Soccer betting tips and predictions

*matches in all competitions

Brazil  last 5 matches:  

Paraguay last 5 matches:

Brazil FIFA ranking: 5

Paraguay FIFA ranking: 32

After two goalless draws in the first matches of Copa America Group B, all teams are level with one point in the bag making the remaining ones crucial more so this one in which Brazil welcome their top contender to the top spot Paraguay.

Brazil had a poor start to their campaign as they where held to a goalless draw by Venezuela in the first round in a match in which they where clear favorites and no one expected anything else but a clear victory.

They come across now their biggest adversary in the group stage as Paraguay had an impressive 2010 World Cup preliminaries campaign to finish two points short of Brazil and above Argentina and Uruguay.

Paraguay no doubt one of the contenders to the top two spots that lead further in the tournament. As with their current adversaries they where held to a goalless draw in their first game, this time against a higher rated opponent than Venezuela, the difficult team of Ecuador.

With only Brazil and Venezuela remaining as opponents in the Group stage, a positive result here is crucial, if no they risk waiting for the play of results and could end up lower in the rank.

My tip:  Brazil to win  ( under 2.5 goals )

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*matches in all competitions

Shakhtar Donetsk last 5 matches:  

Dynamo Kyiv last 5 matches:

Ukraine’s Super Cup on Tuesday with the greatest rivalry consuming yet another episode as Shakhtar Donetsk wishes to continue it’s domination over Dynamo Kyiv.

Shakhtar Donetsk managed to clench both the League title and the cup trophy last season, continuing it’s domination over Ukraine’s football and appearing unreachable for their competitors.

Last time these two teams meet was in the Cup final, late May with Shakhtar dominating the encounter to win 2-0 although having one of their players sent off in the second half.

Dynamo Kyiv no doubt eager for a trophy as their last one dates back from 2009 when they managed to win the Ukraine Premier League and having to deal with ending up second to their rivals ever since.

They ended last season no less than 7 points behind Shakhtar in the league table and coped with the defeat in the Cup final it’s easy to see that their morale is rather low but as with all derby matches where motivation is not a factor they still have their chance and a good result will bring new hopes as the new season starts soon.

My tip:  Shakhtar Donetsk to win  ( under 2.5 goals )

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Most of the betting on domestic competitions in England will focus on the Premiership which obviously takes most of the interest as it is seen weekly but the outright odds on the Premiership don’t offer too much value and it could be more profitable to play in the Carling Cup and FA Cup outrights instead.

Teams that don’t appeal as good bets in either of the domestic cups this season who are also relatively short in the betting include Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham. Arsenal don’t make much appeal as they have not won a trophy for six years and it looks as though they could be weaker rather than stronger next season if Cesc Fabregas finally leaves. Man City don’t appeal for different reasons, there is going to be plenty of pressure on Mancini to do well in the Champions League this season and we saw what an affect the Champions League had on Spurs’ domestic priorities last year. As for Spurs this year and Liverpool, both will be desperate to get back into the top four and the Champions League and if it comes to it they will always choose the Premiership over a long cup campaign.

That leaves Man Utd and Chelsea as the main players in the domestic cups, some of the other decent Premiership sides such as Everton and Aston Villa could have decent cup runs but they will always need a charmed passage to the final to do well. It is always safer backing the ‘right’ big club in the domestic cups as they are capable of beating both the smaller clubs in the early rounds and the bigger clubs when it gets really serious.

The cup that Man Utd really appeal for is the Carling Cup, for which they are the 13/2 joint favourites currently. Man Utd have won the Carling Cup three times in six years and it looks pretty clear that Sir Alex Ferguson realises what an easy competition this is to win, plus it is over by the time the Champions League and Premiership get really serious. The Carling Cup actually looks as though it is above the FA Cup in Fergie’s pecking order and Chelsea make little appeal for this competition after making no serious attempts at it in three years.

Whilst Man Utd look great value for the Carling Cup, it is Chelsea who are the team to back in the FA Cup. Chelsea have won the Carling Cup three times in the last five years which is some achievement and their difficult to beat style really helps them in the FA Cup. A new manager and new ideas could be a concern for some backers but he will need to win at least one trophy in his first season to get fans on side foreign managers have a huge respect for the FA Cup so Andre Villas-Boas is likely to take it very seriously, seriously enough to make Chelsea a strong bet at 6/1. They are the joint favourites with Man Utd but Man Utd haven’t won the FA Cup since 2004 so Chelsea are easily preferred.

Click the highlighted link for the latest odds on the Carling or FA Cups at OLBG.com’s football pages.

The domestic cups in England may have lost a little of their prestige in recent years with the Champions League becoming the cup that all the top teams wants to win but there is still great interest in both the FA Cup and to a lesser extent the Carling Cup and still great bets to be had in both.

The FA Cup has perhaps been one of the easier competitions to predict the winner of in recent years as top four sides have dominated it, yet you still get very generous odds whoever you back. In the past 17 seasons only Everton and Portsmouth have won the FA Cup and finished outside of the top four and the only problem that presents this coming season is we have an open race for the top four.

Man Utd, Chelsea and probably Man City are more or less guaranteed to be the top three with Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs competing for fourth spot. Arsenal could lose their best player this summer and haven’t won a trophy for six years so they are passed over whilst Liverpool will most likely be too focussed on getting back into the top four to concentrate fully on the FA Cup, although the plus for their chances is they have no European football. Spurs have the distraction of Europa League and will also be concentrating on getting back into the top four so they too are ruled out.

So although Liverpool have a slight chance it should pay to focus on Man Utd, Chelsea and Man City. Man Utd are the most successful FA Cup side ever but they seem to have changed their focus in recent years, probably because they have been involved in the Champions League final in three of the last four years and with no win since 2004 we can see where their priorities lie. Man City won it last season but they have the Champions League to worry about this season and are unlikely to do well in both competitions so this could be a relatively comfortable run for Chelsea in the competition, at 6/1 with several bookies they are a good bet to lift the FA Cup for the fourth time in six years.

The Carling Cup is down the pecking order for many clubs but is still more commonly than not won by a top four team. You can nearly always rule Arsenal out as they tend to put out a very inexperienced team, whilst Man City, Spurs and Liverpool may again have priorities elsewhere this coming season. This could come down to Chelsea and Man Utd again, new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is unlikely to know much about the competition and could easily see it as a chance to check out his fringe players and that would make Man Utd an outstanding bet at around 13/2. United have won it three time in six years and Sir Alex Ferguson seems to realise that it is a very soft trophy to win whilst other managers ignore it.

For the latest odds on the teams in contention for all the domestic cups, visit OLBG.com’s football pages using the filters to select the league.

Zenit last 5 league matches: 

Zenit last 3 home matches:

Terek Grozny last 5 league matches: 

Terek Grozny last 3 away match: 

Table positions:

Zenit – 2

Terek Grozny – 11

Day 16 in the Russian Premier League with second spot holders Zenit St. Petersburg welcoming mid table Terek Grozny in a very important match.

Zenit has a total of 29 points so far, two below leaders CSKA Moskva that played one match less than them and two above third Rubin Kazan.

Decent results for them on home ground with a rather poor start as they managed 5 victories and 2 draws in all 8 played scoring 16 goals and conceding 6.

Terek Grozny no doubt the underdogs here as they are currently on the 11th spot of the table with a total of 18 points in all 16 played.

Very poor record for them in away matches with only one victory and no less than five defeats in all 8 played this season with a goal balance to match as they scored 5 and conceded 12.

My pick:  Zenit to win ( over 2.5 goals )

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