Euro 2008 Matches (Sep 8)

[c_daRk]

Any sugestions for a combo for tomorrow?

[korezz]

Malta vs Turkey

There is a huge difference in class I cannot deny as it is obvious. But the 8 th of September is a great day to remember for all Maltese.

Going back in history in 1565 the Turks invaded Malta in their attempt to take it over and continuing to concquer Europe. Well incredibely enough brave Maltese were capable to defeat the Turks and send them back home as defeated. Well this was not football but a big war where a lot of Maltese blood was lost.

That was the greatest ever achievement for Malta and that day is still very much remembered today and is a public Holiday. Now this day is the 8th of September and accidentally it happend that 442 years after this glorious day the Turks return in Malta...once again to try and conquist Europe but this time by playing a football match.

Maltese fans are ready for it and there will be a specatacle in the stadium to commemorate this day. 17000 Maltese fans are expected in the stadium and they will do whatever it takes to make the turks remember this day. It will not be surely a welcome to the turks and they will find a very difficult ambience to play in.

Malta is lately playing some good football at home, winning against Hungary and loosing just 1-0 to Greece with a penatly.

For this match I would go slowly on Turkey coz they wont trash Malta and the Maltese are all fired up to celebrate this day again. It will not be easy for the turks

Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61br13ZgYCg to know what im talking about.

Forza Malta!

[nastro 1888]

probably make it easier for turkey if Malta open up and come flying at them, turkey will pick them of with ease.

[sajtion]

turkey will win with ease. malta may as well put up a white flag before the match. in sporting terms how can you see any different?

[Mikeyred]

How about this for the England v Israel match

HT Draw FT England -3/1

Israel have said they will play defensively and go for the draw. England are shite up front and will struggle..can see Israel hanging on until half time and England scraping a second half win...

[Youssef]

I'm interested in Italy V France. Surely the French can get a point -at least- and stay top of the group. After all, Italy lost to HUNGARY in a recent friendly, so what does that tell you about the current form?

Also to be noted, France has not lost to Italy 9in 90 minuts) since 1978 (that's 29 years). I don't see the Italians ending this recor now. Not with THIS French starting line-up.

[nastro 1888]

I know where you are coming from mate but I wouldnt read into any Italy friendly - the Italians are always at there best when they need a result - they go to ukraine on wednesday and its now or never for italy in the next 4 days, 2 of the most difficult matches in the section for them, they arent world champions for nothing.




that draw/england @ 3/1 posted above is a very nice price for the reasons posted.

[c_daRk]

Ciprian Marica, Romania and Stuttgart will miss because he is ill. Sergiu Radu from VfL Wolfsburg will take his place. I am still on Romania win @ 1.47 now..

[blackcrow]

Hungary over 2.5
Bosnia needs to win this game to continue to give themselves a chance of a top two finish. However while they have a good attack their defence is a shambles. Most of their games result in at least 3 goals, as did the reverse fixture between these two countries where Hungary won 3-1.

Russia under 2.5
Russia needs to win this game to stay second in their group and especially because of their fixture against England on Wednesday. The odds of them winning are very low but for a bit of value is the under because Macedonia tends to play well away, and has caused some of the big guns some problems in the past. Russia are probably thinking ahead so will not play with the same determination as usual. They should still win but it won't be easy

England under 2.5
Both England and Israel need to win this game but also both will be afraid of not getting at least one point out of it. Defensively, England are very strong and should be able to repel whatever Israel has to offer, However their attack is not that good with toomany players out of form and they are missing Rooney up front. Lampard is out too and Gerrard who is there only other threat, will have painkilling injections to shut out the poain of a broken toe. Israel will play with a defensive frame of mind, knowing on paper they are outmatched but will be reluctant to open up and allow England to score. If England do score it will be only one, as they will shut the game up and look forward to another crunch game against the Russians on Wednesday.

Romania
The Romanians have the class edge over a Belarus side which has nothing to play for while Romania will want a win to maintain their position at the top of their group. Mutu up front has been playing well and should continue with a goal here. Reports of Belarus' best player (Hleb) being injured will help the Romanians win this

Malta over 2.5
Turkey should win this game but the odds about it are poor. They should win by a few goals but they have a important home game also on Wednesday and will look to do enough to win the game. Malta are not a good side but may lift, because of Turkey looking ahead and the fact this game is being played on the anniversary of the Turkish invasion of this island over 400 years ago, so the crowd should lift them to hopefully score a goal while Turkey should get at least the other two.

