Tuesday, the NY Rangers, in hopes of strengthening their offense, signed left wing free agent Alexander Frolov.  Although specific information was not released regarding the terms of the contract agreement, there are media sources claiming that it was a one-year deal worth $3 million.

28-year-old Frolov played with the Los Angeles Kings last season in 81 games in which he recorded 19 goals in addition to 32 assists.  In five of his seven seasons in the NHL, which have all been with Los Angeles, Frolov has been able to successfully exceed 20 goals.  He has a total of 210 penalty minutes in addition to 168 goals as well as 213 assists.

He was first acquired by the Los Angeles Kings as a first round draft pick in the 2000 NHL Draft in which he was the number 20 overall pick.  He made a career high in his 2006-2007 NHL Season with the Kings by recording 35 goals as well as 36 assists in his 82 season games.  Last year was the first season, apart from his rookie season in the NHL, that the left wing was unable to complete the 20-goal mark per season.

New York hopes that the addition of Frolov to their team will add some depth and skill to their offensive line.  It is likely that Frolov will find himself near the top of the line when it comes to the best players on the team.  The one-year contract allows Frolov to show the Rangers he has what it takes to take them to the top and win.  If he has a successful season, he’s likely to be offered a multi-year contract with the New York Rangers.

It is time for quarterfinals in the World Cup 2010 in South Africa and now it the interesting part begins.  Eight teams left and the team that wins their next three games will win the World Cup.

So far, this has been South Americas World Cup and they have four teams left out of totally eight. In these two texts I will give you my best bettingtips in the first two matches that is going to be played on Friday between Holland vs. Brazil and Uruguay vs. Ghana.

I will give you the best 1-x-2 tips and then some special bets from each of the matches, starting with Holland vs. Brazil (the odds are picked from bwin sportsbetting odds):

Holland vs. Brasil, odds: Holland to win 3.75, draw 3.45, Brazil to win 1.95

My bettingtips: Draw @ 3.75 in odds

I can agree with bwin that Brazil is favourites in this game, but according to me, they have become way to big favourites in this game. Both Brazil and Holland has impressed a lot on me so far in the championship and 1.95 in odds on Brazil to win during ordinary time doesn’t seem valuable to bet on.

None of these teams has lost in the World Cup so far and both of the teams has impressed with a strong defence.  Neither Brazil nor Holland normally plays with two defensive midfielders but in this tournament both the teams has chosen that solution.

After that, Dunga took over as manager for the Brazilian team they have played more tactical then before and lots of Brazilians are critical for their tactic. But at the same time I don’t think they have a reason to do that since they won both the South American championship and the Confederations Cup last year.

Holland has been well known as the country that plays “total football” which means all of attack and lots of players that runs towards the opponents goal. Anyway, even though they have made it well most of the times they haven’t been able to win any trophy’s at the end when it comes to the final games.

Therefore, this year, even Holland’s manager has chosen to play with two central defensive players in front of their defenders and I have to say that I am impressed of their balanced and focused way of playing. And this is the reason why I think that they can go far in this tourney.

Brazil pays under 2 in odds and I don’t think that they should be that big favourites since Holland have lots of world class players that can make it difficult for the Brazilian attackers. And in the offence I would say that Hollands attacking players (Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin Van Persie, Rafal Van der Vaart and Dirk Kuyt) are just as good as Brazils attacking players (Robinho, Luis Fabiano, Kaka). Brazil often plays with their wingers high up, putting pressure on their opponents high up. However, with Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt on the other side they might get some problems with their counter attacks.

That is why I do not think that Brazil is worth betting on in this game, but draw or a win on Holland is more interesting. I choose to bet on draw here which pays 3.45 in odds and that is interesting according to me.

Uruguay vs. Ghana, odds: Uruguay to win 1.95, draw 3.15, Ghana to win 4.00

My bettingtips: Draw @ 3.15 in odds

I choose to bet on the draw in this game as well. This time I also think even more of a draw than in the previous match. Both Ghana and Uruguay are two strong defensive teams and have done it very well so far in the World cup.

