The US will be happy with a draw. A draw also wouldnt be a disaster for england. Lay England I reckon or else a 0-0 draw.
Mickee - Boulrahouz is only a sub. Huntelaar and Kuyt will probably only be subs unless Robben is rested early on. This is likely to be the Dutch side
--------------------Stekelenburg-------------------------
Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Mathijsen, Van Bronk
-----------De Jong, Van Bommel-----------------
Robben-----------Sneijder----------------Van Der Vaart
---------------------Van Persie---------------------------------
Will be having a cut at it too but Nani is a huge loss for Portugal. He has been their best player in any game I have seen them play in the last few years. How fit Pepe and Carvalho are will also have a bearing.
You couldnt rule out Cameroon or Nigeria either really.
After a brief few moments researching on paddy I’m going with the following anyway:
Robinho top scorer at 40/1 (actually he’s 25/1 now but he was 40s at the weekend and is presumably still 40s elsewhere). He got himself a pair of goals the other night, is in great form for Brazil, looks a guaranteed striker and can finish. He gets in great positions, looks enthusiastic playing for his country and is great value at that price.
Slovakia at 6/5 to get out of their group is excellent too as many have pointed out.
I fancy North Korea to concede most goals at 9 to 2. They’ve got Portugal, Brazil and Ivory Coast who should all be capable of beating them handily. I presume by the time you get to the final most teams have got nowhere near as many conceded as the worst group team.
Maicon is a 100/1 shot for the golden ball. He’s unlikely to win it but he is 100/1. Cannavaro only finishing second to Zidane last time isn’t a great omen but Maicon is a smashing player and could make an impact.
I thought I’d share my world cup bets and in case any of you are wondering about my pedigree, lets just say I am barred from most of the local bookies. It was for pissing in the bins but that’s not important.
Dual Forecasts to qualify from the Group - Germany & Serbia 11/8, Argentina & South Korea 10/3 and Spain & Switzerland 15/8. The Accumulator works out at about 28/1.
Switzerland have a good manager in Hitzfeld and their midfield is strong with Barnetta, Inler and Behrami. Spain should walk this group so 15/8 on Switzerland finishing second is a good bet.
North Korea to concede most goals at 9/2 - If Portugal and Ivory Coast draw in the first game, qualification could come down to how much each score against North Korea.
Top Serie A goalscorer - Diego Millito 13/2 - Only real competition is from Italys strikers but if Millito gets regular games he should outscore any Italian player.
Best young player - Christian Eriksen 35/1 - Just a small outside bet. I had a quick look at this market on Paddy Powers and when the two favourites are Thomas Muller and Carlos Vela you can probably guess that it’s not the strongest field. I haven’t seen much of Eriksen but he has been getting rave reviews and a lot is expected of him. He hasn’t started many games but is expected to break in to the team quickly.
My bet for tomorrow is Mexico 6/4 V S.A. I think these are great odds as the Africaans are shite and wont be able to handle the pace of Mexico. Ive also gone for Slovakia to qualify from their group and had an each way on the Dutch for the tournament.
That North Korea bet is a good one alright Monkey. Took Paddy Power about an hour to give it to me in a shop earlier. Had to ring head office and took fucking ages. They kept checking under “Stage of Elimination” and I kept saying, you won’t find it there.
Then the two buckos behind the counter asked me what group they’re in. I said it’s not really relevant, it won’t be in group betting. “It might be” they reckoned. It wasn’t. Clowns.
Anyway it’s a good bet. I learned during it that they’re 6/4 to concede most goals in the group stages so the odds are influenced by the top four teams playing 5 more games. Happy with it anyway.
Also with the North Korea bet, if anything happens their two keepers they only have a striker to go in goal. Very unlikely but you never know.
Mexico are a decent bet tomorrow, I think they could be surprise team of the World Cup. FIFA usually see to it that the host team get through so the 10/1 on both South Africa and Mexico getting through is tempting. South Africa aren’t great but home advantage and debatable decisions could be enough to get them through.
I like the Spain Switzerland - 15/8 seems a good price. Cheers for the heads up there.
Where is the confidence on South Korea coming from? Greece and Nigeria are hardly gimmes.
Serbia Germany - Should be a good thing but I’m not ruling out the Aussies by a long way. 15/8 on Spain Switzerland seems far better value imo.
Yep hopefully NK will be whipped. 9/2 is a good price. I think Spain will hammer seven shades of shite of out Honduras though. Another complete mismatch should be Holland against Japan.
why exactly?
im hearing many pundits talk up Autsralia on the basis that they came thru an Asian qualifying campaign and have harry kewelll and Timmy kay-hill.
that to me is not very convincing,
why are people rating them and considering them a good team?
i will stand corrected on this but from what i have seen of them since and including WC 2006 has been nothing but mediocre.
i will not back them until it has been proven to me otherwise that thay are capable of going out and winning a football match at this level.
My confidence in South Korea is more because I think Nigeria and Greece are poor teams.
South Korea always have a good work ethic and they also have players who are good on the ball, including Park Ji Sung, Lee of Bolton and Celtic’s Ki. I know these aren’t world beaters but they are all decent players. I just think they are slightly better than the two teams they will be competing with for second place. My only worry would be set-pieces when they play Greece.
I backed the eight favourites to win the groups at over 30/1.
Also did another with that left out England, France and Germany but stuck in Uruguay to qualify from the France group. This worked out at over 10/1.
Prob few will agree but decent odds I reckon.
Also reckon an Argie will be top scorer but they won’t win it. They’ll rip up the group stages given the shit in their group and depending on who looks like starting I’ll prob back Messi and one other to be top scorer.
Only one top scorer in last six tournaments, and three in last 11 has come from the winner. It’s normally goes to someone who gets a hat trick in group stages.
