Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

[Aidymac]

[TABLE=class: couponTable, width: 617]

[TR=class: row1] [TD=align: center][/TD] [TD=class: firstColumn]Belgium v USA (21:00 BST)[/TD] [TD=class: selectionBestOdd, align: center]1.9[/TD] [TD=class: selectionBestOdd, align: center]3.65[/TD] [TD=class: selectionBestOdd, align: center]4.9[/TD] [TD=class: bppWidth bpp, align: center]100.44 %[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

[Frazer]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Belgium-USA Bet: USA +0.5 @ 2.07 (3/10) (Pinnacle) A really nice value bet here. Belgium hasn’t shown that good performances in group. They won all three matches but this was against really weak opponents and just looking at their performance you have to say that the quality of the team and the expections of the market on the team just didn’t come out. All three matches were quite close and now such a high favorite against USA? USA did show really good performances in the group stage. It was a really good group just looking at the playing style and performances of the teams. Against Germany they had their worst performance but they were already quite sure about getting into next stage. Against a really good Ghana team they won at the end 2-1. Even though it was a really close match it was deserved all in all. Against Portugal they ended up drawing 2-2. But you could see the quality of the USA and that the players, especially in offense are working better together than expected. All in all I don’t see Belgium being such a high favorite here against a USA team that has shown really well performances in group stage against good opponents.

[JuMeSyn]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st USA to qualify @ 2.88 (Bet365) for a 0.45 stake USA to qualify on extra time @ 21 (bet365) for a 0.1 stake USA to qualify on penalties @ 15 (bet365) for a 0.1 stake Usually, there is always a surprise until the quarters, where things start to get more linear. We tend to look at the other ties and I can easily draw the quarters: Brazil, Colombia, Netherlands (although Mexico will give them a hard time), Costa Rica, France, Argentina, Germany and...USA. That's right, I'm going for the Stars and Stripes on this one. Saw every match of them, seemed to me like a team with immense fighting spirit and good counter-attacking approaches. They rarely try to flank as much as possible and employ a very "German" style of play of avoiding the flanks and trying to concentrate all their movements and behaviours in controlling the midfield battles as much as possible and shooting whenever there is enough space to do it and be successful. Only problem is how they will cope physically. They seemed like struggling against Germany during some moments after a tough match against Portugal in Manaus. But in all honest, Belgium will also have to cope with that and they didn't convince me during all the tournament. Saw a funny stat today about them: Belgium were 34 minutes of 270 minutes they played in a winning position. They seemed just too dependent on some individuals and were lucky to win all 3 matches. I expect them to fall out at any moment now. If not against USA, Argentina has enough to give them no chance. I really think USA are being underrated here, as they were in Group G. I expect them to cause a massive surprise, although it could go extra time and penalties.

[MPLouis]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Two defensively-minded sides. I think USA's odds offer some value here. Both sides were quite impressive in the group stages, mainly for their defending and I think they will both be hard to beat. Belgium have the edge in talent, but USA certainly have a decent chance. USA +0.5 1.97 sbobet Stake: 5 points

[kevshat]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st 4pts Both teams to score 23/20 Betfair I think the US will take the game to Belgium here and that should make for a good match. Belgium have looked good defensively in this tournament but have a few personnel issues in that department for this game and if players don’t return they may be forced into being more attacking than usual which should really open the game up. All matches here in Salvador so far have been high scoring and this could well be too which makes the odds against on both sides scoring look a little big. Full preview here: http://www.punterslounge.com/belgium-vs-usa-betting-both-sides-can-score-in-last-16-clash-in-salvador

[Alexc]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st I quite fancy penalties in this one. I liked them in the Costa Rica game but used two free £10 bets I had on ''safer'' bets instead, but I see a similar situation here, two sides that it may be hard to seperate. Belgium have done OK but haven't blown anyone away, and the US are a good team. Odds on either side to win on penalties will be 10+, which is always appealing.

