as great as we are, we tipsters gotta eat too

Friday, June 6, 2008

UAE vs IRAN (AFC WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS)

<3.00> <3.00> <2.17>

just like china, iran face a must-win match, after drawing their first 3 matches. they have a good team with players like ali karimi, vahid hashemian and mehdi mahdavikia having european experience to boot. they haven't won in 3, meaning they will win here, as the rot has to end somewhere.

-Eddy's prediction: $5 on iran @ 2.17 = $10.85

JORDAN vs SOUTH KOREA (AFC WORLD CUP QUALIFIER)

<3.75> <3.10> <1.85>

south korea managed to throw away a two-goal lead when they last met jordan to end up with a 2-2 draw. jordan are really not a very good team, and south korea will be looking to make amends for their loss of concentration, by beating jordan away from home. if north korea could do it, why not south korea?

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on south korea @ 1.85 = $9.25

CHINA vs QATAR (AFC WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS)

<1.65> <3.35> <4.45>

china head into this game on the back of 3 draws, which has left them in 3rd place, and perilously close to failing to qualify for the world cup. they HAVE to win this game, and i think they will do it. zheng zhi's niggling injuries has resulted in his play being a little subdued, but i think china should win this one.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on china @ 1.65 = $8.25

IRAQ vs AUSTRALIA (AFC WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS)

<3.40> <3.05> <1.97>

australia head into this game days after defeating the iraqis 1-0 with a harry kewell goal. iraq has "home" advantage in this one, although with the match not allowed to be played in iraq itself, that advantage is reduced. it is a must-win match for iraq, but i see the quality of the aussies shining through here. nashat akram is an injury doubt for iraq as well, which will be a huge blow to them.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on australia @ 1.97 = $9.85

PORTUGAL vs TURKEY (EURO 2008)

<1.52> <3.40> <5.65>

Portugal's first match will be against Turkey. Portugal have a fully fit side going into this game. I'll just keep it short and simple. Ronaldo, Quaresma, Moutinho, Deco, Veloso, Simao, Nani. Portugal have too much class in the midfield and will breeze past Turkey easily, hoping to put away the disappointment of losing against Greece in 2004 in the finals and crashing out in the semis during World Cup 2006. Turkey just don't have enough to match the Portugese, who are one of the favourites to win this tournament.

- Roland's prediction: $10 on Portugal @ 1.52 = $15.20
$5 on Portugal H-H @ 2.50 = $12.50


i can see why roland is so confident about portugal, the form of ronaldo, the quality of the rest of the team really makes one drool. HOWEVER, it's the first game and i urge all punters to be cautious. pre-tournament friendlies are generally useless in predicting when the real tournament swings by, and it's a potential minefield out there, so don't go in too heavy. i think portugal will win this one, but i'm preferring to be a little more cautious.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on portugal @ 1.52 = $7.60

SWITZERLAND vs CZECH REPUBLIC (EURO 2008)

<2.65> <2.78> <2.55>

Co-hosts Switzerland will kick off Eur02008 with the first match against Czech Republic. I would feel that these two teams are very evenly matched, so I'm backing Switzerland because they have the home team advantage. Just look back at Euro2004. If Greece can win the Euro being massive underdogs, Switzerland can beat the Czechs. Furthermore, Tranquillo Barnetta will be fit for this match and his supply to Alexander Frei, the all time top goalscorer for Switzerland, will prove vital in this match. However, the Swiss have to get past one of the world's best goalkeepers, Cech, and so if you play handicap and can place a level ball on Switzerland, go for it.

- Roland's prediction: $5 on Switzerland @ 2.65 = $13.25

i would agree with roland here. i really do not see the swiss losing this one. so level ball is the way to go. BUT singapore pools doesn't offer level ball, so i'm tipping home advantage to lift the swiss to a crucial first victory here. barnetta and behrami will give the ageing czech defence a lot to think about. The experience of seasoned campaigners like hakan yakin and alexander frei, coupled with the youthful exuberance of players like degen, senderos, djourou and gelson fernandes, makes this swiss side a surprisingly balanced team. the czechs, besides their goalkeeper are seriously lacking in quality. swiss win.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on switzerland @ 2.65 = $13.25
$5 on switzerland -1.5 @ 5.70 = $28.50

KENYA vs GUINEA (WC AFRICAN QUALIFIERS)

<2.90> <3.10> <2.17>

well i have to be honest here. i don't know shit about kenya's footballers. and i know very little about guinea's footballers. however, i think guinea have enough quality to beat kenya, as i know more players from there, meaning they are a better team. guinea have the likes of pascal feindouno, dianbobo balde, and bangoura, and i think the european experience in their ranks should be enough to hand them a win against unheard-of kenya.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on guinea @ 2.17 = $10.85

