Tag: soccer

Going to the wire

Going to the wire

It’s a fascinating season in the Championship this year and it’s going to wire!

The championship is always ultra competitive, unlike the premier league most years, and this often throws up some interesting scenarios. The prize on offer, promotion to the premiership is such a large one, that clubs will spend or ‘fight like beavers’, to get a chance of the riches on offer.

This year we are only three games away from deciding which two lucky teams will get

17/04/2015 | By | Reply More
Finding value in a football match

Finding value in a football match

Not so long ago I tweeted the following: –

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Tonight Bournemouth play Reading away but there is an interesting metric going on tonight. Reading are reasonably, though not entirely clear, of relegation in the Championship. But more importantly they are only 90 minutes away from an FA Cup final.

Bournemouth are in the position of being in complete control of their destiny at the top of the division. If they win every match remaining they will be in the premier

14/04/2015 | By | Reply More
Saturday soccer stats – Local derby special

Saturday soccer stats – Local derby special

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Tottenham v Arsenal (Sat, 12:45)

The North London Derby kicks off the Premier League weekend and both sides come into this game on the back of impressive results. Arsenal thumped Villa 5-0 at the Emirates while Spurs won convincingly away against a rejuvenated West Brom following the appointment of Tony Pulis.

07/02/2015 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Chelsea v Man City (Sat, 17:30)

This week’s Saturday Night Football sees reigning champions Man City travel to league leaders Chelsea. Following their shock 4-2 defeat at home to Bradford in  the FA Cup, Chelsea needed extra-time to see off Liverpool in the League Cup in midweek, but the talking-point from …

31/01/2015 | By | Reply More
Trading Relegation markets

Trading Relegation markets

I recently did a piece of relegation markets, concerning manager sackings which often occur at Christmas and new player arrivals / departures in the new year.

I have written a short piece for Betfair and a longer one for Racing Ahead magazine, but I think the video I did on You Tube is probably the best overall summary. You can view it here, or I have embedded it at the end of this video.

To supplement this video you may …

24/01/2015 | By | Reply More
Sunday Soccer Stats

Sunday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Man City v Arsenal (Sun, 16:00)

This week’s Super Sunday clash sees Arsenal travel to reigning champions Man City. Both teams currently sit one place behind where they finished last term and neither will be happy if they end the campaign in their respective fifth and second spots.

Sergio Aguero’s name …

17/01/2015 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Everton v Man City (Sat, 15:00)

Everton’s injury-time equaliser against West Ham in Tuesday’s FA Cup game provided some much-needed respite following four straight league defeats. Things don’t seem to be getting any easier for Everton though, with Champions Manchester City probably close to the bottom of Roberto Martinez’s list of

10/01/2015 | By | Reply More
Shocking moments

Shocking moments

The romance bit comes from a non league team coming up against a major club and beating them. But the evidence for regular giant killings is getting a little thin on the ground.

Last year we had Sheffield United getting all the way to the semi finals and of course in 2013 Wigan ensured the demise of Mancini’s tenure  at Man City by winning the Cup. But since the start of the Premier League no team from outside the it …

03/01/2015 | By | Reply More
Carling cup quarter-finals

Carling cup quarter-finals

I put this video up on You Tube yesterday and thought it was worth documenting on the blog as well for people that haven’t seen it. But basically there are a couple of nice set-ups in the quarter finals.

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16/12/2014 | By | Reply More
Sunday Soccer Stats

Sunday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Man Utd v Liverpool (Sun, 13:30)

Man Utd are up to third after a five-game winning streak while Liverpool’s season continues to fall apart after another poor European display in midweek. Despite United’s recent resurgence, however, they’ve been far from impressive as both Southampton and Arsenal outplayed them and without Angel …

14/12/2014 | By | Reply More
Incentive to score

Incentive to score

Incentive to score is a key element of a football match.

This can be present in any football match, but is typically dominant in knockout tournament or where a particular result is required. So it could also apply to matches where a result is needed be to avoid relegation, to reach fourth spot in the league or qualify for the next round of a tournament or something similar.

Some teams will have a big incentive to score, others to not …

10/12/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Bayern v Bayer Leverkusen (Sat, 17:30)

Bayern have conceded just one goal in their last 11 games and have won four of their last five home matches by at least four clear goals, so Leverkusen are facing an uphill battle as they head to the Allianz Arena.

However, Leverkusen have put

06/12/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Southampton v Man City (Sun, 13:30)

Southampton have confounded the critics this season to sit a scarcely believable second after 12 games. Man City, in contrast, have largely disappointed their fans in their attempts to defend the title. However, they kept their Champions League hopes alive in midweek and will now …

29/11/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments

PREVIEW: Arsenal v Man Utd (Sat, 17:30)

The past few years have seen Arsenal fail to perform against the best teams in the league time and again, and their record against Man Utd is no exception. Arsene Wenger’s men have won just one of their last 14 games in all competitions against …

22/11/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments. 

PREVIEW: Man City v Man Utd (Sun, 13:30)

Man City’s run of wins came to an abrupt end last weekend as they lost at West Ham while Man Utd salvaged a point at the death against leaders Chelsea. That late Robin van Persie equaliser did City a huge favour as they avoided

01/11/2014 | By | Reply More
Sunday Soccer stats

Sunday Soccer stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments. 

PREVIEW: Man Utd v Chelsea (Sun, 17:00)

Chelsea remain unbeaten in all competitions this season as their impressive form has seen them move five points clear at the top of the table. Man Utd, meanwhile, are still adapting to life under Louis van Gaal and this is only the second time in …

26/10/2014 | By | Reply More
Using Bet Angel football ratings

Using Bet Angel football ratings

You may have seen me post ratings from time to time and a debate raged on the forum about what exactly I was posting and what was it? So I thought I would take time to explain the rationale behind the ratings. You can find the ratings posted to this thread on a regular basis.