Uruguay is just as big favourites in this game as Brazil are in the first quarterfinal. I think that Ghana will give them a tough battle. Ghana is the last team left from whole Africa in this tournament and that means that whole Africa is behind them in their further adventures in the championship. I am very sure that Ghana will have most of the support from the crowd and that will give them an extra energy boost in this quarterfinal.

An African team has never gone to a semi-final World cup and this time Ghana has a great chance to be the first team ever to reach that far. Senegal (2002) and Cameroon (1990) are the only two teams that have made it to the quarterfinal earlier.

Both these teams have solid defence and a couple of key-players in the offence that will try to win the game for their nation. Uruguay has Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid) and Luiz Suarez (Ajax) and Ghanas biggest star is Asamoah Gyan (Udinese) after that Michael Essien got is injury.

My feeling is that a draw is a very likely outcome of this game so that is my bettingtips in this game. After that, anything can happen. You can bet draw to 3.15 in odds at bwin and I will give that a try.

More special bets will be presented in the next text for these two matches.

You have my analyze and bettingtips for 1-x-2 in the first two quarterfinals. Now I will do my best to give you some winning bettingtips for the additional bets that bwin world cup betting offers. There are about 315 betting opportunities in the World cup quarterfinals that bwin offers so go in to their website and see if you can find anything else that seems interesting for you.

Holland vs. Brazil:

Team to go trough – odds: Holland to go trough, odds 2.75 – Brazil to go trough, odds 1.42

My bettingtips – Holland to go trough @ 2.75 in odds

As I wrote above, I think that Brazil is to big favourites to bet on. In addition, in this bet I think that it is even more obvious. This bet means that I bet on Holland to go trough. It does not matter if they win during 90 minutes; win after extra time of even after Penalties. They just have to go to the semi-finals for me to win on my bettingtips.

Since I think that it is much more even between the teams then the odds says, I think that this is a really good bet.

Holland have won all their four matches until now and they have done it in an impressing way. In their first game they beat Denmark with 2 – 0. In that game they had several chances to score more then twice but they seemed satisfied anyway. After that they beat Japan with 1 – 0 and in their last game they won against Cameroon with 2 – 1 even though they actually didn’t have to win to win their group.

And in the first knock-out game Holland beat Slovakia with 2 – 1 after a late goal from Slovakia on penalty. So Holland has never been really threatened in this championship so far. Brazil have three wins and one draw so far but it’s actually only against Chilli, in the last game, that they showed that they can play attractive football. I think that 2.75 in odds on Holland to go to the semi-finals feels very interesting and with a great odds-value, so that’s my first pick.

Over / Under 1,5 goals after first half – Over 1,5 goals, odds 3.10 – Under 1,5 goals, odds 1.33

My bettingtips: Under 1,5 goals in first half @ 1.33 in odds

My feeling is that this game will start in a slow tempo. Both of the teams respect each other’s and that is why I do not think that there will be too many goals in the first half. For my bet, I win if the first half ends with zero or one goal.

In most of the games so far in the World cup is hasn’t been scored more then 1 goal in first half and this is the kind of match where I think that will be standing 0 – 0 for a while. Holland made both their goals against Denmark in the second half and even their goal against Japan came in the second half. Against Cameroon they only had 1 – 0 in half time and the same against Slovakia. So all Holland’s four matches has been under 1,5 goals after the first half.

Regarding Brazil they had 0 – 0 against North Korea in half time, 1 – 0 against Ivory coast and in their last group match they played 0 – 0 against Portugal. It was only against Chilli that they had 2 – 0 in half time.

So in totally eight games that these teams has played so far only in one match it has been scored more then 1 goal in the first half. Now, when it comes to a tight and tough quarterfinal, I think that the probability to be under 1,5 goals in half time is bigger than 1.33 that is the odds. So I have a strong feeling that this is a good bettingtips even though it might feel like a low odds.

Uruguay vs. Ghana

Over / Under 2,5 goals in the match – Odds: over 2,5 goals, odds: 2.45 – Under 2,5 goals, odds: 1.48

My bettingtips: Under 2,5 goals @ 1.48 in odds

I do not think that their will be too many of goals in this game. Both the teams have strong defences. In Uruguay’s there games in their group games they did not let any goals in. Their first goal against them came in the second round when South Korea finally managed to score one goal on Uruguay.

