Soccer Betting, Picks, Tips and Previews

World Cup 2010 Preview: Portugal  

The Portuguese team is an outsider to win the World Cup and having Cristiano Ronaldo on the roster surely will give them some spotlight during the tournament.

In theory their offense is the strongest link of the team as players like Ronaldo, Nani, Simão Sabrosa or Deco have some international reputation however they have been struggle to score in the last 2 years! Strangely or not it is their defense that has performed in a high note and in my opinion the fault/merit of such strange correlation can be attributed to the national head coach Carlos Queiroz.

Nine clean sheets in the twelve qualifying matches say it all about their good defensive side. Queiroz took a gamble by using Real Madrid center-back Pepe in a holding role in front of the two center-backs (Carvalho and Read More

World Cup 2010 Preview: Argentina  

Probably with other head coach than Diego Armando Maradona Argentina would be the biggest favorite team to win the World Cup. It might be strange to explain but Argentina is one of my picks to win the tournament even though that they played miserably in the last 2 years with Maradona leading the way.

No other National Head Coach in the world will receive the same coverage and spotlight from the media and the fans than Maradona and believe it or not this will take some pressure off from the players. In theory no other Read More

Portugal vs Mozambique – Friendly (3-0) 

Here we have the first game of the Portuguese team in South Africa, but this is still a friendly game against the team of Mozambique.

The game will be tomorrow at 15:30 in Johannesburg. I don’t think that the Portuguese team will play so good as they did against Cameroon because the World Cup is closer and they don’t want to risk getting some players injury. A friendly is a game to give some pace to the players.

The players that won’t be in the starting line up tomorrow, when they go into the game, they will give everything they got to show the manager that they have value. Against Cape Verde the Portuguese team did a very bad game but they have done a good exhibition against Cameroon where they won by 3 – 1 and the Portuguese fans believe now in their team.

It will be a game with goals, both teams won’t make a very big effort and so there will be very occasions. I don’t know very well this team of Mozambique, but I know that in the last five games they lost 3, draw one and Read More

Gremio vs Atletico MG – Brasileirão A (2-1) 

Grémio and Atlético try to recover in the championship after bad results in the middle of the week.

The Atlético team lost at home against Fluminense and they already forgot their good start of championship. They are in the 11th place with 6 points and with the worst defense in the championship with 13 goals suffered. Away from home they lost the two games they played with 3 goals scored and 8 suffered. For this game they can’t count with Coelho, Fabiano and Correa. Read More

Corinthians vs Internacional – Brasileirão A (2-0) 

The leader Corinthians is very overrated for this game against Internacional in Pacaembu after they crushed Santos in the last round.

The team is in the first place with 13 points and playing at home they have 3 victories in 3 matches with 7 goals scored and 3 suffered. For this match the manager Mano Menezes have some players he can’t count loke Ronaldo, Alessandro and Sousa and three players that were in the starting team in the last match that are Moacir, Chicão and Jorge Henrique Read More

Portugal vs Cameroon – Friendly (3-1) 

This Tuesday by 19:30 will be played in the Sport Complex of Covilhã a friendly game between Portugal and Cameroon.

It’s a preparation game for the World Cup 2010 and both teams will try what they have trained, and individually, every player will try to prove to the manager that they deserve a spot in the starting team.

The home team Portugal will try to change the image of the last game where they draw 0 – 0 against Cape Verde. The last game of Cameroon was against Slovakia and ended with 1 – 1.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Samuel Eto’o are the stars in Portugal and Cameroon respectively. In the last game against Cape Verde we expect lot of goals but that didn’t happen and the final result was Read More

Internacional vs Atletico PR – Brasileirão A (4-1) 

For the fifth round of the Brasilian Championship will play the Internacional of Porto Alegre and the Atlético Paranaense. In this year, both teams ended their state championship in second. Internacional was defeated by Grémio in the first game of the final in their stadium by 0 – 2 and won the second game away from home by 1 – 0. Atlético Paranaense also stay in second in the championship of the state of Paraná, six points before the rival Coritiba.

Internacional has 3 points in the Brasileirão 2010, already in the 18th place with 1 victory and 3 losses. The team has a goal average of – 3. Internacional has one of the best teams in Brazilian football, and their records don’t show that. Despite the fact that the team of Internacional got the spot for the Libertadores Cup semi-final, they are in huge pressure by the supporters and the press, because the team is not playing well and the Read More

Guarani vs Sao Paulo – Brasileirão A (0-0) 

Some say that the team started to play well, others say that the come of Fernandão was crucial, others say that was the return to the 3 – 5 – 2, but the truth is that the team of São Paulo that played the first part of the season with a very bad football is now a very strong team.

The team is again very strong in the defence with very strong and deadly counter attacks. Since Fernandão join the team, they got four victories and one lost when they played with the reserve team against Botafogo. They want to end the Brasileirão before the stop in the first four places, at the moment they are in 8th with 7 points. For this match, Ricardo Gomes can’t count with Cicinho and Richarlyson that are suspended, in their Read More

Palmeiras vs Barueri – Brasileirão A (0-0) 

Palmeiras is trying to keep the good momentum in the championship and recover from the lost against São Paulo in this game against Prudente.

The team had a very bad start of season but they started well the national championship and they are in the 7th place with 7 points. Playing at home, the team has two victories in two games with 5 goals scored and 2 suffered, they crushed Grémio in the last game between this two when Palmeiras played at home. For this match the replace manager Parraga can count with some returns like Pierre, Marcos Assunção and Cleiton Xavier, in Read More

Estudiantes vs Internacional – C Libertadores (2-1) 

After the win game by the minimum margin, the Internacional team goes to Argentina trying to maintenance their advantage.

The truth is that Internacional came here without playing good football in all matches. Of course that the team lost the irregularity of the start of the season, but they haven’t show a very convincing football. The tam has good players, specially in the attack with players like D’Alessandro, Andrezinho and Kleber. For this match Fossati has in doubt the right defender Read More

Sao Paulo vs Cruzeiro – Copa Libertadores (2-0) 

Cruzeiro and São Paulo decide today one of the spots for the Libertadores Cup semi-finals, after a surprising result for me of 2 – 0 for São Paulo in Minas.

It was surprising because I consider the team of Cruzeiro very good. They have great players, a lot of them came from last yeah, the same staff and they were in better shape than their opponents. This is the game of the season for Cruzeiro who will try to recover from the shame of the last defeat.

The manager Adilson Batista has some doubts if the right defender Jonathan and the striker Kleber can play, but he expectation is that both will Read More

Atl.Madrid vs Sevilla – Copa del Rey Final (0-2) 

This is a game with two teams in good shape. Atlético won the Europe League and Sevilha got throw the Champions League after a big victory with a late goal from Rodri.

Atletico Madrid:

This team has in the front players like Aguero, Forlan, Simão and Reyes. This are very good players but if the attack is very good, the defence is very bad. Players like Perea, Dominguez and Ujfalusi aren’t trustable. Antonio Lopez is the weakest player in the defence. The midfield is a regular sector with Tiago and Paulo Assunção who are two medium players. Atlético lives from the attack and depend of the 4 players in the front, that’s why Read More

Bayern M vs Inter – Champions League Final (0-2) 

We arrive to the game that all the teams expect to play. This year will be Inter and Bayern who will play for the European title. This will be a clash between two of the biggest teams in football that have been away from the big European titles in the last years. The last appearance of Inter Milan in a European final was in 1997/1998 in Uefa Cup, and they won the competition. Inter has already won two Uefa Champions League in 1963/64 and 1964/65. Bayern has also been distant from the biggest European stages, but not for so many time like Inter Milan. They have won the competition in four occasions (1973/74, 1974/75, 1975/76 and 2000/01).

It will be a confrontation between two giants that have been asleep in European competitions. These two teams weren’t considered the major favourites in the start of the competition, because in the last years they didn’t achieve this phase of the competition and they weren’t showing capacity to achieve it in the beginning, but the truth is that they are in the game. Both teams have suffered a revolution in the squad in the start of the season. Another curious fact is that José Mourinho will face his former teacher, Van Gaal when they were in Barcelona. We can conclude that are two managers that know each other very well. We will have a final between Read More

Atl.Madrid vs Fulham – Europe League Final (1-1) 

The game will be played in the city of Hamburg, it’s the return of a big European final to a city that has received over the years big international games.
It will be in the Hamburg Arena that Atlético Madrid and Fulham will fight for the first Europe League. Atlético will play his fourth final and Fulham plays his first final.

Fulham it’s the surprise team, without stars in the squad the team achieves the first European final. For Fulham, everything started in 30 July 2009 against Vétra of Lithuania where they won both games by 3 – 0. In the playoffs for the group stage they beat Amkar Perm. In the group stage they were in group E with AS Roma, Basileia and CSKA Sofia. They end the group stage with 11 points, with 3 victories, 2 draws and Read More

Tottenham vs Bolton – Premier League (1-0) 

For this game, Tottenham receives Bolton.

Starting with the home team, Tottenham is making a huge season. The team is in 4th place with 64 points. Playing in their stronghold team has thirteen wins, two draws and three losses. The manager Harry Redknapp is considering using your wide average Aaron Lennon to play the 1st game of the 2010 holder. The central defender Ledley King seems it will play but Woodgate, Corluka and Cudicini will not join the call from Harry Read More

Man City vs Aston Villa – Premier League (3-1) 

Game of the 37th round of the Premier League between Manchester City, actual 6th classified and Aston Villa, current 5th placed.

