Weekend Six Pack, week V – Winning Euros

Each week our betting columnist Rob Hartnett will bring you six bets from the weekend football action.  Rob is the public face of leading In Play betting specialists 188BET.com and appears regularly on the Bolton, Wigan, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Everton websites doing betting previews.  You can follow his thoughts on Twitter @HartnettRob

INTERNATIONAL BREAK BUT NO REST FOR PUNTERS

Villa very nearly produced a 4.50 winner to lead at half time against Spurs last week but hopefully if you were following the In Play betting you will have taken a nice profit.  The Chelsea bet proved a winner though Twitter followers will have done better as I switched on Sunday to a combination correct score bet of Chelsea to win by 2-0 or 3-0 at odds of 5.0.

The Internationals are not welcomed by many club managers but can provide us with a few decent opportunities:

Republic of Ireland and Russia to draw @ 3.25

The Irish have got off to a great start with maximum points against Armenia and Andorra while Russia lost at home to Slovakia and are under pressure following a disappointing year since losing to Germany and Slovenia in failing to qualify for the World Cup Finals.  Russia’s away form is poor in the past year while Ireland have only lost once in their last 17 competitive games, and once at home in 14 over the last five years.  Giovanni Trappatoni is a cautious manager and the fear of losing on both sides, albeit for different reasons could see this heading towards a draw at odds of 3.25.  If Ireland are out to 4.0 and level with 30 minutes to go you might have a saver on them then.

England -1.5/2 Vs Montenegro @ 2.20

Next Tuesday England are back at Wembley against Montenegro.  The odds will be short on an England win at around 1.25 but try backing them in the split Asian Handicap of -1.5/2 at odds against.  The three Lions record in qualifying at home is very strong with 15 of 20 at home won by two or more.  You win to all your stake at those odds if it is a three goal margin and to half your stake with half your stake back if it is by one.

Czech Republic to beat Scotland 1-0 or 2-0 @ combined odds of 3.50

Scotland travel to the Czech Republic off the back of a late, late winner against Liechtenstein in their last game.  Their plan will be to defend in depth and it is hard to see where goals will come from, particularly with Petr Cech to contend with.   The Czech’s failed to score in their last two competitive games against Northern Ireland and Lithuania so this is likely to be tight again but they should be strong enough to win.

Wales Vs Bulgaria -2 Total goals @ 2.10

Wales face a Bulgarian side that was poor against England and then lost at home to Montenegro.  Both sides have new managers at the helm but in the absence of Bellamy and Berbatov as goalscoring threats, it is difficult to see this being anything other than a low scoring affair.  Less than two goals is odds against at 2.07 with your stake back if there are two goals exactly.

Italy to beat Northern Ireland 1-0 or 2-0 @ combined odds of 3.10

Northern Ireland face Italy, buoyed by their first win in ten games but their goal was the first they had scored in eight games and Italy are not noted for their generosity on the road.  Northern Ireland have sprung some shocks down the years but I would choose combined odds of 3.10 on Italy winning by 1-0 or 2-0 over 2.21 about Northern Ireland avoiding defeat.

Brighton to beat Bournemouth @1.85

The Seagulls have won six of their last seven league games at home while Bournemouth have lost five of their last seven away, conceding two goals in each of their last three away games.

England, Ireland, Montenegro, Russia, Wales, Weekend Six Pack