Sunday so we can expect plenty of squad rotation.

Scotland are currently in third position in Group D behind Poland and Germany while the Irish have taken nine from a possible twelve points in Group F. Both will be expected to consolidate their positions with victories this weekend. This looks a very tricky one to call and that usually makes the draw the logical choice. Hopefully there could be some goals and 2-2 may be worth a punt at long odds.

The game between Germany and Australia in Kaiserslautern will also be a warm-up for Euro action for the hosts who have made a sticky start to their campaign. They currently trail Poland in the group and have suffered a dip in form since lifting the World Cup in Brazil.

Ange Postecoglou’s Socceroos won the Asian Cup in front of their home fans and it will be a great opportunity for them to test their mettle against the world champions. This is Australia’s first match since beating Korea Republic in the Cup final on January 31st but they are without Tim Cahill and Matthew Spiranovic. They showed in that tournament that they have some strength in depth and are likely to test the Germans.

The man to be on in the goal scorer markets is Marco Reus. He missed the World Cup through injury and will be keen to make up for lost time. He has been in fine form for Borussia Dortmund and can set the Germans on their way to a two-goal victory.

Scotland v Northern Ireland DRAW @14-5 Boylesports

Scotland 2 Northern Ireland 2 @28-1 Betfair

Marco Reus to score first @5-1 Paddy Power

Marco Reus to score and Germany win @7-5 Paddy Power

Germany 2 Australia 0 @6-1 Paddy Power

Champions League – Quarter-final draw and odds update

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

In our September Champions League preview we recommended Atletico Madrid (25-1) and PSG (16-1) as the value bets in this season’s competition. Both sides have made it safely through to the last eight but the draw has not been kind.

Atletico Madrid gave us a tremendous run for  our money last season in reaching the final before losing in extra-time to rivals Real. They face Ronaldo and co again in the two-legged quarter-final but will be more than hopeful of causing an upset this time.

Diego Simeone’s side have beaten the reigning champions twice in the league and knocked them out of the Copa del Rey this season. That surely entitles them to some respect here but the bookmakers have them at a top price 18-1 to lift the trophy. Anyone who saw Real Madrid scrape past Roberto di Matteo’s Schalke in that astonishing second leg match will regard the champions as suspect. Their price has eased to 9-2 third favourite in the wake of that display and a defeat against Barcelona at the weekend has dented their domestic league prospects.

Ronaldo has already dragged them through a few tricky matches this season and he will be the main threat to Atletico but it should be a fascinating tie.

PSG were extremely fortunate to get past Chelsea who were guilty of sitting back against ten men in the hope of seeing out time. I am always happy to praise Jose Mourinho for his tactical genius but he failed to galvanise his troops that day. Credit to PSG for hanging on long enough to get a result but I can see why they are a longer price now than they were back in September.

As well as their average form, there is the little matter of Barcelona to overcome in the last eight. The Spaniards saw off Man City and would have run up a cricket score but for Joe Hart’s brilliance between the posts.

Bayern Munich have emerged as the new favourites and they face Porto while Juventus face Arsenal’s conqueror’s, Monaco. The Gunners came close to turning around a 3-1 deficit and Monaco were on the ropes for almost 90 minutes. Few will be rushing out to take the Coral price of 80-1. Juventus are in to 8-1 after thrashing Borussia Dortmund and could be this year’s surprise package.

Best odds

Bayern Munich 13-8 Ladbrokes

Barcelona 28-11 Unibet

Real Madrid 9-2 Ladbrokes

Juventus 8-1 Ladbrokes

Atletico Madrid 18-1 Boylesports

PSG 20-1 Paddy Power

Porto 80-1 Coral

Monaco 80-1 Coral

1/3 odds, 1,2

Quarter-finals to be played April 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd