Latest Betting Odds
Crystal Palace: 5.00
Draw: 3.50
Manchester United: 1.75

The FA Cup, is the oldest cup competition is world soccer and is just one game away from conclusion. In a repeat of the 1990 Cup Final Crystal Palace will play Manchester United, and we’ve reviewed the best bets available.

United under pressure

Manchester United are definitely the team under pressure. After a lacklustre and often boring league campaign under Dutch manager, and Europe’s most stubborn man, Louis Van Gaal, Manchester United are somehow in a position to regain top spot (jointly with Arsenal) as the English team with the most FA Cup wins.  However, as any Manchester United fan will tell you, never ever expect the straight forward win with LVG in charge. He’s as likely to play 5 holding midfielders as an attacking formation. United start the game as clear favourites at odds of 1.75

The odds only tell half the story in this year’s FA Cup, Manchester United’s route to the final was less than impressive.  Far from impressive in fact. A highly unconvincing win against Sheffield United (a team two divisions below United) which saw Van Gaal playing 2 holding midfielders and United struggle to get out of their own half. The Sheffield United debacle was followed by reasonable wins against the mighty Derby County and the even more (less) mighty Shrewsbury Town. A tough looking draw against West Ham United ended in exactly that, a draw, and was followed by a well earned victory at Upton Park in the replay.

The Semi-Final against Everton at Wembley was an odd game, with United totally dominating Everton for 70 minutes, during which time they could have easily scored 10 goals. However, Van Gaal’s men could only score once with Belgian Microphone Head and Elbow Merchant, Marouane Fellaini scoring on 34 minutes.  Any soccer fan could predict what happened next, with United sitting back with 20 minutes to go, Everton equalising via a calamitous Chris Smalling own goal (75 mins). What happened next was pure Fergie Time magic, the world’s most expensive teenage footballer, Anthony Martial, popped up on 94 minutes to win the game for United.

“Tony Martial Came from France, The British Press said he had no chance, Fifty Million down the Drain, Tony Martial scores again…..”

Palace flying highly

Palace’s run was not dissimilar, however a generally ‘weaker’ team probably couldn’t have expected to have coasted through qualifying in the same way as United were. Incredibly Palace have only won 7 games in 2016, and 5 of them were in the FA Cup.  The Palace FA Cup journey started at St Mary’s against high flying Southampton with a 2-1 victory for the Eagles.  Then a reasonably regulation win at home against Stoke was followed by a very impressive 1-0 win away at Spurs. An easy win at Reading lined up a Semi Final against Watford, a game Palace won a lot more comfortably than the scoreline of 2-1 suggests.

Our Tips

With both teams struggling to score goals this season, a shrewd bet might be to back 0-0 at odds of 7.50. Certainly the Under 2.5 Goals Market isn’t going to be troubled at very short odds of just 1.59.  We also like the look of Chris “It could go anywhere” Smalling for first goal scorer at odds of 15.00.

Will United win the 2016 FA Cup Final? Yes.  Will the game be a yawn-fest of dull central midfield trudgery? Yes.  Will this be LVG’s last game in charge of United? We certainly hope so….-

Latest Betting Odds
Liverpool: 2.37
Draw: 3.25
Sevilla: 3.10

Liverpool’s first season under Jurgen Klopp is going to be defined as a result of this game against hatrick hunting Sevilla. A poor 8th place finish in the English Premier League was hardly the result the fans and board were expecting when they appointed Klopp in October 2015, however victory in Switzerland will see the big German hailed an instant success by Liverpool fans.

It’s been an emotional season for the red half of Liverpool, with the unceremonious dumping of Brendan Rodgers, to the outcome of the Hillsborough Inquiry and the positive dope test result on defensive lynch pin Mamadou Sakho there have even been the odd positive football result for scousers to shout about. Not that it has stopped Liverpool fans having a moan, most recently about the small allocation of tickets at the surprisingly small for a European Final Venue up in the Swiss Alps….or wherever it is.

Sevilla are on the hunt for their fifth Europa League / UEFA Cup win since 2000 and incredibly their third in succession, so certainly have the know-how and experience to lift the trophy again. Sevilla finished their domestic season one place better off than Liverpool, in 7th place in La Liga. It is hard to say which team had the better campaign, with La Liga dominated by the Big Three, and the EPL suffering an odd season where minnows and 5001.00 outsiders Leicester were able to lift the title. We’d say that Sevilla shaded it in terms of a successful season, but it is a close call.

Both sides rested key players in the last few weeks of their domestic seasons, so should be able to name fresh and ready starting 11s. In fact Liverpool rested 11 players! Should be pretty straight-forward for Unai Emery to predict Liverpool’s starting 11 then! And plan accordingly. We hope.

Liverpool have only won one game away from home in this season’s Europa League, and we think that, coupled with Sevilla’s know how means the Spaniards are an excellent bet at odds of 3.10. Frankly how Liverpool are a shorter price than Sevilla for this game is beyond us.

We are also tipping Sevilla’s French striker Kevin Gameiro (7 goals in 8 Europa League games this season) to be first on the score sheet at odds of 5.00, with a smaller stakes bet on Argentine Ever Banega at odds of 15.00

So we are tipping (and hoping) for Liverpool’s season to end in a damp squib, seeing the Champions League place go to Sevilla, again, and an entirely wasted journey for all those Liverpool fans! Here’s hoping!

But the hosts couldn’t produce one against Mexico, which will have been a disappointment for them, though they came away with the draw, and their campaign is still very much on track. Brazil’s World Cup odds aren’t moving that much – they stay as the favourites for the tournament.

Before everything got underway in Brazil, there was a certain amount of talk about a young Belgium side that could easily be the revelation of this World Cup. They carried the ‘dark horses’ tag into the tournament, and into their first group match was against Algeria. And they survived a scare to win it, coming from behind to take the game 2-1. Belgium’s World Cup odds see them hovering at or around $21.00, and dropped from that fifth-favourite spot in favour of Italy, France and the Netherlands (who all put in strong performances in their first games). Belgium might still be on course for the business end of the tournament, though, and we’ve seen nothing to prove that the talk before the tournament was wide of the mark. Perhaps they’re worth a look at $21.00 to lift the cup? There are plenty more World Cup odds for you at the other end of the link, including plenty of futures and some great markets…

And they were in action yesterday against Portugal, in what on paper should have been a tricky first encounter for both sides. But it didn’t turn out that way, as a sending off for Portugal’s Pepe in the first half and a hat-trick from Thomas Muller contributed to what was a rout in the end. Combine the smooth start for Germany and the strong performance by the Netherlands, and you’ve already got an impression that there might be some European sides making real bids to claim the trophy that Brazil fans will feel is theirs by rights. Remember that no team from outside South America has won a tournament hosted on the continent: could the 2014 World Cup in Brazil see the end of that record?

Have a look at the Germany World Cup odds after their ideal start, and the Portugal World Cup odds after their nightmare first game. There’s more World Cup odds for you at the end of that last link, too…

Australia’s World Cup odds have lengthened considerably after they lost to Chile, but they weren’t alone: Spain are a $13.00 bet to win the tournament as of today, the same as the Netherlands, the side that beat them so convincingly. Italy, Argentina and France are heading in the right direction in the bookies’ eyes, while England and quietly-fancied Uruguay both lost their openers. We seem to be seeing an open tournament that could easily throw us up a few more shocks before the first round of games is even finished!

If that’s the case, then you’ll need to make sure you’ve got all your World Cup odds handy, and you can find them at the other end of the that link – make sure you drop back often to keep up to date!

Things looked particularly bleak, in fact, after a sluggish opening from the Socceroos. You can understand some nerves, of course, in a young side on the game’s biggest stage, but it didn’t flatter them, and they were chasing the game from the outset. We were very impressed to see them scrap their way back into the game, though, and Tim Cahill found the back of the net to keep Australia fans interested right up to the end, when Chile’s third goal came as the Socceroos over-reached in search of the equaliser. What we saw from Australia we liked – they let no-one down and they picked up plenty of fans with a brave performance. What we’re expecting to see from the next couple of games, we’re not sure. You can see from the Australia vs Netherlands odds that the bookies have Australia as unlikely winners. If they approach the game the same way they did the Chile fixture, though, they could easily come home with heads held high…

We have all the World Cup odds you need at the end of the link!

And did we see some of what we can expect in this World Cup in the opening game? Brazil needed the rub of the green to get past Croatia, and they definitely got it, with a penalty that could charitably be described as soft, and a tasty little elbow from Neymar that was apparently not vicious enough to get him sent off. There was a real smell of controversy in the air along with the smoke from all the victory fireworks, and we’re just hoping that there won’t be any coming the way of Australia. The Socceroos meet Chile in their first game and it’s set to be an intriguing affair for Australia fans: the pundits have been keen to point out that Australia will need to curb their attacking instincts if they are to contain Chile, but everything we’ve seen and heard from Ange Postecoglu in the build-up to this World Cup tells us he won’t want his young charges to hold back.

So fasten your seatbelts, Socceroos fans, and get ready for the rollercoaster ride that is the World Cup. And make sure you’ve got all the Australia World Cup odds and specials before kick-off!

How will Australia go? Is this a World Cup that will see some courageous Socceroos making a name for themselves, or will there be no immediate glory for this generation as they start to build for the future?

And can the fairytale come true for Brazil? The pundits have called this a Brazil side that lacks the sort of stellar talent we’re used to seeing in Brazil colours, but they go into the tournament as favourites, and the support they get will no doubt be louder than instruments can measure.

There’s danger for the hosts, though, with some strong contenders in the pack behind them. Argentina have a talisman and potential tournament-winner in Lionel Messi, and there will be no teams at this World Cup relishing the chance to take on Argentina. Or Germany, for that matter. Perpetual World Cup contenders, we’ll know more about Germany’s chances after the group stages, but the bookies have them above the holders Spain. Who shouldn’t be written off: this might be the sunset of a glorious era in Spanish football, but there will still be real hunger in the squad for another World Cup win.

So get all the odds you need before the tournament starts by hitting the links below, and check back with us regularly for results and fresh bets!

Australia World Cup odds

Group B World Cup odds

Brazil World Cup odds

England World Cup odds

And it’s not just the futures that show you Argentina’s chances are good. They’re one of the shortest odds of any nation to win their group, and that will see them with a more favourable route to the business end of the tournament. And Argentina have the players to take on and beat any side at this World Cup. The headlines will focus on Lionel Messi – and rightly so, especially if he’s finally able to find his best form on the international stage – but this is a strong Argentina squad that will be rightly feared by all opponents.

Make sure you’ve got all the World Cup odds – including those Argentina World Cup odds – just by following the links!

And it’s always something that makes punters nervous, betting against a Germany side. There might be some questions asked about the cutting edge of this Germany squad, and there might be some questions about the form that some of their key players bring to the tournament, but Germany know how to win on the world’s biggest stage, and they will almost certainly be involved in the knockout stages, we reckon, even in spite of a tricky group, and a tough first game against Portugal.

So make sure you got all Germany’s World Cup odds by following the link for all the markets and futures you’ll need. We’ve got Germany vs Portugal odds for you, too – just make sure you take a second before you bet against the Germans: we’ve been burned before!