Five stats to help you bet on the Confederations Cup Final

USA/Brazil, Sunday 7.30pm, BBC Three, Best Odds, Free Bets

The reaction of the American media to their national side ending Spain’s 35-game unbeaten streak may have been unbearable but it would have been just as bad - if not worse - over here if England had done it. The USA have brought excitement to this pretty meaningless tournament over the past week and after watching Brazil stumble past South Africa last night in the other semi-final, they will fancy their chances of winning it. The bookies don’t though and some of the trends make it easy to see why:

Click here to claim a free £25 no loss bet with Betfair

1. Brazil have won 14 of their 15 matches against USA (one after extra-time). The USA’s one win over the holders came in the 1998 Gold Cup Final, with former Everton winger Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic scoring the winner.

2. USA haven’t scored against Brazil in three previous Confederations Cup meetings, with Dunga’s side beating them 1-0 in 1999 and 2003 and winning 3-0 against them last Thursday.

Posted: June 26th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Five stats about Sheffield Utd and Preston’s play-off clash

Sheff Utd/Preston NE, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

1. Preston haven’t won on any of their last 12 visits to Bramall Lane.

2. Neither Sheffield United’s home points tally or Preston’s away haul were worthy of the play-offs, therefore both sides should find this encounter harder than the first.

3. Alan Irvine’s side won just five of their 26 away games this season but significantly they won their most recent two.

4. Despite their struggles on the road this season, Preston won away to both automatically promoted sides - Wolves and Birmingham.

5. Ten of the last 13 clashes between the two sides finished with under 2.5 goals.

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

Liverpool get another chance to go top against West Ham

WHU/Liverpool, Sat 5.30pm, Setanta Spts 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

This is the closest Liverpool have ever come to winning the Premier League and the TV schedulers seem to enjoy torturing them. Once again the Reds play before Manchester United, offering them the chance to experience being top with just two games to go, only to probably have it cruelly snatched away from them a day later. West Ham won’t be a pushover though - even if odds of 23/4 with 888sport suggest otherwise:

Key Trends

» West Ham have lost all five of their home games against teams above them in the league.

» Liverpool have the best record against top-half teams in the Premier League and haven’t lost to any of the top nine clubs.

» In only one of West Ham’s previous 13 Premier League seasons (2000-01) have they failed to beat any of the Big Four - this is their last chance to win against one of them this year.

Posted: May 8th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Chelsea are 9/5 with Bet365 to win against Barcelona tonight

Chelsea/Barcelona, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 2, Free Bets, Best Odds

Barcelona’s 6-2 demolition of Real Madrid has seen them installed as 13/8 favourites tonight while the hosts are available at 9/5 with Bet365.

Headline trends:

» Chelsea have won their last six Champions League home games against foreign opposition.

» Away-goal chasing Barcelona have scored in 21 consecutive La Liga and Champions League away games.

Posted: May 6th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 2 Comments

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

Why Arsenal can’t be written off despite losing the first leg

Five stats about this week’s Champions League semi-finals

1. Manchester United have scored on each of their three previous trips to the Emirates, despite only taking a point from those games.

2. However, Arsenal’s current home defensive record has been fantastic despite their injury problems. The Gunners have conceded just once in their last 12 games at the Emirates.

3. Arsene Wenger’s side have never failed to score in nine meetings with the Big Four sides at the Emirates. They have scored twice in each of their three home games there against Manchester United.

Posted: April 29th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment