[Indian I-League: 24-25 Jan 2013]

24/01 08:30 Mohun Bagan v United Sikkim 1.62 4.20 5.70 24/01 09:30 Mumbai FC v Churchill Brothers 3.35 3.42 2.20 25/01 13:30 Pune FC v East Bengal 2.30 3.40 3.25 Mohun Bagan v United Sikkim Mohun Bagan are currently bottom of the league with 0 points, but this is due to them walking out halfway through a game at East Bengal following one of their players being hit by a bottle. They were subsequently thrown out of the league, banned for two years and all their results expunged. Following an appeal, Mohun Bagan were reinstated into the league, but docked all their currently accrued points. Up until this point they'd been doing alright, with a record of 3-3-5, but they'd played 8 of these matches away from home and were suffering from lots of injuries to key players. Their league suspension has meant they've been out of action for 5 weeks, allowing the injured players to recover. United Sikkim are currently second bottom with only 10 points. They've just been beaten 7-0 away to Dempo and are suffering something of an injury crisis, many of their senior players are injured so they're having to draft in 18 and 19 year olds from their academy. The United Sikkim manager Nathan Hall also isn't particulary pleased about the make-up of the squad he inherited since taking over the team, or the scheduling of this fixture following Mohun Bagan's reinstatement to the league. See the below articles for further detail: http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/1064/i-league/2013/01/22/3688814/im-playing-with-kids-hall-criticises-former-united-sikkim?source=breakingnews&ICID=HP_BN_14 http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/1064/i-league/2013/01/21/3688433/united-sikkim-fc-coach-nathan-hall-sarcastically-applauds Considering the relative strengths of the squads and the injuries currently affecting the United Sikkim side, a bet on Mohun Bagan with a one goal handicap looks like a good bet. Mohun Bagan AH(-1) @ 2.06 with MarathonBet - 5 points

[New Zealand Football Championship - 15th December 2012]

00:00 Otago United v Waikato FC Hamilton 11/10 13/5 12/5 01:00 Auckland City v Youngheart Manawatu 1/8 10/1 19/1 01:00 Cantebury United v Waitakere United 9/5 11/4 11/8 01:00 Hawkes Bay United v Team Wellington 5/4 14/5 2/1 Otago United v Waikato FC Hamilton Both teams are struggling so far this season, both with one win, which both came last time out. Otago's came away to a relatively decent Team Wellington, while Waikato's came away to fellow strugglers Youngheart Manawatu. The reason for this bet however is that eight of the Waikato squad have walked out of the club following the sacking of the manager. These include midfielder Jesse Esge (5 apps), attacker Harry Edge (1 app), attacker Ryan Thomas (5 apps, 1 goal), attacker Bailey Webster (5 apps) and defender Mohammed Awad (5 apps). Though not all first team regulars, there's been enough to disrupt the squad from the pervious game and cause unrest within the rest of the squad. Otago should start with the same team that won away in Wellington and will be looking to build on that win. Waikato, despite the promise created by their first win of the season, will now need to regroup for this match. I therefore feel that Otago should have the edge. Otago United AH(-0.5) @ 11/10 - 3.5 points at 10Bet Otago United EH -1 @ 3.50 - 1 point at PaddyPower Otago United EH -2 @ 7.00 - 0.5 points at PaddyPower

[CONCACAF Champions League 2012/2013]

Re: CONCACAF Champions League 2012/2013 Isidro Metapan (El Salvador) v Los Angeles Galaxy (USA) 3.85 / 3.71 / 2.20 Bit of a dead rubber as Metapan are already eliminated and LA are already through, though an LA victory or draw would help their ranking going into the quarter-finals. Isidro Metapan are arguably the best team in El Salvador at the moment, and they have a decent record at home in the Champions League. Over the last few seasons they've beaten some decent teams on their home ground, including Houston Dynamos (USA), Pumas and Santos Laguna (both Mexico). I'm unsure about the starting line-up at the moment, but from what I've been reading it looks as though Metapan are likely to use a mixture of first team and reserve players, though they have talked about wanting revenge on the Galaxy for defeat in LA so hopefully it will be a fairly strong starting squad. As far as the Galaxy are concerned, their coach Bruce Arena isn't a massive fan of the Champions League, seeing it as more of a distraction from the important task of winning the MLS title. He's used a mix of reserve and first team players so far in this competition, which includes a 5-2 home win over Metapan, a 4-0 home win over Puerto Rico and a 0-0 away draw. However today he's sending a squad of 15 players to El Salvador with only two players who could loosely be described as first team players. All the big guns (Donovan, Beckham, Keane, Juninho, Magee, etc) are staying home. The first meeting at the Home Depot was contested by a full strength Galaxy squad and ended with a convincing win. The game will be totally different, a young inexperienced squad taking on a decent El Salvadorian team, away from home. The odds aren't as big as I was hoping (was looking for at least 4.00), so not had as much as I was going to but I still feel there is some decent value there. They also seem to be slowly creeping up on Betfair (up to 3.85 now) so they may well hit the magic marker, in which case I'll probably top up slightly. Isidro Metapan @ 3.85 (Betfair) - 3 points