Tag: football betting

Man City to get Their Title Campaign Back on Track

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

THERE is a whole host of “must win” games in the Premier League this weekend and that is certainly the case when Manchester City host strugglers Swansea at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.

After a mid-season blip, City finally looks to be getting back to their early season best form and are a very warm 1.20 favourite win and put the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the table with another three points against the Swans.

City arrives in confident mood after back-to-back wins scoring seven goals in the process and not conceding, and another easy win looks on the cards, despite Swansea arriving in Manchester in decent form themselves.

The visitors have won their last two matches as well including a famous 3-2 success at Anfield on their last road trip, but with City expected to let loose from the shackles in this one, this is going to be a long, tough afternoon for new Swansea boss Paul Clement.

I can see Pep Guardiola going for it for the remainder of the Premier League campaign which means that City matches are going to be very entertaining to watch and the one thing that looks certain in this one is goals and a lot of them.

Goals are the Way to go in Man City Matches for Remainder of Season

Nine of the last ten City games have seen over 2.5 goals and that has also been a winning bet in 12 of the last 14 in Swansea matches; the over 2.5 goals line at 1.40 is a very short price in that market, but it does look the banker in the match, and also at 2.05 with BetVictor over 3.5 goals looks worthy of support as well.

Whilst we are on the goals theme both teams have scored in the last seven matches between these two sides and a “yes” in this one is certainly a bet in the BTTS coupon this weekend at 1.95 with Betfair Sportsbook and at the 11.00 I will be taking City to keep their title challenge right on track with a 3-1 win with Bet365.

Sergio Aguero looks a shadow of the player he was at the start of the season. He’s clearly unhappy at the moment and is a false favourite at 3/1 to open the goal scoring.

The Argentinian striker’s days at the Etihad look clearly limited, his body language doesn’t look great and he’s far from a certain starter at the weekend.

New signing Gabriel Jesus looks the real deal and the long term replacement for Aguero and he can answer punters prayers with the opening goal at 4.50 with Paddy Power.

Super Bowl prop bets: the good, the bad, the crazy

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The Super Bowl is sure to be one of the biggest betting events of 2017 and NFL fans are by no means restricted to betting on traditional lines like outright winner, point spread and points total. In the buildup to the big game the leading bookmakers compete to offer the weirdest and most wonderful prop bets (special bets) to make headlines and win business. Getting involved can be great fun, but also a good way to waste your money, so here we have rounded up the good, the bad and the crazy from this year’s prop bets:

The Good

The obvious bets are outright winner (the New England Patriots should win it), point spread (the Atlanta Falcons might sneak this as it is forecast to be close) and points totals (under 58.5 looks good thanks to the strength of the Pats’ defence). But a really important prop bet can be added to that mix: Super Bowl MVP. In the last 15 years a quarterback has won it nine times, a wide receiver three times, a wide receiver twice and a safety once. Chances are it will be won by a quarterback again and that pits Tom Brady against Matt Ryan. History is in Brady’s favour as he has already won Super Bowl MVP three times and is a big game player. Matt Ryan is the hottest QB in the league right now, but that might not be enough to stop Brady. He is odds-on favourite at 10/11 with Paddy Power, while Ryan is 15/8 with Sky Bet.

One spanner in the works could be Julio Jones, Atlanta’s beast of a receiver, who looks interesting at 16/1 with William Hill and Bet365. He also looks a good option at 8/1 to score the first touchdown. Another good prop bet is half-time/full-time. If you fancy the Patriots to dominate, you can get 11/8 with Ladbrokes on them winning half-time/full-time, better than the 4/6 available on them winning outright. The 8/9 on New England winning more turnovers looks great too. LaGarette Blount at 4/1 for most rushing yards looks an interesting bet as the Pats will try to grind the Falcons down, and he is another good bet for first touchdown at 8/1 with Bet365.

The Bad

You can get 18/1 on the winner successfully defending the Super Bowl next season, but Brady is ageing and the Falcons probably won’t reach the big game again, so this looks best avoided. The 5/2 on a kicker missing an extra point looks a terrible idea. The 66/1 on someone achieving a Hail Mary looks tempting, but again best avoided, as is the 4/1 on a defensive touchdown being given away and the 13/1 on a kick return touchdown as these defences are too good for that.

The Crazy

Here we go. This year you can bet on: the primary colour of Joe Buck’s tie, the pattern of his tie, the extent of his facial hair, the amount of times Robert Kraft is shown on TV, the likelihood of a halftime sound malfunction, a wardrobe malfunction, Lady Gaga’s outfit, her hair colour and song choice, the visibility of her belly button, someone catching fire at the halftime show, how long the national anthem will take, Gaga getting booed, who will air the first commercial, who will win best commercial, anti-Trump speeches being made, whether a snake will make an appearance and many, many more. Most are fun if you’re only throwing small change on them, but two that could be interesting are: going over the over/under weight (249.5 lbs) of the heaviest player to score a touchdown as Blount is over, and the 7/4 on the first mention of Deflategate being in the first quarter.

Tottenham vs Middlesbrough – Spurs looking to bounce back

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

High flying Spurs have taken 2 points from the last two games, including a disappointing 0-0 draw away against lowly Sunderland last Tuesday. They are looking to bounce back at home against a Boro side hovering above the relegation zone.

Playing catch up

Spurs’ form over the Christmas period was truly breathtaking, winning 7/8, including against bitter rivals Chelsea, a game that gave oxygen to the title race. But recent draws against Man City and Sunderland in the league, and their chaotic last minute win against Wycombe in the FA cup, have left the Tottenham faithful slightly on edge. Pochettino will be eager to prove that his squad isn’t stalling in its attempt to bring home their first top flight trophy since 1961, even as Chelsea edge even further in front. The slip up against Sunderland was a missed opportunity to capitalise on Chelsea dropping points against Liverpool and Arsenal’s utterly woeful home defeat against a Watford team who had lost to League 1 Millwall only 3 days before.

A classic Moyes rearguard action left Pochettino deeply frustrated on Tuesday, claiming that “We should have won. It was a massive opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea.” He wouldn’t be wrong to expect a similar approach from Aitor Karanka, whose Boro team’s only saving grace seems to be their ability to shut opponents out. Spurs will have to rekindle some of their flair of recent performances. But all things considered, they should expect to take 3 points at home.

Pochettino could well be without goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, and Kieran Trippier is in doubt as well. Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen and Erik Lamela are all out with more long term injuries.

Treading water

Karanka’s perennial concern has been his team’s lack of goals; they have managed only 2 in the league in 2017, and 19 for the season overall. At first, it seemed their lack of goals might not be so compounding as to see them threatened by relegation, they were grinding out results at home and even picking up some away points at the beginning of the season. But in the cold, hard light of 2017, Boro are looking very capable of backsliding into a relegation dog fight. Sitting in 15th, with 21 points, a defeat to Spurs could potentially see them slip into the relegation zone for the first time this season, although there is only a slim chance of that happening.

Despite Spurs’ missing goalkeeper, it seems doubtful they will free scoring this Saturday. More likely, they will try and replicate their low scoring away draws with Man City and Arsenal earlier in the season. Head to head, there isn’t much to go on: Spurs won 2:1 in the corresponding fixture at the Riverside in September, but they haven’t otherwise played since 2009 when Boro was last in the Prem.

Boro have George Friend, Calum Chambers and Gaston Ramirez all unavailable.

The value

There is no value betting on a straight win for Spurs at 1/4 on Bet365, but Spurs to Win & BTTS No at 5/6 is tastier, considering Boro’s impotence up front, and could be worth including in an accumulator.

Bet Victor has Delle Alli to score anytime at 19/20 and Son Heung-Min at 5/4, which seems good value considering their form.

Chelsea vs. Arsenal: Can Chelsea Keep Another Clean Sheet?

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Some believe it’s already too late for Arsenal to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title, but if the Gunners are going to do it then February 4th’s clash with Chelsea is a good place to start. Heading into the game, Chelsea appears to have an unbreakable hold over the league.

With 23 games played, 18 wins and 56 points on the board, it looks as though the title is Antonio Conte’s to lose. However, Arsenal and Tottenham haven’t exactly been slouches this season. Although the London clubs are nine points behind Chelsea, a win for the former on February 4 could put the pressure on. Of course, there’s a huge difference between thinking and doing and Arsenal will have to be on top form if they want to get a result at Stamford Bridge.

