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

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

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

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

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

VFB STUTTGART vs WERDER BREMEN (GERMAN BUNDESLIGA)

clashes between these two sides have always been packed with goals, and last season's encounter resulted in a 6-3 win for stuttgart. with key defenders unavailable, (boulahrouz for stuttgart and mertesacker for bremen), surely everyone's gonna go for a goal-fest in this one. however, i believe in the heavy boat, and i firmly believe that if everyone goes for a goalfest, this might turn out to be rather boring actually. as such, i've chosen to go against the trend, and i'm going for under.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on under 3/3.5 goals @ 1.85 = $9.25

AC SIENA vs AS ROMA (SERIE A)

Quick tip because i have to go soon. Roma have finally rediscovered their form. Siena are a shite. Roma welcome back De Rossi from his suspension and he is really influential. Roma win, and hopefully me going 5-0 in the Serie A ^^

Roland's prediction: $5 on Roma -0.5 @ 2.010 = $10.05

yup de rossi back from suspension. add that to juan coming back from an injury, and roma look a stronger outfit. totti is still missing though, while vucinic sustained an injury in their away win at bordeaux. julio baptista looked good in midweek and i think roma have just enough quality to see off siena tonight.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on Roma -0.5 @ 2.010 = $10.05

REAL VALLADOLID vs VALENCIA (LA LIGA)

Valencia have started really well this season and sit at the top of the table with 4 wins and a draw. Villa has been banging in the goals regularly and has netted 6 so far, helping Valencia maintain a 5 game win streak. Valladolid do not have any quality players and I think Valencia will win this.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Valencia -0/0.5 @ 1.860 = $9.30

EVERTON vs NEWCASTLE (EPL)

2 clubs in crisis. 1 has been uncharacteristically leaky at the back, the other has lost 5 games in a row and lost the faith of their fans. Who to back then? I'm going with Newcastle, as they have to stop their horrible run, and I'd expect the new-manager-syndrome to kick in. Owen has been able to score even with his team lacking confidence and shape, so I think he'll step up during this match when the new-manager-syndrome kicks in. Everton have had trouble scoring - 1 goal in 3 games tells you that much - and are a side without confidence and most importantly, Tim Cahill. I don't think that Newcastle will lose this one.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Newcastle +0.5/1 @ 1.880 = $9.40

CHELSEA vs ASTON VILLA (EPL)

Drogba, Essien, Joe Cole, Carvalho, Deco out. Terry and Alex were injured in midweek. Villa rested players in their match against Litex Lovech and will be fresh for this match, whereas Chelsea were held out by CFR Cluj and are probably jet-lagged and tired. Aston Villa on the handicap looks to be of good value to me.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Aston Villa +1 @ 1.950 = $9.75

BLACKBURN vs MANCHESTER UNITED (EPL)

Without Brad Friedel making 50 world class saves against Man Utd, Blackburn will be easy opponents. United do have a problem in the centre of midfield with Scholes, Hargreaves and Carrick out, which means Anderson (I picked him up in fantasy football last week and he got me 7.5 points! Woot!) and Giggs should start in midfield, but Giggs played well in midweek so I think there shouldn't be a problem there. Attack wise, Berbatov has finally scored, and Ronaldo is getting his form back, so United win here.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Man Utd -1 @ 2.000 = $10.00

blackburn have been my jinx team this season, but i think that getting any points against manchester united, will be very tough. manu might be light in midfield, but blackburn are not much better off. steven reid, vince grella, and david dunn will be missing. meaning blackburn will be unable to take full advantage of united's weaknesses in the centre of the park. however, i still see this match as being very tight, but with man utd winning it, so i'll go for straight win.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on man utd win @ 1.65 = $8.25

WIGAN vs MIDDLESBROUGH (EPL)

Boro do not have Andrew Taylor, Gary O'Neill, Pogatetz, Huth, Tuncay and Arca. That's a lot of important players out for them. Jonathan Grounds will start for Boro, which means that Amir Zaki is going to have a field day and bag a hat trick. The JJB is a tricky place for teams to visit as the pitch is shite and quite small, which means Boro will have a tough time counterattacking. Together with Palacios dominating the midfield, and Downing missing penalties, Wigan will win this one.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Wigan -0.5 @ 2.075 = $10.375

boro might be missing a whole host of players, but wigan's defence is not the best in the world. they will face aliadiere, afonso alves, and mido, who on their day, can create some real havoc. didier digard has also shown signs of being a rather useful player for boro, and i think his combative nature will be brilliant when dealing with the monster himself, mr wilson palacios. seeing that the handicap means a draw would win full, i think boro are worth backing.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on boro +0.5 @ 1.825 = $9.125

WEST BROM vs FULHAM (EPL)

West Brom have proven that they can get goals in their last few matches. Fulham have shown that they are shitty away from home. With Andy Johnson suspended, and with Carson in goal for West Brom, I think that Fulham will have a tough time breaking West Brom down. West Brom to win, as they will be coming into this game with sky high confidence after a great win over Middlesbrough last weekend. However, Kim is out, and he has been a creative spark in their attack, so I think the handicap is safer.

Roland's prediction: $5 on West Brom -0/0.5 @ 1.900 = $9.50

west brom got an unexpected win last time out, while fulham also crashed to a rather unexpected home defeat to west ham. they have lost the last two, but i really don't see them losing this one, despite andy johnson missing out. if anything, he hasn't really set craven cottage alight yet, so his suspension might actually be a good thing. fulham will not lose 3 in a row, and given their very strong midfield of murphy, bullard and gera, i think they will at least draw this game.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on fulham +0/0.5 @ 2.00 = $10.00

STANDARD LIEGE v EVERTON (UEFA CUP)

quick quick tip. buy everton! i really don't see them losing.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on everton +0/0.5 @ 1.92 = $9.60

SHAKHTAR DONETSK vs BARCELONA (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

barcelona head into this game after a fortuitous win against espanyol in the catalan derby. performances have been bad all round, but one point to note is that they have generally come up against sides looking to contain them and restrict them to few chances. shakhtar is not a side capable of such tactics, as they are generally quite offensive in nature. the likes of ilsinho, darijo srna and fernandinho will look to attack, especially at home, and i predict barcelona will take full advantage. furthermore, barcelona's last two visits to ukraine have ended in one loss and one draw, so i fancy it's time for them to get that win.

Eddy's prediction: $5 on barcelona -0.5/1 @ 1.925 = $9.625

and today's multiplier will be:
roma level (1.83)
chelsea win (1.36)
andreas seppi v adrian mannarino (adrian seppi: 1.20)
panathinaikos -0/0.5 (1.970)

$4 pays $23.59

LAZIO vs ATALANTA (COPPA ITALIA)

Read Eddy's Torino vs Lazio post to find out why Lazio will win. Read my Roma vs Atalanta post to find out why Atalanta will lose. I'm feeling really lazy.

Roland's prediction: $5 on Lazio -0.5/1 @ 1.910 = $9.55