Serbia under 2.5
Defensively, 4th placed Serbia are very strong, especially at home, and know they have to win this game against the 2nd placed Fins. However it won't be easy as their attack is not as good as their defence.
Finland have had some good results away and are very well organsied. Led by Hyppia they don't let in many goals, but like Serbia, they struggle to score and this could be a stalemate. If either side does score, don't expect them to go for the second as they will believe that defensively, they can shut the other one out.

Croatia over 2.5
Would have preferre to take them -1.5 but that has gone now. Croatia lead the group and should win this game quite easily. They should ven get all three goals for themselves such is the difference between the two sides. In Zagreb it will be an atmosphere the Estonians will not be comfortable with, and the Croatians will want ot ensure that they win and also extend their lead if any of the other chasing teams manage to slip up. While they only won the reverse fixture 1-0 they were satisfied with getting just the one goal but they know in front of their own crowd they will not allow that to be the case again.

Also like,
Norway
Germany
Holland
Spain
Portugal

[_badboy_]

Holland - Bulgaria
OVER 2.5 @ 2.02 @ betfair

Bulgaria is playing away Holland this evening on Amsterdam Arena. The Bulgarian coach Dimiter Penev is firing an attacking side with 3 forwards. These will be: Martin Petrov, Berbatov, and Velizar Dimitrov. This is Penev second official game and the new coach factor should be still on. In the middle will be Stilian Petrov and Stanislav Angelov, both very good players. Kishishev will play in defense but he is too old to stop the fast Holland attackers. The two central defenders Tunchev and Tomashich are good, but not the class of the elite Holland forwards. They have no replacements however. Plamen Nikolov is too young and have no games in national team.

On the other side, Marco Van Basten is up against the wall. He cannot count on FIVE of his players who are injured. But the forwards are all up and ready: Van Niistelroy, Van Persy, and Dirk Kait. Zeedorf may also start.

I see attacking football with many goals.

Good luck all

[thebambers]

First time tips but here we go:-

Scotland game under 2.5 looks good to me. Lithuania are no pushovers having drawn 1-1 away at Italy, and losing 1-0 at home to France and 1-0 away to Ukraine. Bearing in mind Scotland only scored 2 away to the Faroes and Lithuania have only scored 4 and conceded 7 in 7 games I quite fancy this one. Odds on betfair for unders is 1.88

Germany AH – 1 v Wales. The loss of Giggs is a blow and the efficient Germans can cover what is needed here. Having beaten England 2-1 in our own back yard and also winning 2-1 against the CzechRepublic they are a good side. I know Wales snuffed out the Czechs at home last time but with Klose, Podolski and Gomez to chose from up front I see a 2 or 3 goal Germany win.
-1 ah is a very healthy 1.95 on betfair. Can't see anything other than a german win and if only by a goal we get our stake back.

Russia – Macedonia. A must win game to keep Russia in the hunt as they play us on Wednesday. Anything less than a win and they will struggle to qualify, however they will just do enough with one eye on the game with England mid week. They won the reverse comfortably 2-0 and the AH -1.5 ah is a decent 1.8 on betfair or under 2.5 is 2.1

England clean sheet 1.78 worthy of interest as both teams will be nervous with so much at stake. I can see a stalemate until half time and then England to perhaps sneak one in the second half before defending for their lives and giving us all several heart attacks until the final whistle!!

The strongest bet for me out of those will be the German one as they are strolling in their group and if they can beat England in our back yard then hopefully the Welsh will be easy enough to sort out.

Good luck to everyone betting today and if you chose my selections, may the force be with us!

[ukgaz]

Northern Ireland 0, -0.5

Feel NI will just be to strong for Latvia and will win by two goals

[thebambers]

Originally Posted by Mikeyred

How about this for the England v Israel match

HT Draw FT England -3/1

Israel have said they will play defensively and go for the draw. England are shite up front and will struggle..can see Israel hanging on until half time and England scraping a second half win...

I like your thinking mate and I will probably either go for unders or England clean sheet as well as this will be a tight game. Israel undefeated away from home since 2005 and played France and Rep Ireland in world cup qualifying group so no mugs

[DJ]

I'm contemplating taking Owen to score any time at 7/4 with Will Hill. The reason for this is that Will Hill are offering a special promotion of double winnings should the player score before 20 minutes and 8 seconds in to the match. The same deal is being offered for all England and Israel players in addition to players from other British team Internationals. I feel that if England want to win then we'll need a goal early and Owen is the man for that. If England on the other hand do start nervy and looking unsure then Owen has the rest of the match just to live up to starting odds. I feel he should score and the odds are fairly reasonable as he definitely has the best shout to score out of the England team. Bear in mind that Heskey is 9/4 and 7/4 for Owen sounds ok. The fact that Lampard is out means I think that Owen would take any penalties too.

[thebambers]

Originally Posted by ukgaz

Northern Ireland 0, -0.5

Feel NI will just be to strong for Latvia and will win by two goals

How about Healy to score at any time which is 2.76 with betfair last time aI checked. Worth a medium stake I would say

[DJ]

Originally Posted by thebambers

How about Healy to score at any time which is 2.76 with betfair last time aI checked. Worth a medium stake I would say

Same bet is at 2.25 with Will Hills if you think it's likely there will be an early goal. This would offer double odds with same bet promotion that's being offered in the Owen bet I said above.

[dsmythy]

Originally Posted by thebambers

How about Healy to score at any time which is 2.76 with betfair last time aI checked. Worth a medium stake I would say

It's probably a better idea backing Healy to score than N. Ireland to win. Better odds and if they are going to win this game you suspect Healy will have to win it for them. Him to be first goal scorer is something like 5/1.

[Youssef]

Tip Detail

Sport	Football (Internationals)
Event	Russia V Macedonia
Selection	Russia (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	08/09/2007
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 1.22 (Lay)
Reasoning	I´ll probably lose this bet, but I really don´t mind at these odds. The odds surely do NOT reflect the true strength-balance between nthese two, and macedonis IMHO are VERY MUCH underestimated. yes, I know Macedonia lost at home by 0-2 to Russia, but the also lost at home 0-1 to England yet got a 0-0 draw in England In fact, they are a better team on the road, proven by the stats: 5 goals scored in 4 away games Vs 1 goal scored in 3 home games. 2 goals conceded away from home Vs 5 conceded at home. A valid arguement is that they played Estonia & Andorra on the road, but the 3-0 win in Andorra (or rather in Barcelona) is the same England got gaianst the same team, and is one goal better than Israel´s 2-0. That´s strong in my book. They managed to keep 3 clean sheets on the road, including one in their visit to England, so why can´t they do the same in Moscow? They managed to score against Israel & Croatia... something the English team failed to do against either of them. Russia conceded 1 overall, which is what really helped them to get teh resuklts, but as far as scoring goals they scored only 11 in 7 games (including TWO against Estonia scoring 2 in each and a game Vs. Andora in which they scored ). That´s not a good offence considering England (playing almost w/o strikers) have scored 12 in 7 games, Croatia score 16, and ISRAEL scored 17 in 8 games. So, let me reiterate.. Vs. Estonia (in Estonia) Macedonia won 1-0. The same as Israel & Croatia. They kept a clean sheet. The same as England & Russia as well. Against Andorra in Andorra, they won 3-0. Same as England and better than Israel´s 2-0, and they also kept a clean sheet like them both. Against England they conceded once in 180 minutes. That´s good defending. Against Croatia (in Croatia) they lost 1-2. Bettr than England´s 0-2, and "offenssively" better than Russia´s 0-0. In fact, Macedonia´s the only team that managed to fold Croatia´s net virginity in Zagreb. I still make Russia favourites due to their GOOD defence, they will probably edge this game by the odd goal, but 1.22 for a lay of Russia?? That seems like a very appealing figure to use!

