Dec

22

The Year in Football

Posted on 22-12-2010 | Posted in sports betting

When it is a World Cup year, it is always a jam-packed year in football. 2010 was no different. Where to begin but the 2010 World Cup? Spain started slowly but finished with a bang. They took out Portugal and Paraguay in the early knock-out rounds before taking care of Germany and Holland. Holland played really well to reach the final but imploded in the decider.

The occasion got to them and they didn’t play football. A record 13 yellow cards were handed out and it dragged down the match.

The World Cup also made reasons for not the best of reasons. A disallowed goal to Frank Lampard in the England- Germany game made everyone want to introduce technology. It crossed the goal-line by some distance only to be denied.

Elsewhere, Inter Milan won the European Cup breaking their 45 year drought. They defeated Bayern Munich in the final and Jose Mourinho became just the third manager to win the title with two different teams.

He also won the Serie A to make it a great year for the club. They also won the World Cup Challenge to make it the most successful year in the history of the famous team.

In England, Chelsea reigned supreme with Italian Carlo Ancelotti leading the Blues to the League-Cup double. In the FA Cup they defeated Portsmouth in the Final. Online football betting had them as the favorites and they didn’t disappoint.

In Spain, Real Madrid took 96 points and only lost four games but that wasn’t enough as Barcelona only lost one game for the whole year. They had 99 points and the only defeat was against Athletic Madrid.

In Germany, it was Bayern Munich who once again reigned supreme. They topped the standings with Schalke in second place.

The first part of qualifying for Euro2012 began. The biggest surprises to date was Serbia’s slow start in Group C. They only have four points from four matches. By and large you can expect all of the usual suspects to be fighting out the right to be crowned as the champion of Europe.

England are in Group G and are currently with 7 points from three games. They are well placed to top the group.

Looking ahead to 2011 there is the Asian Cup, the rest of qualifying for the 2012 European Championships and the final of the Champions League which will take place at Wembley.

Dean Holden writes for this blog. He also writes for http://www.paddypower.com/football/

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Dec

10

Pats and Steelers Assert Their Authority

Posted on 10-12-2010 | Posted in sports betting

There were two big games in Week 13 of the NFL. The Ravens hosted the Steelers and the Patriots hosted the Jets. Both were fierce division games with a lot on the line. The Pats raced out of the blocks with a 17-0 lead and that was more than enough as they won 45-3.

Pittsburgh overhauled a 10-3 deficit in the final quarter to win 13-10.

Elsewhere there were good wins for New Orleans over the Bengals while the Bears were very lucky to defeat the Lions. At this stage, it doesn’t matter how you win as long as you do. An ugly win is still a win. Green Bay smashed the 49ers while Kansas City won an arm-wrestle against the Broncos.

There were some dead rubbers with the Browns edging the Dolphins and the Vikings winning at the expense of the Bills. The Giants got back on track with a big win against the Redskins and the Jaguars did the same against the Titans. Live betting always favored the Giants who controlled the game from start to finish.

The Chargers had a very costly loss to the Raiders and the Bucs did the same to the Falcons. In the NFC West, the Seahawks and Rams are on top with a lowly 6-6. One of these woeful teams will go to the playoffs while better teams miss out.

The Cowboys had a great away win to the Colts. The Colts who are 6-6 may miss the playoffs for the first time in quite some time. They aren’t the same Colts of recent memory.

The make-up of the playoffs is starting to take shape. In the AFC, there is a two game buffer between 6th placed Baltimore and the seventh placed Raiders. So the only hope for those other teams is to win their division. The Colts are a game behind the Jaguars so don’t rule them out yet.

In the NFC it’s a lot tighter with Green Bay and Tampa Bay on the outer even though they have winning records.

Week 14 will hopefully add some clarity to the picture. It starts off with the Titans hosting the Colts. Suffice to say this is a must win game for the Colts especially with the Jaguars hosting the Raiders. New England goes to Chicago in what should be a great game while San Diego has to defeat the Chiefs otherwise it is curtains for them for 2010.

Darren Albert writes for this blog. He also writes about sports betting.

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