as great as we are, we tipsters gotta eat too

Thursday, April 24, 2008

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs BOLTON WANDERERS (EPL)

<1.70> <3.30> <4.20>

tottenham have won only once in their last seven games. time for their luck to change no? they have been playing decently, without ever emulating the feats of their more illustrious north london neighbours of course, and should be getting better results than these. bolton will be up for this one, but sometimes, quality shines through. bolton also enjoyed a little luck last time out against middlesbrough, and well, time for it to run out! i say. bolton are a team i hate, and i'd love to see them go down, starting with this match. however, when betting, it's best to proceed with caution, as relegation candidates are capable of some strange results.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on tottenham @ 1.70 = $8.50

MANCHESTER CITY vs FULHAM (EPL)

<1.70> <3.30> <4.20>

A resurgent Manchester City plays a struggling Fulham who could not beat Liverpool's second string, or even force a draw. Against Pompey, Martin Petrov, Benjani and Vassell looked very dangerous and I see them piling on the misery over Fulham, who offer hardly anything upfront with the likes of Healy and McBride to trouble Man City. Man City have everything to play for as they look to secure a UEFA Cup place and will go all out to win this one.

- Roland's prediction: $5 on Man City @ 1.70 = $8.50

well, team news ahead of this match shows man city's defence in absolute tatters. micah richards and nedum onuoha are already missing, and now it seems richard dunne might join the list. man city beat pompey last week with a huge slice of luck and a numerical advantage when hermann hreidarsson was sent off. they looked far from convincing, so a wager on fulham or a draw might be worth considering. the only way they can avoid relegation is to get all 3 points here, but man city's strength in attack might limit them to a point. i say put $5 on both options, and then cross your fingers real tight. brian mcbride has the quality to punish a makeshift city defence, so going for fulham to record their second away win in 438 matches is worth a shot.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on draw @ 3.30 = $16.50
$5 on fulham @ 4.30 = $21.00

WEST HAM vs NEWCASTLE (EPL)

<2.35> <3.20> <2.55>

West Ham have been struggling to find goals as of late, while Newcastle look a rejuvenated side, getting 4 wins in the last 5 matches and scoring 11 goals. Newcastle will look to carry on their fine form and gun for a top half finish. West Ham haven't been at their best, and as long as they aren't playing against Man Utd, it's safe to bet against them.

- Roland's prediction: $5 on Newcastle @ 2.55 = $12.75

HOME UNITED vs BALESTIER KHALSA (S-LEAGUE)

<1.14> <6.00> <12.00>

i know i know. 12.00 is very tempting. however, i think it is highly unlikely that balestier khalsa will win this game. home united just have far too much quality. that being said, balestier khalsa have never been a side to crumple easily, and they showed that with a solid, if a little lucky 1-1 draw with the impressive korean super reds, who thumped tampines rovers 5-0 earlier this evening. as such, what i would recommend, is to back balestier khalsa on the handicap. as long as they do not lose by 3 or more, you'll win the bet, and i think this bet is rather safe. also, look out for the odds going up on this one.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on balestier khalsa +2.5 @ 1.95 = $9.75

CHELSEA vs MANCHESTER UNITED (EPL)

<2.35> <3.00> <2.70>

honestly, i think there are only two options here. a draw, or a man united win. chelsea will miss lampard, as his mother has unfortunately passed away. chelsea have to win to keep the pressure on united, and punters will bring out the history books, arguing that chelsea have not been beaten at home since 30 feb 1867, a remarkable run of 19872 games since they were last beaten by the gunners. regular readers should know what i'm like. i take pleasure (and money) from seeing teams' fantastic or bad runs come to an end. this is exactly what i'm tipping here. man utd to seal up the title in style on stamford bridge, with rooney playing a huge role in this one, despite looking very muted against barcelona, who should have shown more adventure to win my bet for me. ah well. i'll be a united fan for once on saturday, that's for sure!

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on united @ 2.70 = $13.50

Agree with Eddy. It'll be a draw or a Man Utd win, which is why I have money on Man Utd +0.25. The sad thing is that singaporepools doesn't offer the asian handicap, so I'm tipping a Man Utd win. Chelsea will be forced to attack as they can't afford to draw/lose. A draw would leave them 3 points behind with 2 games remaining, which means Man Utd only need to win 1 more game to secure the title because of the vastly superior goal difference. With that, Man Utd will look to counterattack with the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo, Anderson, Giggs and there's bound to be a goal in this game. Furthermore, Chelsea lose Lampard (who played really badly against Liverpool, probably because of his mom's situation) due to his mom's death, and it will limit their attacking options as the person to replace him would be either Mikel or Essien. While Vidic is out, Brown proved to be solid in the match against Barca and I expect a Utd win. (or a draw...)

