I told our readers a few weeks back that England should have been 66/1 instead of 6/1 but not even I thought they would be as bad as they were.
The Rooneys, Lampards, Terrys and especially the Barrys where absolutely awful and just didn’t turn up in South Africa.
It was like watching a Sunday league team but then that’s putting Sunday football down and the big question is did they make the Germans look great? We’ll come to that later.
At the start of the World Cup we got the PG Crystal ball out and forecast the outcome of the tournament and we have come up with seven out of eight of the quarter-finalists, which is some going.
Let’s just say I would have been penning this from sunnier climates if England had of won their group - that late, late Landon Donavan goal last Wednesday beat the Punters’ Guide out a few pound in our Group winners bet, but it turned out OK in the end as England headed home on Tuesday.
Lets get stuck into the quarter-finals which get underway on Friday afternoon.
BRAZIL v Holland
Kick-off Friday 3pm
What a match to start with. New tournament favourites Brazil take on the Dutch, who have banked four out of four wins so far in South Africa and have the fit-again Arjen Robben back in the team and they will hope that striker Robin Van Persie can peak.
Brazil looked mighty impressive on Monday night easily disposing of Chile 3-0 and Kaka looks like he’s getting back in the groove.
The big question is can the Dutch live with Dunga’s boys and pull off a shock result?
We think they will fall short but only just. Brazil will edge it with a 2-1 scoreline and Robhino will open the scoring at 6/1.
URUGUAY v GHANA
Kick-off Friday 7.30pm
On to Johannesburg on Friday night and the PG dark horses Uruguay take on sole African representatives Ghana with a semi-final place up for grabs.
We told readers in our preview a few weeks back that Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez will be handful for any defence and they have fired the South Americans into the quarter-finals with five goals between them, and will look to add to that come Friday night.
Ghana have surprised a lot of people and in striker Asamoah Gyan they have a player in form who will cause the Uruguay rearguard a lot of problems but have they got enough in their locker to shock the South Americans? I don’t think so and we are taking Uruguay to win this one 3-1 and Diego Forlan to grab the first at 9/2.
GERMANY v ARGENTINA
Kick-off Saturday 3pm
On to Saturday and for me the match of the quarter-finals when Germany and Argentina square up to each other in Cape Town and if both their last 16 games are anything to go by then we should be in for a treat.
Bookmakers price Argentina as their slender 13/10 favourites for this one and it’s 2/1 Germany and 2/1 the draw. It’s that tight.
Germany as we know throttled England 4-1 but is this good form? The English were woeful and were lucky in the end to qualify from the weakest group and I think this has let the form guide down.
In saying that this young German team will test Maradona’s team and players like Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger get on the ball then expect the Jochaim Low’s side to cause a scare or two.
Argentina have grown in every game and in strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain have two players in top form and we think this could be the difference come Sunday afternoon and we have plumped for a 2-1 win for Argentina and Higuain for first goal at 5/1.
SPAIN v PARAQUAY
Kick-Off Saturday 7.30pm
On to the last of the quarter-finals and it’s back to Johannesburg and it’s the ante-post favourites Spain taking on the fourth South American side in the quarters Paraquay.
Spain have not set the world on fire yet even though they peppered a poor Portugal side on Tuesday night, but there were glimpses in that game that they are not far off hitting top form.
They entertain a Paraquay team who remain unbeaten and are very solid at the back and in Barrios and Santa Cruz in attack will cause the Spainish defence problems. But is that enough?
We don’t think so and we expect our tip for the World Cup Spain to progress to the semi-finals with a 2-0 win with Inestia a good punt for first goal at 8/1.
PG WORLD CUP QUAD: Uruguay 11/10, Brazil 1/1, Argentina 13/10 and Spain 8/11 to win in 90 minutes.
8 comments:
It's all about TIMING:
WE’RE still getting a lot of punters on the phone complaining about ‘late bets’ and rightly so.
We are now in the 21st century and these new EPOS machines still can’t tell punters whether they are on until after the race.
Yes, it’s normal to see punters rushing up to the counter to get on as the ‘off’ approaches. Sometimes this does rile me when punters leave it until the last second before making their mind up. It’s not always the punters fault though.
We have had complaints about shops being understaffed at times and that is something I have been witness to in some pitches, and others have complained about cashiers being on mobiles.
There is however a lot of chancers out there who will wait to see who has the best break in sprints, fallers in National Hunt before they put their bet on races and I am afraid this type of punter has ruined it for the honest punters of this world and bookmakers have rules on different types of races.
We had a few punters on last week who were late on by a mere ten seconds in a six and a seven furlong races, and both went to collect their dockets and were told the dreaded news.
But the burning question is about the punters who are on late and don’t win?
How many dockets are ripped up and thrown away each-day were punters have been on late and not known they were due their stake back?
I would say hundreds on a daily basis and where’s that money go to? Yes, that’s right, the bookmakers pocket.
Surely these machines can be equipped to reject ‘late’ bets and then the bookmaker and the punter know exactly were they stand.
Online punters know as soon as the race is off, the market ends right away and you can’t get on surely in this day and age it’s all about some IT guy out there writing a programme that can solve this problem.
At the minute it’s up to the punter to check every ‘late’ docket until the bookmaker can come with a system that suits both parties.
My advice is to make sure you get on early in every race and give the bookmaker no excuse what so ever to pay you out.
nail on the head PG in this day and age they can't have a system that suits punters who are betting their hard earned cash on a daily basis and for the understaffing issue - a disgrace
Pyper
at Leopardstown tonight folks and three jollys look good things in the 6.00 6.30 and 7.30
pays around 4/1
Fill Your Boots
great picking at ltown tonight by that punter any for us for friday
ray
great picking...
on to the weekend nags folks
Twice Over is the 5/2 favourite with Sean Grahams for Saturday's Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
Trainer Henry Cecil is concerned about potential fast ground for his charge but he showed his current wellbeing when chasing home Byword in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, but he does look the class act of the race and will take all the beating and the danger looks like coming from the John Gosden trained Dar Re Mi.
Great card at Sandown on Saturday and we suggest you keep an eye out for TRIPLE ASPECT who could take some catching in the Coral Sprint.
Over at Haydock we have the Old Newton Cup and the Lancashire Oaks and POLLYS MARK looks a good punt at 10/1 in the Oaks.
On to the Cup and likely favourite and recent York winner Hanoverian Baron will be hard to beat but keep and eye out for Itlaaq who loves it round Haydock.
Friday NAG: Tartan Gunna
Holland are a great bet to go through from today's game with Brazil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just back from Leopardstown and what a night won over 600 and got an apparent good thing tonight at Wexford from an man in the know
Symphonica in the first
fill your boots for the weekend
pg
your quarter final picks were about as accurate as an emile heskey shot
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