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

USA are 7/2 to win the Confederations Cup after beating Spain’s invincibles

Click here to claim a £100 Free Bet Basket with Bet365

chickendinner might not understand the purpose of the Confederations Cup but there’s no doubt that the USA have made sure it’s worth watching.

Four days ago they pulled off the six-goal swing needed to qualify from Group B having looking dead and buried and last night T-Ho, JdeM, C-Demp and the gang denied Spain the chance to extend their unbeaten run to 36 games, which would have set a new record in international football.

With Spain applying a lot of pressure, the Americans were still available at evens right before their second goal but memories of the European

Posted: June 25th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

USA may cause Italy problems as Group B gets underway

USA have a chance to prove they can challenge the “Big Three”

The standard of Group A - barring Spain of course - was perhaps even worse than we anticipated, so much so that there’s a possibility that no team other than the European champions will win a game there or potentially even score a goal. The opening Group B fixtures take place today and it should be more competitive, with both Brazil and Italy involved and Egypt and USA attempting to show that they are capable of springing a surprise:

Claim a £25 free bet when opening an account with Paddy Power

Brazil v Egypt
Holders Brazil have played in the last five tournaments and their aggregate score in opening fixtures over that time is 12-1. They have won their opener to nil on four occasions (3-0, 4-0, 2-0 and 3-0) with the one exception coming when they last kicked off against African opposition in 2003, losing 1-0 to Cameroon before going out in the group stage. Four of the last five

Posted: June 15th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Portugal’s qualification bid suffers yet another setback

Carlos Queiroz’s side could trail by seven points on Wednesday

There is now a distinct possibility that the reigning world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo will not be in South Africa next summer after Portugal drew 0-0 at home to Sweden.

Carlos Queiroz’s side have won just one of their first five qualifiers and find themselves four points behind Denmark and Hungary in Group 1 and that margin is likely to widen on Wednesday when they host Albania and Malta respectively, while Portugal aren’t in action.

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

Slovakia: impressive in qualifying, awful in friendlies

England/Slovakia, 5.15pm, Setanta Sports 1, Free Bets, Best Odds

Photo Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA

The only one of England’s four home games under Fabio Capello that they failed to win came against the Czech Republic, who are below Slovakia in the incredibly tight World Cup Qualifying Group 3. However, Slovakia have a curious habit of performing worse when the pressure is off, putting their feet up in friendlies rather than carrying over their form in competitive matches.

» Slovakia have won four of their last five competitive games - an impressive record for a team who have never qualified for an international tournament.

» However, they have won just one of their last eleven friendlies. That win came at home to Liechtenstein, the team ranked 151st in the world.

» Their two friendly matches so far this year - at home to Ukraine and away to Cyprus - have ended in 3-2 defeats. England are 41.0 on Betfair to win by that scoreline tomorrow.

Posted: March 27th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Portsmouth are expected to choose Curbishley or Grant

There are two clear leaders in the races to succeed Tony Adams

(Photo Credit: Chris Ison, PA)

Alan Curbishley and Avram Grant got off on the wrong foot last season when the former West Ham boss said that Manchester United deserved the title more than Chelsea. Now they will lock horns again after being installed as the clear frontrunners to succeed Tony Adams at Portsmouth:

Avram Grant (4/7 with Paddy Power)
Bizarrely, the best job offer a manager who came within a John Terry slip-up of winning the Champions League last season is now offered is at a team locked in a relegation battle after selling two of their star players. However, Grant has made it clear he has unfinished business in England and he has previous with Portsmouth after spending a season there as a technical director before moving to Chelsea.

Alan Curbishley (6/1 with Sky Bet)
In many ways Curbishley seems like the perfect fit at Portsmouth, considering the way he saved West Ham from relegation and solidified their position in the Premier League. But Curbs quit there because George McCartney was sold without his agreement so the sale of Jermain Defoe might not have sat too well with him. Portsmouth might also feel awkward appointing Curbishley now after threatening legal action last week against a newspaper who claimed he was being sounded out about the job while Adams was still in charge.

Posted: February 9th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment