Case Study: Everton 0-3 Manchester United 17/10/2015
Both teams had reasons to be unhappy heading into the game, but for very different reasons. Manchester United were coming back of a comprehensive defeat away to Arsenal, picked apart with alarming ease within the opening twenty minutes, while the death of Everton legend Howard Kendall, who had featured first…
Retrospective: Milan 0-1 Juventus 2005
It may have taken the extreme depths and European embarrassments we are currently seeing for everyone to catch on to the fact that the Premier League is pretty terrible at the moment, although it's lacked real quality since 2011, but there's little greater evidence of quite how far it's fallen…
Case Study: Porto 2-1 Chelsea 29/9/2015
An unfortunate time for Jose Mourinho to return to the club where he made his name, and an even worse time to face Iker Casillas again after their infamous spat. Chelsea's difficulties on and off the field this season don't really need introducing anymore, but another defeat in Mourinho's homeland…
Case Study: Wales 1-0 Belgium 12/6/2015
Wales' rapid rise under Chris Coleman, thanks in large part to the groundwork done by Gary Speed, faced its biggest test against Belgium. Marc Wilmots' team being ranked second in the world suggests FIFA heads are too busy shredding documents to sort any real comparison, but it's a decent measure…
Premier League 2014/15 awards
What a terrible season. A mediocre Chelsea side comfortably wrapped up the league early, with Manchester City mounting the worst title defence since their last one. The Champions League spots were a foregone conclusion despite those in the hunt all doing their best to throw away their place at every…
Retrospective: Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal 2006
Amid the back and forth between Arsenal and Chelsea after their dull clash, there was more than a little mistruth flying around. Jose Mourinho is obviously a serial liar, yet the other camp were lacking a little self-awareness. There's an admittance that the "boring boring Chelsea" chants are an adaptation…
Case Study: Wolfsburg 1-4 Napoli 16/4/2015
As the season draws to a close, both teams are running out of things to play for outside of the Europa League. While not technically secured yet, it is highly unlikely that Wolfsburg will cede their second place and catching up with Bayern Munich is all but impossible. They are…
More FA Cup romance ahead for Gunners
The FA Cup isn’t normally a great starting place when seeking some betting value. The romance of the cup, giant killing acts and an air of unpredictability make it something of a no-go area. However, having watched Arsenal end their nine-year wait for a major honour at Wembley last May it now…
Retrospective: Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool 2001
With Patrik Berger this week having to deny reports that he narrowly avoided the doomed Germanwings plane, it's as good a time as any to reflect on one of the Czech's finest moments: his late cameo in the FA Cup final of Liverpool's treble-winning season. With Wembley being rebuilt, the…
Case Study: Bayern Munich 0-2 Borussia Monchengladbach 21/3/2015
It's hardly the Franz Beckenbauer and Gunter Netzer-led rivalry of old, but the clash between two of the league's top three was definitely something to get excited about, even if they were separated by 20 points. While mostly lacking the playing quality of other top leagues, the Bundesliga has such…