Hull City vs Manchester United
FreeMuch has been made of the game between Hull City and Manchester United for a long time prior to kick-off by the media. The reason for this is because Sir Alex Ferguson has said he will play a weakened side, and although I am a Manchester United fan, I find the reaction to this comment to be frankly outrageous. There’s sides like Newcastle United who claim they will sue Manchester United if their own side are relegated because Hull City could claim a point or even three off a weakened Manchester United side. I’m practically speechless at such idiocy, if I’m honest with you. Manchester United have earned the right to field whatever squad they wish by winning the league! The reason Newcastle United are in their current predicament is because they’re shit they’ve not played well all season! Just to stick the needle in too – I personally hope they get relegated, as do fans of every club in the Premier League that I’ve spoken to, obviously barring Newcaslte United fans. I don’t see why Newcastle United are so concerned, however. Firstly because they’re not going to get anything from Aston Villa, who are twice as good as they are, and secondly because Manchester United’s youngsters virtually outplayed a strong Everton side in the FA Cup Semi-Final of late.
However, returning to the game – Hull City don’t necessarily need anything from this game, but you can be very sure they’ll be trying to get whatever they can. Sides are always motivated to play the best club in the world and there’s no bigger game this season for the hosts. Despite their excellent performance at Bolton Wanderers last week, the fact cannot be ignored that Hull City haven’t won a game from their last ten outings in league and cup. The effort is there but the quality is lacking and the players are beginning to look jaded. The squad isn’t strong enough to see out this season but their superb early half of the season may just keep them up. However, the news that they’re hosting an under-strength Manchester United won’t be too comforting because as Hull City boss Phil Brown said of the game today – “Whatever side Manchester United play, it will be good enough to win the game and we need to match them”. The only first team players supposedly making an appearance in this game for Manchester United are Rio Ferdinand, Jonathan Evans, Darren Fletcher and Gary Neville, although I personally think you’ll see Carlos Tevez and Nani at least on the bench. Ferguson is supposedly starting with names such as Fabio, Macheda, Welbeck, Gibson, Possebon etc. so the game is very much up for grabs. The kids will be out to prove themselves yet again, however, and certainly won’t be lying down for Hull City. In my opinion, there’s very good value in the away win today at 11/10 because Hull City just aren’t organised enough defensively to keep the visitors out and they’re not consistent enough in goalscoring to make it county. I’m going to call 1-2 but emphasise caution with betting on this game as it is the last game of the season for both clubs.
On a relatively unrelated note, I’d like to point and laugh at the sheer petulance of Rafa Benitez. He’s a great manager who has done a fantastic job at most (if not all) clubs that he’s been at but his ridiculous, childish comments really let him down. He was asked a question the other day about whether he will “break the budget” for Liverpool this summer to bring more quality players to the club. His answer was “Yes – but not Manchester United’s” for no reason whatsoever. A similar incident occurred when the press asked Rafa Benitez about Manchester United when they had won the title and he said “I will congratulate the team, but after hearing things said about me this season, it is only the team I congratulate”, which basically infers that he offers nothing towards Sir Alex Ferguson. I mean, come on, you’ve lost your mind game battles with him and lost the league but swallow your pride and grow up! Either that or take your ball home, you petulant sod!
Sunday’s Picks
My tips:
There’s a good selection of games for betting today, so be sure to take advantage! One of the first to capture my attention was a 5-team accumulator in the Spanish Segunda Liga including Castellon, Deportivo Xerez, Tenerife, Hercules Alicante, and Rayo Vallecano de Madrid. Amazingly enough, the odds for this bet is 20/1!
However, my favourite bet of the day has to include Fiorentina, Porto, Defensor Sporting, Standard de Liege, Panathinaikos and BSC Young Boys Bern – I think 15/1 on this bet is something of a bargain!
Elsewhere, the other accumulators I like the look of are listed below in no particular order so feel free to mix ’em up if you wish:
Sporting Clube de Lisboa, AC Oulu, CSKA Moscow, Rijeka, Bursaspor
Dinamo Zagreb, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Krylya Sovetov Samara, Fenerbahce
Trabzonspor, Gremio, West Ham United, Club Nacional de Montevideo, Red Star Belgrade
Armed Forces, Vojvodina Novi Sad, Kalmar, FC Hameenlinna, Valerenga Oslo
KPV Kokkola, Rosenborg BK, Shandong Luneng, Deportes Tolima, Beijing Guoan
Lastly, my favourite “risky” bet of the day includes the following sides:
Manchester United, FC Copenhagen, Tampere United, River Plate, Zadar – the odds should be about 11/1, which is ironic because that makes it more likely than my favourite bet of the day! Nonetheless, be cautious with these games if betting on them, regardless of the bookies’ misleading odds.
As ever, any queries/explanations required, feel free to email me at thefootytipster@gmail.com. For the complete picks listing, see below!
Argentinian Primera Division:
River Plate vs Independiente (8) 2-1
Velez Sarsfeld vs Boca Juniors (7) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Colon de Santa Fe vs Racing Club Avellaneda (7) 2-0
San Martin de Tucuman vs Gimnasia De La Plata (6) 1-1
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Standard de Liege vs Anderlecht (8) 2-0
Brazilian Serie A:
Gremio vs Botafogo (8) 2-0
Atletico Paranaense vs Nautico (5) 1-1
Fluminense vs Santos (7) 2-1
Palmeiras vs Sao Paulo (6) 2-2
Sport Recife vs Atletico Mineiro (7) 2-1
Avai vs Coritiba (6) 1-0
Santo Andre vs Flamengo (6) 2-1
Chinese Super League:
Shaanxi Zhongxin vs Guangzhou Yiyao (6) 1-1
Jiangsu Shuntian vs Chongqing Lifan (7) 2-1
Shandong Luneng vs Dalian Shide (8) 2-0
Beijing Guoan vs Qingdao Jonoon (8) 2-1
Shanghai Shenhua vs Henan Jianye (5) 1-1
Colombian Futbol Profesional:
Once Caldas Manizales vs Boyaca Chico (7) 1-2
Deportes Tolima vs La Equidad (8) 2-0
Croatian Prva Liga:
Slaven Koprivnica vs Hajduk Split (7) 1-2
Sibenik vs Osijek (6) 1-1
Rijeka vs Cibalia Vinkovci (8) 2-0
Varteks Varazdin vs Inter Zapresic (5) 0-0
Zadar vs Croatia Sesvete (8) 2-1
Dinamo Zagreb vs NK Zagreb (8) 3-1, at least one red card in this game
Danish Superligaen:
AGF Aarhus vs Brondby (7) 1-2
AC Horsens vs FC Nordsjaelland (6) 1-1
Randers vs Vejle BK (7) 2-0
Aalborg BK vs SonderjyskE (7) 1-0
Esbjerg vs FC Copenhagen (8) 1-2
FC Midtylland vs OB Odense (6) 2-2
Ecuadorian Primera A:
Olmedo Riobamba vs LDU-Portoviejo (5) 1-1
English Premier League:
Arsenal vs Stoke City (4) 1-1
Aston Villa vs Newcastle United (8) 2-1
Blackburn Rovers vs West Bromwich Albion (7) 2-1
Fulham vs Everton (7) 1-0
Hull City vs Manchester United (7) 1-2
Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur (7) 2-1
Manchester City vs Bolton Wanderers (5) 1-1
Sunderland vs Chelsea (8) 1-2
West Ham United vs Middlesbrough (8) 2-1
Wigan Athletic vs Portsmouth (6) 0-0
English League One:
Millwall vs Scunthorpe United (7)
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
HB Torshavn vs KI Klaksvik (9)
EB/Streymur vs IF Fuglafjordur (8)
NSI Runavik vs AB Argir (9)
B68 Toftir vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur (8)
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Jaro Pietarsaari vs MyPa Anjalankoski (7) 1-2
Tampere United vs KuPS Kuopio (8) 2-0
VPS Vaasa vs RoPS Rovaniemi (7) 1-0
TPS Turku vs IFK Mariehamn (6) 1-1
Finnish Ykkonen:
TPV Tampere vs TP 47 Tornio (7)
FC Hameenlinna vs Klubi 04 Helsinki (8)
PS Kemi Kings vs Jippo Joensuu (7)
AC Oulu sv PoPa Pori (9)
PK 35 Helsinki vs FC Kiisto Vaasa (7)
KPV Kokkola vs Viikingit Helsinki (8)
Greek Super League:
Larissa vs AEK Athens (7) 1-2
Panathinaikos vs PAOK (9) 2-0
Icelandic Landsbankadeild Karla:
Fylkir Reykjavik vs Breidablik Kopavogur (7) 2-1
Italian Serie A:
Chievo Verona vs Bologna (6) 1-1
Lecce vs Fiorentina (9) 0-2
Torino vs Genoa (5) 1-1
Cagliari vs Internazionale (6) 1-1
Siena vs Juventus (7) 0-1
Catania vs SSC Napoli (7) 1-1
