as great as we are, we tipsters gotta eat too

Saturday, October 11, 2008

GERMANY vs RUSSIA (WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - UEFA)

Germany at home, with a fully fit squad (except for their goalkeeper - Rene Adler will start). Bet on them. They have this ability to turn on for important matches, and is one of them. They sit on top of the table but Russia are behind them by 1 point with a game in hand, so they will need to win this one to ensure automatic qualification. Which is why they will win. Oh and Russia have lost Pavlyuchenko, who has been shite anyway, and Torbinsky to injury. They were both crucial to Russia's great run in the Euro, so I think that Germany will have an easier time.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Germany -0.5 @ 1.75 = $8.75

SCOTLAND vs NORWAY (WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - UEFA)

Scotland versus Norway. Scotland to win this one. While Norway has THE BEAST, Carew, they do not possess the likes of Young and Agbonlahor playing off him, so I fancy Scotland to be able to handle Norway's attacking threat. They do, after all, have a very good goalkeeper in Craig Gordon. While Kenny Miller is out, which is a big blow to Scotland, they do have other great attacking options in McFadden and Maloney. Darren Fletcher is set for captaincy and guess what? They have won every single game while he's been captain. So there you go.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Scotland -0.5 @ 2.05 = $10.25

POLAND vs CZECH REPUBLIC (WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - UEFA)

the czech republic are clearly a force in decline. they lack creativity in the middle of the park, most probably because of the injury to rosicky, or ro-verysick-y. as such, i do not think they will be able to pull off an away win in poland, who have some matchwinners in their squad, like ebi smolarek and jakob. poland's form has been poor of late, but i think they will record a victory here to banish the memories of euro 2008.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on poland level @ 1.970 = $9.85

SWEDEN vs PORTUGAL (WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - UEFA)

both sides miss key players for this fixture. sweden are without olof mellberg and tobias linderoth, while portugal are without deco, carvalho and simao. sweden are harder-hit though, in my opinion. losing erik edman, olof mellberg and linderoth would mean a total drop in defensive quality, and add that to cristiano ronaldo's return to action, and i can't see how portugal will lose this one. also, larsson and wilhelmsson sit out this one for the swedes, meaning their attacking ability is blunted as well. i see portugal winning this one.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on portugal -0/0.5 @ 1.980 = $9.90

Eddy has been on a bad run, and I think that all bad runs have to end, and this will be the tip that ends Eddy's bad run. Even though Sweden have Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Portugal -0/0.5 @ 1.980 = $9.90

SWITZERLAND vs LATVIA (WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - UEFA)

switzerland slumped to a shock home defeat last time out to luxembourg, and will be desperate to get all 3 points in this game. their first two games have been a draw and a loss, meaning it's quite likely they'll get the 3 points against an unconvincing latvia side, as i cannot see them going 3 games without a win. the skill and pace of players like valon behrami and tranquillo barnetta should be too much for the latvians and i see them playing a big part in the game supporting alexander frei.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on switzerland -1 @ 1.820

UKRAINE vs CROATIA (WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - UEFA)

croatia will look to bounce back in this one, after suffering a huge defeat at the hands of england. their attack is brilliant, with the likes of modric, rakitic, petric and olic often interchanging with each other to devastating effect. ukraine, on the other hand, have a lousy defence, even managing to concede one goal to kazakhstan. i fancy croatia's chances in this one, as level ball means they just don't have to lose.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on croatia level @ 2.050 = $10.25

Ukraine are quite strong at home. Croatia just lost at home to England 4-1, which is a huge blow to their confidence. I see the game going 2 ways - either Croatia will tear Ukraine apart, or they will be so utterly devastated and it won't be a good match/they will draw. Furthermore, the Croatian contingent in the EPL - Kranjcar (injured), Modric (SHIT), and Corluka (SHIT-ish) haven't been playing well. Modric is, after all, a key player in the Croatian line up. By contrast, Ukraine's strikeforce has done well in past weeks - Shevchenko is a rejuvenated player in AC Milan and Voronin just scored for Hertha Berlin. It's a tough place to visit and I think Ukraine level looks great.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Ukraine level @ 1.790 = $8.95

Friday, October 10, 2008

WOODLANDS WELLINGTON vs SENGKANG PUNGGOL (S LEAGUE)

woodlands and sengkang have been in pretty poor form of late picking up more losses than wins/draws. as such, it is very difficult to choose a winner in this one. an interesting stat is that all four of their previous meetings have been draws, and low-scoring ones at that (0-0, 1-1). as such, as i always believe, runs will end someday. today the low-scoring nature of this run will end, as sengkang have reginaldo back, and he will be itching to prove himself against a not-so-solid backline. also, winston yap is back, but he will be up against park tae won, whose skill will leave him in knots. as such, i fancy a high-scoring match and i'll be going for over 2.5 goals in this one.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on over 2.5 goals @ 1.85 = $9.25

Thursday, October 9, 2008

ALBIREX NIIGATA vs GOMBAK UNITED (S-LEAGUE)

albirex have not won any of their last 4, earning 3 draws and falling to 1 defeat. however, 3 of those results were rather impressive, holding home utd and geylang utd to draws, while narrowly being defeated by tampines rovers by a late aliff shaffaein goal. their attacking football has been a joy to watch, and especially at the jurong east stadium, they should be backed on the handicap, as the players will surely work their socks off to ensure that the home fans don't witness a defeat.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on albirex +0/0.5 @ odds to be confirmed

GEYLANG UNITED vs YOUNG LIONS (S LEAGUE)

geylang united were rather unlucky to be beaten 3-1 by home united as they had a chance cleared off the line, and also home united should have had a man sent off for an elbow. with a creative midfield comprising the likes of miroslav latiak and ratislav belicak, fazrul nawaz (who missed the last game) should have enough chances to seriously hurt young lions. the backline will also be well marshalled by the likes of noh rahman and aide iskander, and as such, i really don't see young lions getting anything from this game.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on geylang win @ 1.50 = $7.50

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

MULTIPLIER OF THE DAY

ok seeing as my tennis bets are actually finding more joy of late, i shall post a little tennis multiplier for you guys. here goes:

olivier rochus vs mario ancic (ancic 1.28)
david nalbandian vs bobby reynolds (nalbandian 1.16)
jarkko nieminen vs thomas bellucci (nieminen 1.28)
nikolay davydenko vs florent serra (davydenko 1.12)
dmitry tursunov vs igor kunitsyn (tursunov 1.25)
stefan koubek vs tommy robredo (robredo 1.16)
gael monfils vs alexander peya (monfils 1.12)
pavel snobel vs radek stepanek (stepanek 1.12)

$5 on above multiplier wins $20.02

Sunday, October 5, 2008

CHIEVO VERONA vs FIORENTINA (SERIE A)

fiorentina have had a wretched away record this season, with 2 losses in serie a, and a draw in the champions league. however, i believe that they will notch their first away win against chievo. their attacking quality with the likes of montolivo, gilardino and mutu, should be way too much for chievo to handle.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on fiorentina -0/0.5 @ 2.025 = $10.125

NAGOYA GRAMPUS EIGHT vs TOKYO VERDY (J LEAGUE)

nagoya haven't won their last two, slumping to a shock defeat to jef utd before returning to rather more expected form against urawa red diamonds, coming away with a draw. tokyo verdy has seen a rather strong start to the season peter out into what can be described as j2 form. the way they're going, they're gonna be relegated before long. this has much to do with their star striker, the brazilian HULK, and his move to fc porto. since he left, they have lacked a focal point in attack, and they seem incapable of scoring goals. nagoya, like urawa, desperately need wins to keep up their title challenge, and i can't see n8 not winning here.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on nagoya -0.5/1 @ 1.81 = $9.05

JEF UTD ICHIHARA vs URAWA RED DIAMONDS (J LEAGUE)

urawa red diamonds have found themselves slipping behind in the race for the title, after two consecutive draws, one against nagoya grampus, but the other draw was a little less expected. leading 2-1 at home to kyoto purple sanga, they conceded an equaliser and ended up with only 1 point. jef utd, on the other hand, are on a rich vein of form. they have won their last four, and are high on confidence. however, i think urawa red diamonds will win this game, with their extra quality and class. also, jef utd can't keep winning forever can they? i'm backing tulio and his boys to do the job here.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on urawa red diamonds -0.5 @ 2.050 = $10.25

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs HULL CITY (EPL)

ok hull, time to wake up. go back to your role of relegation-battlers. you were not meant to beat teams like arsenal at the emirates. wakie-wakie, hull boys. last week's win over arsenal could only be because of 2 things. 1) it was a fluke or 2) it was fixed. as i mentioned before, the big 4 will never win all their games on one given weekend. so when chelsea beat stoke, manu beat bolton, and pool beat everton, arsenal had to either draw or lose their game, as the bookies had to recoup a little of course, given that the majority of punters place bets on the favourites. so now that you're sure that hull's win wasn't cos of their quality, but rather because of either luck or shady hands manipulating football, then the picture becomes clear here. tottenham are probably twenty times the hull team in terms of class and quality. add to that the fact that they haven't won since the start of the season, and i think spurs are shoo-ins to win this game. pavlyuchenko and corluka will be fresh for this one having not played in midweek. gareth bale and luka modric return to action, and i think spurs will finally get their first win.

Eddy's prediction: $10 on tottenham -0.5/1 @ 1.85 = $18.50