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Posts Tagged ‘World Cup Predictions’

July 10th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The World Cup Final will be decided on Sunday afternoon on the pitches of South Africa, as Holland and Spain battle it out in their first ever appearances in the finale of this great tournament.

Holland vs. Spain (-175)
Sunday, July 11th
2:30 ET, Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

Holland Notes: The Dutch are back at full strength once again after a few matches with some legitimate injury and suspension concerns. The key for winning this match is going to be finding a way to break through a very stout Spanish defense. Strikers Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie, and Wesley Sneijder are going to be crucial to the effort. Both Robben and Sneijder scored goals in the semifinal against Uruguay, a 3-2 victory for La Oranje. It was just Robben's second goal of this tournament, as he has been hampered by a hamstring injury for the majority of the event. Sneijder, on the other hand, has been fantastic through all six fixtures, netting five goals and consistently appearing in the right place at the right time. The Dutch defense was fantastic over qualification in this tournament, allowing just two goals in ten matches. However, since shutting out both Japan and Denmark to start off the tournament, things haven't gone so well. The Netherlands has allowed five goals over its L/4 matches, including the two to Uruguay on Tuesday.

Spain Notes: The Spanish were the favorites to win this tournament at its outset, and now, they are favored to take down the crown for the first time in their country's history on Sunday afternoon. If by chance they do win the World Cup, F David Villa is most likely going to become a hero. Entering Saturday's third place match between Uruguay and Germany, Villa was tied with Sneijder for the lead in the Golden Boot race with five goals. His four-match goal streak came to a close against Germany in the semifinals of this event. D Carles Pujol was the man of the hour against the Germans, scoring off of a corner kick with a perfectly placed header in the second half for the lone goal of the match. The victory in the semifinal marked the third straight match that Espana fought through a scoreless first half and struck in the second half for a 1-0 victory. GK Iker Casillas has been paramount to that effort. He has stopped every shot that has come his way in the knockout rounds of this tournament, and he is looking to duplicate the efforts of GK Gianluigi Buffon of Italy four years ago, as he only allowed two goals en route to the Italians capturing the title.

The Final Word: Spain might not have more attacking options than the Dutch do, but it certainly has the right stuff to win this fixture. This is a bad matchup for Holland unless it can get out on the break on counterattacks. However, the Spanish have been great in that department all tournament long since allowing that first goal to Switzerland in the opening match. Quite frequently, Villa has been running on his own into the area, which is deadly for opponents and really limits chances to counter. Spain will get its goal once again in a very familiar looking score line.

Prediction: Spain 1 – Holland 0

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July 5th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The semifinals of the World Cup kick off on Tuesday, as two of the more unpredictable semifinalists of this event take aim at the Final. Uruguay will battle the Netherlands in a World Cup betting clash.

Uruguay vs. Holland (-0.5 -155)
Tuesday, July 6th
2:30 ET, Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa

Uruguay Notes: Uruguay is going to have a major problem in this match, as F Luis Suarez has been suspended after picking up a red card against Ghana in the quarterfinals on Friday. However, if it wasn't for Suarez's handball, Ghana would've ultimately been in this spot, as the striker clearly knocked away what would've been the match winning goal in the 120th minute. The only regular striker that will be in the starting 11 for the Uruguayans will be F Diego Forlan. Granted, Forlan has arguably been the most valuable player in this tournament. He struck in the second half on a direct free kick just outside of the area that the Ghanaian goalkeeper never had a shot of reaching. Forlan also scored on the first penalty kick of the shootout. There will be pressure on the Uruguayan defense like they have never seen before in this tournament. However, at least to this point, only two goals have been conceded by Uruguay. Still, stopping La Oranje is going to be a significantly different task than handling the likes of Mexico, France, South Africa, South Korea, and Ghana.

Holland Notes: Keep a very close eye on the three Dutch strikers in this match, as they could see opportunity after opportunity open up in the Uruguayan back line. F Wesley Sneijder has made himself a hero in his country, particularly after his double against Brazil to bring the team onto the verge of the finals for the first time since 1978. He is the leading scorer for the Netherlands in this tournament with four strikes, which puts him just one shy of Spain's David Villa for the lead for the Golden Boot. Holland has its share of injury concerns and suspensions as well in this match. M Nigel de Jong and D Gregory van der Wiel are both going to be held out of this match after accumulating too many yellow cards. The suspension to van der Wiel is going to be particularly devastating if D Joris Mathijsen can't play with his knee injury. It was Mathijsen's defensive position that really proved to be a letdown in the Brazilian goal by M Robinho in the first quarter of an hour of the match. Close tabs are going to have to be kept on Forlan in order to create counterattacking opportunities for Sneijder and fellow strikers Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie.

The Final Word: There are just so many more attacking options for the Flying Dutchmen in this match than there are for the Uruguayans. Forlan may have finally met his match in the form of Sneijder, and though we wouldn't be surprised if both men found pay dirt, ultimately, someone in orange is going to take the extra strike to put the Dutch in the final in regulation time. Uruguay has had a nice run, but the World Cup odds are just stacked against it in this fixture.

Prediction: Holland 2 – Uruguay 1

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July 1st, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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The 2010 World Cup is down to just eight teams, and here at Cappers Info, we are taking a look at the four matches at hand on Friday and Saturday and picking winners to advance through each of the World Cup betting battles.

Uruguay vs. Ghana: Needless to say, this is the least sexy of all of the quarterfinal duels, as one of these teams is going to be a shocking entrant into the final four in South Africa. Ghana can become the first African team ever to advance to the semifinals with a win on Friday, but Uruguay is going to stand in its way. The Black Stars put forth their best effort in a 2-1 win over the United States in extra time that saw both Kevin Prince Boateng and Asamoah Gyan hit the back of the net. However, we are much more in favor of the Uruguayan duo of Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan. Forlan might be the most feared striker on the counterattack in the world at this point, and Suarez is coming off of a two goal performance against the South Koreans in a 2-1 win to reach this point.

Free World Cup Pick: Uruguay

Holland vs. Brazil: The Netherlands has arguably been the most impressive team in this World Cup to date, as it has come forth with four huge victorious efforts in regulation. La Oranje has only conceded two goals in those four matches, with the last of the goals coming via a very questionable and incredibly inconsequential penalty kick for the Slovakians in the 90th minute of their Round of 16 duel last week. This is a totally different task at hand though, as Brazil is clearly one of the best sides in this tournament. The five time champs took out Chile in a dominating 3-0 performance earlier this week to reach this point. The yellow and green knocked Holland out of this tournament both in 1994 and 1998 in the knockout rounds, and this year will be absolutely no exception.

Free World Cup Pick: Brazil

Argentina vs. Germany: This is most likely going to be the most entertaining of the quarterfinal matches. These two teams have combined to score 19 goals in this tournament, easily making them the highest and second highest scoring teams in the World Cup. Both are coming off of impressive victories. Argentina knocked off Mexico for the second straight tournament in the Round of 16 with a 3-1 triumph, while Germany pulled off the modest upset in resounding fashion over England 4-1 over the weekend as well. Goals should be aplenty in this one, especially if Lionel Messi can finally get on the score sheet for the Argentines for the first time in his World Cup career. However, it is going to be Germany that gets through, quite possibly with an extra 30 minutes of action, as the German attack just looks more fluent right now than any other unit in the world.

Free World Cup Pick: Germany

Paraguay vs. Spain: South American teams have had tremendous success in this tournament, but all of that is probably coming to a close for Paraguay on Saturday. The Paraguayans advanced to their first quarterfinal in World Cup history with a 5-3 penalty shootout win over Japan, but they still have yet to score a goal in four lifetime tries in the knockout rounds. That just isn't going to cut it against the Spanish. La Roja found the back of the net after roughly an hour against Portugal, arguably the toughest defensive side in the world. It was David Villa's fourth strike of the World Cup. He is the prime candidate for the Golden Boot honors, and odds have it, if he can light up the scoreboard once again for his home country, Spain will be heading into the final four here in South Africa.

Free World Cup Pick: Spain

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June 22nd, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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World Cup betting action continues on Wednesday morning in Group C, as the United States, England, Algeria, and Slovenia all have chances to get through to the second round of the tournament. All four teams will be playing simultaneously, and all four have destiny in their own hands. Here is a look at what each needs to do to make it through to the Round of 16.

England: The Brits are probably still the biggest favorites to advance through this group, as a victory over Slovenia gets the job done. England can still get through with a draw, but only if that draw is at least with two goals apiece, and the United States draws Algeria. Needless to say, the Three Lions are going to have to come out swinging against a Slovenian team that has looked strong in this tournament. F Wayne Rooney has been completely missing in action for the Brits, as they have been desperately missing offensive firepower. M Steven Gerrard has the only goal of the tournament for the team, and that came way back in the fourth minute against the United States in its opening match. Someone is going to have to find the back of the net for England to avoid an embarrassing setback that would see it crashing out of the World Cup in just three matches.

United States: Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, it appears as though the best route for the USA to get into the Round of 16 is by winning Group C. A win over Algeria will assure advancement into the second round, while a draw gets the job done as well should England end on level terms with Slovenia. A loss ends its World Cup prematurely after just three matches. The comeback against the Slovenians was paramount for the Americans, as all hope might have been lost by dropping all three points. M Landon Donovan and F Jozy Altidore are coming off of the 45 minutes of soccer of their lives, and both are going to be crucial, especially in attack, to be able to get the Stars and Stripes into the next round.

Slovenia: The rookies of the World Cup may be in front of Group C right now, but without at least a point from England, its tournament is probably over, as a win by either the United States or Algeria could knock it out at that point. What is amazing is that the Slovenians have done all of this without getting much in the way of production from F Milivoje Novakovic. He was the leading scorer for the team in qualifying for the World Cup, but since coming here to South Africa, he only has one shot on target and is still goalless in two matches. There has to be something to be said about the fact that qualification would have already been complete for Round 2 had the Slovenians not blown a 2-0 lead at the intermission against the United States. Moment isn't exactly going to be on the side of this Slavian team, but after watching it stick with both Algeria and the USA for 135 minutes, anything can happen against England.

Algeria: We'll give this much to Algeria: The team has played fantastic defense at times during this World Cup. For the full 90 minutes, it took everything that the Three Lions could throw its way, and it still hung on to the scoreless draw to keep its tournament alive. The Slovenia/USA draw also surprisingly left the Desert Foxes in control of their own destiny to make it to the second round of this tournament as well. This is a team that combated the odds just to make the World Cup, and it certainly won't lay down and die for the United States either. Algeria has a major attacking issue right now though, as it looks overmatched by most of its competitors and hasn't really had the chance to move forward and create a ton of chances at goal during this tournament. That is going to have to change though, as three points is the only way that Algeria gets through. A draw or defeat for England will move Algeria through without any issues with a win, while Slovenia would have to lose by multiple goals, or Algeria would have to win by multiple goals to reach the second round.

Prediction: This group originally looked like it was the United States' and England's to advance through, and that's exactly what is going to happen when the dust settles on Wednesday morning in South Africa. Both the Stars and Stripes and the Three Lions should procure three points, and though England may ultimately win this group on goal differential, the US will have no problems coming in second and awaiting the winner of Group D.

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June 11th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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World Cup betting action continues with the second match day of the tournament on Saturday afternoon, and whether you are stateside or on the other side of the pond, the match between the United States and England is probably the biggest soccer betting battle that you have circled on your calendar in this event.

England vs. United States (+1, -115)
Saturday, June 11th
2:30 ET, Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa

England Notes: The Brits are going to be ready for this match, as they are hungry to get back onto the international stage after failing to even qualify for the 2006 European Championship. As proof to show just how much this means to the Three Lions, they qualified for this event with ease, scoring nine wins in their first nine qualifying efforts before taking it easy in the final, meaningless tussle to get here to South Africa. F Wayne Rooney has been fantastic during the entire qualifying process, scoring nine goals in as many matches. Additional pressure will be on the shoulders of M Steven Gerrard, who will be wearing the captain's armband in place of the injured D Rio Ferdinand. Though there is talent all over the pitch for Team England, the defense could potentially be shaky without Ferdinand on the back line. Still, the midfield is going to be dominant for the red and white, as that unit will be loaded with talented names such as Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Joe Cole. The media is going to be all over England's case should this match be lost, and manager Fabio Capello knows that a slip up that costs him a chance at World Cup supremacy could also cost him his job when this competition is over.

United States Notes: Never before has there been so much hype surrounding a match in the United States. The Stars and Stripes feel as though this is the most talented team that they have ever sent to the World Cup, and the standard of success goes back to 2002 when the team reached the quarterfinals before being knocked out of the tournament by Germany. M Landon Donovan and M Clint Dempsey are both going to be subjects of high alert from the English defenders, as they are going to be doing plenty of advancing out from the center of the pitch into attack. Manager Bob Bradley knows that his team is going to be comfortable getting a draw out of this match, as that should set the stage for a bare minimum of five points to be acquired in the group stage of this event, which should see the Americans through out of Group C. GK Tim Howard plays his club soccer in the English Premiership, and many feel as though he is one of the most underrated keepers on the global stage. If he and his defenders come up large, the United States could be primed for the upset.

The Final Word: As we just discussed, this match isn't the end all for either of these teams. England has the added pressure of being amongst the World Cup favorites to contend with, but even slipping up and salvaging just a point from this match would be acceptable as long as three points are acquired from both Algeria and Slovenia later on in this tournament. These two teams aren't exactly friendly with each other, and we expect to see a very physical outing which more than likely ends in a draw. Go ahead and take the goal given to you on the Asian handicap, as it is difficult to see how the Brits are going to win this by two strikes or more.

Prediction: England 1 – United States 1

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June 8th, 2010 By Andrew "Mr. Multi-Task" Ryan - Cappersinfo Contributor

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Every four years, the eyes of the entire world turn to soccer's grandest stage, as 32 nations get together for a spectacle known as the World Cup! Today, we're going to look at the World Cup betting lines at BetUS Sportsbook for each of the eight groups and pick out your winner of each.

Group A
France +125
Mexico +275
Uruguay +300
South Africa +700

It's fairly clear that the South Africans are going to have a home field advantage at this level, but we aren't so certain that they are going to make it through to the second round of the World Cup as every other past host of this event has. Uruguay is the team that really stands out here, as it is clear that neither Mexico nor France is the team that they once were. Look out for F Diego Forlan, as he is probably the best pure goal scorer in this group.

Group B
Argentina -250
Nigeria +450
Greece +650
South Korea +1000

Argentina is going to be the clear cut choice to take down Group B, but if F Theofanis Gekas can put on a show like he did in qualifying when he led all European players with ten goals, the Greeks could be a real dark horse to watch. Greece is a team that has a ton of defensive prowess, as was demonstrated when it won Euro 2004, and we are going to back the blue and white once again to pull off the major upset in Group B in South Africa.

Group C
England -300
United States +450
Slovenia +1000
Algeria +1600

Though Algeria could put up a fight thanks to the fact that it has a bit of a home field advantage and Slovenia was one of the most impressive defensive teams in qualifying, this group will come down to the opening match between the USA and England. We'd love to find the Stars and Stripes capable of pulling the upset, but in all reality, England is the clear cut choice, even at -300.

Group D
Germany -125
Serbia +275
Ghana +500
Australia +800

This group is a heck of a lot more open than perhaps it originally looked. Germany did have a great World Cup in 2006, but that came on its home soil. Now, M Michael Ballack is out of action as well, which takes both a great goal scorer and a team captain off of the pitch. We're not much for Ghana's chances, as injuries are really going to hold this club down. The Socceroos pulled off the upset and made the second round in 2006, but realistically speaking, a second place finish in Group D is about all that the Aussies can expect. By default, this leaves Serbia, who we are getting a fantastic price on at +275 in what should be a fun group to watch.

Group E
Holland -225
Denmark +450
Cameroon +500
Japan +1200

This is Holland's group to lose. We fully expect to see Denmark, Cameroon, and Japan beat each other up in Group E, which should open the door for the Dutch to simply come in and sweep up the crumbs. Even with F Arjen Robben potentially missing some or all of the group stage matches, La Oranje are just too strong to be toppled in a relatively weak group. Seven points should be the bare minimum that this team walks away from Group E with.

Group F
Italy -200
Paraguay +250
Slovakia +550
New Zealand +6000

Barring something very unforeseen happening, Italy is going to walk away with this group. Paraguay has a history of being a thorn in the side of some of the biggest clubs in the world, but the bottom line here is that Italy's defense may not be cracked. Remember that the defending champs of this event only gave up two goals during the entire tournament in 2006, and a good chunk of that defense is back for another go around in 2010.

Group G
Brazil -175
Portugal +325
Ivory Coast +400
North Korea +8000

The "Group of Death" probably became a lot more cut and dry when Ivory Coast suffered a catastrophic injury to F Didier Drogba. If the Portugal/Ivory Coast match ends in a draw, don't be shocked to see Brazil and Portugal have a "wink, wink" type of match on the final day of the group stage in South Africa, as a point would almost certainly get both teams through if everything else holds serve. This is Brazil's group to lose for certain, and -175 is a relatively cheap price.

Group H
Spain -400
Chile +500
Switzerland +1000
Honduras +3500

There really isn't much hope here for anyone else aside from the Spanish. They just continue to rip team after team, whether it be in qualifying or in friendly matches leading up to the World Cup. There's no reason to believe that a relatively weak group that includes a Honduras team that has no business being amongst the 32 teams in this field has a chance of stopping Spain. The Spaniards have won seven straight group matches in the World Cup. Don't be shocked if that number raises to ten.

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