Case Study: Liverpool 1-2 Crystal Palace 23/4/2017
As the season reaches its climax, Liverpool participation in the Champions League still looks uncertain. With Arsenal floundering and Manchester United navigating a tough run-in on top of a Europa League campaign, the Reds should be confident of fourth place with a fixture list made up of midtable and relegation-threatened…
Case Study: Atletico Madrid 1-0 Leicester City 12/4/2017
There's a clear link between Atletico Madrid and Leicester City, but also a distinction that came to the fore as they clashed in the Champions League. Diego Simeone's men toppled the giants of Real Madrid and Barcelona in 2014 to emerge as La Liga champions playing a battling style based…
Case Study: Arsenal 2-2 Manchester City 2/4/2017
Despite the FA Cup victories in recent years, Arsene Wenger's time at Arsenal has grown increasingly stale if only due to the uncanny feeling of deja vu that accompanies them. At first this was justified as limited finances in the wake of building the Emirates Stadium saw them slip behind…
Case Study: Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain 8/3/2017
A lot has happened since the Valentine's day massacre in Paris. Barcelona obviously endured heavy criticism; the players and Luis Enrique were booed after winning against Leganes; it's announced Enrique is leaving at the end of the season; the fans sing asking Enrique to stay; somewhere amongst that Barcelona switch…
Football Odds Explained
Unlike popular belief, football betting is so much more than just luck and a few good guesses. The main thing that influences your profit is the odds assigned to each team in a certain match. Generally speaking, odds simply represent the probability of that particular team finishing the game with…
Case Study: Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Barcelona 14/2/2017
There was little romance in the air as Barcelona visited Paris for the return of the Champions League on Valentine's day. Neither side are setting the world alight domestically - Barcelona falling behind Real Madrid and scrapping with Sevilla for second while PSG, who finished 31 points clear last season,…
Case Study: Manchester United 0-0 Hull City 1/2/2017
Manchester United must be sick of the sight of Hull City after playing them three times since Christmas. Despite a slow start to the season, United seemed to be picking up some momentum with their unbeaten record of 17 games coming to an end in the return leg of the…
Case Study: Sevilla 2-1 Real Madrid 15/1/2017
After extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 40 games by moving past Sevilla in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, Real Madrid had every right to be confident of putting some distance between themselves and the chasing pack at the top of La Liga. Nevertheless the hard work…
Book Review: Studying Football by Ellis Cashmore and Kevin Dixon
"Studying Football" is something of a misnomer, because the sport itself has very little to do with the book. Having a flick through the index, it's surprising quite how few footballers are listed and very few of them are in there for anything they do out on the turf. The…
Case Study: Fenerbahce 2-1 Manchester United 3/11/2016
Failing to muster a decent run of form as title rivals pull out in front and a Champions League place up for grabs meant the Europa League had a sudden importance for Jose Mourinho. Although a Uefa cup winner with Porto, the competition became devalued due to the expansion of…