[MPLouis]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

I quite fancy penalties in this one. I liked them in the Costa Rica game but used two free £10 bets I had on ''safer'' bets instead' date=' but I see a similar situation here, two sides that it may be hard to seperate.[/quote'] You sort of imply that USA are good value at the longer odds - they are still available on the USA +0.5 market at nearly evens

[DOUBLE THAT DOLLAR]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Pick 1. Belgium vs USA Draw At Half Time @ $2.00 on Bet365 Stake: 7/10 In the group stage so far, we have seen majority of teams come out attacking from start to finish. It's the round of 16, the game plan is slightly altered, the pace is slower, the stakes are higher and the games start cagey. We predict this game to follow suit, with Belgium favourites to win this match but have failed to impress in the group stage. USA are well organised and defensively well structured, we feel this match will take time to open up and expect a cagey start. With two very strong and well organised defences, it'll be hard to break down and a scoreless draw at the half is a probably one. Although to be safe, we decided to side with a draw at the half time break.

[Schelles]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st I think you all are underestimating the Belgian team here. I might be a bit biased because I am Belgian myself, but I'll provide you with some reasons why we will beat the USA. - The general opinion is that Belgium hasn't played well so far at the WC, which is correct. But we can play a lot better than this. We have shown it during the WC qualifiers. I'm confident that we will show it in the next match(es). - We have a lot of heart. We won our final group match against South Korea with our B-team, even though we played with 10 men for 60 minutes & it was very warm. - We have a solid defence. We only got 1 goal against us in the group phase, from an Algerian penalty. Furthermore, we only took 4 goals during 10 WC qualifier matches. Don't take the games against Ivory Coast, Japan & Colombia into account here, those were friendlies with no importance whatsoever. - Most importantly, we have a goalkeeper who is top 3 of the world. Courtois is amazing. The Belgium team has not lost 1 single game when he was on the field. In 20 matches, he has 15 wins and 5 draws. - In attacking sense, we have a lot of options. We can play Hazard, Mertens, Januzaj, Mirallas and Chadli on the flanks, all of them can start or come in and decide the match. In the striker position Lukaku has let us down a little bit, but Origi has been one of the revelations. He will be a world class player in a couple of years. In central midfield we will probably play De Bruyne and Fellaini. De Bruyne is a very good playmaker, with a good pass and a lot of vision. Fellaini is always a threat in the box and scores often. - Our bench can make the difference. In fact, all of our goals during the group stage where made by substitute players. - Hazard hasn't really been playing well, but I'm sure he is going to explode soon. He has shown his qualities all season long in the Premier League and he is a great player. On the other hand, the USA has progressed from a very tough group. But only with 4/9, so it's not like they totally overpowered their opponents. In general they play well, but they are too dependent on Dempsey to score for them, especially now that Altidore is out. His replacement, Johansson, has much less qualities. Even if they manage to patch up Altidore, he will not be completely fit. Their style of play consists of putting a lot of pressure on central midfield and they also have good attacking full backs. However, we are very strong in central midfield. Fellaini is a monster and he doesn't lose many duels. Witsel, our defensive midfielder, is imho one the best in the world in his position. He hardly ever loses a ball. So even the USA put a lot of pressure on our central midfielders, I don't think it will have much effect. Their full backs are also not a problem. Indeed we have two central defenders as full backs, Alderweireld and Vertonghen, but they are very strong defensively. Their weak point is going forward, not defending. So I don't think their full backs will be able to take them on successfully very often. Maybe Vertonghen is the weakest link here, because he tends to lose his concentration. Also, we have played two friendly games against the USA in the last two years, we won both those games, even though we tend not to care too much about friendlies. What is true however is that the Belgian team tends to have problems really destroying good defensive teams. This often translates in a very slow game, which is only decided in the second half and often by our substitutes. This happened during all of our group matches. We also rarely win by handicap, 1-0 & 2-1 are very often the score. So don't go crazy on overs or handicaps. I'm going with: - Belgium to win @ 1,95 (Napoleon Games) 8/10 stake, because I don't think the USA can hold us off for 90 mins and those chances are certainly better than 50/50. - Draw at half time @ 2,10 (Napoleon Games) 5/10 stake - X/1 HT/FT @ 4,35 (Napoleon Games) 2/10 stake - Fellaini to score @ 5.75 (Napoleon Games) 1/10 stake, because he is very strong in the air and scores often for the Belgian team. 5,75 is a nice odd. - Van Buyten to score with a header @ 18.00 (Napoleon Games) 0,5/10 stake, because he is always dangerous on corners, in fact he still is our top scorer.

[NoFear]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st I agree with punters who are siding with belgium that belgium is just starting to click as these young players get more and more time to play together. The coach has so many options that he has been trying various things over the 3 group matches. Belgium are rightly favs and mano-a-mano much the stronger team. But in football its not that simple. It will be interesting to see how many mins Altidore will play after returning for injury or whether he is still match-fit, but Johansson can be used to exploit the lack of pace in this belgium defence. The way to beat this promising belgium team is with width and pace. Fabian Johnson getting forward and running at Belgium’s full-backs should give usa some joy. I am counting on Klinsmann to get his tactics right for this one cos if they do this belgium team is surely beatable. I am dutching USA win with draw as its a knockout game and can easily go the distance. USA @ 4.33 various 4/10 Draw @ 3.4 various 6/10

[RocknRolla]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Well writen Schelles Cannot understand all this US hype. Imho they are very very lucky to be at the ko stage. Outpayed by Ghana, didn't deserved the three pts, Howard saved them for going two-nil down (and home) against Portugal, looked clueless against the Germans. Expetcing Belgium to dominate and get a routine win at the end. Would have take Belgium at anything higher than 1,7. Price above evens pure value imo and im happy to risk on that. Johansson hehe GL

[Smurf]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

Pick 1. Belgium vs USA Draw At Half Time @ $2.00 on Bet365 Stake: 7/10 In the group stage so far, we have seen majority of teams come out attacking from start to finish. It's the round of 16, the game plan is slightly altered, the pace is slower, the stakes are higher and the games start cagey. We predict this game to follow suit, with Belgium favourites to win this match but have failed to impress in the group stage. USA are well organised and defensively well structured, we feel this match will take time to open up and expect a cagey start. With two very strong and well organised defences, it'll be hard to break down and a scoreless draw at the half is a probably one. Although to be safe, we decided to side with a draw at the half time break.

This is also my pick of the day, infact one of my main bets of the last 16 rounds. As DTD rightly says, there has been a loss less adventure in the first half of games from most teams in the last 16 rounds already played. IMO both team are fairly evenly matched in this game with Belgium having a slight edge. Both teams will look to keep it tight in the first half and come into the game a little more in the second half where they may need to start to open up and take a few risks to get an advantage. Belgium haven't scored a first half goal in their last 4 games while only conceading one goal in their last 5 matches. I very much like the look of the following selections for this match; HT Draw @ 2.00 7/10 HT correct score 0-0 @ 2.25 4/10

[owenclass]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Dries Mertens to first 8/1 paddy power and to score anytime 3/1 paddy power he has been the most impressive player for belgium in this world cup and i feel this will be tight and a moment of brilliance will have to settle this game and i feel the he is capable of getting the winning goal

[Left4Dead]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Like most of you I can't see why the Belgians are such a big favorite in this one. USA +1/2 goals. I think they played much tougher opponents and also I hear there is a good chance Altidore is back.

[island]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

Dries Mertens to first 8/1 paddy power and to score anytime 3/1 paddy power he has been the most impressive player for belgium in this world cup and i feel this will be tight and a moment of brilliance will have to settle this game and i feel the he is capable of getting the winning goal

I agree and I follow you: Mertens to score anytime 4/1 on Bet 365.

[JoeyB]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Well that's Mertens out...

[NoFear]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

I agree with punters who are siding with belgium that belgium is just starting to click as these young players get more and more time to play together. The coach has so many options that he has been trying various things over the 3 group matches. Belgium are rightly favs and mano-a-mano much the stronger team. But in football its not that simple. It will be interesting to see how many mins Altidore will play after returning for injury or whether he is still match-fit, but Johansson can be used to exploit the lack of pace in this belgium defence. The way to beat this promising belgium team is with width and pace. Fabian Johnson getting forward and running at Belgium’s full-backs should give usa some joy. I am counting on Klinsmann to get his tactics right for this one cos if they do this belgium team is surely beatable. I am dutching USA win with draw as its a knockout game and can easily go the distance. USA @ 4.33 various 4/10 Draw @ 3.4 various 6/10

He didnt start Altidore (probably playing mind games with the Belgians) or Johansson. However, counting on Klinsmann to get his tactics right paid off. ;)

[HastGill1]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Best game of the tournament for me, fantastic. Certainly must be the best extra time ever played, never seen energy like it.

[Rhoads]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Lukaku should have joined at 65' min, congrats to ''lucky'' USA +0.5 backers!

[salmonman]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Belgium had 38 shots and 27 on target:lol

[JuMeSyn]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Belgium truly deserved it, but USA had that chance at 93'. Couldn't be missed! Hope that Belgium wins now against such an average Argentina.

[MPLouis]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

Two defensively-minded sides. I think USA's odds offer some value here. Both sides were quite impressive in the group stages, mainly for their defending and I think they will both be hard to beat. Belgium have the edge in talent, but USA certainly have a decent chance. USA +0.5 1.97 sbobet Stake: 5 points

Result: Belgium 0 USA 0 (FT) Bet won :ok Stake: 5 points Return: 9.85 points

[NoFear]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

Lukaku should have joined at 65' min' date=' congrats to ''lucky'' USA +0.5 backers![/quote'] USA missed a sitter in the 93rd min. And they had a lot of chances throughout the game. Lukaku looked fired up but by the time he came on USA team was very tired (start of extra time). Besides even when he was on, USA still could have scored a second goal easily in extra-time with a tired team. They were all over the Belgians until the last min. You are free to only back favorites, but pls dont disrespect people who try to look outside the box. Even if Lukaku had started I would have still bet against Belgium at evens. Granted they were the better team but this is a one-off game and every team is going to be fired up and be willing to die on the pitch.

[Eoklon]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st I also had my money on the USA - but it was a poor bet, I expected the game to be much more even. Yes the USA had a last-minute chance but they could have easily been 3 or so down at that time. Belgium straight win price ended up at around evens, despite it would have lost, there was much more value there as if the game was played an infinite number of times, they sure would have won more than 50% of the time based on this display.

[Indred_Cold]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st

USA missed a sitter in the 93rd min. And they had a lot of chances throughout the game. Lukaku looked fired up but by the time he came on USA team was very tired (start of extra time). Besides even when he was on' date=' USA still could have scored a second goal easily in extra-time with a tired team. They were all over the Belgians until the last min. You are free to only back favorites, but pls dont disrespect people who try to look outside the box. Even if Lukaku had started I would have still bet against Belgium at evens. Granted they were the better team but this is a one-off game and every team is going to be fired up and be willing to die on the pitch.[/quote'] Damn right. No such thing as luck in betting. Those people felt that the U.S will get something from the game and they did. The exact manner and the circumstances of how that came about is irrelevant as there will be plenty of times where the situation is reversed and the team you are backing is the one who dominates throughout, but fails to convert the many chances and screws you up. In fact, I bet that there are many more instances where an average punter feels like he's been hard done by than those where he feels he got "lucky". Those things even themselves out in a long run.

[Left4Dead]

Re: Last 16 - Belgium v USA > Tuesday July 1st Great game for sure. Altidodore did not play, too bad for the US, they played hard. I was surprised how dominant the Belgians were..