Since some of the teams has lot to play for and other teams nothing you might see that some of the odds might feel a bit “strange” compared how it would be if both of the teams almost had the same motivation to fight for the win. This is an interesting fact for you people who bet on football betting to have in mind before this round.

The last group match in Champions League is always interesting from a betting perspective just because of the fact that I wrote about. So what I am going to do in these two texts is that I am going to give you bettingtips and odds from two of the groups (E + F) that is played on Wednesday. In addition, I will give you some extra, special bets, besides the 1-x-2 bettingtips. But I will start all the group analyzes with the pre conditions for each group, so that you know which teams have what to play for:

Group ET

his is interesting from the view that it is precisely three points between each team. It also means that all teams have something to play for. However, there is no question about that it is the fight for second place in the group that is most alive and interesting.

Bayern Munich leads the group with 12 points and also has a pretty strong goal difference. This means that they are already ready for the next round and are pretty sure to win the group as well. Roma is second in the group with 9 points and minus one in goal difference. Basel is third with 6 points and even goal difference and Romanian Cluj has the last position with 3 points, moreover, they have poor goal difference.

This means that Roma need to take at least one point to secure to advance from the group. Basel has a small chance to go to the knockout stage, but they must first win away against Bayern Munich away and at the same time hope that Roma do not take any point against Cluj away.

The odds, and my best bettingtips for this group (all the odds are picked from bwin football sportsbetting):

CFR Cluj vs. AS Roma, odds: home win 5.50 in odds, draw 3.40 in odds and away win 1.65 in odds

My bettingtips: Draw @ 3.40 in odds

As I wrote earlier, this is a rather tricky group. But still one must be realistic in Cluj by not having too much hope to take third place, which would mean that they go trough to play in the European League in the spring. Roma should be satisfied with one point, since that would mean that they secures second place in the group and get to the playoff in the Champions League.

Roma have played quite poorly both in the league (Serie A) and in the Champions League, at least according to their ambitions before this season. They should be pleased that they have got into such an easy group as Roma still have been compared with several other teams in the Champions League. I think the odds on Roma are a little too low in this game since they only give 1.65 in the odds. It is a too low for me to give you that tips as the best bettingtips in this game. Instead, I think that 3.40 in the odds that the match ends in a draw feel much better. A draw is always tricky to bet on, but in this team, I think it feels right. So I choose draw as my bettingtips in this game at 3.40 in odds.

FC Bayern Munich vs. FC Basel, odds: home win 1.60 in odds, draw 4.00 in odds and away win 4.80 in odds

My bettingtips: FC Bayern Munich (Home team) to win @ 1.60 in odds

If this would not be that Bayern Munich had nothing to play for and Basel had much to play, the odds would “normally” be standing at approximately 1.35 on the win for Bayern Munich. Now they pay 1.60 instead and that is to high difference in odds then I had expected. Because according to me Bayern Munich is still the stronger team even if they rest some regular players in today’s match. I think 1.60 in the odds is worth playing at and it is therefore my betting tips in this match.

Basel, on the other hand, might had paid around 8 – 10 in the odds if this were a normal game. In this match to give the less then 5.00 in the odds and, as you probably understand, it also feels too low for me to think it is worth betting on even if they have much more to play for.

My odds and bettingtips for Group F will follow in the next text a bit down

The injury to Wayne Rooney will be a worry for them although the Reds have done well in games without him. It is difficult to see how it will all end up and one little slip could be costly. Chelsea have the 2pt advantage and are four goals better off in the goal difference department and miles better than Arsenal.

The fact that Arsenal are in this title race is massive kudos for Arsene Wenger. Who is to say that they will not win it and the football betting odds will fluctuate during the coming games. All three clubs have difficult games and when you add the pressure of the situation then points will be dropped. Chelsea are clearly in a better situation than Manchester United.

If Chelsea slip and draw a game that United win then they are level but if it happens the other way around and Chelsea’s lead extends to four points with four or fewer games to go then it will be curtains for United. Many people have been saying about how United’s experience will be important. You have to remember that the spine of this Chelsea team won the League in 2005 and 2006 so they are accustomed to pressure.