How did the ratings come around

Way back when I was trying to win the football pools I realised I needed to understand how to …

25/10/2014 | By | Reply More
95% return on stake

95% return on stake

I thought that headline may grab your attention that the screen shot!

Basically it’s an accurate description on what I did last night before the champions league matches started, only I tend to do it on a larger scale and that reduces percentage returns. For this example, which I am documenting in detail for my course, I did it using highly replicable £10 stakes. It would be easy to add a zero to this number. Harder to add two!

Before …

23/10/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday soccer stats

Saturday soccer stats

Betfair currently have the following football offers available today, click on any of them for full details: –

4/1 Man City to beat Spurs + Money back if you lose8/1 Arsenal, Chelsea and Southampton to win + Money back if you lose5/1 Liverpool to beat QPR + Money back if you lose & for existing Betfair customers 11/2 if Arsenal, Everton and West Ham all win.

These stats are brought to your by our friends

18/10/2014 | By | Reply More
Betfair to broaden cross matching in football markets

Betfair to broaden cross matching in football markets

I’ve been aware for some time, but now it’s official; Betfair are widening the cross matching net to crossover into related markets.

What exactly does this mean?

Betfair have coined the development ‘Cross market liquidity pooling’ and it’s taking place on football. It’s not due till November and will roll out if everything goes ok.

The bottom line is if you place a bet in one market it will appear in another and vice versa. This will have the effect …

10/10/2014 | By | Reply More
The Bank of England vs San Marino

The Bank of England vs San Marino

The racing looks poor today, so I’ve turned my attention to the Euro qualifiers this evening. But I can’t trade them as I am fulfilling my promise that after a long summer earning some money I’ll use the quieter part of the season to spend it. So this evening I’m taking my son to watch England thump San Marino.

The misery of watching England

When I was young I went on several school trips to Wembley but never saw England …

09/10/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments. 

PREVIEW: Liverpool v Everton (Sat, 12:45)

The Merseyside Derby kicks off the Premier League weekend and if last season’s meetings are anything to go by we’ll be in for a cracker. Liverpool won this fixture 4-0 back in January while the first derby last season was a 3-3 at Goodison and Sturridge

27/09/2014 | By | Reply More
Saturday Soccer Stats

Saturday Soccer Stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments. 

PREVIEW: AC Milan v Juventus (Sat, 19:45)

Milan and Juventus head into week three occupying the top two spots in the table but they’ve won their matches in highly contrasting fashions. Milan followed an opening 3-1 win over Lazio by beating Parma 5-4 last time out. Juventus, meanwhile, are yet to concede

20/09/2014 | By | Reply More
It’s all kicked off – Saturday soccer stats

It’s all kicked off – Saturday soccer stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments. 

As an opening season offer, Football Form Labs are offering discounts of up to 33% or £100 off on our Form Lab products. Scroll down the page to learn more…

PREVIEW: Man Utd v Swansea (Sat, 12:45)

The Premier League kicks off with two teams facing several question marks after their performances

16/08/2014 | By | Reply More
Pre-season football

Pre-season football

Interested to see the result from Man Utd’s first result under new management!

But….. not much to be read into pre season friendlies TBH. As a manager you are looking at new players, either acquired or coming up through the ranks and assessing things for the next season. Results are not paramount, but injuries are and when I looked into pre-season friendlies a few years ago there seemed to be little correlation to the start of the new season.

What …

24/07/2014 | By | Reply More
Did Betfair have a good World Cup?

Did Betfair have a good World Cup?

Now the fuss has died down and the rioting taken place, it’s time to reflect on the World Cup.

From a footy perspective it was great. Much more entertaining than the previous world cups and plenty of talking points. England somehow managed to surpass even their supporters low expectations.

I managed to do a record amount on the World Cup, but that’s surprising as I spent most of last footy season carefully pulling together a number of things to deploy …

14/07/2014 | By | Reply More
World Cup Final stats

World Cup Final stats

These stats are brought to your by our friends over at Football Form Labs. Check out their site and the powerful software that sits behind these comments.

First off, kudos to Football Form Labs for picking the winner of the World Cup. But hold your horses the match hasn’t started yet? Well it doesn’t matter because they nominated both Argentina and Germany, boom! Well done. So here are their thoughts on the final

Much like when these sides met …

13/07/2014 | By | Reply More
World Cup Quarter finals

World Cup Quarter finals

What have we learnt so far from the tournament?

Well Brazil are still favourites and Argentina and still second favourites. Germany has moved up a place thanks to the elimination of Spain.

At the start of the tournament the top 16 made up 99.1% of the book. The remaining teams now make up 99.9%, that’s not surprising considering the only remaining bottom half team are the ‘whipping boys’ Costa Rica. It’s amazing to think that Costa Rica were 1000 to …

04/07/2014 | By | Reply More
Betfair exhibit sense of humour

Betfair exhibit sense of humour

Just took this screen shot to use at the course I’m presenting on Tuesday. Take a look at the top left of the screen!

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28/06/2014 | By | Reply More
The (cold hard cash) winners so far in the World Cup

The (cold hard cash) winners so far in the World Cup

OK we know who’s through and who is out, but how has that translated into a profitable strategy so far in the World Cup?

Listed below are the returns to £10 stakes on each team that has qualified for the knock-out part of the tournament. Of course, the best bet of the tournament again was to lay England to do anything reasonably useful. But  in reality, we should have all been on Costa Rica instead. But the returns here show …

28/06/2014 | By | Reply More
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