Hey guys new to these forums but I have been recently posting my picks on other forums.
Here are the plays for the weekend:
Italy -1/-1.5 (Alternate Line) @ -125
Cyprus/Ireland UNDER 2.5 @ -145
France -1 @ -105
Brazil +0.5 @ -125
Chile -1.5 @ EVEN (ODDMAKERS ERROR GAME!)
Mexico PK @ EVEN
Ecuador +0.5 @ -105
The Italians travel to Tbilisi sitting on top of the table even though they have played less matches. At the moment, scoring is a concern for Italy who were held scoreless in their last matches against Switzerland and Brazil. The Italian squad is heavily dominated by Juventus players and with great reason. The Juventus club has many Italians on their team, all capable of playing at the national level. Juve is fresh off a win away at Roma, so the fact that they are away in this game means absolutely nothing to them. Pirlo will provide experience in the center of the pitch and look for him to grab an assist or two in this game. Regardless of who you put on the field from both of these squads, Italy obviously has the better talent. They aren’t going to let a weaker team like Georgia, who has three points from seven games defeat them. Italy to win this one 2-0.
Ireland will travel to Cyprus on Saturday. I will keep this write-up short and sweet. Ireland doesn’t score goals. They have one goal scorer. His name is Robbie Keane. He is a lethal finisher, but the scoring opportunities never come for him. Maybe if Ireland had better players in their midfield such as Man City’s Stephen Ireland (no pun intended), who turned down a sure starting position on the national team, then Keano would get some help, instead of making his own goals. Ireland’s last match was at home to Australia. It was only a friendly, but it’s worth noting that Ireland did lose 0-3…at home, to a side that really isn’t that strong of a team. Ireland has trouble scoring period, and now they must try and do so away in Cyprus. I see this game ending 0-0/1-1/1-0, either way I am going with the UNDER.
France will host Romania. France sits second in the group, 5 points behind Serbia. What is there to say about France? Nothing. They have been absolutely terrible and furthermore, unimpressive. Their last match was away at Faroe Islands and French fans expected a blowout. What did they get? A narrow 1-0 win. According to French fans, France coach Domenech seems to be the one to blame as he plays a conservative style of football. So one may ask: What’s different now? Well I don’t have an answer for you except that France needs ALL the points against Romania. So maybe Domenech will switch his approach to the game, maybe he won’t. But the players realize that the fans are fed up and the only way to get their fans back is with a solid game against Romania. We will see Henry, we will see Ribery, we may see Benzema. France will have the drive to win this game. My guess? 2-0 France win.
NOTE: Romania will be without star player Adrian Mutu as he is out with a thigh injury.
Argentina vs. Brazil. This is going to be the match with the biggest hype. Brazil will travel to Argentina and many believe it will be tough to play in front of the Rosario crowd. Maradona has already stated that he is going to put most of the responsibility on Messi to lead Argentina to victory. There’s no problem with that except for the fact that he is going to need help. Messi is a phenomenal player, don’t get me wrong, but to put this much responsibility on him to “become a man” on Saturday as Maradona stated? I think it’s just too much. Brazil is undefeated in their last five matches and have only lost once in their last 14 national matches. I personally think the Brazilians will take advantage of Maradona’s questionable coaching. Maradona was an amazing player, but not so much an amazing coach. I think he’s making this game too much about himself and not enough about his team, and that will be his downfall. Brazil is the MUCH better squad and I think they will prove that when they play Argentina.
NOTE: Argentina will be giving Sebastian Dominguez his first cap as well as his teammate Nicolas Otamendi. Napoli’s Datolo will also be making his debut for Argentina.
Chile is undefeated in ’09. The last time Chile and Venezuela met was in Venezuela as Chile went on to win 3-2. Now Venezuela comes to Chile looking for some points. Sadly, they will not get it. Chile has been absolutely impressive in this competition. They find themselves 2nd in the table, just one point behind expected group winner Brazil. They have picked up an impressive 1-0 win against Argentina in late 2008 in this same competition. I don’t see Venezuela hanging with the Chileans here on Saturday. Chile is even at -1.5. This is a treat as I think the Oddmakers have gotten this wrong. Chile win 2-0/3-0/3-1 in my *Oddmaker’s Error Game.*
The Mexico and Ecaudor write-ups will be posted tomorrow morning. Thanks guys and good luck to all!
Here are the plays for the weekend:
Italy -1/-1.5 (Alternate Line) @ -125
Cyprus/Ireland UNDER 2.5 @ -145
France -1 @ -105
Brazil +0.5 @ -125
Chile -1.5 @ EVEN (ODDMAKERS ERROR GAME!)
Mexico PK @ EVEN
Ecuador +0.5 @ -105
The Italians travel to Tbilisi sitting on top of the table even though they have played less matches. At the moment, scoring is a concern for Italy who were held scoreless in their last matches against Switzerland and Brazil. The Italian squad is heavily dominated by Juventus players and with great reason. The Juventus club has many Italians on their team, all capable of playing at the national level. Juve is fresh off a win away at Roma, so the fact that they are away in this game means absolutely nothing to them. Pirlo will provide experience in the center of the pitch and look for him to grab an assist or two in this game. Regardless of who you put on the field from both of these squads, Italy obviously has the better talent. They aren’t going to let a weaker team like Georgia, who has three points from seven games defeat them. Italy to win this one 2-0.
Ireland will travel to Cyprus on Saturday. I will keep this write-up short and sweet. Ireland doesn’t score goals. They have one goal scorer. His name is Robbie Keane. He is a lethal finisher, but the scoring opportunities never come for him. Maybe if Ireland had better players in their midfield such as Man City’s Stephen Ireland (no pun intended), who turned down a sure starting position on the national team, then Keano would get some help, instead of making his own goals. Ireland’s last match was at home to Australia. It was only a friendly, but it’s worth noting that Ireland did lose 0-3…at home, to a side that really isn’t that strong of a team. Ireland has trouble scoring period, and now they must try and do so away in Cyprus. I see this game ending 0-0/1-1/1-0, either way I am going with the UNDER.
France will host Romania. France sits second in the group, 5 points behind Serbia. What is there to say about France? Nothing. They have been absolutely terrible and furthermore, unimpressive. Their last match was away at Faroe Islands and French fans expected a blowout. What did they get? A narrow 1-0 win. According to French fans, France coach Domenech seems to be the one to blame as he plays a conservative style of football. So one may ask: What’s different now? Well I don’t have an answer for you except that France needs ALL the points against Romania. So maybe Domenech will switch his approach to the game, maybe he won’t. But the players realize that the fans are fed up and the only way to get their fans back is with a solid game against Romania. We will see Henry, we will see Ribery, we may see Benzema. France will have the drive to win this game. My guess? 2-0 France win.
NOTE: Romania will be without star player Adrian Mutu as he is out with a thigh injury.
Argentina vs. Brazil. This is going to be the match with the biggest hype. Brazil will travel to Argentina and many believe it will be tough to play in front of the Rosario crowd. Maradona has already stated that he is going to put most of the responsibility on Messi to lead Argentina to victory. There’s no problem with that except for the fact that he is going to need help. Messi is a phenomenal player, don’t get me wrong, but to put this much responsibility on him to “become a man” on Saturday as Maradona stated? I think it’s just too much. Brazil is undefeated in their last five matches and have only lost once in their last 14 national matches. I personally think the Brazilians will take advantage of Maradona’s questionable coaching. Maradona was an amazing player, but not so much an amazing coach. I think he’s making this game too much about himself and not enough about his team, and that will be his downfall. Brazil is the MUCH better squad and I think they will prove that when they play Argentina.
NOTE: Argentina will be giving Sebastian Dominguez his first cap as well as his teammate Nicolas Otamendi. Napoli’s Datolo will also be making his debut for Argentina.
Chile is undefeated in ’09. The last time Chile and Venezuela met was in Venezuela as Chile went on to win 3-2. Now Venezuela comes to Chile looking for some points. Sadly, they will not get it. Chile has been absolutely impressive in this competition. They find themselves 2nd in the table, just one point behind expected group winner Brazil. They have picked up an impressive 1-0 win against Argentina in late 2008 in this same competition. I don’t see Venezuela hanging with the Chileans here on Saturday. Chile is even at -1.5. This is a treat as I think the Oddmakers have gotten this wrong. Chile win 2-0/3-0/3-1 in my *Oddmaker’s Error Game.*
The Mexico and Ecaudor write-ups will be posted tomorrow morning. Thanks guys and good luck to all!