Experts Don’t Have Confidence in Arsenal

Now, if you listen to Jamie Carragher, Arsenal will be lucky to get a draw on Saturday. With Chelsea drawing at Liverpool and Arsenal ending a disappointing performance against Watford as 2-1 losers, Carragher believes Arsene Wenger’s men will struggle.

“You always feel with Arsenal in the big games they’ll be found out or just come up a little bit short. I don’t see it being any different at Stamford Bridge,” the former Liverpool player told Sky Sports.

Whether or not Carragher is right, the bookmakers seem to agree. The current outright betting line at Sun Bets has the home side as the even-money favourites with the visitors out at 11/4. Things don’t get much better for the Gunners over at Paddy Power with the odds showing 13/5 for the win and 9/4 on the draw.

Arsenal Can Score, but Will They?

For Arsenal fans, it’s not all doom and gloom in the stats department. When it comes to goals scored, Arsenal is leading Chelsea at a difference of 51 to 48. Unfortunately, it’s goals against that seems to be letting Arsenal down. As they showed in the Watford game, they’re more than capable of scoring. However, they’re also prone to letting goals slip. With 25 conceded (Chelsea 16 against), it’s hard to see how Chelsea won’t score at least one on February 4.

If Chelsea does score, recent results suggest that Arsenal probably won’t. Even though a strike rate of 51 goals in 23 games shows they’re more than capable of finding the net, Arsenal’s last nine matches against Chelsea have seen only one team score.

History Suggests a Shutout is Likely

Going all the way back to December 2013, Chelsea has won five games without conceding, while Arsenal has done the same on two occasions. Even the two draws were goalless affairs, which suggests that once one of these teams starts to dominate, they tend to completely shut out the other.

Looking back at the odds, 0-0 is currently 9:1 at 888sport, while 1-0 in favour of the home side is 7:1. For the adventurous, 11:1 is the price for the classic 1 nil to Arsenal but for our money 2-0 Chelsea at 9:1 looks to be the bet of the day. With Arsenal coming into the game on a downer and Chelsea looking strong against Liverpool, it looks as though all three points will stay at Stamford Bridge this time around. If that does prove to be the case, look for Chelsea to come away with a clean sheet and at least a goal or two.

Who Will Win the Top Midlands Derby?

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

Leicester City may have been crowned champions last season but that is well and truly in the past now. There is little doubt as to who the current top two teams are in the midlands. That honour belongs to West Brom and Stoke City. Once again they are showing the rest of the league how to survive comfortably in what is the toughest league in Europe. Their respective managers Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes must take a lot of credit for that.

The balance of power in the midlands has swung away from Aston Villa and Birmingham City in recent seasons. West Brom is best-priced 11-8 with BetVictor and as the home team are rightly the clear favourites. Tony Pulis spent several successful seasons at Stoke and was the guiding force behind their transition into being a regular Premier League club.

Simply Nothing to Choose

The fact of the matter is that there is simply nothing to choose between these two clubs. This has been the case for the past several seasons. Clubs like West Brom and Stoke never seem to fire the imagination but both of them play entertaining football when they need to and are a match for any top club on their day.

Stoke are a best-priced 12-5 with Bet365 while the draw is an interesting 11-5. If you fancy these two teams to battle out a draw but you don’t fancy the 11-5 then why not take the better odds of 4-1 on the score being level at half-time and full-time? That seems to be better value given the fact that there is so little to choose between these teams.

Stoke have the Flair Players

Stoke City do seem to have the better of it when it comes to talent. Players like Marko Arnautovic, Charlie Adam and Xerdan Shaqiri are players who can turn a game and excite the crowd. West Brom, on the other hand, have grit and that reflects their “no nonsense” manager Tony Pulis. Games like these are often decided by singular moments of brilliance or a big decision by the referee or possibly by pure luck. There are rarely comfortable wins for either team and that especially applies to the away team.

So we can expect a close encounter with the winning margin being no more than two goals at best. Stoke and West Brom are renowned for grinding results out with their solid approaches and that is why they are where they are in the league table.

Man United vs. Hull: Could Mourinho’s Denial Prove Fatal?

