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Well the first game of the World Cup is underway and…..well, let’s hope we have hit the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality of games and the only way we can go is up!
It was a very dire game with Qatar racking up 0.40 xg vs 0.30 xg for Ecuador (not counting the penalty). Qatar are a bad team man. I was quite happy to bet them simply due to them working together so for long in private. But if that’s the end product? Yikes.
Quick note that for me the games are generally 5am, 8am, 11am and 2pm EST. I will write up my bets the day before so everyone has a chance to see them. It may be optimal to wait closer to game time to place bets etc though – especially in these early stages where we don’t know expected line-ups etc.
And I can’t bloody wait until the first round of games are done. That’s where the real betting comes in.
England vs Iran Betting Tips:
No surprise, England are big favourites here. Coming in off a very disappointing UEFA Nations League. At Euro 2020 in the group stages we saw a very tight defensive England team.
World Cup 2018 they started off by barely being Tunisia thanks to a Kane injury time winner.
England aren’t really someone that will surprise us. We know what to expect. Iran will probably defend strongly so will be interesting seeing what Southgate does to overcome it.
Iran have some serious offensive issues made worse by Azmouns injury. I know that England can start slow but man they just really should not be conceding against this lot.
I’m conflicted between England to win to nil, and Harry Kane to score. I do feel like England have a point to prove though and will be coming out here ready to roll.
I’m going to go with 1u England -1.5 at 2.05 odds when all is said and done. While I don’t hate the win to nil bet, 90 minutes is a long bloody time and that plus hey I don’t want a bet to randomly burst after just 5 minutes. All that really covers is England 1-0 anyway so for slightly better odds, we’re only really losing if that ends up the final score.
I’m not too concerned about Englands issues. I mean yeah we know what happens to them sometimes but Iran are a big drop in skill level compared to the teams they faced in the Nations League.
Senegal vs Netherlands Betting Tips:
Netherlands are 1.60 favourites here. I’d probably be backing both teams to qualify after seeing the performances of Ecuador and Qatar today honestly.
In theory Senegal want to aim for a draw here. With Sadie Mane now out completely that is brutal. Memphis won’t be playing for The Netherlands but they have many other options to call upon.
Netherlands are not a one tricky pony when it comes to the goals. I am going to go with 1u on Netherlands to score at least 2 goals at 1.83 odds. I’ve seen people talk about this one being cautious due to two top strikers not playing but both teams have a lot of options.
USA vs Wales Betting Tips:
Bookies have USA as favourites. A lot of people feel Wales are a great underdog pick here.
Wales really are a one trick pony when it comes to Bale. He’s coming in hot although you have to wonder about fitness levels.
You have to wonder if these two will cancel each other out. USA all want to press up high and focus on the counter but Wales – man they do not like to hold onto the ball at all.
You also know this is basically both teams World Cup Final with both expected to end up battling for 2nd place. So it’s a massive one and you worry about caution.
I’m going to go with a pick that is only available on our Patreon. Sign up now, don’t pay until the end of the month. So if you don’t feel the write-ups are worth anything, cancel before December 1st and don’t pay a penny. Click here.