But Ancelotti is a proven winner and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him do the league and cup double in his first season. I also think that his job is also on the line as a failure to win either the Champions League or the league will prove too much for owner Roman Abramovich. Winning the league after three years of being in United’s shadow will make Roman happy but I said last year that I would not be surprised to see Guus Hiddink back at that club at some stage.

Getting knocked out of the Champions League is a huge event in the season of all of the challengers although Arsenal are not in the category of clubs who were expected to win it unlike the other two. A lot will depend on how Manchester United react to losing against Bayern Munich.

When the draw came out for the last eight, I fully expected Manchester United to reach the final by beating Bayern and then the winner of the all French quarter-final. So it came as a shock to me and I still think that United are a better side than Bayern Munich. One thing is certain though, either Chelsea or United will now fall short in the season based on what was expected. If Chelsea win the league then Manchester United will only have the Carling Cup and if United win the league then Chelsea can only end up with the FA Cup at best…….if Arsenal win it then it will not make for a happy summer for them both.

Come and experience Premier League football betting for some of the best odds around.

The football betting opportunities in the FA Cup are more diverse when teams far apart in terms of skill and status square off in the early rounds. Because the top teams often rest key players for these matches particularly against comparatively weak opposition it is difficult for the bookmakers to compile the odds because the exact line up of the stronger side is often shrouded in secrecy before the match begins. Liverpool without Gerrard and Carragher demands different odds than when they play. Upsets are a part of FA Cup tradition and punters do support the underdogs to get that big win when the upsets do occur.

In the old days before Sky television an FA Cup match was one of the only times an armchair fan was able to watch a football match from their home. It was therefore something the average football fan looked forward to. Because of the novelty and excitement of watching the match on TV fans were very keen to watch the FA Cup. It meant a lot to the players too as being on television, winning cups and earning medals was the reason they played the game as they were not paid the exorbitant wages current players enjoy. They played for the love of the game and for their team mates.

Unfortunately football is so widely available to armchair supporters that, like anything else that is constantly present on TV, the novelty wore off. The large amount of football on television has even been known to destroy people’s interest in football in some cases. You can now watch a match almost every day of the week if you wish and that is a lot of football.

When Leeds beat Manchester Utd at Old Trafford recently by 1-0 with a goal from Jermaine Beckford this reminds fans that the FA Cup is still relevant to modern football and upsets can still occur. Because the top players are better prepared for football with high-tech training, diet, and psychological preparation the chances of a third division team with plenty of heart toppling a Premiership side is perhaps smaller than in previous eras of football. It can still happen, as Man Utd fans know only too well.

Chelsea are my tip to win the FA Cup this season as other favourites like Liverpool and Arsenal tinker with their teams a lot during Cup games and are vulnerable to upsets. Chelsea are always strong in their starting eleven and they will be tough to beat this year under Ancelotti. You can currently place a bet at odds of 4.75 for Chelsea to win the cup and bwin.com share my view they are the team to beat with second favourites Arsenal priced way back at odds of 7.25.

My recommendation to the readers is to take a look at the live streaming that bwin offer in their live betting section. Watching the magical FA cup matches, particularly in the early rounds where upsets can and often do happen, whist betting live is a great way to participate in the various twists and turns these football matches have.

By Malcolm Clarke

In these two texts I will give you my best picks and odds for these. I have chosen to separate Tuesday’s matches in this first article and then continue with Wednesday’s matches in next part.

One thing that you should keep in mind before betting is to watch the standings for each group and find out witch teams still have something to play for and witch teams already have secured their places. It can be a big deferens in their motivation and staring line-ups according to how important this game is. Here is a short explanation what deferens the different positions means:

Each group winner goes to the knock out round, of course, but with the added benefit that they will play the second game at home. All runner-ups in the group go to the knockout stage as well and will be drawn against the group winners. All third finishers in the groups will continue playing in the slightly less prestigious European League. And all the team that ends last in the groups have to end their European season for this year.