Tip Detail

Sport	Football (Internationals)
Event	England V Israel
Selection	England (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	08/09/2007
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 1.36 (Lay)
Reasoning	English patriots are sure going to love my lay of Russia, but I suspect they´re gonna hate me for this pick! But let´s forget about patrioitism for a moment and concentrate on facts. Israel are unbeaten in their last 9 AWAY games, including draws at places like France, Switzerland, Ireland, and Russia! Israel scored 17 goals so far in 8 games, while England only scored 12 in 7 games, and that was when they -at least- had Rooney upfront. (mind you, the lad didn´t score ANY of them!!) The English may not think high of Peter Crouch, but the fact is Croiuchy´s England´s top scorer in these qualifiers with 4 goals to his name (that´s 1/3rd of England´s goals) and he´s out suspended. Gerrard scored 3, and he´s forced to play unfit with injections because the team simply doesn´;t have anyone else to replace him, as Lampard in out injured, and even Becks -for whatever he´s worth now- is out injured. (Becks did help a great deal in the 3-0 away win over Estonia.) Owne is back, and he´s the only reliable layer in the whole frontline AND midfield (excluding "injured" Gerrard) but Owen needs someone to provide him with the chances to score, or he will have to fall back and get the ball himself. Robinson on the other side concedes goals for fun. 3 vs Fulham, 2 comletely his fault and I still can´t figure for the life of me why he goes off the goal line to do absolutely nothiung but watch the ball being lopped over him! (remember Eduardo´s header in Croatia?) Now Englkand got a goalless draw with a virtually complete team in tel Aviv. Todady they are fielding a 50% 1st choice squad at best. It´s a home game, I know... but the fans are hardly going to hit the pitch and kick the ball themselves. Now Israel got 2 goalless draws against England in the last 2 games they met. And if Englkand scored 5 without a reply in 2 home games in these qualifiers, the 5 goals were against ANDORRA, but they failed to find the net against Macedonia, with a much better attack than their´s today). Israel conceded only 2 in their 4 away games in these qualifiers, and they scored at least once in each of them. Now replace England with ANY other Int´l squad of your choice, and re-read the above. Would you REALLY back the "replacement" at these odds??

[Moo$e]

I wouldnt bet on Serbia on suchs an low odds like 1.50.
Finland has been under Hodgson quite good. Major concern is who is playing left defender, we just dont have nobody there at the moment.
And sure there is more good players than just Hyypiä and Tainio.
Aleixei Eremenko (Saturn, Russia) can be the man of the match easily
if he is having one of hes good days, incredible free kicks and lots of creativity. Also hes brother Roman Eremenko (Udinese) is starting lift hes profile and he has been quite good in lower midfield, very promising player. Also our goalie Jussi Jääskeläinen (Bolton) should be given some respect.
Mikä Väyrynen isnt full fitness yet and will skip this game, this isnt such a major blow but does limit Hodgsons choices though.
On the front Johansson has come to a new spring when transferred to Sweden after dry years of Charlton, hes speed will be needed in counterstrikes.
If we can hold on the first 20 minutes then anything can happen.
For Serbia they miss their both central defenders, Vidic and Krstajic.
Serbia is clear favourite here, but Finland in other hand are always playing better when treated as underdog than when treated as favourites.
Good luck what ever your bet is, to me is no bet, to me its couple of beers and watching the game from tube eating my fingernails

[Jase82]

Why are England so short? we are sh*t, plain and simple. Everyone has been slating us, even Bobby Robson.

There has to be value on Israel. I can see us knocking the ball about nicely in defence for half an hour, getting to half time at 0-0, we'll see John Terry and Rio patting each other on the back, saying well done son - Not that I'm cynical or anything - we might have 1 or 2 half chances?? .... a couple of corners, and then we'll fade out in the second half. Then Isreal will score a flukey goal, say, a deflection off Rio, and then Owen will equalise in stopage time.....and then they'll leave the pitch patting eachother on the back, saying well done, we've done very ....very well....against Isreal....and then Mclaren will bleat on about how much it was a hard game, and the injuries didn't help....and it'll be straight to preparing for the Russia game....

Sorry, but England will not win anything under Mclaren, and play with no passion, so any bet on England has to be a no.

I like the the Unders.....or maybe for Mclaren to get the sack once we fail to qualify.