- Roland's prediction: $5 on Man Utd @ 2.70 = $13.50

ALBIREX NIIGATA vs WOODLANDS (S-LEAGUE)

<2.55> <3.05> <2.45>

akihiro nakamura made the miss of the season thus far against geylang, costing his team a precious point last time out, as they went down 2-1. however, albirex is no geylang, and i fancy woodlands to win here. abdelhadi laakkad set the league on fire last season, but has struggled to recapture his form thus far. i expect him to go back to his goalscoring ways against a japanese side, who are not so physically inclined, and as such, might struggle against the big laakkad. park tae won's guile might also be a factor in this game.

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on woodlands @ 2.45 = $24.50
$5 on woodlands - 1.5 @ 4.20 = $21.00

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

FC BARCELONA vs MANCHESTER UNITED (UEFA CL)

<2.40> <3.00> <2.65>

barcelona come into this match without a win in their last two, despite doing well enough to win the matches. that's always a sign that a team will win the next, BUT and this is a big BUT (j.lo style), manu are not a team to bet against. however, messi returns for this match, and i feel his presence might lift the team. thierry henry will also be relieved to play against english opposition, having a shitty season in la liga. also, barca rested players at the weekend, making their side fresher for this one. it's obvious barca want to win this one, while united's comical draw with blackburn ensures manu have to cast one eye on this week's match with chelski. win for barca.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on barcelona @ 2.40 = $12.00

Monday, April 21, 2008

SENGKANG PUNGGOL vs GOMBAK UNITED(S-LEAGUE)

<4.40> <3.90> <1.55>

sengkang come into this in horrible form, having scored ONE goal all season, and obviously not picking up any wins yet. gombak, on the other hand, are used to loftier positions than their current third-from-bottom position. sengkang's lack of goal can be attributed to them lacking a true striker upfront, as mirko grabovac has failed the mandatory beep test, while chilean import ivan asenjo has been out injured thus far. for tomorrow's match, asenjo returns, but i am of the belief that it will be too little, against a gombak side, which will be eager to get back to winning ways. the odds for a gombak win started at 1.43 and have risen steadily, as punters predict a sengkang win, possibly tempted by the high odds. i say, go for the gombak win, as they have better overall quality, but don't go in too heavily, considering that noone has seen ivan asenjo play, and if he's even half-prolific in front of goal, sengkang might have a shot at this. edit: i changed my mind. gombak are too strong. should be an easy win. asenjo can't be a maradona or something can he? haha

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on gombak @ 1.55 = $15.50

THE WEEKLY ROUNDUP

well. we forgot to round up last week. haha. anyway, since then my fortunes have been pretty mixed. the massive 8.60 payout on geylang to overturn tampines was followed by a shocking run of form in my la liga picks last weekend, with all 4 of my picks losing. this week, my la liga form is 100%, with both villarreal and zaragoza grabbing crucial wins to get out of their poor run of form. unfortunately, tottenham, boro and birmingham couldn't win, making my arsenal pick the sole EPL win of the week. i had actually picked man city to beat portsmouth and placed $5 on it at singapore pools, but i wasn't too confident of it, and thus did not want to encourage readers to pick that result. my s-league form remains rock solid though, and to be honest, i'm a little surprised myself. i think the key is staying away from matches that do not have obvious winners, or have less than satisfactory odds. anyway, i'm looking forward to improving on my current average form, so look out for more reliable tips in the next week! - Eddy

Ok. Rule #1: Never bet when there's Bolton. Because we don't know which Bolton comes to play. Rule #2: Never bet on Spurs. Because they've been dominating matches yet not scoring. Also, try not to bet with Singapore Pools without the asian handicap, because I'm up $50 SGD in terms of online betting. Mostly from asian handicap. I've been really busy these few days so I couldn't post up my Aston Villa bet (which netted me a good $10+ profit in real $) on this blog. So there. Next week Eddy's going DOWN :D - Roland

Sunday, April 20, 2008

VILLARREAL vs VALLADOLID (LA LIGA)

<1.48> <3.60> <5.70>

villarreal go into this match on the back of two consecutive defeats to almeria and sevilla, and will be looking to bounce back. capdevila, their left back, returns from suspension, and should improve the chances of villarreal winning this one. home advantage also looks like a possible deciding factor here, with valladolid not the shittiest of relegation candidates, unbeaten in 3 games, and grabbing a credible 1-1 draw with atletico. villarreal to win this one.

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on villarreal @ 1.48 = $14.80

ASTON VILLA vs BIRMINGHAM (EPL)

<1.60> <3.35> <4.85>

birmingham currently sit in the relegation zone, and a draw or a win, would lift them out and give them a huge psychological boost heading into the final stretch of the relegation battle. bolton's unexpected and undeserved win has put much pressure on birmingham, and i believe that this pressure will push birmingham to fight harder in this match, and possibly pull off a shock to haul themselves out of trouble. mauro zarate's form is reminding me of christophe dugarry's when he joined birmingham a few seasons ago to rescue them. im tipping him to score, to record a win for birmingham. also, teams tend to falter a little after registering a huge win, and villa's 6-0 defeat of derby could lead to a little complacency here, in a highly crucial midlands derby.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on birmingham @ 4.85 = $24.25