The pre conditions in group A – D is that Bordeaux already have won group A while Juventus and B München is fighting for the second place. Maccabi Haifa is still standing without one single point and will definitely finish last. 

In group B Manchester United, Wolfsburg and CSKA Moskva is fighting for a place in the knock out stage while Besiktas has a small chance to finish third if they beat CSKA in the last game with 1 – 0 or two goals up. 

Group C is a battle between AC Milan and Marseille for the second place. Real Madrid has already won the group and FC Zürich will finish last.

And in group D Chelsea and Porto have secured the first and second place. Atletico Madrid and Apoel are struggling to finish third.

Here are all the matches and odds that will be played on Tuesday:

 All the odds is from bwin-champions-league

Juventus 2.30 draw 3.45 FC Bayern München 2.80 

Maccabi Haifa 2.40 draw 3.30 Girondins de Bordeaudraw 2.75

Besiktas 2.75 draw 3.40 CSKA Moskva 2.35

VfL Wolfsburg 2.45 draw 3.35 Manchester United 2.65  

FC Zürich 6.75 draw 4.50 AC Milan 1.40 

Olympique de Marseille 2.95 draw 3.45 Real Madrid 2.20 

Atlético Madrid 1.75  draw 3.40 FC Porto 4.60

FC Chelsea 1.35 draw 4.40 APOEL 7.50 

And here comes my best bet for this day 

FC Zürich 6.75 draw 4.50 AC Milan 1.40 – home win @ 1.40 

Ac Milan has everything in their own hand in this last round. They are one point ahead of third placed Marseille from France and that means that if Ac Milan wins this game they are trough from this group. 

At the same time FC Zürich are five points behind Marseille, so they don’t have anything but their honour to play for.

The Italian teams, and especially Milan, have this strange ability to somehow always go trough from these tough situations that they put them selves in. And I am pretty sure that they will to the same this time as well. 

It’s remarkable that Milan only loss in this group came against Zürich at home in the second round. But that was probably a combination of underestimation and that they had some kind of over reliance of themselves. Now when the match means so much all their experience players will take a step forward and win this game for them. So even though the odds seams a bit low to be an away game in Champions League, I am pretty sure that AC Milan will go win and go trough. And if they win this game it doesn’t matter how the second match in this group between Marseille vs Real Madrid ends. 

Some other interesting odds that might be valuable:

Juventus 2.30 draw 3.45 FC Bayern München 2.80 – Draw @3.45 

This is a very interesting game in group A. Bayern München seamed to be knocked out before last round, but since Bordeaux won in their home game against Juventus the German side still have the chance to go trough. 

Juventus is one point ahead of B München before this sixth round and that means that Bayern München has to win this game to go trough, if they don’t Juventus will follow Bordeaux to the last 16. And just as I mentioned above – the Italian sides are experts on playing on result and just go trough. Even Inter Milan is in the same position as Juventus and Milan in this sixth round and I would not be surprised if all of them goes trough. 

The forth Italian team in this tournament, Fiorentina, is already in the knock out stage and it means that Italy can be the only country with four teams in the knock out stage since Liverpool and Atletico Madrid for sure will miss to qualify. 

 I think that the draw in this game in interesting, and as always the draw pays pretty well.

In the next text, below here, I continue with my best picks and analysis from group F – H.

The Champions League draw for this season, 2009-2010, is done and now we can just wait for the group stage to begin. Champions League is the greatest tournament for clubs in the world and all the matches are prestigious. That’s even a reason why I like to bet on that tournament. Even though many people thinks that it’s hard to find value-bets in Champions League I have another opinion.

Since all the matches means so much for all the clubs, both trough in a prestigious and economic way, my believes is that he who knows much about the teams quality and capacity has god chances to win in the length.

In this text I will give you my potential winners of CL 2009 / 2010 and write my thoughts and analyzes about some other top teams. I have chosen to split the text in two parts. In this part, 1 / 2, I will give you all the odds on the teams that have qualified to the tournament and give you my picks. And in next part I will give you my thoughts about some of the favourites that I don’t think will go all the way, and why I think so.