Manchester City has actually 63 points in 35 games played. The team didn’t won in the last two games, where they lost 0 – 1 with United at home and they draw 0 – 0 with Arsenal. Despite these two bad results the team has been playing very well. At home City has 11 victories, 4 draws and 2 losses.

City can’t count with Shay Given that has suffered an injury against Arsenal. Micah Richards is back on the Read More

Auxerre vs Marseille – Ligue 1 (0-0) 

Auxerre is the second placed in the league with 66 points in 34 games, 39 goals scored and 26 goals conceded. The team knew how to deal with the lost of their manager in so many years.

The team has based their game in a solid defence and in an organized attack with crosses to their main scorer, the polish Jelen with 13 goals in the league.

The goalkeeper Sorin is discreet but with a lot of Read More

Liverpool vs Atl.Madrid – Europe League (2-1) 

Another big match between Liverpool and Atlético Madrid on 2nd leg of Semi-final, this time in England. Atlético bring a advantage of 1-0 from Madrid.

Liverpool is on good performance. After reach playoff of Europe League, already defeated great teams, like Lille and Benfica. On both situations, Liverpool score 3 or more goals, and playing at home, they Read More

Fulham vs Hamburg – Europe League (2-1) 

Game of the Europe League semi-final between Fulham and Hamburgo. Both teams don’t fight for anything on their championships, and they see in this Europe League a possible salvation for the season.

Fulham: Has been doing a bad season this year. They are in 12th place with 11 victories, 10 draws and 14 losses and a goal average of –3. The last games of the team have been very instable; in the last Read More

Flamengo vs Corinthians – Copa Libertadores (1-0) 

This will be the biggest game for these 1/8 Libertadores Cup. Face-to-face will be the two biggest Brazilian and South American fans crowds. Face-to-face will be two big names of world football: Adriano and Ronaldo.

I’ll start this pick talking about Corinthian’s side. Corinthians, which is in its centenary year, is focused on the Libertadores as a major goal of the year and the results are clear: they come to this game having the best campaign among all clubs in the first group stage, which will give them the right to play the second leg at home in all rounds until a possible Read More

Barcelona vs Inter – Champions League (1-0) 

Comparing the list of the last two games of the Inter of Milan, we can see that only Zanetti, Eto’o and Julio Cesar did the two games completely. One it’s goalkeeper, the other is a veteran with an exceptional quality and the other it’s a striker still with lot to give.

Mourinho had to fix the wings on the defence, with the injury of Maicon and Chivu had his chance, so motivation won’t be a problem in this match. In the centre of the defence we will see again Walter Samuel and Lúcio that will play together after the rest that was given by Mourinho. The three midfielders that have played against Barcelona rested in the last game, talking now about the front players, Sneidjer just played the first half and Milito was replaced around the 80 minute against Read More

Lyon vs Bayern Munich – Champions League (0-3) 

Second hand of the Champions League semi-finals. This time it’s Lyon who will play at home and they receive the German team Bayern Munch. The German team won the first game by 1 –0 with the goal scored by Arjen Robben. Like the first game, I expect a balanced game that will be decided by small factors. I predict a well-played game and the team that handles better with the pressure will be the winner.

He home team Bayern Munich just think in this qualification, in the championship they are very far from the top. If this team gets throw the final, they will play their first Champions League final in their Read More

Osasuna vs Ath.Bilbao – Liga BBVA (0-0) 

Osasuna is on the 12th place with 10 victories, 8 draws and 15 losses and a goal average of –9. They have done a weak season and the maintenance isn’t assured, however it’s very difficult that they get relegated.

At home they have done good games with 6 victories, 6 draws and 4 losses and with a goal average of +3. Their shape is reasonable, winning some games, losing another, but at home they have done good games and winning points.

Athletic is on the 8th place three points away from an European place. They have 14 victories, 7 draws and 12 defeats with a Read More

Aston Villa vs Birmingham – Premier League (1-0) 

Aston Villa is on 6th place, and are ta European places, and still dream with a Championship League place, so they will do everything they can to win this match. Villa is playing really well, and their last 16th games, they only lost 3 games, agains United and, two times, against Chelsea. They are playing excelente footbal, and away form home they are doing a great performance. At home isn’t so great, because they are conceded lots of draws.

Birmingham is in 9th place, they ir no objective for them anymore. Actually, their last games were bad, poor quality, and they aren’t win in 7 matchs in a row, losing points and Read More

Genoa vs Lazio – Calcio Serie A (1-2) 

Good game in perspective in this 35th round of the Italian League. Genoa and Lázio will face in this match and both teams need points. Each one with different objectives. These two teams have faced on the first lap and he result was 1 – 0 for Lázio (Kolarov scored). I think that in this match the house factor will be very important.

Genoa is on the 8th place of the league, 3 points away from the 7th and 4 points from the 6th. They are still fighting for Europe League and they will do everything they can to achieve the qualification.

It’s a team with a good squad and doing what was expected, playing for the European places. In the last game they won against Parma when they play Read More