Uefa Cup Group Stage Betting
Chelsea got a great 2-1 win in Valencia last night to see off my win bet
but hopefully some of you were on David Villa at 6/1 to get first goal,
luckily for me it was enough to see me turn a profit on the match which at
the end of the day is what it is all about.
Most of my bets as you know are based on form and stats but every now and
then I get a "gut instinct " for a certain outcome and that is the case
tonight for me as I expect Blackburn to qualify for the 2nd round of the
UEFA Cup which is the group stage.
I say qualify as opposed to win the match as Stan James are offering evens
for Blackburn to qualify as opposed to the general 1 to 4 about Blackburn
winning the game.
I was on holiday so missed the first leg when Larissa won 2-0 at home but
by all accounts I have read Blackburn were poor on the night and got what
they deserved.
Tonight I am sure Mark Hughes will get his team motivated for the
challenge and I believe a win for them by the margin required is not
beyond a side that contains players of the quality of Santa Cruz, Bentley,
McCarthy and Matt Derbyshire who in my opinion is a future England
international, every time I have seen him play I have been impressed with
his movement and finishing and he can have no finer manager to help him
develop his game.
Blackburn had a mini slump with the defeat to Larissa followed by a home
defeat to Portsmouth by 1-0 but they have since beaten Birmingham 3-0 in
the Carling Cup and Sunderland away 2-1 in the Premiership and look back
on track.
Prior to that they had been on a long unbeaten run with good results at
Chelsea where they drew 0-0 and at home to Arsenal when they drew 1-1
which has been by far Arsenal's toughest game of the season so far.
Their opponent's tonight Larissa are currently 8th in the Greek league
after 3 games and come into this match off the back of a 2-0 away defeat
to Atromitos at the weekend. They qualified for the UEFA Cup by beating
Panathiaikos 2-1 in the Greek Cup Final last season so are not to be
underestimated, and they also include in their ranks Ibrahim Bakayoko who
Everton fans will remember after he had a short spell with them a few
years back, in fact it was he who got the first goal in the match in
Greece.
I believe if Blackburn can get an early goal momentum will build and they
will go on and win the match by the required margin. The UEFA Cup is an
event I am sure Blackburn would have expected to do well in this season
having gone through the Intertoto Cup to get there and they will not want
to exit at this early stage.
The other bet I fancy tonight is David Bentley at 8/1 for the first goal.
He has been playing well this season and thoroughly deserved his call up
to the senior England squad though the treatment he received from so
called fans left a lot to be desired.
He has shown maturity and has scored 3 times in all competitions for
Blackburn this season including 2 in the last 2 games so hopefully he can
bag one tonight.
So for me it is Blackburn to Qualify for the 2nd round of the UEFA Cup at
evens with Stan James, (remember even an extra time win or penalties
makes this bet a winner).
David Bentley first goalscorer @ 8/1 generally.
As ever good luck and good punting,
Silverfox.