Here are all the odds (The odds are picked from Bwin-Champions League):

Real Madrid    4.25

FC Barcelona    5.00

FC Chelsea    7.00

Manchester United    9.00

FC Arsenal    9.00

Inter Milan    13.00

FC Liverpool    13.00

Juventus    21.00

AC Milan    21.00

Bayern München    23.00

Olympique Lyon    41.00

FC Sevilla    41.00

VfL Wolfsburg    41.00

Atletico Madrid    51.00

VfB Stuttgart    81.00

FC Porto    126.00

Olympiakos Pireus    151.00

Olympique de Marseille    151.00

Fiorentina    151.00

AZ Alkmaar    151.00

FC Rubin Kazan    251.00

CSKA Moskva    251.00

Besiktas    251.00

FC Dynamo Kiev    251.00

Girondins de Bordeaux    251.00

Glasgow Rangers    500.00

FC Zürich    500.00

Standard Liege    500.00

Maccabi Haifa    750.00

Debreceni    1000.00

Unirea Urziceni    1000.00

APOEL    1000.00

My Winners 1)

Chelsea to win Champions League @ 7.00

Premier League has been the strongest league in Europe for the last couples of years and they who don’t believe me can just look at the stats from Champions League.

Both last year and the year before that three out of four teams in Champions League’s semi-finals came from Premier League. Last year it was Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea and 2007 / 2008 it was Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

2007 / 2008 even had two English teams in the final when Manchester United beat Chelsea after penalties. And don’t forget that it was just seconds ago that they went to the finals even last year. Barcelona equalized against Chelsea in the last seconds of the return and “should” have been knocked out in the semis already if there where any justice in football.

So even thought some star players have left Premier League this season and Spanish La Liga have signed lots of world class players I still think that Premier League is the best league overall.

Top 2 teams in Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid, are stronger this year then the last years. But the gap after those two teams is too big to compare with Premier League of being the best league in Europe (and the world).

I bet Chelsea as my primary winner because I find a value on that bet. They pay 7 times the bet and if you take a look on their last performances in Champions League they really deserve to win this year. Last year (2008 / 2009) they where knocked out at the second in the semi finals last year. The year before that (2007 / 2008) they ended second after that John Terry missed the last penalty (and then Anelka) against Manchester United in the finals. Even the year before that (2006 / 2007) they reached the semi finals and got knocked out against Liverpool after penalties again.

Chelsea still has their strong team from the last years and I think they have the strongest team in Premier League this season. I think the players are thirsty for a European title and think they have great chances to win this year.

My Winners 2)

Real Madrid to win Champions League @ 4.75

If I let myself pick two possible winners of Premier League 2009 / 2010 I just can’t choose to not pick Real Madrid as one of those.

Real Madrid have won the European cup (not only Champions League but totally) more times then any other opponent and have a winning tradition.

But it was long time ago that they managed to win Champions League now and that must be one of the reasons that the club / president have invested unreal sums of money on new players this year.

With new players like Christiano Rolando, Karim Benzema and Kaka in the squad forward and Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso to balance the team defensive this is one of the best club teams in Europe for the last decades. If only manager Manuel Pellegrini can keep a god atmosphere in the dressing room I think that Real Madrid will challenge for the title in May.

/Amrish

Continuities with part 2:2 just below.

It will be interesting to see how United cope without Ronaldo and Tevez and if Valencia and Owen will settle in quickly enough to adequately fill the gap. Manchester City have been splashing the cash again after spending a reputed £25 million on Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal.

Along with Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz and Carlos Tevez, they now boast one of the best strike forces in the league. They still chase John Terry of course as rumours fly that the Chelsea captain is becoming increasingly frustrated at how Chelsea have reacted to the interest from City.

Talk of a £300,000 a week salary has been rife but Terry seems to be angered by the stance of Chelsea in that they appear to be automatically taking for granted the fact that Terry will not leave. Close friends of Terry appear to be saying that it is in the balance whether he leaves or not. If he does go then this could prove pivotal in Chelsea’s chances of wrestling the title away from Manchester United next season.