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Hull might have edged out Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side in their recent EFL Cup semi-final, but it was the Red Devils that ultimately progressed to the final.

However, although United are now one step closer to winning their first trophy under Mourinho, their route to finale was less than impressive. What’s more, with Hull set to reappear like a bad dream on February 1 for United’s next Premier League clash, it could be another long night for the Old Trafford faithful.

Of course, if you’ve read or heard anything from Mr Mourinho following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Hull in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final, you’ll know that he has a slightly different take on reality. Yes, we know he’s been prone to self-absorbed, fantasy-filled rants in his time, but his latest comments suggest he may be losing touch with reality.

Has Mourinho Lost the Plot?

Speaking after the match, Mourinho insisted that he “only saw two goals” and “it was 1-1”. Now, for anyone with two eyes on the match, it was clearly a 2-1 for Hull. Not only that, but Hull actually had control of the game for large periods of play. Some tactical changes by Marco Silva, plus a goal from loan striker Oumar Niasse, meant Hull looked stronger than they have for much of the season.

In fact, it was some canny substitutions just after half-time that really produced some inspiring performances. Abel Hernandez didn’t get too much time to shine in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch, but his presence certainly gave Hull more attacking impetus. Similarly, Evandro Goebel was able to show some flashes of brilliance, especially with his deliveries into the box. Although Hull still has a lot of work to do if they’re going to pull themselves out the relegation zone, the fact Silva was able to change things up and get a result against United is encouraging.

Teams Can Drown Living in Denial

Now, back to Mourinho. Maybe it was the fact he’d had a few drinks to celebrate his birthday before the match or maybe he just couldn’t believe it was Hull that snapped a 17-game unbeaten streak, either way, his reaction was strange (even by his standards). While it’s fair to say his comments may have been manufactured for the media, denial is a slippery slope. If the man in charge of Man United’s fortunes isn’t willing to acknowledge his team weren’t good enough to beat Hull, then it could lead to issues in the future.

Failing to plug leaks or change tactics just because you “think” they’re good enough is a recipe for disaster. Of course, we all know Mourinho is an accomplished manager. However, if he’s unable to separate his personal pride from any sort of objective reason then United could easily find themselves in trouble. Indeed, when Hull comes to town on February 1 the players will certainly take some confidence from their recent 2-1 win.

Naturally, if United want to play the “past results” game, then there will only be one winner. Of the 11 meetings between the two clubs, United have won nine, drawn once and lost once. With that sort of record, the home side should be practically brimming with confidence. However, we all know that football can be fickle and if the likes of Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic fall into Mourinho’s trap, things could easily turn sour on Wednesday.

United are Still the Favourites

OK, so what does all this mean? Well, in reality, it might not mean very much. If we look at the facts, United are clearly the better side and they’ve proved that numerous times this season. Subscribing to this philosophy should, therefore, lead us towards a United win. If that’s the case then we have to be prepared to take some fairly uninspiring odds from the top bookies. Sun Bets currently has a win for Mourinho’s men priced at 2/13, while 888sport has a slightly more attractive 2/11.

Of course, if you want slightly more bang for your buck as a United fan, 1-0 or 2-0 with William Hill can be had for 7/1 and 5/1 respectively. However, for our money, there’s a lot of value in backing Hull on this occasion. Does this mean we’re telling you Hull will definitely win? No, what we mean is that the current prices don’t seem to reflect the team’s actual chances of winning.

Don’t be Afraid to Take a Punt

For example, Sun Bets currently has Hull priced at 16/1 for the win. Even under normal circumstances, this is a huge price for a two-team match. So, when you factor in the recent result and a possible mental meltdown from Mourinho, this betting line starts to look even more attractive.

If you like to be a little more cautious, 11/2 (William Hill) on a draw still has a healthy amount of value to it. However, we’ll repeat it again: this doesn’t mean Hull will realistically start the match as favourites. Sports betting is all about finding situations where the odds don’t necessarily reflect reality.

In this situation, it’s clear Silva’s men will be buoyed by their recent success and up for the match in a way they otherwise might not have been. With this being the case, it could pay dividends to go against the grain and take a punt on the underdog when Hull travel to United on Wednesday.