Ghana has indeed let some goals in behind their goalie Kingson but they still have showed that they have a strong defence as well. With that in mind, I feel that there is big opportunity that this game will end with two goals or less after ordinary time (90 min).

If feels strange to see that as an opportunity, but in the betting world right can be wrong and a defensive game with few goals can mean win. Under 2,5 goals pays 1.48 in odds at bwin sportsbetting and I think that 0 – 0 or 1 – 1 are the most likely results here. If any of the teams win the game I do not think that it will be with more then 1 – 0 / 0 – 1.

Good Luck with your world cup betting

/Amrish

Tuesday, defensive tackle and rookie Corey Peters signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons.  As for specifics, the deal was a four-year contract that totaled a little over $3 million.  He’ll also receive a sign-on bonus of nearly $800,000

Out of the University of Kentucky, Peters was a third round draft pick, overall 83^rd pick when he was expected to go into the fourth round before being selected by an NFL team.  He had 11 ½ sacks, 146 tackles, a single interception, a single forced fumble, as well as three fumble recoveries during his time with Kentucky as three-year starter.  He also was on the honor roll for SEC Academic twice.

Last year, in 2009, Peters, who is 6’3” and approximately 300 pounds, participated in 11 games where he recorded 56 tackles, 27 assists, five defense passes, four sacks, a single forced fumble, as well as a single fumble recovery.

The Falcons opted for Peters mainly due to the fact that their top pick from last year’s draft is recovering from a knee injury. Therefore, they needed to do something in order to pep up their defensive line.  If last year’s top pick defensive tackle Peria Jerry doesn’t hit some high speed, it looks as if Corey Peters may be playing on the field a lot sooner than he had hoped.

The historic matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics in this year’s NBA finals is bursting with tough matchups and simmering rivalries. Each team has its strengths over the other, and the winner will be the one who is able to overcome the mismatch.

Both teams are eminently capable of draining the three, with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce supplemented by Nate Robinson for the Celtics and Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Kobe Bryant gunning for the Lakers. Any one of those guys is capable of ripping the net from any spot on the floor. The edge here is difficult to give to any one team. When Ray Allen is hot, there’s no one better, but he’s also capable of going cold as ice. For the Lakers, Derek Fisher is the clutch man, having hit huge three after huge three. When the game is on the line, though, the Celtics will want the ball in the hands of Paul Pierce, and the Lakers, of course, will give it to Kobe.

In the front court, the Celtics have a serious matchup problem, with the 6-10 Kendrick Perkins matched up against the seven foot Andrew Bynum and aging but still active Kevin Garnett trying to keep up with a very energized and motivated Pau Gasol, who is looking to get even with Garnett for owning him in the 2008 finals. Foul trouble has been and will continue to be key, as the smaller, older  Celtics do their best not to grab at  the bigger, younger Lakers.

The Celtics will need greater performances from their bench, particularly from Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace, who will be taking some of the heat off Garnett and Perkins. On the Laker bench, Jordan Farmar will be counted on to come in and hit some shots from the outside, especially if Kobe needs a breather. Meanwhile, Lamar Odom will be called upon to give some quality minutes should Gasol need rest or get into foul trouble.

The Celtics swarming, relentless defense has been keeping their opponents down while picking their offense up throughout the playoffs. Will they be able to keep up with the high-powered Laker offense and create opportunities for their offense? Much of that depends on the Celtics’ guard Rajon Rondo, whose quick hands and explosiveness is matched only by his inconsistency. Can he put up another triple double as he did against the Cavs and take over the game? Or will he commit enough turnovers to mitigate his own effectiveness?

Will the Lakers’ frontcourt play up to its potential and overpower the Celtics? Can Ron Artest bother Paul Pierce enough to take him out of his game and hit a few shots of his own? He is also famously inconsistent, although his play helped the Lakers immensely in their win over the Suns.

All these questions will be answered as the Lakers try to pay back the Celtics for their convincing victory two years ago. Do the Celtics have one more championship left, or will the Lakers be too young, too strong, and too hungry to be denied?

World Cup in football is coming closer for every day and now it is only 12 days left to the kick-off. I will share some of my best bettingtips until it starts and before World Cup, I will give you my best long-term bet. When the tournament begins, you will have more match-betting from me.

In these two texts that I will share with you my predictions for group-winners for group A and B and, the betting value compared to the odds, odds value, and some other interesting bets for these groups.

I will start to present all the odds for the group-winners and then give you my analyze for how I think it will end and which team is most worth betting on. Keep in mind that a potential winner and a team worth betting on necessary do not have to be the same country. After that, I will share some other interesting “special-bets” that I find worth betting on. The odds are picked from bwin world-cup odds.

Group A – Group winner

France to win – odds: 1.90

Uruguay to win – odds: 4.40

Mexico to win – odds: 4.40

South Africa to win, odds: 7.50

This is a very special group if you ask me. France is big favourites to win group A and have the best squad compared to these teams but I find it very wrong to place a bet on France to win this group. First, I even do not think that they will win. I actually doubt if they even will manage to go trough from the group stage.

They might have the best squad but they have a poor manager according to me, Raymond Domenech. Beside that France haven’t been playing well for a long time and even against pretty easy opponents in the friendly’s just before world cup they have only played draw against much worse opponents then they will play against in the group A. Therefore, my advice is to not bet on France to win the group since they seem to have lots of problem.

Another fact that makes this group interesting is that if you look into the history-books the host often goes trough from the group stage in world cup. Therefore, I am pretty sure that South Africa “some how” will make it trough this year as well. Some examples of other underdogs that have went trough when they have arranged the World Cup is South Korea and Japan 2002 and USA 1990.Non of these teams have managed to go trough from the group stage before they have been hosting the world cup.

According to me, Uruguay and Mexico are pretty even and any of these teams can go trough. Of course, France cannot be forgotten either but my bet here goes to South Africa. They pay a lot for being the host and with their supporters and the pressure on the referee; (and so on) I think that is a good bet. If not you should bet on the team that you think will play best from Uruguay and Mexico, there is a small odds value on that as well. But my first bettingtips is:

South Africa to win group A @ 7.50 in odds.

Here is some other bet that I find interesting from group A:

How many goals will South Africa do in the group stage?

Over 2,5 goals @ 1.60 in odds / under 2,5 goals @ 2.20 in odds

My bettingtips: Over 2,5 goals @ 1.60 in odds

I will on this bet if South Africa manages to score three goals or more in the group stage. That means that they have to score at least one goal per match in average and I am sure that they will make it. My betting-experience says that the home nation always get some easy goals to their advantage (possible offside, easy penalty or something like that). I would not be surprised if the same thing happened this year, why shouldn’t it?

There are always 50/50-situations in every game and often the referees choose to let them go to the defending team’s advantage. However, I think that it is easier to blow in the whistle for the home team’s advantage then the other way in these kinds of matches. So with 1 or 2 “normal” goals and 1 or 2 “easy goals” I think that South Africa will score at least three goals in this group, probably more. I find this bet very worth betting on.

How many goals will France score in the group stage?

Over 4,5 goals @ 2.05 in odds / Under 4,5 goals @ 1.70 in odds

My bettingtips: Under 4,5 goals @ 1.70 in odds

As I wrote before my feeling is that France is way to overestimated in this tournament and to get this high odds for a bet that they will not score five goals in the group stage feels good.

They have had attacking problems lately and the fact that both Mexico and Uruguay are good teams in their defence makes this bet even better. In addition to that, they will not get anything free against the home nation, South Africa, so 1.70 in odds on the bet that France will score maximum four goals in group A is worth a bigger stake.

In next text, I will give you my best bettingtips for group B. Just as last time I start with the odds and bettingtips for the group winners and the analyze of the group followed by some other interesting bettingtips where I find odds value.

Group B – Group winner:

Argentina to win – odds: 1.50

Nigeria to win – odds: 5.50

Greece to win – odds: 7.50

South Korea to win – odds: 12.00

It seems that many experts do not believe in Argentina this year but I am sure that most of them think that they will win their group. I think that Argentina where pretty lucky with their draw and they avoided teams that could have been way worse then these teams.

Nigeria changed manager just before world cup to the former Swedish manager, Lars Lagerback, and it is always difficult to come in so recently and anchor his ideas. Nigeria has an advantage of the championship played in Africa, but I just cannot see how they are going to threat Argentina in the group stage over three games. Nigeria pays 5.50 in odds and that is not high enough to bet on.

Greece had a lucky shoot in the European Championship six years ago with Rehagel as manager but has not shown anything like that since then. Everything went their way and with lot of luck, they won that tournament 2004. Two years ago, they finished last in their group in the European championship with zero points. Greece pays 7.50 in odds to win the group and that is even not close to being value to bet on according to me.

South Korean football have advanced strongly in the last few years, after they hosted the world cup in 2002, but is in fact still far behind the best teams in the world. There are a couple of good players in the South Korean squad, but too few of them to be able to be there fighting for a group victory. South Korea tries to play an offensive football but against better teams, they often fall on their own grip. South Korea stands on high odds, but it is not close to what they should pay to place a bet on.

Therefore, I am pretty confident that Argentina will win this group and that they makes it relatively easy. I simply cannot see which team can give them a fight in group B and that’s why I recommend a bet on Argentina to win the group:

Argentina to win the group @ 1.50 in odds

Some other interesting bettingtips from group B:

How many points will Argentina take in the group?

0 points, odds: 201.00

1 points, odds: 55.00

2 points, odds: 34.00

3 points, odds: 15.00

4 points, odds: 6.25

5 points, odds: 7.00

6 points, odds: 5.00

7 points, odds: 2.90

9 points, odds: 3.50

My bettingtips: 9 points @ 3.50 in odds

Normally I would not bet that Argentina will take all three wins in the group since they often rest most of their ordinary players if they win their first two games and have secured the group win. But this year they have so many good players in the squad that I think that even though Maradona choose to rest some of the best players the rest will do their best to show that they want to be in the start-up line for the knock-out stage. Primarily I am thinking on their strong attacking players like Messi, Tevez, Milito, Heguain, Kun Aguerro and Martin Palermo. Even if he chooses to plays two or three of the worst of these players, he has a world class attacking line.

I am not sure that a player like Milito will be a ordinary player in Maradonas first eleven players. Compared to what he has done for Inter Milan this season, and that he scored both goals for his club in the Champions League final he would probably be a starting player in any other nation. However, he probably is not in Argentina. So my bettingtips on Argentina to win all their group games and finish with 9 points feels interesting to 3.50 in odds.

How many goals will be scored in this group?

Over 14,5 goals, odds: 1.72 / Under 14.5 goals, odds: 2.00

My bettingtips: Under 14,5 goals @ 2.00 in odds

My feeling is one of the gropes that will end with few goals scored totally. Both Nigeria and Greece are defensive playing teams and even though Argentina probably will score some goals the other teams will not. Nigeria never scores a lot and neither does Greece. And even though South Korea tries to play offensive football they do not score that much.

That is why I have a feeling that many matches where Argentina is not involved will end like 0 – 0 or 1 – 0, 0 – 1.  To win on my bet it has be scored 14 goals or less totally in group B, that pays me back double the stake. And since I think that few goals will be scored I find that bet valuable to bet on.

All the odds is picked from bwin worldcup betting

Good luck with your world cup betting

Br.

Amrish

England heads into the 2010 World Cup with a start opening game on June 12 against the USA at Rustenburg.  Let’s take a look at the final roster for England and see who made the cut.

Goalkeepers include Joe Hart from Club  Manchester City, David James from Club Portsmouth, and Robert Green from Club West Ham United.

Defenders include Matthew Upson from Club  West Ham, Stephen Warnock from Club Aston Villa, John Terry from Club Chelsea, Ledley King from Club Tottenham Hotspur, Glen Johnson from Club Liverpool, Rio Ferdinand from Club Manchester United, Ashley Cole from Club Chelsea, and Jamie Carragher from Club Liverpool.

Midfielders include Shaun Wright-Phillips from Club Manchester City, James Milner from Club Aston Villa, Michael Carrick from Club Manchester United, Aaron Lennon from Club Tottenham Hotspur, Frank Lampard from Club Chelsea, Joe Cole from Club Chelsea, Steven Gerrard from Club Liverpool, and Gareth Barry from Club Manchester City.

