Going to have a very quick recap on yesterday otherwise I will lose the plot completely. Nothing of any joy bet wise except for Colombia winning and to sum the day up in as few a words as possible.
England – awful and more annoying to hear Hodgson waxing lyrical about how well we have played when we draw 0-0 against a team ranked lower than Scotland who were not really fussed about winning the game. Then, Phil Neville saying Gerrard and/or Lampard have to remain part of the team.
Suarez, our developer Kostas has posted a witty video on this blog today but in all seriousness I don’t find the situation at all funny I just think the guy is a disgrace to football and would be happy if he never was seen again. I don’t want to get started on the subject as I heard some ridiculous statements re the whole affair. The guy has now three times bitten, I mean BITTEN an opponent and there is no place for it any sport. We will see what the super transparent FIFA come up with as a punishment and I am keen to hear the Brendan Rodgers view – he must have been quite happy as the transfer to Spain may now be in jeopardy!
Greece, I had a small bet with Kostas on the outcome of last night and of course they won but it was never a penalty in my opinion so that capped the day off! We do have Uruguay through as pre tournament bet but I doubt they will go much further now and I will deal with it on the day.
Just a quick thanks also to the guys who provide comments, Mark, Robert etc I do read them all and it is all about opinions.
So onto today the 5PM games sees Nigeria v Argentina and I would expect Argentina to make short shrift of their African opponents today. Nigeria were useless against Iran and whilst improved against Bosnia were fortunate to not go behind to a wrongly disallowed goal. Argentina need to get going quicker in game and I don’t think they will take tonight lightly. Confidence and victories lead to momentum and I am sure they will want to send a message to the other contenders rather than have to rely on a bit of Messi injury time magic.
I can’t get involved at 1.53 on Argentina. I will dabble a few correct scores and see if we can get a trade 0-2, 0-3 and 1-2 at 7.8, 12 and 10 for trading.
The other game in that group sees Bosnia take on a stubborn Iran side. Iran can be considered unlucky losers against Argentina but you still cannot get away form the fact that there games over the last year are short on goals. Apparently some of the Bosnia players do not even want to play so I don’t expect this to be a cracker in any shape or form. Iran still have a slim hope of qualifying so preventing Bosnia scoring will be paramount and I certainly cannot see them charging forward.
I will take a view on not many goals and back the Under 1.5 goals at 3.45 small, it may trade for a free bet as the game progresses.
At 9PM my big priced pre tournament speculative trade team Ecuador take on France who have looked very assured in their first two games. Ecuador look like they have to win to progress and as such France were a fair price earlier but have now been backed in so offer no value as a betting option. The main problem here is what side France play as they can rest players but I expect any 11 to give Ecuador trouble.
Ecuador will have an ear on the Swiss game and may go hung ho if the Swiss take the lead and Fracne can exploit that. Everything depends on the sides fielded and the status of the other game so as such it is not a betting medium. I will have tiny interest in some big score lines for fun and see if they trade.
2-2 at 18.5, 2-3 at 28 and 2-1 at 19
Honduras v Switzerland complete the action and it is all about how the Swiss recover from their beating against France. Grabbing 2 late goals at least restored some confidence and they should get the job done tonight. Honduras are a physical but very poor side and some 27 places separate these teams in the rankings.
I will have interest on Switzerland win both halves at 3.6, and the one correct score of 1-3 at 14.5
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6 Responses
Hi Ian,
Apologies to go off blog criteria. I have
sent you two emails recently re PSB.
I know how busy you are, but have had no
reply. Just wanted to know if you have received
them.
As always, enjoying reading Blog. Controversial to some,
but right on the button for me. If RH stays after this dismal
showing, we have no chance going into future World/European
Action.
Regards,
Oh dear – more disruption for us Liverpool fans! Biting an opponent – disgraceful and bizarre. Now if he had nutted people, I could at least admire him as a modern day hard man, but Biting Beggars Belief (there’s a nice headline for The Sun!). Still, if he stays at Anfield and scores dozens of goals again I won’t complain.
I thought it was a pen for Greece but whether it was or not, what a fantastic example of how to control nerves and deal with pressure.
I thought Greece deserved the win but shouldn’t have been allowed it.
The one thing that’s hacked me off in this WC, besides England and all their self-congratulatory back-slapping, is the dreadful standard of officials – now, that for me is as big a disgrace as Suarez.
So where’s the logic and consistency in FIFA watching incidents the officials missed after the game is over to determine punishment or not but not using that same technology and method for deciding big calls in big games?
The beautiful game needs some cosmetic surgery because it’s looking a bit worn and haggard to me.
That’s the second time you’ve said super transparent Fifa in a blog and I’m still not sensing any seriousness.
I think Suarez is a disgrace however I don’t think there is enough TV evidence for Fifa to do anything in this instance, but something has to be done to prevent him doing this again, Do it once you get a large fine and miss a few games, do it twice a larger fine and miss a lot more games do it three times you should never be allowed to play in the professional game again.
I didn’t watch the England game and didn’t have any money on it so don’t know how bad they were I’m assuming the usual though i.e midfield unable to keep possession rather than waiting for better situations either hitting a low percentage long range shot or going on an over ambitious run trying to take on 3 or 4 defenders and at the same time running away from your team mates so there is no support when they do look to pass. Strikers squandering any chance they get. The defense probably weren’t troubled to much cause Costa Rica probably were just taking it easy.
I was watching The Italy v Uruguay game which gave me a nice little profit. I thought Italy were dreadful I made a small loss on my attempted trade on the over 2.5 goal market but after the first goal I was able to lay the over 3.5 goal and never needed to trade out that more than covered my losses and I made a nice trade in the over 3.5 goals in the Greece game. I never saw any of the evening games as I had guest but I was still able to watch the market on my lap top to make the trades I wanted.
I don’t know where to stand on the Argentina game tonight, I still think they are overrated, but its hard to judge them on the last two games as they have played against two teams who pretty much put every man behind the ball and thats tough for any team to break down and barring a couple of glimpses of genius from Messi Argentina might have struggled to make the next round, I fully expect them to beat Nigeria but I don’t think it will be easy I expect Nigeria to defend in numbers and again make it difficult for Argentina to break them down. However there is a nice price for laying the over 3.5 goals market and if the last two games are anything to go by I won’t even need to trade out.
As for Bosnia v Iran I think this will be a more open game than the Argentina v Iran game and I think Bosnia will come out on top however I don’t forsee a lot of goals in this one either. The over 3.5 goals is just a little bit pricey just now to lay maybe if there is a goal I’ll be able to get a price in-play that suits or I might take the price on offer but trade out earlier for a smaller profit.
As for France v Ecuador I don’t have any bets for this one, France are looking good just now and could easily score 3 or 4 goals in this one. However they are still 9.8 to win the tournament I think that provides good opportunity for a longer term trade as they ought to progress quite far in the tournament so the price should drop. Also I notice that Uruguay are still at 46 to win the tournament assuming Suarez isn’t suspended that makes for a good trading price too as I would expect them to at least make the quarter finals.
Honduras v Switzerland I expect Switzerland to win but it won’t be pretty and It won’t be a goalfest and I’m pretty sure they will defend better than they did against France and the over 3.5 goal market is still only 2.82 to lay so I expect to get a good trade tonight.
With all seriousness I think Suarez should still be allowed to play the Game but has to forfeit having all his TEETH removed. Let’s see how he react’s to that!! (Seriously this time however, DISGRACEFUL behaviour.)
Hi Ian,
Sent email to you ay 8.50 am Thursday.
Brian