In past seasons, Chelsea have never looked the same defensively whenever Terry has been absent and it will be a massive blow for new manager Carlo Ancelotti if he is to start the new season without his talismanic captain.

As always there will be massive gambling interest in the league title and not just in England but all over the world. At this time the Premier League is the most bet-on football league anywhere in the world. The sheer global appeal of the Premier League and the fact that there is so much known about the teams by the gamblers means that they have far more confidence when it comes to betting and risking money.

In fact many shrewd gamblers look to make a quick killing on the Premier League by assessing the fixture list first. One of the drawbacks to placing a bet on the winner of the league at the start of the season is in the length of time that it will take for you to get your winnings. Long term markets tend to put off an awful lot of pro gamblers for this very reason because it is tying up money for too long…..money that could easily be used down other avenues.

However there is potential profit in laying one of the big four at the start of the season and this can especially be the case if they are starting with what are relatively difficult fixtures. It isn’t difficult to envisage Liverpool for example dropping a few points if their first five matches are against Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa, Fulham and Chelsea. If Liverpool only have say five points after five matches then their price for the title will drift accordingly.

Also top sides can easily have a poor opening month, one only has to look at Manchester United last season who got off to a poor start by their standards for proof of that. It is the average performances over the space of a season that dictates who the top sides are at the end and that fails to show itself during the opening matches with great regularity. Laying a short priced top four side at the start of the season could lead to guaranteed profit after just a few matches as you can back them at a higher price, thus locking in the profit.

Today it’s time for the last game for this season, and as usual it’s the FA-Cup final that ends the football season. And as usual it’s going to be played in one game, at Wembley Arena with almost 90 000 fans on the grandstand.

But all you football-lovers can cheer up anyway. Because we have a great Under 21 European Championship waiting just in some weeks and seen to the squads that have been presented I can assure you all that it will be a great tournament with all the most talented players that we have in Europe.

I will be back with all my best picks from that tournament later in June, so don’t be to sad that the league season is over soon.

But now back to the FA-cup final between Chelsea vs Everton, here is my pick for the game:

Chelsea vs Everton, home win @ 1.67

Chelsea had a pretty bad start of this season. But since Gus Hiddink took over as manager (after Luis P Scolari) they have both been playing well and started to win matches. But still they risk standing there without a trophy at the end of the season if they don’t win today.

Everton have made a great season, as we start to get used to, and Moyce´s team are pretty stable just after the top4. This year they ended fifth in Premier League and since even they had a pretty bad start of the season it’s a god mark.

Everton beat Manchester United, after penalties, in the FA-cup Semi-finals and even that is a nice record for David Moyce and his team.

But even though Everton has made a strong season and even though they knocked out Man United in the semi finals I have a strong feeling that Chelsea will win this game. They are the stronger team and a season without trophies is a bad season for a team with Chelsea’s capacity and skills irrespective of that they are in Final in FA-cup, almost came to the Final in Champions League and a third place in Premier League.

Normally I wound not bet on Chelsea, on neutral ground, to 1.67 in odds against a team with Everton’s defence and ability to play god against stronger teams. But as I wrote before this is more then a “normal” match. This game can be compared to a Champions League match or World cup / European Cup. And what happens in these kinds of games is that the better team often wins at last. Chelsea is the better side here and if you break down each part of the team (Goalie, defenders, midfield, and offence) and compare them to each others I think that Chelsea is stronger in every part of the field.

My Guess is that Chelsea will have the following start-up:

P Cech – J Bosingwa, Alex, J Terry, A Cole – J-O Mikel, M Essien, F Lampard – F Malouda, D Drogba,  N Anelka.

Maybe the German Midfielder M Ballack will start instead of Mikel, but my first guess is that the Nigerian Mikel’s going to start in the start-up squad.

And this strong team will probably beat Everton with one or two goals in this FA-cup final (2-1 or 3-1?)

The odds are picked from Bwin.com football.

God Luck

/Amrish

And just as last year there are three out of four English teams in the semi finals. Even then it was Barcelona that broke the English wall and became the only “non-English” side to go as far as Semi-final. That year they got out kicked by Manchester United, and this year its Chelsea’s turn to try to make even this years final fully English.

Premier League is defiantly the best league in Europe (and of course in the world as well). But I’d really like to se Barcelona in this years final. Not because of that I support them nor because I have anything against Chelsea. The only reason why I hope for Barcelona to go to the finals is that I want to se a Champions League final with two teams from two different countries.

Today I am going to try to give you my best pick for today’s game between Barcelona vs Chelsea in this blogg:

Barcelona vs Chelsea, home win @ 1.60

I try to hold apart my personal feelings from my betting picks when I place a bet. But in this game I really give Barcelona good chances to win and put the pressure on Chelsea before the second game at Stamford Bridge next week.

It seemed like the Spanish players had this game in their minds already against Valencia in their last league game seen to their performance and attitude. They almost played with their best team but still they players looked a bit lost and didn’t went in to the fight with 100 % attitude.

Chelsea won against West ham in a game that was very lucky for them. Beside a penalty-miss from Hammers the Chelsea keeper Petr Cech made lots of great saves and won the game for his Chelsea almost alone.

Chelsea is a strong team at the moment and since their new manager (Guus Hiddink) came to the club they have shown great strength in both Premier League and Champions League. But Barcelona has shown same strength trough out the season and are magical to watch at their best moments. Leo Messi is probably the best player in the world right now and if he is good he can win matches for Barcelona on his own.

My guess is that Chelsea is going to try to defend as far as possible to keep 0 – 0. Probably they think that even if they loose with 1 – 0 they have good chances to turn the game to their favour at home. Barcelona on the other side defiantly is going for an early goal and put some pressure on their opponents just as they did against B Munich in the Quarter finals. And if they can play with same power of attacking football as they showed back there I think that no team can beat them this year. Not even Chelsea or Manchester United.

I assume that the teams will start with following line-up:

Barcelona:

Valdes, Dani Alves – Puyol – Márquez – Abidal , Yaya Touré – Xavi – Iniesta ,Henry – Eto’o – Messi

Chelsea:

Cech, Bosingwa – Alex – Terry – Ivanovic,  Ballack – Essien – Lampard, Anelka – Drogba – Malouda

If I compare the players against each other I think that the Spanish side is the stronger one. As I wrote before, I have big respect for Hiddink on Chelsea’s bench. But I still think that Barcelona’s going to win this game thanks to their home advantage.

The odds are picked from Bwin-football-odds.

Good luck

/Amrish

Beside that great game we can even look forward to an intensive north england derby between the rivals, Newcastle united vs Sunderland at St Jame´s park. You can always read more on UK football betting, so you get updated on latest news and betting tips in UK.

However, here are my thoughts and picks from todays game:

Liverpool – Chelsea – Liverpool to win @ 2.30

These two team have played sooo many games latley because of all the games in different cup-games besides all the Premier League matches. Totaly Liverpool and Chelsea have played 21 ( !! ) matches between each other since the season 2004/2005 unitll now so the players know each others for sure.

If we only look at the Premier League matches since 2004 / 2005 we have totaly nine games with 2 wins for Pool, 2 draws and 5 wins for Chelsea. At the same time Liverpool won the last game away at Stamford Brigde and are still competing with Chelsea and United in the top of the league, something they haven´t been doing the last years.

Before this game Manchester United is in the top of the league with 53 points, 5 more then both this team. Since 23 games have been played and Manchester United is showing a great strenght I think this game between Liverpool and Chelsea is totaly decisive for the comming. If Liverpool or Chelsea wins today they have a chance on United but if they draw I think it will be tough to come back.

When these two teams met in autumn at Stamford Brigde most people and experts thought that Chelsea would win pretty easy but Liverpool showed that they wanted to play with the big cats this season and won. In fact Liverpool have shown great capacity against the big 4 by winning against both Chelsea (away) and Manchester United (home)m and shared the point against Arsenal away. So seven out of totaly 9 points so far against the top competitors was long time ago.

