Bet on it being a good night for Europe’s heavyweights

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Germany and Italy are both available at odds greater than evens to beat Argentina and Cameroon tonight – meaning that a £10 double on the second and third most successful nations in World Cup history with Betfair tonight will return £37.10.

If you’re a bit of a daredevil and think that bet is a little too straight-forward then why not throw an away team into the mix?

Croatia had a poor World Cup qualifying campaign but still managed to pick up twice as many points as Belgium, so odds greater than 6/4 on Slaven Bilic

Posted: March 3rd, 2010 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Portugal and Argentina continue to struggle, Peter Crouch maintains his record

Five stats about this week’s internationals

1. Peter Crouch wasn’t too impressive last night but maintained his incredible international goal-to-start record, with 14 goals in his last 14 starts.

2. England’s 21-point haul from their first seven qualifiers is a drastic improvement on 14 from their first seven in the Euro 2008 campaign, although they did have 19 at this stage under Sven-Goran Eriksson in qualification for the last World Cup.

3. Anyone who thought Portugal had turned the corner with their last-gasp 2-1 win over Albania was proved wrong last night when they drew 0-0 away to Estonia in a friendly. That result was particularly worrying as they were actually performing fairly well in friendlies prior to that, winning four of their previous five.

Posted: June 11th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Crouch’s goal ratio, Ireland’s San Nicola success and more

Five stats about the midweek World Cup qualifiers

1. Peter Crouch has an incredible goal-to-start ratio for England and has scored thirteen goals in the last thirteen games that he has started.

2. Italy had won all eight of their previous games in Bari before being held to a 1-1 draw by the Republic of Ireland last night at the Stadio San Nicola.

3. Northern Ireland have won eight and drawn one of their last nine competitive matches at Windsor Park, compensating for the fact they have taken just four points from their last seven away games.

Posted: April 2nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

New Zealand chase twentieth straight win over Wales

The chickendinner preview of all this weekend’s televised rugby

While Sky’s “Super Sunday” this weekend is the rather humble combination of Tottenham/Blackburn and Sunderland/West Ham, there are some big rugby internationals taking place tomorrow where you won’t find many players crying off with injuries. Here’s our guide to all the televised games:

England v South Africa
This is the first time the two nations have clashed since last year’s World Cup final and England have lost their last five encounters with the Springboks. The good news is that England have won six of their last seven collisions at Twickenham, however South Africa have won all twelve of their matches in Europe since their last defeat there.

Ireland v Argentina
Since becoming the first new nation in twelve years to reach the World Cup semi-finals last year, Argentina have been on a downward spiral, losing four of their last five. The most embarrassing of those defeats was a home defeat in June to Italy although they have also been beaten by Scotland, South Africa and France. Ireland haven’t been in great form themselves, losing five of their last six but boast a 100% home record against Los Pumas.

Posted: November 21st, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Why England’s reserves still stand a chance in Berlin

England/Germany, 7.45pm, ITV1, Best Odds, Free Bets

With ten players ruled out through injury and David Beckham missing because of a lack of match fitness, England have a convenient excuse lined up should it all go wrong tonight in Berlin. However, in the past the away team has had the advantage in these encounters so Fabio Capello will be hoping that trend plays in his favour tonight:

» England have never lost in Berlin - winning four and drawing three of their games against West Germany and unified Germany.

» And the Three Lions last trip to Germany was in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers when England historically won 4-2.

» Likewise, Germany perform better away from home against England, going unbeaten on their last five trips to London with four wins and a penalty shoot-out victory in the other, proving that if anything it’s more a case of home disadvantage than advantage when England meet Germany.

Posted: November 19th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

A glimmer of hope for Scotland as they prepare for Diego Maradona’s Argentina

Scotland/Argentina, 8pm, Sky Sports 1, Best Odds, Free Bets

Diego Maradona’s Argentina side are understandably clear favourites in tonight’s friendly at Hampden Park but don’t despair Scotland fans, we have found a pretty lengthy straw for you to clutch:

The previous two Argentina managers appointed this decade failed to get off to a winning start in their first away game. José Pekerman drew 0-0 away to Chile while Maradona’s predecessor Alfio Basile’s first game was in the United Kingdom when Argentina lost 3-0 to Brazil at the Emirates, before then losing their next away game to Spain a month later. The South American side have won none of their last five away games and encouragingly for Scotland have drawn friendlies with Switzerland and Belarus and lost to Norway over the last eighteen months. Furthermore, Scotland were 1-0 victors in their last home meeting with Argentina back in 1990.

Posted: November 19th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment