European Football

David Beckham makes his return to the San Siro on Wednesday, January 6th, as AC Milan v Genoa grabs the headlines. This will be David Beckham’s first game of his new loan spell with the Italian giants, as he looks to play his way to full fitness and a place in Fabio Capello’s 2010 World Cup Squad. Becks has already been assured that he is fully in the mind of the England manager, and as long as he can stay fit, then he will be part of the action in South Africa later this year.

The 34-year old will play out the rest of the Italian season with AC Milan, in a drive to make a return to the world stage. At the moment in the race for the Scudetto, AC Milan are eight points adrift of their fierce rivals Inter Milan at the top of Serie A. But Beckham insists that he is not just there for fitness and for playing at a top European level, he wants to help Milan win the league title, as well as making an impact in the Champions League. As part of Leonardo’s AC Milan, Beckham will make an emotional return to Old Trafford in the next stage of the champions league, in a mouth watering fixture for both teams.

Beckham will probably start amongst the substitutes on Wednesday night, and will get his chance to make an impact coming off the bench. His fitness does not seem to really be in question, as recent fitness tests have shown him to still be at an impressive peak of physical fitness. That should help Beckham fulfil his ambitions of winning the World Cup and becoming England’s most capped player. But there are more immediate targets on his hit list, that of securing success with AC Milan.

AC Milan do have a game in hand over Inter but they still have a lot of leg work to do to catch Jose Mourinho’s side. The only thing that slowed AC Milan down this season, was getting off to a poor start, in which they are paying for a little bit now. But they have come on in leaps and bounds, winning 7 of their last 10 matches, with only one loss. The game in hand they have over Inter Milan, also works over Juventus who are in third place, just one point behind. Wednesday night’s opponents Genoa are down in 11th place in Serie A, and have only managed four wins out of their last 10 matches.

But for Beckham, the news is not all positive. It has been reported that he was turned down for an appearance on The Simpsons, because he wasn’t big enough for the American market.

AC Milan v Genoa Betting Stats

Head to Heads
AC Milan 1, Genoa 1
Genoa 2, AC Milan 0
AC Milan 2, Genoa 0
Genoa 0, AC Milan 3

Last 10 Matches Form
AC Milan – W7, D2, L1
Genoa – W4, D2, L4

Last 5 Matches Goals
AC Milan – 11 For, 6 Against
Genoa – 11 For, 7 Against

Win Percentage
AC Milan have a 62.5 win percentage at home
Genoa have a 25 win percentage away from home

Match Prices:
AC Milan to win: 4/7at Bet365
Draw: 14/5 at Coral
Genoa to win: 11/2 at Stan James

David Beckham is 7/2 at ExtraBet as anytime scorer.

With the draws having been made for the World Cup 2010, the Champions League and the Europa League, we highlight some of the most enticing bets from a European football perspective.

1) Cristiano Ronaldo Champions League Top Scorer: 6/5 at Stan James.
Manchester United fans are probably tired of hearing about the Portuguese winger, but the undeniable truth is they miss him. It is worth getting some money down on him to be top scorer in the Champions League, simply because of who he is, and the fact that he is out in front at the moment. The extra bonus is that he players for Real Madrid, and they could go far in the competition. Even if you can pick this up as an each way bet, it is a good one to get behind. The chasing pack as it stands is pretty much the Chelsea duo of Drogba and Anelka.

Current Champions League Goal-scoring chart is:
Cristiano Ronaldo – 6 (Out in front and can easily stay there)
Michael Owen – 4 (Man Utd. Flattering, as he scored a hat trick in one game, and not a starting choice)
Milos Krasik – 4 (CSKA Moscow probably won’t get too deep in the competition)
Edin Dzeko – 4 (Wolfsburg – out)
Didier Drogba – 3 (the one most likely to catch Ronaldo)
Adrien Mutu – 3 (Fiorentina, could have a long way back from injury)
Grafite (Wolfsburg – out)
Nicolas Anelka – 3 (not as prolific as Drobga)

2) Bordeaux To Qualify against Olympiacos: 8/15 at Coral
Laurent Blanc’s French outfit have caused somewhat of a surprise in the Champions League this season, winning their group against more established competition in Juventus and Bayern Munich. They are cruising at the top of the French league, and have pieced together some nice football to get them into the last 16 of Europe’s elite competition. They have even gotten themselves a nice draw, being paired up against Greek side Olympiacos in the first Knock-out Stage. There is more than a fair chance they will progress, and there is a decent price on them to get through. Very unlikely to win it, but a kind draw and a semi final appearance is not beyond their realms.

3) Valencia to win Europa League: 12/1 at 888Sport.
The Spaniards are in the Europa League, and are a good outside tip to play their way to success. The Spanish league is stronger than most people will give it credit for, and are not really languishing far behind the English top flight. With the big clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona setting the pace at the top of Primera Division, Valencia are sitting fourth in the league, and are looking steady and efficient, with only two defeats so far on the domestic scene. They cruised unbeaten through their qualifying group in the Europa League, winning three and drawing three, netting twelve times along the way. Being drawn against Club Brugge, they should more than fancy their chances of progressing and will be a real threat in the tournament. They have Spain’s star striker David Villa in their ranks too, and he’s already one of the favourites to finish top scorer at the World Cup, so they are definitely worth an each way bet.

4) Lyon to beat Real Madrid: 2/1 at SkyBet.
If you are looking for an upset in the first knockout-stage of the Champions League, then Lyon could be your team. They are guilty of blowing a bit hot and cold, but is there a French revolution on the horizon, with Bordeaux going so well? They are sitting fourth in the French top flight league, but they have a lot of history on their side when it comes to playing against the Spanish giants. With all the fire power that Real Madrid have at their disposal, you would think that Lyon may not have much of chance, but check out the stats between the two. Madrid have not managed to beat Lyon when they have come head to head in Europe, ever. Lyon have knocked Real Madrid out of two Champions League campaigns, in 2005/06 and then again in 2006/07. The tie could all be won at home for Lyon in the first leg (which is what the above bet relates to only), which is where they overturned Madrid on the previous two encounters. They then managed to hold on to that advantage when heading back to Real for the second leg. Real Madrid’s Benzema will face up against his old club when the two meat, and while Lyon will have a tough time on their hands containing Kaka, Ronaldo and the wealth of fire power that Madrid have, they will have good hopes about the tie.

5) Italy To Reach World Cup Final: 5/1 at BetFred.
One team of note from the European perspective at the 2010 World Cup, is Italy. The Italians are what they are, efficient without flair, and it has worked for them in the past, so why not now? They have good experienced players, along with a lot of new faces on the world stage, and efficiency was exactly the name of the game when it came to qualifying top of their group to reach the World Cup 2010 Finals. They did so with one game to spare, and on the previous two occasions when Italy won the World Cup, they qualified both times with one game to spare. So, can they win the tournament twice in succession, for the second time in their illustrious history? It would be some achievement.

After Tuesday night’s Group E matches, it was confirmed that Liverpool’s participation in the Champions League this season would be over (well, after their match against Fiorentina in early December). The Reds will instead join the seven other third-placed teams in the newly-rebranded Europa League, entering the competition at the last-32 knockout stage. They won’t be the only so-called ‘big club’ failing to make the business end of Europe’s premier competition, with Inter Milan and Bayern Munich also facing the prospect of playing Fulham instead of Chelsea next year.

Bet365 have been quick to install Liverpool as 6/1 favourites to win this season’s Europa League and, considering that the Reds have regularly featured at the business end of the Champions League in recent seasons, many people will be backing the Reds for European glory of a different kind. However, it’s worth noting that the UEFA Cup semi-finals of the past five seasons have been populated more by teams who have been in the tournament from the start, rather than those who have dropped down.

The 2008/9 season was an exception to this rule, with UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar, Werder Bremen and Dynamo Kiev having played in the Champions League (Hamburg were the other team in the final four). However, the previous four seasons has seen 75% of semi-finalists originally entering Europe’s secondary cup competition at the preliminary or the group stages. During 2007/8, Zenit, Bayern Munich and Fiorentina were the originals, while the same could be said of Spanish trio of Sevilla, Espanyol and Osasuna in 2006/7.

Middlesbrough, Sevilla and Steaua Bucharest all made the semi-finals of the 2005/6 competition having not originally played in the Champions League, while AZ Alkmaar, Sporting and Parma were the originals of 2004/5. The point with all of these examples is that the bookmakers tend to overrate ‘Champions League teams’ when it comes to pricing up the Europa League. There is a reason why Liverpool, Bayern et al finished third in their group – namely that they weren’t good enough!

In addition, Liverpool could easily find themselves preoccupied with finishing fourth in the Premier League, rather than win a competition where there is only a limited amount of glory. While there is a gap in quality between the Champions League and the Europa League, teams like Shakhtar, Werder, Benfica and Valencia are more likely to comprise the semi-finals of the competition than Liverpool, Inter and Bayern Munich. Three of the last four champions have been teams who have previously earned the right to be featuring in this tournament and are therefore more likely to treat it with respect at the later stages.

Folks,

Welcome to my post, I am to deliver previews of the biggest European games each weekend as well as in-depth analysis of how to make you money. I have an accurate strategy which aims to minimize risk and utilise a spread betting systemhealthy return which should still guarantee an .

I am based in the UK but have contacts in Scotland, Spain and Italy meaning an up-to-date insight of European Football. My picks this weekend will focus on teams on the road, therefore better odds on top teams, when teams are playing away they are quite unpredictable, but if you bet across numerous leagues picking big teams then the risk is lessened.

The English Premiership drums up some very interesting fixtures this weekend.

As an avid Liverpool fan, I have to discuss the Merseyside Derby. Liverpool were uninventive against Stoke and lazy against Crewe yet they still remain undefeated in the league. How £40 million pounds worth of strikers haven’t clicked yet, I do not know, it drives me up the walls without being too bias. This match is always fiery and produces goals, it’s maybe Robbie Keanes time to step up to the plate and produce the goods. Im sticking my neck on the line and going for an away win, Everton are scoring goals with Cahill getting back to form but their defence is hardly water tight at the moment.

Back Liverpool, odds (6/5).(Bet Direct/Skybet/Stan James)

Newcastle are on a downward spirral at the moment, the talk of El Tel taking over will also not bear will with the faithful Geordies. The talks with a Nigerian consurtium are also promising, the sooner Mike Ashley moves on the better. They need stability, security, and patience. Whether King Kev returns or not, the new manager should be given sufficient time and money, but this weekend I feel spells more doom and gloom, even Tottenham beat Newcastle this week!! Blackburn to edge this one just.

Back Blackburn, odds (2/1)(Ladbrokes)

My other picks for this weekend in the Premiership are Chelsea (2/5) Bet 365) to easily overturn Stoke, and Man City (7/5) Ladbrokes) (Goal Machines) to overturn Wigan in a game that will produce a lot of drama.

The Scottish divisions are a speciality of mine, I have lived in Edinburgh for three years and the Scottish people are very passionate about their football. I have learnt a lot from uber enthusiam regarding the beautiful game, fitba as they call it.

My Scottish banker this weekend is – Rangers.

Rangers to come to Edinburgh and take all three points against Hibs. Rangers only have the league to play for this year, and Hibs are just getting over a somewhat sticky start. ( Back Rangers 8/11 (Bet 365)

Across Europe we also have some interesting teams on the road. All three teams have performed comfortably well on the road recently, both Barca and Madrid hammered the helpless Sporting Gijon, so I feel Villareal will comfortably follow suit. I can’t help but add Real Madrid and Barcelona to my coupons, they have superstars thoughout their team and are arguably world beaters on their day. Just be careful to mix your away selections accordingly picking one or two teams from each league, reducing the risk.

Villareal vs Sporting Gijon.(4/6 Ladbrokes)

Barcelona vs Espanyol. (17/20 Centrebet)

Real Madrid vs Betis. (9/10 Betdirect)

Apologies I have recently fractured my thumb and typing is frustrating at the moment, anyway best of luck this weekend, and don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions!!

Gerard