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

Andorra are 229/1 to beat England tonight, 79/1 to draw

England/Andorra, 8.15pm, ITV1, Free Bets, Best Odds

If there is one criticism of England under Fabio Capello, it’s that they take too long to break down minnows. It took 49 minutes to break down Andorra in Barcelona, 52 to find a way past Kazakhstan at Wembley and then 40 away to them last weekend. Andorra boss David Rodrigo has noticed the trend and plans to frustrate the Three Lions tonight, although Betfair odds of 229/1 show that he’s not expected to have much success. Here are some stats about what surely must be a home banker, even if it’s played in front of no fans:

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» England have won their three previous meetings with Andorra without conceding a goal, scoring ten in the process.

» Andorra coach Rodrigo’s claimed that “England have always had problems when they have played against us and have been made to work hard to get the first goal.” However, they were beaten 5-0 on their last trip to Wembley in 2006 with the opening goal coming in the fifth minute from Peter Crouch.

» The minnows have lost their last 20 competitive games and their overall record in qualifying games is P58 W1 D2 L55. They’ve taken just a point from 29 away qualifiers - a 0-0 draw in FYR Macedonia in February 2005.

Posted: June 10th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Away wins are a rarity in UEFA Cup semi-final first-legs

Dynamo Kiev/Shakhtar Donetsk, 5.30pm, ITV4, Best Odds
Werder Bremen/Hamburg, 7.45pm, ITV4, Free Bets, Best Odds

While the Big Four have dominated the Champions League for two successive seasons, the Premier League’s claim to the “best league in the world” moniker is brought into question by the fact that none of the not-so-big 16 have won the UEFA Cup in the last 25 years. We’ve grown accustomed to all-English Champions League semi-finals but tonight teams from the Bundesliga and the Ukranian Premier League fight it out for the right to represent their country in a guaranteed Germany v Ukraine final:

SEMI-FINAL STATS

» The away side haven’t won a UEFA Cup semi-final first-leg in any of the last six seasons and only one of the last 18 have ended in the visitors’ favour.

» There has only been one goal in this week’s three big televised games this week and there is a danger that the drought could continue - only eight of the last 24 UEFA Cup semi-finals have broken the 2.5 goal barrier.

Posted: April 30th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Past meetings: There’s good news for Scotland and Wales

However the Republic of Ireland always lose away to Italy

chickendinner have put the records of all the home nations against their midweek opponents into a handy table to help you decide where there is money to be made betting on the World Cup qualifiers.

Scotland’s 100% record against Iceland makes the general 4/7 being offered on the home win look less stingy but hopes of the Republic of Ireland taking a point against Italy in Bari at 3/1with Bet365 are damaged by the fact the sides have never drawn in eight meetings. Does the fact Wales have won half of their meetings with Germany in Cardiff tempt you to back an unlikely home win at 7/1 with Boylesports?

Check out all the information in the table below before making your mind up:

Posted: March 31st, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Don’t expect a high-scoring game at Stamford Bridge

A Blues/Magpies preview from spread betting experts IG Sport

Alan Curbishley believes the decision to wrongfully allow Salomon Kalou’s offside 87th-minute winner in this fixture last year played a key part in Sam Allardyce’s sacking eleven days later. With Joe Kinnear’s interim contract close to completion, this encounter could prove decisive again as to whether the Irishman is granted an extension. Our friends at IG Sport, buoyed no doubt by their great tip on the Germany/England game, tell us why you should sell total goals at 2.8:

“The good news for Newcastle United this weekend is that Chelsea have already dropped seven points at home this season compared to none away. The bad news though is that Newcastle are yet to win away from home this season and tomorrow marks the 22nd anniversary of their last victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.  As such IG Sport have Chelsea as biggest Premier League of the day with a supremacy quote of 1.7-1.9 - a price more akin to a top-flight club versus lower-league side FA Cup mismatch than a Premier League fixture. The most interest however is likely to be in the total goals quote of 2.8-3.  Buyers beware: buying at three would have not made you a penny in the past ten fixtures between these two!”

Click here for a detailed description of how spread betting works.

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

How many of England’s absent stars will score for their clubs this weekend?

Paddy Power offer 7/2 on three or more stayaways grabbing goals

Before they surprised most critics by winning 2-1 in Berlin, England’s friendly with Germany was labelled a farce because of the number of regulars who pulled out with injuries.

Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney weren’t criticised too strongly because they had actually missed Manchester United’s game against Stoke but Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard’s withdrawals were met with suspicion after both played ninety minutes last weekend.

Paddy Power have decided to test just how serious these injuries are by opening a market on how many of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Wes Brown score this weekend.

For none of them to score is 2/1, for one to score is 7/4, for two to score is 5/2 while three or more is 7/2. After the jump is the chickendinner verdict on each player’s likelihood of scoring, although of course it will all depend on how many of them start:

Posted: November 20th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment