However, Germany has actually impressed more on me then Argentina, since Argentina where one of my potential winners before the World cup started. Germany came to this World cup without really being one of the favourites, which feels a bit strange now when they have proved so much. Germany is a strange nation when it comes to World cup. They are not often counted as one of the biggest favourites, but still they always makes it at least to the quarterfinals, often further then that. Now the two big giants face again in a world championship and I will try to give you my best game tips from this match:

Argentina vs. Germany, odds: Argentina to win, odds: 2.35, draw, odds: 3.35, Germany to win, odds: 2.85

My bettingtips:

Argentina vs. Germany, Argentina to win @ 2.35 in odds

This is a hard game to predict, but I have a feeling that Argentina is the better side. Those two teams actually played a friendly just before the world cup and that time Argentina won with 1 – 0. In addition, not only that, they where even way better then Germany in that game. But that was then and this is now. Because Germany has shown that, they are a totally different team then theu where in the qualification and the friendly’s. When Michael Ballack got injured most of us thought that Germany was going to get a tough championship. Instead all the youngsters has grown to world class players and are really good at the moment.

Both Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira and Thomas Muller where pretty unknown for most of the non-German people before the World cup started and now its them who are holding the team up. It was those three who outplayed England totally and now they are in a new quarterfinal.

But I think it will end here. Argentina has even better players in their squad with players like Leo Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Carlos Tevez on the attacking line. They have more players to bring on if it wont work with these, such as Diego Milito, Kun Aguerro and Martin Palermo.

Behind all these attackers, Argentina has De Maria, Juan Veron and Javier Mascherano. There are muscles in the Argentenean team as well, clearly.

This will be a great offensive battle to watch and I think that the South Americans will win with stand as winners. My feeling is that both teams will try to play the way they have played so far in the World cup, which means many players in the attacks. Argentina is the favourites both according to me and the odds and me that bwin offers. But I have leaned to never underestimate Germany, so I keep the stake low.

Argentina vs. Germany, over / under 2,5 goals – Odds: Over 2,5 goals 1.90 in odds – Under 2.5 goals 1.80 in odds

My bettingtips:

Argentina vs Germany, over 2,5 goals @ 1.90 in odds

This is a really good bet if you ask me. Both of these teams are offensive in their way of playing and they have also played like that. Both Argentina and Germany have their strongest players in the attacking line or as offensive midfielders which makes me believe that it defiantly can be more then three goals in this game.

I am a bit surprised that bwin holds under 2,5 goals as favourites in this game since both teams are playing as offensive as they are.  I rather think that this game can end like 4 – 2 in any direction then 1 – 0.  In the second rounds, first matches both Argentina and Germany showed that they keep attacking even though they have the lead, and that is really good for this bet. Germany took an early lead against England but they kept attacking. With fast counter attacks and fantastic passing skills, they made the English players look chocked. The game ended 4 – 1 to Germany and who could have expected five goals in that game?

Even Argentina showed in their game, against Mexico, that they kept attacking after their early lead. They had 1 – 0 but kept playing forward which lead to both 2 – 0 and 3 – 0. After that, Mexico scored a goal but Argentina’s win was never threatened.

Therefore, I have big hopes that it will be scored at least three goals in this game, maybe even more, and am happy to get as high odds as 1.90 on this bet from bwin sportsbetting odds. This time I choose to bet a higher stake since I find the bet so good.

Good luck with your World cup betting

/Amrish

As an add on to talking about market speed then I think that it is only fair that we now discuss the dangers of betting in running and how market speed ties in with that. The amount of time that you will have to place your wager while an event is in progress is really dependent on the type of event. If you are watching the final round of the US Masters from the Augusta National for instance and Tiger Woods hits a 320 yard drive off the 15th tee in the closing stages to set up a possible birdie chance, then you have several minutes before he walks down the fairway and plays his next shot in which to place a bet.

Likewise in a game like Tennis for instance, there is a period where the players change ends where the action actually stops for a brief period. Cricket is another game where in running betting moves relatively slowly except in circumstances where it is drawing to the close of the match and a vital wicket or run could change everything.

So in short, you have a lot more time in which to operate when betting in running in certain sports over others. Sports like horse racing and football are very fast moving and the action is constant and especially in sports like horse racing. As soon as a horse race begins then the action is constant all the way until the finish line thus making the in running betting activity very frantic indeed and mistakes and misclicks are common place. Staying on the subject of mistakes for a minute, I feel that we really ought to touch on the subject of best price for a minute.

BEST PRICE

Before the betting exchanges came along, we as punters were really programmed to back horses or anything else for that matter to achieve a positive result. Be it either backing your fancy to win or to run into a place, we were still wagering money on the outcome of a result that had to be positive in order for us to win. But the betting exchanges changed all that. Now suddenly a negative event like a horse falling or a team losing could be a money earner for us.

Punters already were aware that getting the best price when backing something to win was highly advantageous. If you could get 10-1 when most other people were only getting 8-1 then you had a far better chance of being a successful punter in the long term than those that basically just took any old price. So when people go on the exchanges they are already programmed to try and get a better price when backing.

But here comes the snag and a pitfall that although may seem terribly obvious, many new exchange punters have fallen into numerous times. That trap is when it comes to actually LAYING. Whenever you are looking to lay something then you are looking to obtain the SHORTEST possible price and not the highest.

Remember, when you lay then you are accepting a bet from another punter or group of punters so you are in fact offering them odds on a particular event. Because you are offering someone else odds then it only stands to reason that you want to offer the skinniest price that you can possibly get away with. If you believed in your own mind that England had absolutely no chance of lifting the 2010 Football World Cup then you want to offer the shortest or to take the shortest price you can manage in the slim possibility that you are wrong.

If you could LAY England to win the World Cup (meaning that you were accepting other peoples bets who thought that they would win) at 2.0 (Even money) then this would be a tremendous result for you as England at Even money to win the World Cup before the event even started is far too short a price. Even if you lay them and you are wrong and they go on to lift the trophy then you are still only paying out even money.

But you should not LAY England at any price simply because you don’t expect them to win the competition. If you lay England at 100.0 (99-1) then you have offered odds of 99-1 to other punters who want to back England which is still grossly wrong but in the other direction and in a direction that can seriously hurt you I might add. So to recap then, when you are looking to back your fancy then you are looking for the best possible price which means the highest possible odds. But you are looking for the shortest possible lay price when you are opposing a selection.

You can also request a price as well on the betting exchanges. Let us say that you fancy England to win the World Cup but you think that the price that is currently on offer of 9.0 (8-1) is a little too short. You think that 11.0 (10-1) is a more realistic price. You can then simply place a bet into the system at 11.0. Of course when you do this then you are dependent on someone or a combination of people being willing to LAY England at that price as well and this means also waiting until the prices to BACK below your requested price of 11.0 have been snapped up and the price has moved out.

But if for any reason you wish to cancel that bet either because you have had a change of heart or maybe because you want to free up funds to make another bet then you may cancel the entire bet at any time as long as the bet or a portion of the bet has not been taken.

MARKET SPEED

There are many potential pitfalls that can hurt novice or even experienced betting exchange users for that matter. It is all so easy to click on the wrong bet or to click something in haste or even to click something correctly but you end up doing the wrong thing simply because you were under extreme time pressure.

As has already been mentioned, exchanges have a very large number of markets. These markets which are mainly on sporting events but can also be on non-sporting events as well tend to vary widely in terms of length. For instance, a men’s Tennis match at Wimbledon could take anywhere from between one and a half to four hours depending on how far the match goes. A F1 Grand Prix takes just under about two hours while a test match will take at least three days and possibly as long as five.

But one thing that you will quickly come to recognise on the exchanges is that certain markets are vastly more popular than others. Most of this is to do with the overall level of public interest. That level of interest can also increase dramatically whether or not an event is televised as televised events tend to attract all of the punters who like to bet “in running”.

But what tends to happen is that the market will actually speed up the closer to the off it gets. The amount of action in those final few minutes before a horse race for instance will be very substantial indeed.

This will mean that the prices will be changing far more rapidly than at any other time except of course for in running betting which is a completely different story whatsoever.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

But the operating instructions are very extensive indeed and also far more up to date so I would literally advise any new betting exchange user to read them and to really get used to the system before you jump in and take the plunge.

What confuses many new betting exchange users is the sheer number of options that they face whenever they place a bet. If we take a look at a typical betting exchange screen for a Champions League match between Arsenal and Juventus would show us something very similar to this.

BET LAY

Arsenal

2.2        2.3       2.4         2.6           2.7          2.8
3240   2170      630       1720        450        8230

Juventus

2.8        2.9       3.0         3.1           3.2           3.3
160      3450     5675      1230       3812      4560

Draw

3.0        3.1        3.2         3.4           3.5           3.6
2130    1120      310         590        6720       3915

This shows us the current prices not just to back Arsenal to win but to also lay Arsenal to lose. We can also see the price for Juventus to win and also to lose and on top of that we also have the price of the draw and the lay price of the draw. So here we have six separate individual bets on one single football match.

The best price at this particular moment in time for Arsenal to win the game is 2.4. If you thought that the gunners were unlikely to win this game then you basically have one of two options. You could BACK Juventus at sports betting odds of 3.0 AND BACK the draw at 3.2 or you could simply LAY Arsenal to lose at 2.6. It needs to be pointed out here that the prices that are underlined represent the best available prices to back and lay at this particular moment in time and the figures underneath those prices are the amounts that are available to back and lay.

Obviously whether you want to back Arsenal, Juventus or the draw then you want to do so at the best available prices and the best available prices at this particular moment in time are Arsenal at 2.4, Juventus at 3.0 and the Draw at 3.2.

But the pace of exchange betting is so frantic and especially as an event nears kick off that the odds and amounts that you see on the screen are really only a small fraction of time as money is being pumped into the market every second and prices are being taken and asked for every single second as well.

One of the first things that confuses novice exchange users is the difference between the back and lay sides and I will set about explaining that here. If you want to back Arsenal to win for £20 in the above example at 2.4 then you can as there is a total of £630 waiting to be matched at that price. But for every backer then there must be a layer and that £630 at 2.4 represents the total money that has been placed at that price by all of the people who are looking to LAY Arsenal at 2.4.

Likewise if you wanted to LAY Arsenal at 2.6, this means that if you lay them to lose at that price then you are entering into a bet with someone or some people who want to BACK Arsenal at that price. This might seem terribly confusing at first glance but it is really rather simple once you get the hang of it. On the screen then those prices and amounts are situated in boxes and to place a bet then you simply click on the box in question and follow the simple steps.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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

The upcoming transfer window offers teams the opportunities to refresh their personnel and jolt their league position. It has an impact on the football betting odds offered and therefore presents an opportunity to football betting fans to get some value as the equilibrium of the season so far is disrupted. The top team’s activity in the transfer window is important to these changes so let us look at what they may do in the transfer window to be ready to capture potential value as it appears.

Chelsea

With their upcoming transfer ban being decided after the window expect Roman Abramovich to spend big in the transfer window. Chelsea’s squad are ageing and Ancelotti will know that three or four young signings with the ability to make an immediate impact both now and over the next two seasons are vital to Chelsea’s success beyond this season. Expect furious activity this January from Chelsea.

Most of the transfers will probably be younger players with European reputations however there has been rumours of a £45 million Franck Ribery bid with Manchester City also said to be interested.

Man Utd

Alex Ferguson has reassured Nani that he has a future at Old Trafford and looks like he will await the development of Danny Wellbeck, Federico Macheda and Johnny Evans to replace the ageing Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. With Wayne Rooney spearheading the team, Ferguson looks to have purchased all the prospects he wishes to replace senior squad members.

There is not normally any activity during the January transfer window from Old Trafford. They will need to perform well if they are to catch Chelsea after Christmas. Emerging into top players are Evra, Anderson and Carrick which reduce the need for new signings. Owen Hargreaves return from long term injury will be as good as a new signing for them.

Arsenal

As always the club stresses to the press that there is money available for Arsene Wenger. True to form, he rarely spends it preferring business stability to irresponsible signings. Arsenal are in transition and I expect more integration of players like Wilshere, Ramsey, Randall and Gibbs. The injury to Gibbs and Van Persie may force transfer activity, but I think Wenger would prefer to try out Carlos Vela as a replacement to the injured Dutchman. In terms of football betting, analyse the team as you did in the first half of the season as there will be no drastic changes, other than the impact of their current injuries.

Liverpool

The Merseyside team managed a good 2-0 away to Everton in the derby but still remain prone to random defeats. Because they have been eliminated from the Champions League that revenue is cut, meaning they probably cannot spend even if they want to. Football betting fans may find value in their opponents in the second half of the season. Aquilani, their £20 million summer signing should be in the team from now on and he will be like a January signing, but will this be enough to save them? Their financial situation is publicly unstable and they could end up as another “Newcastle Utd and Leeds Utd” footballing tragedy of mismanaged finances.

Manchester City

Seven draws in a row and a lacklustre Robinho has shown the City fans that big spending is not the only ingredient to success. Mark Hughes position is under threat as the big name players need a Capello-type manager to lead them it seems. If he survives the chequebook could be used as a weapon again in January. City failed to sign Kaka and other big names and the biggest names are the players they crave. They may be the only team to rival Chelsea in spending, but look like they cannot rival them on the pitch. Football betting fans could see Manchester City look value if they strengthen in the right areas.

By Malcolm Clarke

Bet on Chelsea at 1.70

Football betting odds can often tell you a lot. Chelsea are currently offered at odds of 1.70 which is less than 50% of the current odds for Manchester United at 3.50. For Chelsea to be viewed as twice as likely to win the title as Man Utd at this point of the season tells me that a tip on Chelsea is valid. Due to their imminent transfer ban after the next transfer window I think that they will spend big in January to secure their immediate future and this will only help strengthen their squad.

Bet on Man Utd at 3.50

This is probably the value bet of the current market although they have it all to do to haul back the mighty Chelsea. Wayne Rooney has stepped into the role of principal goalscorer excellently. Whilst the team miss the sheer brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo, many players who had to assume defensive duties to accommodate Ronaldo are now able to flourish as attacking players once again. I believe that this season may be the one season where Chelsea holds a definite edge as the Man Utd team adjusts. Historically, Man Utd always does well after Christmas so Chelsea will need to win most of their games to win the title. 3.50 may look very high odds for Man Utd to win the league come the end of the season. Today’s news reports that Vidic may want to leave for a warmer climate but he will not be sold before the end of the season so football betting fans should not worry about them selling him during the January transfer window. Manager Alex Ferguson never allows this sort of disruption mid season. The edge Chelsea may have is that they will probably strengthen in January whilst Man Utd probably will not.

Bet on Arsenal at 5.25

Arsene Wenger is currently three points behind Manchester Utd but with a game in hand. They are certainly contenders but have no recognised left back after Keiron Gibbs suffered a broken foot this week. It is devastating for Gibbs who is being watched by Capello for possible late inclusion into the England World Cup squad. First choice left back Gael Clichy is still three weeks away from returning to action. You question whether Arsenal can win the required amount of points to win the Premier League and they lost to Sunderland despite being favourites for that match. They do seem to have a habit of losing winnable matches they should win, a habit not shared by the other top teams.

Bet on Liverpool at 25.00

The newspapers are hammering Liverpool with article after article about manager Rafa Benitez who is again facing the sack after Liverpool exited the Champion’s League in the group stages. This will put great financial strain on the club who are already struggling under large debts and needed the TV revenue from a good Champions League run to help service the debts the club has. Things seem to be going from bad to worse for the Merseysiders and I would not bet on them at the moment even at 34.00. I know from personal experience supporting Newcastle Utd that when off field activities go wrong this is often reflected on the pitch.

Slowly but surely it looks like the 2009/2010 football season will be a two horse race between Chelsea and Manchester Utd. Manchester may rue the decision not to splash some of the cash on a replacement for Ronaldo but are performing well so far. You worry about them if they get an injury crisis and have some important decisions to make regarding long term squad players as Scholes, Van Der Sar, Neville and Giggs are almost at the end of their careers.

My tip for the Premier League at the moment is Chelsea at 1.70.

By Malcolm Clarke

The club are currently sitting at the top of the Championship table and look a good bet for promotion straight back to the Premiership. The fans expect promotion and football betting fans can bet on Newcastle at odds on for most of their home and away matches. Newcastle plays Peterborough on Saturday at St James Park and are 1.45 favourites to beat them with bwin.com. But optimism on the pitch is starkly contrasted to the off the field activities.

Whilst the team has been dismantled to rid the club of the high earners like Obafemi Martins, Damien Duff and Michael Owen there still remains a glut of high earning players at the club. Mike Ashley announced this week that he will not be selling the club for the foreseeable future (despite his desperate efforts) and said that he invites offers of around £6 million per season for the naming rights to the stadium. As has much of his decisions regarding the club this has been met with anger from loyal fans. There is currently a petition being tendered online that has over six thousand signatures from fans hoping the naming rights of the stadium are not sold.

Whilst pledging that any revenue generated from a stadium naming rights deal will go straight now permanent Newcastle manager Chris Hughton this has not appeased the many disgruntled fans unhappy at both the appointment of Hughton (most fans wanted Alan Shearer) and the fans who believe St James Park is something which should remain sacred in footballing terms. £6 million per season would not be enough to compete with other higher spending clubs and the quality of player that could be obtained from this “windfall” would not be sufficient to improve the squad.

It looks very likely that players like Alan Smith, Xisco, Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique will be moved on as soon as offers are made as they are all on big wages. Mike Ashley has made no secret of his desire to run the club effectively as a business in the mould of Arsenal. What Mr Ashley seems to miss is that Arsenal have an established youth system and a stable manager who instils the trust of the young players hoping for a career in football. They also appear regularly in the champion’s league. Newcastle have not had a stable manager for over ten years and their youth system has produced only two young players in recent years.

Fortunately the football betting odds are focused on the pitch performance rather than the shabby management. Newcastle are full of well paid and at least on paper, quality players who should be more than a match for their opponents in this division, especially at home. Should the bookmakers start taking the management of the club into consideration believing it could cause problems on the pitch then you could get some value from Newcastle’s match betting odds. Mike Ashley certainly wishes he could find value in his seemingly doomed investment of the club.

By Malcolm Clarke

Manchester City have the backing of rich investors whilst Daniel Levy has continues to spend big backing Harry Redknapp at Spurs to turn them into a footballing power. The early season results certainly show that the top teams are no longer alone in their ability to win the big matches. Tottenham have started the season very well and Manchester City have answered their critics to prove that when their buying policy of picking proven Premiership players has been effective and they will be able to challenge for the title very quickly, something which was doubted before the season started.

Any football betting fan that likes to wager against the betting tips would be doing quite well this season so far. The football betting odds always favour the on-paper favourite as bookmakers know that, over time, the better teams win more often than not. But I believe there is a changing of the guard occurring in football at the moment with the status quo of the top four teams being broken in favour of a top six to eight teams. Perhaps not all eight of the better sides can win the league, but the recent results have shown that they can certainly contest the matches with the top sides and defeat them given a good performance.

In my spare time I am a big fan of the Football Management simulations on the PC. I read a lot of forums and fans criticise “unrealistic” results in the simulated games. But how many of them would have scoffed if Burnley had defeated Manchester Utd 1-0 or just this week Sunderland losing to Birmingham and Stoke (currently a real in form side who look to be relegation favourites on paper) defeating Tottenham away? Sometimes the most realistic thing in the world is varied outcomes in sport.

Perhaps the economic downturn has forced clubs to turn to honest players in their youth and reserve teams and given them a chance to stake their claim. More teams are being filled with “journeyman” pros like James Beattie and Aaron Hughes who are proven Premiership players and performers without the glitzy lifestyle and big wages other players who do not live up to their hype command. The exit of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid has watered down the effect Manchester United has on the league and I would argue that the likes of Obertan, Rafael, Fabio, Machida, Anderson and others are not as formidable a generation as the previously dominant players at the club. They also have a large club debt, the consequences of which are yet to be felt by the club due to on field success and refinancing.

We are unsure whether the transfer embargo placed on Chelsea will make them struggle. Their team is ageing together and they will need to dismantle and rebuild in the next two to three years. Liverpool continues to have off field difficulty with problems between their owners. Football fans may see Tottenham slow down their spending now a multi hundred million stadium is being proposed. Teams like Everton, Aston Villa and Arsenal may reap the benefit of managing themselves more efficiently. All these factors point to an evening out of the Premiership quality.

Using Live streaming services you may be able to cash in on this more competitive matches as a result of the balancing of the league. Football betting is going to be extremely interesting in the next few seasons as the consequences of the economic downturn and recent changes are felt.

By Malcolm Clarke