Shooutouts in North London & North Carolina

We're feeling a bit happier now as our success rate over the last couple of weeks has improved as the football season has started to mature a little, those few more games really make a difference as you get to see how teams perform against different styles & quality & means betting can be that bit more informed. We were delighted to see Real Madrid keep pushing to the end on Tuesday night & Bradford did things a little more easily as the pair brought in both our bets - this Thursday we're going back to Europe as we look at the Europa League & Spurs' opening assignment plus NFL betting as the New York Giants travel to Carolina.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Lazio

 (Jermain Defoe is relishing currently being the main man for club & country)

Spurs start their Europa League assault against Italian side Lazio at White Hart Lane, manager Andre Villas-Boas won the trophy in 2011 with Porto & has vowed to take the competition seriously unlike previous boss Harry Redknapp. Spurs won their first game of the season on Sunday vs Reading thanks to a brace from in-form striker Jermain Defoe & he will likely lead the line again with Emmanuel Adebayor sidelined. French captain Hugo Lloris & Clint Dempsey are likely to make their first starts for the club & fringe players Michael Dawson, Steven Caulker, Tom Huddlestone & Andros Townsend could feature

Lazio have made an impressive start to the Serie A season with three straight wins against Atalanta, Palermo & Chievo Verona. Brazilian midfielder Hernanes & veteran striker Miroslav Klose have scored six of their seven goals so far & they should line-up in a similar fashion to the one that beat Chievo. Both sides are packed with high quality attacking options & with Spurs' record of conceding & scoring in every game so far this season the 10/11 on both teams to score looks a solid bet.

New York Giants at Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers came up with a nice result when turning over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday & they now host another of the NFC's big hitters as champions the New York Giants look to continue to put points on the board after outgunning Tampa Bay 41-34 at the weekend. The Buccaneers actually provide us with a bit of a form guide as Carolina took them on in week one in a very different contest where the Tampa Bay prevailed with a 16-10 victory in a rather dour affair. The Panthers really struggled to run the ball in that week one game & that could be the Giants' key to slowing them down as quarterback Cam Newton is just about the most mobile starter in the league & keeps any defense guessing. The Giants are especially good in the pass rush though meaning they'll be coming after Newton with regularity but the defense will need to be sharp as they're missing a couple of starters on offense.

(Brandon LaFell hauls one in against the Saints as he gains 90 receiving yards)

The Giants' starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw is out with a foot injury & Andre Brown will line up as starter instead, he did well against Tampa Bay with 71 rushing yards & there's no reason he won't get some success here. Bigger for the Giants is that key receiver Hakeem Nicks is out - he looked awesome on Sunday when gaining 199 receiving yards & will be missed here. Eli Manning will also be missing another receiver to pass to with Domenik Hixon out & that should mean that Victor Cruz gets a very heavy workload & he should get a touchdown as New York are very much a passing team - odds of 4/7 for him to score reflect this.

Although the Panthers lost to Tampa Bay you'd be hard pushed to say they aren't a better team & they have two receivers who could really hurt New York's still ropey secondary in the speedy & dependable Steve Smith & 3rd year pro Brandon LaFell who looks like he might have a breakout year. LaFell could really cause the Giants some problems as he's a big physical receiver & they couldn't cope with a similar type in Vincent Jackson last time out. The Panthers will need DeAngelo Williams to be on his game at running back though as Jonathan Stewart looks like missing out, there are points to be scored against New York & so long as they don't fall behind like they did against the Saints they could win this one nicely. The Giants are more likely to be affected by the short preparation time as they have to travel & being without Bradshaw & Nicks could be the killer blows, backing the Carolina Panthers to prevail at odds of 5/6. In the touchdown markets we do really like Brandon LaFell & he's 11/1 to score the first TD with Ladbrokes - it looks worth a small wager.

Selections:
Both teams to score Spurs vs Lazio at 10/11 (BlueSquare)
Carolina Panthers to beat New York Giants at 5/6 (Various)
Brandon LaFell to score first Touchdown at 11/1 (Ladbrokes)

The Hunter has caught the scent of his prey

Another nice set of results for us last night as Bayern beat Marseille in France & Sheffield United proved far too good for Chesterfield, it made up for Hull being really disappointing on Tuesday. We're keen to get some more money in your pockets before the weekend's football plus the world's richest horse race in the Dubai World Cup!

(Everyone but the bookies can be celebrating if Huntelaar can bag another)

Our tie of the week doesn't come in the Champions League but instead in the less glamorous European competition of the Europa League where the ultra attacking German side Schalke play host to Athletic Bilbao who showed a great deal of quality when beating Man United in both legs in the previous round of matches. Since losing three in a row (Bayern, Freiburg & Twente) at the end of February/beginning of March, Schalke have gone into overdrive winning three times in the league & scoring 9 goals plus overturning their 1-0 deficit in the first leg by slamming Scchhhhhteve McClaren's Twente 4-1 in the home game. They were our fancy for outright glory in this competition once it got down to the knockout stages & that was thanks to their outstanding front pairing of Raul & Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the 'Hunter' has been in incredible goalscoring form with 40 in 38 games this year putting him right there with the best around & he has 13 in 10 European games this season, 13/10 for Huntelaar to score at anytime is simply the wrong price & should be backed heavily.

(Javi Martinez could be key for Athletic Bilbao if they're to succeed in Germany)

Bilbao haven't won in 4 in the league but looked outstandingly organised, hardworking & importantly plenty of qaulity when going forward when beating United home & away, that quality up front is spearheaded by Fernando Llorente whose power & finesse is right up there with the best strikers around currently. Llorente should be fit here which means they'll have an attacking threat & they'll want an away goal (overrated as away goals are....) so that means there should be chances in the game & both sides can finish so 8/11 about over 2.5 goals looks very nice odds. Athletic Bilbao concede over a goal a game in La Liga & we just feel that without a watertight defence any team will pay the price against Schalke - they've played some great stuff in recent weeks & Jermaine Jones has often been instrumental, he'll sit in front of his defence in this one & help drive the team forward at every opportunity, always seeming to play a pass that puts the team on the attack. With home advantage we feel that last year's Champions League semi finalists Schalke will come out on top in this one & Bilbao are maybe being slightly overrated after beating Man United who've disappointed in Europe all season, at odds against we have to be with the Schalke win at 6/5 as they look to push on for outright glory.

We're anticipating one of the games of the season so don't be surprised to see this end up 0-0 now!

Selections:
Schalke 04 to beat Athletic Bilbao at 6/5 (various)
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to score at anytime at 13/10 (Coral)
Schalke v Athletic Bilbao over 2.5 goals at 8/11 (BetVictor, Stan James & Boylesports)

Europa League - Schalke's Strikers to Shoot them to glory

Normally the Europa League doesn't hold too much interest for English football fans but only two years ago Fulham made the final with Liverpool in the other semi final & this year sees giants Manchester United in this competition rather than fighting out the Champions League latter stages as usual. United are joined in the knockout stage by title rivals Manchester City & 1970s throwbacks Stoke City bring their unique style to the continent, there are some good bets to be had this Thursday night plus we're looking at an outright winner as well.

(Porto's new signing from Brazilian club Santos, Danilo looks quite a player)

Manchester City's Champions league campaign failed to ignite in a tough group also containing German powerhouses Bayern Munich & a useful Napoli side, City performed creditably at home with two wins (one against a weakened Bayern side) & a draw but their only points away from home came against hapless & pointless Villareal & City face a daunting away trip to opponents F.C. Porto in this first knockout round of the Europa League. Porto are the current holders of this cup, gaining that victory under previous coach Andre Villas-Boas & have an arguably stronger squad than last season as they sold star forward Radamel Falcao for 40m Euros but retained most of the rest of the team (although Falcao's fellow Colombian Fredy Guarin has just joined Inter on loan with an option for a permanent move). Porto have bolstered their squad with Steven Defour & Eliaquim Mangala from Standard Liege plus have brought in two of Brazil's brightest defensive talents in Alex Sandro & Danilo, Danilo a midfielder & right back signed in the January transfer window looks to have all the attributes needed to be a world star. The Portuguese league isn't known for being ultra competitive, Porto won without losing a match last year, but they've still only conceded 12 goals in their 18 games so far, although they trail Benfica by 5 points, showing just how watertight they can be. Up front Hulk continues to be a menace scoring goals himself & getting plenty of assists, he's struck up a decent partnership with fellow Brazilian Kleber & they'll cause City problems here.

City haven't had the greatest runs of form since Christmas, going out of the Cups & drawing away to West Brom & losing away to Sunderland & Everton, in fact their only away wins in the league since 5th November came against rock bottom Wigan & a negative Villa side this past weekend. The Citizens haven't looked nearly so good without Africa Cup of Nations competitors the Toure brothers & will be hoping to have them back as soon as possible after their disappointing loss in the final, they probably won't be back in time for this game though & City still won't have the presence of Yaya driving them forwards from midfield. Although still great at home Mancini's cautiousness means City are unlikely to be too expansive here & would surely settle for a draw, that's dangerous as Porto are a top notch team & although they disappointed in the Champions League they'll look to rally & will want to take a lead to Manchester. Bearing in mind City may settle for a draw we think that Porto at Evens in the draw no bet market is a real tempter & should be backed, they'll need a result here before going to the Etihad next Wednesday.

(How do you stop him scoring? Udinese's 34 year old phenomenon Antonio Di Natale)

Udinese weren't able to qualify for the Champions League after meeting Arsenal in the qualifying rounds but they came through in 2nd place behind a good Atletico Madrid side in their Europa League group with Celtic behind & now they come up against Greek side PAOK Saloniki in their first knockout game. PAOK topped the group containing Tottenham & beat them at White Hart Lane thanks to a lightning fast start, scoring twice in the first quarter of an hour against their hosts who began lethargically & then couldn't ever claw their way back, it does need to be mentioned that Spurs never really seemed to be too concerned with the competition though. PAOK also managed a very creditable draw away to Rubin Kazan which is no mean feat & they are worthy of respect although they are now shorn of star winger Vierinha who moved to Wolfsburg in the transfer window, he was a real goal threat & they'll now have to rely even more heavily on academy product Stefanos Athanasiadis who's managed 4 goals this year in the competition. Udinese lost some of their top players for big prices in the Summer with Alexis Sanchez & Christian Zapata heading to Spain whilst Gokhan Inler moved to Napoli but they've coped admirably & currently sit 4th in Serie A. Veteran & club legend Antonio Di Natale is still banging the goals in at the age of 34, he was on fire with 28 league goals last year & has carried that on in 2011-12. Udinese will be hoping to have the Ghanaians Kwadwo Asamoah & Badu back but even if they don't they should be able to break PAOK down & a price of 4/5 for Udinese to prevail looks too good to be true, PAOK will likely come to defend meaning a win to nil is likely & we like the look of a 2-0 home win at 7/1.

(Things haven't always gone totally to plan for City & Mancini in Europe - why are they favourites?)

In terms of outright winners it seems fair to see Manchester's City & United at the head of the market although we can't quite work out why City are ahead of last year's Champions League finalists especially as they have to first get past a classy Porto side just to progress past the first knockout stage. The worry with having a bet on either of the English sides is whether they'll be treating this competition with enough respect to actually win it, Ferguson used words to the effect that it was a punishment having to play in the Thursday night competition & he has left Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs & Dimitar Berbatov at home for their first away trip to Ajax although there has been no injury news as of yet. There should be motivation for winning the competition for Ferguson as it is the one trophy that has so far evaded him both with Aberdeen & United & we'd be much keener to back them at the prices, especially given their European pedigree, than Man City, even if Mancini can keep his combustible squad operating it seems difficult to believe they can keep up the pace on two fronts especially now that their rivals are breathing down their necks in the all-important title race.

(Schalke's Raul & Huntelaar may just be the best strike partnership in Europe)

Instead we really like the look of the German side Schalke 04 to take this at odds of 12/1, they won the competition back in its days of the UEFA Cup in 1997 & their free flowing football can prove dangerous to any opponents that face them. Although Schalke faced a bad loss to league rivals Borussia Monchengladbach this past weekend they had previously been on a great run of form losing just twice since 24th September & their strike force of Real Madrid legend Raul & Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has been particularly successful. Huntelaar looks revitalised after not quite living up to expectations at first Real Madrid & then AC Milan, his understanding with Raul is especially impressive with them linking up regularly to torment defences. In home-grown players like wonderkid Julian Draxler & the technically talented Lewis Holtby the strikers get a great service from midfield & Christoph Metzelder provides experience in defence whilst captain Benedikt Howedes looks like he'll end up being a mainstay in central defence for the national side for years to come. The one real worry for last year's Champions League semi-finalists is that starting goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann has been lost to injury although they've reacted quickly by bringing Timo Hildebrand back to his homeland from Sporting in Portugal. Schalke have great European experience & are likely to take treat this competition with respect & should be able to progress past Czech opponents Viktoria Plzen in this round before really unleashing a charge.

Selections:
Porto to beat Manchester City draw no bet at 10/11 (Betfred & Blue Square)
Udinese to beat PAOK Saloniki at 4/5 (Boylesports, BetVictor & William Hill)
Udinese to beat PAOK Saloniki 2-0 at 7/1 (William Hill)

Schalke to win Europa League outright at 12/1 (Various)