First bet makes a profit

I recently wrote about winning a bet on the first tip I gave out. I tipped Barcelona to beat Arsenal 3-1 in the Champion's League last 16 and that's exactly what they did.

I pointed out that Coral were offering odds of 9/1 for Barcelona to beat Arsenal 3-1 and  I decided to put £1 on it. I'd had it in my head for days that the score would finish 3-1 so I am a bit disappointed I didn't put a bit more on the result than £1.

I have one rule when it comes to betting, when you think  something is going to happen and you go to put a bet on it, stick to your original decision and that way you can't kick yourself for going against your original bet and then it coming in.

Above shows me following my instinct and putting £1 on Barcelona to beat Arsenal 3-1. What it also shows is me getting a bit carried away.

When I was placing a bet on the assistant behind the counter pointed me in the way of a good value bet of 28/1 for Arsenal to win the first half and then for Barcelona to win the game overall. It is not a bet I had originally thought about putting on so I don't really know why I did. The dangers of betting and how it can lure you in I suppose?

Onto the profit. I went into the bookies with my £20 in my pocket and placed £3 on the game, which reduced me down to £17.

Thankfully my original bet came in to give me a £10 win, taking my betting balance up to £27, meaning I was £7 in profit despite my silly bet. Not a bad start to the experiment, or whatever else you want to call it.

My first bet sees me £7 in profit, let's hope that the next bets will follow suit and see me earn a nice tidy sum from my original £20.

Good Value 9/1 accumulator

Today is a good day for football if you ask me, and that is why I've decided to place three accumulator's on today's fixtures.

The second bet of the day sees me following Leeds United, Manchester City, QPR, Brighton and Hartlepool.

I have already discussed Leeds and QPR so I don't think there's really much  point in me justifying my decision on these teams again. If you want to see my reasons for this you can see them in an earlier post by clicking here, the title of the post is "First Accumulator Bet".

Manchester City are absolute certainties to win in the FA Cup this weekend against Reading. Pressure is mounting of Roberto Mancini's side to bring home some silverware after the amount of expenditure the club has laid out on player's in the last year or so and the FA Cup is realistically their best chance.

City fans will be disappointed with the 2-0 loss to Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League midweek and will be hoping to inflict misery on Championship side Reading, to show that they are actually contenders for the oldest club competition in the world.

With city rivals United facing Arsenal today City will hope they can progress  and then have a shout of winning the tournament, which is why I believe Mancini's side will hammer Reading today.

Another team on this accumulator is League One high fliers Brighton and Hove Albion. The seaside team are currently are a remarkable seven points clear at the top of the league with two games in hand and will feel they already have promotion in the bag.

They are the only side in League One to still be unbeaten at home and will thoroughly believe they can continue this run against a Tranmere Rovers side battling to stay in the division. Like QPR it is hard to bet against Brighton at home.

Thye final team on this bet are Hartlepool United, who are comfortably rooted in the middle of League One. They face a Plymouth Argyle side, who may find themselves bottom of the league today should they lose.  Plymouth have found it hard to find any points this season and I think that the long trek up the country to Hartlepool could be too much for them.

To summarise this bet, it is a 5-fold of Leeds, Manchester City, QPR, Brighton and Hartlepool with Coral at  9/1. I have put £2 on this myself.

First accumulator bet

As well as offering you tips on individual bets I will give you my opinion on accumulators.

Accumulators can range from anything from a double, which is a bet which banks on the results of two games going in your favour, through to 14 or 15 folds, which needs all 14or 15 results to come in for you to win.

Understandably the more games you have in your accumulator, the more money you will win back if you do. I had one a few years ago that was a 16- fold and I was one minute away from winning £97,000, only for Leeds United to concede a last minute goal.

Leeds fans showing their frustration

Anyways, no point crying over spilt milk is there?

My first bet of Saturday's fixtures sees me going for a nice treble of Hull City, Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers, three teams who look good value for money in their games today.

The first tie sees high flying Hull City travel to Coventry to take on the Midlands side. Usually I wouldn't take a punt on Hull as I think they are too inconsistent but when you look at the stats they speak for their self.

Hull City are unbeaten in their last 13 games on their travels, whereas Coventry have only won one of their last 15 league games, which to me makes this game a no brainer in terms of taking a punt. Add to that the fact that Coventry have only won one of their last three home ties with Hull and I think you have the good foundation of an accumulator.

Another team flying high is Leeds United and today they host probably the most inconsistent side in the Championship, Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys have struggled for form all season and this is evident as they have only won one of their last five games.

Leeds will be buoyed by the fact that they are currently sitting in fifth position and a win could lift them into the automatic promotion places. Confidence will be high for Simon Grayson's side following a 5-2 drubbing of local rivals Doncaster Rovers last week.

The third team that I have opted for on this bet are Queens Park Rangers. They have found theirselves top of the league all season and it is really hard to bet against them. They are certain to be playing their football in the Premier League next season unless something dramatic happens, which is unlikely.

QPR have the best home record in the league, taking 41 points from a possible 54, losing just one game in the process.

Crystal Palace on the other hand have only earnt six points out of a possible 54 on their travels, so to me it's not hard to see where the points will be going today.

A treble of Hull City, Leeds United and QPR to win  is rated at 6/1 with Coral, and I have put £2 on the treble myself.

First win of the blog

This post is to let you know I have won my first bet of the blog.

The first tip I offered you came in. I offered you the tip of Barcelona to beat Arsenal 3-1 and it happened. Let's hope it will be the first of many winning tips I present to you.

I can honestly say that I am not surprised with the scoreline, as everyone who knows something about football recognise the fact that Barcelona are a hard team to beat when they are in a fluid, free-passing mood, as they were midweek.

What I was shocked with was that Arsenal did not look like their usual self, they looked like a Sunday league team at best. Barcelona managed to carve open Arsene Wenger's men with ease, making them look non-existant. The way the Catalan giants passed the ball around the field just epitomised the way total football should be played.

Questions have been raised about whether this Barcelona team is the best team ever and with football on show, like they did against Arsenal and have done already in a 5-0 drubbing over arch rivals Real Madrid earlier this season, it's hard to argue with this point.

But the fact is Arsenal did not look like a team that had famously beaten 'the best team in the world' in the first leg. They struggled to keep hold of possession and when they did they failed to press forward and attack Barcelona.

I predicted that Arsenal would get the first goal and force Barcelona into playing attacking football but it was not the case. Barcelona attacked from start to finish and Arsenal created a new stat for the season, one they will not want reminding of.

Wenger's side became the first side this season to have not mustered a shot against their opposition in a European competition or any national league game.

The 3-1 score line suggests that they had a shot but the matter of the fact is that they didn't. The Arsenal goal came through a Sergio Busquets own goal. The make shift defender rose highest in the Barcelona penalty area and headed an Arsenal corner into his own goal.

The own goal must have spurred Pep Guardiola's side on as they went onto hit three goals to take them through to the Champion's League quarter finals with a 3-1 scoreline as I predicted.

I was a man to my word and stuck £1 on the scoreline at 9/1 with Coral and I'm glad I did as it came in and earnt me £10.

What I am annoyed is that when I was in the bookies putting my bet on I saw another bet that took my fancy and decided to put £2 on it.

I saw a bet that showed Arsenal to win the first half and then Barcelona to win the game was offered at 28/1, worth a couple of quid I thought. Apparently not.

It taught me that you should only put bets on results you are sure are confident that will come in and not get lured into value bets.

On the whole I offered the tip of Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal at 9/1 and won £10 off it..not a bad start to the betting blog.

Tottenham v AC Milan

Tonight sees Harry Redknapp's Tottenham Hotspur face Italian giants AC Milan in the Champion's League last 16 second leg.

Spurs head into this game with a well fought out 1-0 advantage after emerging victors from the San Siro, thanks to a Peter Crouch goal and they will be hoping that they can do what local rivals Arsenal couldn't do and progress to the quarter finals.

Redknapp's men will feel they will have a point to prove after twice surrendering their lead against Premier League struggler's Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend, in the enthralling 3-3 draw.

Redknapp will have felt relief to even leave the game with a point at the final whistle due to the constant bombardment of pressure from Mick McCarthy's men and has already admitted that Alan Hutton was lucky to remain on the field come the final whistle.

But the Spurs boss is not the type of person to reflect on a result for too long and will have installed a sense of belief and confidence into his players that they are just 90 minutes away from two further Champion's League clashes.

Tottenham were ranked as one of the outsiders for tournament but after topping their group, which included Inter Milan and beating AC Milan in the first leg their odds have been cut dramatically.

That takes us onto tonight's game.

The fixture will already rank up there alongside the greatest of European nights at White Hart Lane as nobody really gave Redknapp's men any chance of progressing in the tournament but to find themselves with a 1-0 advantage over AC Milan and the prospect of going further in Europe's elite club competition must surely have Spurs fans licking their lips with delight.

AC Milan look in danger of conceding goals at the back due to their old and expiring defenders, mainly Alessandro Nesta. The one time Italian rock doesn't look as steady as he used to and Spurs will look to exploit this.

 Gattuso and Jordan getting heated

 

The Italian side are already without Gennaro Gattuso after his altercation with Tottenham coach Joe Jordan so will be looking at Mattheiu Flamini to cope with the dangers of the Spurs midfield.

Without Gattuso I can see Milan fielding a 4-3-3 formation with Ibrahimovic, Pato and Robinho taking their places up front. That on paper looks like one of the most deadliest strike forces on the planet but when you look a little closer you see the weak link. Ibrahimovic.

Surprisingly the Swedish striker has never beaten an English side in Europe and will be looking to rectify this situation in tonight's fixture to help Milan claim their place in the quarter finals.

Spurs will more than likely play attacking football and will look to build on their lead rather than sit back on it and why shouldn't they?

With players like Rafael Van der Vaart and Aaron Lennon they certainly have an attacking prowess that would leave many teams envious. To add to this Redknapp has decided that star player is only good enough for the bench tonight, so should he come on there will be a real attacking ethos about the Spurs side.

AC Milan have only ever beaten an English team on English soil once and I can't see tonight being a second. I can see Spurs pushing their Italian opponents all game and will eventually come out on top.

The AC Milan have recently described Peter Crouch as 'the hardest striker to play against' after their first leg clash and I believe the England international will once again be tough to handle for the European giants.

I can see the lanky striker finding the scoresheet and wouldn't be shocked if he was to get the first goal. Peter Crouch to get the first goal.


Jermain Defoe found the net twice against relegation strugglers Wolves at the weekend and this will have installed a new lease of confidence into the striker's mind. I'm one for believing in fairy tale endings and I believe this game will have one. I can see Jermain Defoe coming off the bench to double the Spurs lead and take them through to the next round, giving him 100 goals for Tottenham in the process. Jermain Defoe to get the last goal.


As I have already indicated I can see both Peter crouch and Jermain Defoe scoring a goal a piece which leaves the score at Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 AC Milan.


The tips I am offering for this game are:


- Peter Crouch to get the first goal- 5/1 with Coral
- Jermain Defoe to get the last goal- 11/2 with Coral
- Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 AC Milan- 11/1 with Coral


Alternatively if you favour my bets a double of Peter Crouch to get the first goal and the game to finish 2-0 to Tottenham is offered at 40/1 with Coral.

My first tip of the blog...

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to my first blog post on this site.

Tonight sees possibly the biggest match of the season so it would be rude not to offer you my opinion on this game wouldn't it?

Arsenal travel to Barcelona with a 2-1 lead, after their Champion's League last 16 first leg win at The Emirates, hoping to avenge their 4-1 loss in last year's competition to the same team.

Arsene Wenger's men surprisingly lost the League Cup final to Birmingham City just over a week ago thanks to an Obafemi Martins last gasp goal and will be keen to show they are serious about winning a trophy this season.

Arsenal haven't won a trophy for six years now and should Arsenal knock out Barcelona Wenger will have his attentions seriously focused on the Champion's League.

Receiving the runners up medals

Onto the game.

The fixture is one of the most anticipated games in recent times, after the mouth watering first leg, and is definately a game for the neutrals.

Pep Guardiola will be without his usual central defence partnership of Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique through injury and suspension so I suspect that Barcelona won't be as strong as they usually are in the heart of defence.

The Catalan giants don't have too many defenders to come in and replace them so I think Busquets will be the man to fill the void and shoulder the burden of shutting out players such as Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas.

Arsenal have injury concerns of their own, with Van Persie being the most talked about. The Dutchman is believed not to be 100 per cent fit but Wenger has included him anyway and looks likely to start the influential player.

Arsenal have already been dealt the blow that pacey winger Theo Walcott will miss the game and this will have a detrimental effect on the way Arsenal play.

With both teams missing key players, or likely not to have their players fully fit I can see goals in this game.

Arsenal will have to attack Barcelona, as the home side have an away goal, and this is where I can see the Spanish side posing the most threat. They are critical when they pass the ball around and if they hit Arsenal on the counter attack it could spell the end of the north London's European adventures for yet another season.

I can see Arsenal getting an away goal of their own but I can see this just spurring on Barcelona to play the slick, fluid, attractive football we have come to associate with them in order for them to get the win they crucially need.

When Barcelona play the way they can, with players such as Xavi, Iniesta and Messi there is no stopping them and I can see this fixture being no different.

I've had it in my head for days that this fixture is going to finish 3-1 to Barcelona so that is the score I am going to recommend.

The odds aren't the best on this scoreline as it's Barcelona but I really think this is how the score will finish, so I'm gong to put money on it myself, only £1 but I'm hoping to take this £1 a long way.

VERDICT: BARCELONA 3-1 ARSENAL - Coral 9/1