as great as we are, we tipsters gotta eat too

Friday, May 30, 2008

CZECH REPUBLIC vs SCOTLAND (INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY)

<1.47> <3.55> <6.00>

Team news: Scotland won't have James McFadden, Alan Hutton, Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch and David Weir. Czech Republic won't have Rosicky. So the Scotland first team looks really depleted and I doubt they will be able to trouble Petr Cech. Czech Republic have a great big man - small man partnership in the form of Jans Koller and Milan Baros. With the supply from Marek Jankulovski, they can score goals. With Cech in goal, they have one of the world's best keepers. Czech Republic to win.

- Roland's Prediction: $10 on Czech Republic @ 1.47 = $14.70
$5 on SPECIAL Czech Republic 1st Goal @ 1.42 = $7.10

I agree with roland. with such a depleted squad, it's unlikely czech republic will come away with anything at all. however, scotland are likely to play very defensive and make life hard for the czechs. so its a czech win, but not as confident as roland.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on czech republic @ 1.47 = $7.35

DALIAN SHIDE vs ALBIREX NIIGATA (SINGAPORE LEAGUE CUP)

<2.45> <3.10> <2.52>

albirex and dalian have not won for so so long. albirex's last victory was a 2-1 defeat of dalian, and dalian's last win was 3-1 against geylang. both sides haven't won for like 7-8 games, so it might be easy to predict a draw against two fairly even sides here. however, i think that ryota doi and akira takase have too much firepower in them not to trouble dalian, and as such, i'm predicting albirex to finally win again after so long, and i'm pretty confident. note: this is where i sometimes shoot myself in the foot, betting too much on one team cos of gut feel, but ah heck i'll stick with my choice.

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on albirex @ 2.52 = $25.20
$5 on albirex +1.5 @ 1.11 = $5.55
$5 on albirex to win A-A on HT-FT @ 4.70 = $23.50

Thursday, May 29, 2008

HOLLAND vs DENMARK (INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY)

<1.45> <3.60> <6.20>

Holland's friendly in preparation for Euro2008 is against Denmark, who have not even qualified for Euro2008. This speaks of the disparity between both teams. Holland played brilliantly against Ukraine and won 3-0 while missing several stars in the likes of Robben, Van Persie, Van Nistelrooy, Sneijder and Van Der Sar. Good news for me in the fact that Van Basten has confirmed that they will play against Denmark. I'm backing Holland all the way, as Denmark's last game was a 1-1 draw with Czech Republic, who aren't really highly rated. Denmark's strike duo of Jon Dahl Tomasson and Nicklas Bendtner might cause some trouble for the Holland defence, but I'm pretty sure that great attacking football will prevail.

- Roland's prediction: $10 on Holland @ 1.45 = $14.50
$5 on Holland -1.5 @ 2.20 = $ 11

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

RUSSIA vs SERBIA (INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY)

<2.00> <3.10> <3.85>

russia continue their preparations for euro 2008 with a match against serbia, who should prove much tougher opponents compared to kazakhstan, who they thrashed 6-0. the presence of the talented midfielders arshavin, torbinsky, zhirkov, coupled with the defensive balance provided by smertin, has made them a more complete team than most people give them credit for. i think russia should win this one, provided they start their stars.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on russia @ 2.00 = $10.00
$5 on russia scoring 1st goal @ 1.70 = $8.50

ENGLAND vs USA (International Friendly)

<1.38> <3.80> <7.10>

Well. England are favourites to win this one, and rightly so. With "cabbage man" Capello in charge, everyone has been talking about how he's a strict manager who does not place importance in off pitch relationships with the players, drawing a clear distinction between manager and player. This will make the English players play to impress their new manager and they will raise their game for this. Thus I'm backing England. Furthermore, the USA team comprises of many players who haven't impressed in the premiership - DaMarcus Beasley sucked for ManCity, Clint Dempsey hasn't scored for Fulham in ages, Carlos Bocanegra was just released by Fulham... All of which points towards 1 fact: these players can't do it in the premiership. And they are up against the precise same opponents - English Premiership players. So England to win. By a mile. Oh and Capello has promised a strike partner for Rooney, who will play a second striker role, so expect an attacking 4-4-2 line up which will result in goals.

- Roland's prediction: $10 on England @ 1.38 = $13.80
$5 on England -1.5 @ 2.15 = $10.75

and i have to agree with roland. england shouldn't have any trouble at all overcoming usa here, but whether it's gonna be quite as comfortable as he suggests, i'm not too sure. usa, after all, have a very fit side, and on fitness alone, they probably are equals with england. usa have quality in their ranks though, players like clint dempsey will ensure england's midfield have little time to play around, while landon donovan and brian mcbride will not be the easiest guys to mark. and roland says in the epl, usa players come up short, but the reason for me thinking this might not be so easy is the form of the players between the sticks. whether it's friedel, hahnemann, howard or keller, they're one of the best in the league. in any case, england win, but i'm not confident enough to back them on the handicap.

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on england @ 1.38 = $13.80

Monday, May 26, 2008

BALESTIER KHALSA vs SENGKANG PUNGGOL (S-LEAGUE)

<2.10> <2.95> <3.20>

both teams, amazingly, have identical records in terms of points, since they last met in a dour 0-0 draw few months back. they have only managed one win each, with balestier overcoming home 2-1, while sengkang defeated the young lions in the last match 3-2. despite sengkang ruining my bet last week, i feel balestier's attacking prowess (relative to low-scoring sengkang) should be enough to get at least one goal in against sengkang. han yiguang is back, and they missed his urgency against tampines rovers, finally succumbing to a 2-0 defeat. they'll want to pick themselves up for this one quickly, so i'm going for a balestier win, to put some daylight between themselves and sengkang. it must be said though, that sengkang has shown improvement in their previous two matches, but why i'm so confident is borne more out of gut feel than anything.

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on balestier @ 2.10 = $21.00

SUPER REDS vs YOUNG LIONS (S-LEAGUE)

<1.45> <3.60> <6.20>

super reds head into this match with a mini injury crisis, seo su jong the most notable absence. they were unlucky to draw 2-2 against woodlands on friday, as woodlands staged a classic smash-and-grab effort, going up 2-0 in the first half. however, i do see super reds trimphing here to get over the unnecessary dropped points, as at the end of the day, they have a very good side. i'm backing them on all fronts, and i hope my gamble pays off.

- Eddy's prediction: $10 on super reds @ 1.45 = $14.50
$5 on SPECIAL super reds to lead at halftime @ 1.95 = $9.75
$5 on super reds -1.5 @ 2.20 = $11.00