Strikers include Emile Heskey from Club Aston Villa, Wayne Rooney from Club Manchester United, Jermain Defoe from Club  Tottenham Hotspur, and Peter Crouch from Club Tottenham Hotspur.

All cuts have now been made from the initial preliminary World Cup roster of 30 men to a 23 man final roster.  Team USA will compete in Match 5 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which is the team opener and will take place in Rustenburg on June 12 against England.

Let’s see who ended up making the cut for the final roster for the United States team.

Goalkeepers include Tim Howard from Everton, Marcus Hahnemann from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Brad Guzan from Aston Villa.

Defenders include Jonathan Spector from West Ham, Clarence Goodson from IK Start, Oguchi Onyewu from AC Milan, Steve Cherundolo from Hannover, Jay DeMerit from Watford, Jonathan Bornstein from Chivas USA, and Carlos Bocanegra from Rennes.

Midfielders include Jose Torres from Pachuca, Stuart Holden from Bolton, Benny Feilhaber from AGF Aarhus, Clint Dempsey from Fulham, Maurice Edu from Rangers, Landon Donovan from Los Angeles Galaxy, Ricardo Clark from Eintracht Frankfurt, Michael Bradley from Borussia, Moenchengladbach, and DaMarcus Beasley from Rangers.

Strikers include Herculez Gomez from Pachuca, Edson Buddle from Los Angeles Galaxy,Robbie Findley from Real Salt Lake, and Jozy Altidore from Hull.

In a little over two weeks time the World comes together for a short time to celebrate the pinnacle of the four year footballing calendar with the World Cup beginning. South Africa are the hosts and not only do players need to contend with the searing heat of the African climate but also the higher altitude playing conditions. Everything is leading towards the final on July 11th; exactly one month after this festival of football begins.

There is a thought provoking football betting market being offered at leading sports betting bookmaker https://www.bwin.com for the World Cup Finals Special betting. Whilst the players will be concentrating on the preparations for the next match only we, as supporters, can look further ahead.

Bet on Individual Teams to Reach the World Cup Final

The top four teams in the betting market at bwin.com are as follows,

Spain 21/10, Brazil 9/4, Argentina 3/1, England 33/10

In your research look at the World Cup groups and decide which teams may be able to rest certain star players in anticipation for the pressure cooker atmosphere of the knock-out stages of the competition. From that perspective England have an easy group but have a history of just missing out in key moments like penalty shoot-outs. I really hope the experienced England team, likely to be dismantled after this World Cup; can finally fulfil their undoubted potential and go on to win it!

Brazil always seems to do well but they have lots of new young players who need to make a name for themselves in this competition. No doubt many of them will and at 9/4 this is not bad odds for a team that you would be surprised not to make it past the quarter final stage.

Spain are the favourites which is understandable when you look at their team. David Villa, heading to Barcelona and Fernando Torres are brilliant forwards that will put fear into any defence. They won Euro 2008 with room to spare and now that Spain have shed their under-achiever tag they could have a major say in who wins the World Cup this year.

What will the Final look like?

I will definitely be having a bet on this market! This is the match that I am looking forward to more than any other. I think the obvious bet would be for the final to contain two of the following five teams, England, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain. Germany are never fancied but always have a strong team ethic and rarely have bad World Cups. I think that Spain or Brazil will be in the final. Here are the bwin.com odds for all of the combinations of those finals in betting order.

Brazil v Spain 11/1
England v Spain 15/1
Brazil v Argentina 16/1
England v Argentina 20/1
England v Brazil 22/1
Germany v Brazil 22/1
Argentina v Spain 22/1
England v Germany 30/1
Germany v Spain 33/1
Germany v Argentina 40/1

Other teams that could do well are reigning champions Italy, who are 11/2 to make the final and Holland who have odds of 5/1 to make the final.

Get your World Cup football bets on early with bwin.com and snap up early value. The top four in the outright betting market for the team to win the World Cup 2010 are,

Outright Winner – Top Four Teams in the Market

Spain 17/4
Brazil 5/1
Argentina 13/2
England 13/2

By Malcolm Clarke