The title should betray my feelings on betting on International football. It's very hard to be that clued up when the teams only get together once every few months and then you can't always be sure of the teams put out. There are some sides that are priced more on past endeavours than recent history and that allows for a bit of a poke, but I would recommend stearing clear of blowing any serious reddies on them. Music this time comes from The Donna's with Do You Wanna Hit It? A fantastic riff makes this an absolute belter of a tune. Even if it is girls with guitars, what's that all about eh?
Serbia v Northern Ireland, Friday 1930
My first tip is this intriguing match. After rioting quite spectacularly in Italy before their last qualifier, Serbia will play this match behind closed doors. They have got some promising players, and the magnificent Nemanja Vidic, but they are yet to shine in this campaign. Norn Iron on the other hand have probably overperformed in terms of results. Although, with their 'style' of play under Worthington you would struggle to use perform in any other context about them. They have got some real battlers in the side and are adept at keeping it tight at the back and looking for set piece goals to sneak matches. And without the usual vociferous Eastern European backing I think the Serbs may struggle to break them down. I'm not sure if Norn Iron can last the whole match, but I'd be very tempted by 2.3 at Betfred about a Half Time Draw.
Slovenia v Italy, Friday 1945
Another match this evening is this, and there will be some fireworks I would have thought. Slovenia appointed national football icon, and all-round flaming mentalist, Zlatko Zahovic as manager before the campaign and he has not been short of opinions on Italian football. He has said that it is on the slide and has predicted an easy 2-0 win for Slovenia. Christ. Whilst I would agree that Italy is definitely not a vintage team at present, Slovenia are hardly Brazil 1970 either. They're a bunch of cloggers with their star player playing for FC Groningen in Holland. I'm sure they'll put on a performance, and might even keep it tight, but I would expect Italy to triumph. In Cesar Prandelli they finally have a man not flogging the old brigade to death and finally introducing some flair. Both Cassano and Pazzini have been in fine form since their January moves to the Milan clubs and should combine to lethal effect. Odds of 2.3 are widely available on an Italy win and I think they're one of the better bets of the weekend.
Bulgaria v Switzerland, Saturday 1645
Two of the other teams in England's qualifying group meet in Bulgaria on Saturday afternoon. Switzerland always seem to produce some talented kids now, but they seem to struggle to produce strikers. There really have been one of note since Stephane Chapuisat except the injury prone Alex Frei. For this reason as much as anything else they don't tend to produce cracking games. They're similar in style to Stoke sadly, but without Rory Delap to hurl a missile in. Bulgaria would be a lot more threatening with Dimi Berbatov up top, but he's followed the traditional Man Utd route and retired from his country as soon as he turned 30. The fucking traiterous sod. Anyhoo, this is a match to avoid viewing. Under 2.25 goals at 1.83 at Victor Chandler for me.
Bosnia v Romania, Saturday 1815
My last tip comes from Eastern Europe again with the up and coming Bosnia against the used to be good Romania. The last memorable thing Romania did was probably when the 90's team of characters like Popescu and Hagi all dies their hair bleach blond, the cads! They have been, with the notable exception of the excellent Christian Chivu, pretty goddam dogshit. Bosnia are obviously not a particularly old team, with the country only a recent addition to the world map. Players like Musimovic and Dzeko are a class above anything that Romania have to offer and they should put them to the sword without much struggle. Odds of 2.25 on Bosnia look very backable to me so fill yer boots!
No comments:
Post a Comment