Atalanta Bergamo vs Palermo (7) 1-0
AC Milan vs AS Roma (6) 1-1
Sampdoria vs Udinese (7) 1-2
Japanese J-League:
Gamba Osaka vs Kashima Antlers (7) 2-1
FC Tokyo vs Kawasaki Frontale (6) 1-1
Jubilo Iwata vs Nagoya Grampus (6) 1-1
Omiya Ardija vs Urawa Red Diamonds (7) 0-1
Luxembourgian Division Nationala:
Sporting Steinfort vs Kaerjeng (6)
Jeunesse Esch vs Dudelange (8)
Differdange vs Progres Niedercorn (7)
Avenir Beggen vs Racing FC Union Luxembourg (7)
Etzella Ettelbruck vs Fola Esch (6)
Swift Hesperange vs CS Grevenmacher (8)
Hamm Benfica vs Rumelange (8)
Norwegian Tippeligaen:
Odd Grenland Skien vs Fredrikstad (7) 1-0
Lillestrom vs Sandefjord (6) 1-2
Tromso vs Lyn Oslo (7) 1-0
Start Kristiansand vs Bodo Glimt (7) 2-1
Valerenga Oslo vs Stromsgodset (8) 2-0
Rosenborg BK vs Viking Stavanger (8) 2-1
Norwegian Adeccoligaen:
Alta vs Bryne (6)
Lov Ham Bergen vs Honefoss (7)
Haugesund vs Mjondalen (7)
Tromsdalen vs Notodden (6)
Moss vs Nybergsund (7)
Stavanger vs Skeid Oslo (6)
Hamarkamaratene vs Sarpsborg (7)
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Porto vs Braga (9) 3-1
Sporting Clube de Lisboa vs Maritimo Funchal (9) 2-0
Romanian Liga:
Dinamo Moscow vs Zenit St Petersburg (7) 1-1
FK Moscow vs Rostov-na-Donu (7) under 2.5 goals
Spartak Nalchik vs Krylya Sovetov Samara (8) 0-2
Kuban Krasnodor vs CSKA Moscow (8) 1-3
Scottish Premier League:
Aberdeen vs Hibernians (7) 2-1
Celtic vs Heart of Midlothian (7) 2-1
Dundee United vs Rangers (6) 2-2
Serbian Super Liga:
Borac Cacak vs OFK Belgrade (7) 2-1
Red Star Belgrade vs Rad Belgrade (8) 2-0
Banat Zrenjanin vs Cukaricki (6) 0-0
Javor Ivanjica vs Hajduk Kula (7) 2-0
Vojvodina Novi Sad vs Jagodina (8) 2-0
Singaporean S-League:
Geylang United vs Armed Forces (8) 1-3
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Madrid vs Real Mallorca (7) 3-2, at least one red card in this game
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Gimnastia de Tarragona vs Deportivo Xerez (8)
Castellon vs Girona (8)
Eibar vs Sevilla Atletico (6)
Huesca vs Hercules Alicante (8)
Tenerife vs Deportivo Alaves (8)
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid vs Elche (8)
Swedish Allsvenskan:
GAIS Goteborg vs Kalmar (8) 1-2
Swedish Superettan:
Ljungskile vs Jonkopings Sodra (7)
Vasalunds vs Angelholms (5)
Swiss Super League:
Bellinzona vs FC Zurich (7) 2-3
Grasshoppers Zurich vs Basel (7) 1-2
Vaduz vs Sion (5) 1-1
Neuchatel Xamax vs Aarau (6) 2-2
BSC Young Boys Bern vs Luzern (9) 3-0
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu vs Denizlispor (5) 1-1
Ankaraspor vs Antalyaspor (6) 1-0
Besiktas vs Galatasaray (7) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Bursaspor vs Gaziantepspor (8) 2-1
Eskisehirspor vs Trabzonspor (8) 1-2
Fenerbahce vs Konyaspor (8) 2-0
Kocaelispor vs Istanbul BB (7) 1-2
Sivasspor vs Genclerbirligi (7) 2-0
Uruguayan Primera Division:
Rampla Juniors vs Defensor Sporting (9) 1-3
Club Nacional de Montevideo vs Penarol (8) 2-1, at least one red card in this game
Venezuelan Primera Division:
Caracas vs Deportivo Italia (7) 2-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!