Unforunatley both this teams have dropped lots of unnecessary points against teams from the middle and bottom of the table and thats why United are in top.

What about the squads today?

Chelsea will probably have to play against their important defender Ricardo Carvalho because of an injury. Essien and Joe Cole will miss the game aswell. In Liverpool Torres is going fully now and will be able to play. My guess is that Liverpool will play with Torres alono on top, and Riera, Gerrard and Kuyt behind him.

On the central midfield i think Aloso and Mascherano will clean up behind to attacking players and these two defensive midfielders are really good in big games. Reina will ofcourse watch the goal and in front of him I think Aureloi, Carragher, Skretl and Arbeloa will play defenders.

Chelsea will probably face the following 11 players: Petr Cech, José Bosingwa – John Terry – Alex – Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard – John Obi Mikel – Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou – Didier Drogba – Nicolas Anelka

My theory is that Liverpools stronger midfeild will win this game for the home team and thats why I pick Liverpool as my winner here. Its even silly to say that the homecrowd will be a great support in this kind of matches. It feels like its now or never for Pool and with “You´ll never walk alone” from the kup every player will lift 10% more.

The odds is picked from Bwin odds

/Good Luck, Amrish

Manchester United did just what they had to and won with 1 to 0 against Everton home at Old Trafford. It wasn´t so impressive win, but its at the same time a strenght to win against a stronge side as Everton without impressing.

Beside that great game we can even look forward to an intensive north england derby between the rivals, Newcastle united vs Sunderland at St Jame´s park.

Here are my thoughts and picks from todays game:

Liverpool – Chelsea – Liverpool to win @ 2.30

These two team have played sooo many games latley because of all the games in different cup-games besides all the Premier League matches. Totaly Liverpool and Chelsea have played 21 ( !! ) matches between each other since the season 2004/2005 unitll now so the players know each others for sure.

If we only look at the Premier League matches since 2004 / 2005 we have totaly nine games with 2 wins for Pool, 2 draws and 5 wins for Chelsea. At the same time Liverpool won the last game away at Stamford Brigde and are still competing with Chelsea and United in the top of the league, something they haven´t been doing the last years.

Before this game Manchester United is in the top of the league with 53 points, 5 more then both this team. Since 23 games have been played and Manchester United is showing a great strenght I think this game between Liverpool and Chelsea is totaly decisive for the comming. If Liverpool or Chelsea wins today they have a chance on United but if they draw I think it will be tough to come back.

When these two teams met in autumn at Stamford Brigde most people and experts thought that Chelsea would win pretty easy but Liverpool showed that they wanted to play with the big cats this season and won. In fact Liverpool have shown great capacity against the big 4 by winning against both Chelsea (away) and Manchester United (home)m and shared the point against Arsenal away. So seven out of totaly 9 points so far against the top competitors was long time ago.

Unforunatley both this teams have dropped lots of unnecessary points against teams from the middle and bottom of the table and thats why United are in top.

What about the squads today?

Chelsea will probably have to play against their important defender Ricardo Carvalho because of an injury. Essien and Joe Cole will miss the game aswell. In Liverpool Torres is going fully now and will be able to play. My guess is that Liverpool will play with Torres alono on top, and Riera, Gerrard and Kuyt behind him.

On the central midfield i think Aloso and Mascherano will clean up behind to attacking players and these two defensive midfielders are really good in big games. Reina will ofcourse watch the goal and in front of him I think Aureloi, Carragher, Skretl and Arbeloa will play defenders.

Chelsea will probably face the following 11 players: Petr Cech, José Bosingwa – John Terry – Alex – Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard – John Obi Mikel – Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou – Didier Drogba – Nicolas Anelka

My theory is that Liverpools stronger midfeild will win this game for the home team and thats why I pick Liverpool as my winner here. Its even silly to say that the homecrowd will be a great support in this kind of matches. It feels like its now or never for Pool and with “You´ll never walk alone” from the kup every player will lift 10% more.

The odds is picked from Bwin.com odds

/Good Luck, Amrish