We’re back to Premier League action this weekend which will be a relief to the majority of spread punters. The season is beginning to take shape and Chelsea are still the hot favourites for the title in Sporting Index’s season points table. The Big Four all look to hold strong chances this weekend and the Sporting Index traders will have all of them as strong supremacy favourites. However, those punters piling in on all of the Big Four will be concerned to hear that since the start of the 2003/04 season, all four of them have been victorious in just 21 of 197 rounds of football (barely overt over 10%).
Sports betting undoubtedly makes life more interesting when the action isn’t the most thrilling, and this weekend therefore looks like the perfect opportunity to have a spread bet. We’ll start with Chelsea’s trip to Middlesbrough on Saturday lunchtime and buyers of the Blues’ supremacy at around 0.8 will be pleased that Scolari’s side have now won six in a row away from home. This is only the ninth time this has happened since the Premier League began and they have also only lost two of 34 games played away at non-Big Four sides. However, sellers of Chelsea supremacy should be aware that Boro have won two of the last three between these two at the Riverside and they have also only lost two of their last 12 games at home against the Big Four. Their opponents on Saturday are the only team with a better record against the top four (lost none in last 12).
Lewis Hamilton is 7/2 to claim his first F1 title in China this weekend with bookie Paddy Power.
With two races remaining in the F1 circus a favourable result for the championship leader could see Hamilton wrap up the title this weekend, where he is 7/4 to win the race. However is Hamilton starting to crack under the pressure as he did last year? The Brit is 11/4 to fail to score any points for the second race running and 33/1 to crash out on the first corner.
Hamilton will more than likely settle for finishing ahead of Felipe Massa and is 4/5 to see off his title rival in a direct match bet. There’s no love lost between him and the Ferrari drivers or Fernando Alonso, who promised to help Massa over his former team mate, and Paddy Power offer 8/1 any one of the three drivers take Hamilton out of the race to scupper his title hopes.
Lewis Hamilton goes into this weekend’s penultimate GP with a five point lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings and can take the title in China if he scores six points more than Felipe Massa. Sky Bet has opened a book on how the Drivers’ Championship will be won and quote 5/1 for Hamilton to clinch it on Sunday. It’s 4/7 for the Brit to seal victory in the last race in Brazil, 5/2 for Massa to win the Championship on home soil in São Paulo and 20/1 for Robert Kubica, currently trailing Hamilton by 12 points, to pull off a shock title victory in Brazil.
Ladbrokes TV
Did you know it’s now possible to watch live sport on the Ladbrokes website? Everything from horse racing to greyhounds and football to basketball is covered, while their in-depth schedule gives customers the opportunity to plan their punting in advance!
FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 Qualifying Matches
England return to action for the first time following a superb performance against Croatia which after missing Euro 2008, gave the perfect start to World Cup 2010 qualifying. Walcott will want to prove his performance in Zagreb wasn’t a fluke and with Kazakhstan, priced at 28/1, lacking any real quality there should be goals galore and punters hoping for a high scoring game.
The other home nations are all in action this week too, the pick of the matches being Scotland’s (10/11) tricky home match with Norway (5/2).
Breeders Cup 24th-25th October
Santa Anita racecourse will be the focus of the horse racing world on 24th-25th October, when the best horses from both sides of the Atlantic go head-to-head on what promises to be a brilliant Breeders Cup betting card. Any serious punters will be staking big money on this meeting.
Japan F1 Grand Prix 10th-12th October
Only three races to go and with the Drivers Championship so close any mistakes can be costly. Lewis Hamilton lead but Massa will be looking to pounce on any mistakes and take the title. Maclaren-Mercedes and Ferrari are also tight Drivers and Constructors Championship the bets will be coming in as fast as the cars with punters looking for value.
Also, coming up…….
Tennis: TP Masters in Madrid 13th-19th October
Golf: European Tour: Madrid Masters 9th-12th October
With three rounds remaining, Lewis Hamilton heads into the weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix with a comfortable seven-point lead in the Drivers Championship standings and Sky Bet offer 4/1 for him to take the title without winning any of the remaining races. The Brit is currently 2/7 favourite to be crowned champion.
Hamilton is 13/8 favourite to get his fifth win of the season in Fuji. Felipe Massa, who, with five victories, has won more races than any other driver this season is 15/8 second favourite and Fernando Alonso is quoted at 20/1 to follow up his Singapore success with another win.
Sky Bet also quote 7/1 for Hamilton to achieve a race ‘hat-trick’ at the weekend by starting on pole, recording the fastest lap and winning the race. Massa is 12/1 for the hat-trick, with team mate Kimi Raikkonen quoted at 20/1.
As Formula One approaches the business end of the season Lewis Hamilton is just 1/3 with Paddy Power to win his first World Driver’s Championship.
Hamilton, who has been repeatedly expressing the mantra ‘points mean prizes’ is 9/2 to not win any of the final three races in Japan, China and Brazil but to still be crowned world champion as he sits on a seven point lead.
Paddy Power tip the ‘Ace of Herts’ to win one of the final three races at 5/4 whilst its 10/1 he wins all three. Hamilton is also backed to win more of the remaining races than his rivals at 6/5 to Massa’s 6/4 and Kimi Raikkonen at 3/1.
Hamilton also goes into the Japanese GP this weekend the 6/4 favourite to win the race whilst McLaren continue to close the gap on Ferrari and are now 6/5 for the Constructor’s championship to Ferrari’s 8/13. (more…)
The Premier League makes way for World Cup qualifiers this weekend, with each of the home nations in action. The Sporting Index traders have been working overtime trying to price markets for England v Kazakhstan – whilst there is little doubt on the likely result, there is also very little in the way of previous form for Kazakhstan, a team that only joined UEFA in 2004. Spread bettors should look to England’s performances against teams ranked 90 or above for guidance (Kazakhstan are ranked 98). Unsurprisingly, in the six matches they have played against such teams since 1992, they have won all six without conceding a goal. In four of those matches England managed to score three goals or more. Kazakhstan, on the other hand, have scored just twice in eight games, so buyers will be interested that Sporting Index’s supremacy is set at 2.9-3.1, whilst the spread of the first Kazakh goal is set at 80-82.
Kazakhstan’s story against top 20 sides is also as one would expect. Of six games played they have lost all six and were beaten by at least three goals in four of these matches. In fact, the Kazakhs managed to score just once – an 88th minute penalty against Greece in 2004. Spread punters are welcome to draw their own conclusions from these statistics – although it would take a brave punter to challenge Sporting Index’s England win index at 23-24.5 (with 25 points awarded for the win, 10 points for a draw and 0 for a defeat).
This weekend sees another Premier League local derby for spread betting punters to get stuck into when Everton and Liverpool meet at Goodison Park on Saturday lunchtime. Buyers of the Reds supremacy will take heart that they have won five of the last 10 visits to their local rivals and have only lost two. However, in-play punters may like to wait before showing their hand, as although the Toffees haven’t been very successful against the Big Four, in the past two seasons they have only trailed at half-time in three of the 16 games. Interestingly, in 11 of those 16 they have either gone in goalless (6 of 16) or Everton leading 1-0 (5 of 16). In addition, Liverpool tend to be weaker during the first half when playing away against sides who had finished in the top half the previous season. They have only been winning at the break in four of the past 16 of such games in the last two campaigns. Sporting Index’s total goals spread is set at 2.4-2.6 for the match and sellers will be heartened to hear that almost half of the Red’s away games against teams which had finished in the top half, have recorded only one goal or less.
The Merseyside Derby has regularly been referred to as the ‘Friendly Derby’, but the spread betting public who like to dabble in the bookings markets know that this isn’t quite true. Although both sides have two of the best records in the league for bookings points (10pts per yellow, and 25pts per red), this game in recent times has certainly had more of a fiery edge to it. The average points tally in Merseyside Derbies since Rafa Benitez became boss of Liverpool is an incredible 73 from eight games, with the referee awarding seven red cards during those games, two of which came in this corresponding fixture last season. In-play punters take note, each game that has seen a red card between these two in the Rafa era has always ended with a points total of at least 75.
Premiership Football 27th-28th September
As derby matches go, the Merseyside derby has the passion, emotion and excitement that captivates everyone red, blue or neutral. Can Everton capitalise on home advantage and ensure Torres continues to keep his shooting boots in the locker room? Liverpool look to prove they are real title contenders with a comprehensive win over their blue neighbours. Robbie Keane will be hoping to justify his large transfer fee with a first goal. With such a big game it’s sure to be a betting bonanza.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United will have been given the famous hairdryer after some mediocre results and will be looking to kick start their season against Bolton. With Ronaldo match fit United will look to him for inspiration. The money will be on United but Bolton have caused upsets against the big three in previous seasons.
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes 27th September
Taking place on the world-renowned Ascot racecourse, this Group 1 flat race creates a great betting spectacle. A race in honour of Queen Elizabeth II it attracts the top horses in Europe ensuring it’s one of the best meetings in the calendar. With Henrythenavigator and Tamayuz it has two of the season’s best milers battling it out in what’s surely going to be an epic contest
Singapore F1 Grand Prix 26th-28th September
This is the first Grand prix at night and can’t be missed. Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to stay top of the Driver’s Championship but with Felipe Massa only one point behind any mistakes will be punished. The money will be on Hamilton to prove he can handle the pressure.
Sky Bet has eased Lewis Hamilton’s odds of being crowned Formula One world champion to 4/6 (from 8/13) after his appeal to overturn a retrospective 25-second Belgian drive-through penalty was ruled inadmissible.
Singapore hosts Formula One’s first night Grand Prix this weekend and Sky Bet make Hamilton 11/8 favourite to win the race. The qualifying session gets underway on Saturday at 10pm and Hamilton is 5/4 to start on pole. It’s 25/1 for him to receive another drive-through penalty in Singapore.
Italian GP winner, Sebastian Vettel, is 11/4 second favourite behind Fernando Alonso (9/4) in the race betting without the ‘big 6′ (Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, Kovalainen Kubica and Heidfeld).
The Singapore track is a street circuit housing 23 corners and with rain also forecast, the safety car is quoted at 2/5 to come out (7/4 not to).