THE PRE-EURO POST

well, after all the anticipation, it is finally starting tomorrow. the euros, that is. singapore pools has installed the usual suspects germany, italy, spain, france, portugal, holland as the pre-tournament favourites, and honestly, i'd be shocked if none of these 6 win it. so now, the big question is, who to back? i'm going for SPAIN, and HOLLAND, the two sleeping giants of world football, to finally wake up and show the rest of europe what they are made of. if i were to go into player analysis, then surely, these two teams would not be the favourites to win. HOWEVER, it's not often that the overwhelming favourites go on to win international tournaments. usually, teams that win it, come from around the top bracket, but are not the leaders of the pack. on a separate market, you can opt for top-scorer in the championships, and i'm gunning for Ruud Van Nistelrooy, despite him having a very very tough group to contend with. I just think that his scrappiness is essential in such a tight group, and the odds on him to emerge with the golden boot are very high.

- Eddy's predictions: $5 on HOLLAND @ 10.00 = $50.00
$5 on SPAIN @ 6.00 = $30.00
$5 on RUUD VAN NISTELROOY TOP-SCORER @ 14.00 = $70.00

I agree with Eddy. And this doesn't mean we're collaborating. It's just a coincidence of genius opinion. Anyway as what Eddy had already mentioned, Spain and Holland are both underachievers. And as what Eddy has always said, "The rot has to stop". Both play good football, both have enough quality to win this one, but they have not delivered, and it's time for them to do so. Especially since France are pretty shitty at the moment - they're a team in transition. Italy have lost out Cannavaro who was the heart and soul of their defence. Portugal, for all their brilliant midfielders, lack a semi-decent front man and I expect their failure to be precisely because of that. And Germany.. Their first team keeper is Lehmann who has hardly had a game in the past few months. So Spain and Holland have a really good chance this time, and I hope they prove us right. For the top scorer, I'd go with Klose because Germany have a really easy group. Then they'll meet Group A runners up which is most probably Switzerland, who boast of 3 outstanding EPL defenders - Djourou, Senderos and Degen. Go figure.

- Roland's Predictions:
$5 on HOLLAND @ 10.00 = $50.00
$5 on SPAIN @ 6.00 = $30.00
$5 on MIROSLAV KLOSE TOP-SCORER @ 9.00 = $45.00

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

SPAIN vs USA (INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY)

<1.28> <4.20> <9.20>

Spain's final friendly before Euro2008 is against USA, who were pretty bad against England in their previous friendly. Good news for Spain, Fernando Torres won't be out for this match. While Luis Aragones will not play his full strength first team, Reina is a more than capable stand in for Casillas and Raul Albiol is an upcoming star in the defensive lineup for Spain. Expect Spain to win comfortably in this one.

- Roland's predictions: $10 on Spain @ 1.28 = $12.80
$5 on Spain first goal @ 1.22 = $6.10

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

GOMBAK vs HOME UTD (SINGAPORE LEAGUE CUP)

<3.60> <3.38> <1.80>

home utd have only won twice in their last 7 games, with one of the games being a 1-0 defeat at the hands of gombak, lionel lewis presenting gabriel obatola with an open goal after fumbling the ball. with players such as kengne ludovick leading the line, it's just impossible for them to be suffering such poor form. home will be severely hit by the international fixtures, much more so than gombak, who only "miss" precious emuejeraye. home utd will miss the creative influence of shi jiayi, and the heroics of OUSTANDING keeper lionel lewis, who had a hand in an incredible SEVEN goals when singapore met uzbekistan last night. gut feel says home utd to win though.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on home utd @ 1.80 = $9.00
$5 on home utd A-A at HT-FT @ 3.10 = $15.50

YOUNG LIONS vs TAMPINES (SINGAPORE LEAGUE CUP)

<4.50> <3.45> <1.62>

tampines miss a host of players for this one to international commitments, sutee suksomkit playing for thailand, and mustafic, muhd ridhuan and qiu li off to play for our very own national team. oh in case you're reading this and you're not singaporean, i'm very surprised you found our tiny blog, so please leave a comment to say hi to us. if you're singaporean, please leave a comment as well! we need to know if people are actually reading our genius tips. anyway young lions are missing hariss harun and khairul amri, which is essentially, their whole team. they managed to scrap their way to an unlikely victory over woodlands last time out, and the scale of the upset is magnified several times when you take into account park tae won giving woodlands a 2-0 lead in the 90th minute. so what's the tip for this one, some impatient people might already be asking. well, i say go with tampines. i just think despite the fact that so many senior tampines players are away, the young lions are a poor team, and without khairul amri and hariss harun, i do not see how they'll get anything from this. aliff shaffaein of tampines to star in this one.

- Eddy's prediction: $5 on tampines @ 1.62 = $8.10