Well, it’s fair to say that we misjudged matters somewhat in our last round of football accumulator betting tips.
Just 2/5 legs landed, although we remain rather surprised that Spain and Croatia weren’t able to beat Russia and Denmark (the latter in the 90 minute match market).
And as for France vs Argentina, well, who saw that degenerating into a seven-goal thriller!?
The World Cup is now entering its business end, and so finding betting value is becoming more difficult. We think we may have found a couple of slices however, in amongst some other selections from around the globe.
Here are this week’s football acca tips:
| Match | Recommended Bet | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Uruguay vs France | Uruguay +1.00 Asian Handicap | 4/11 |
| Russia vs Croatia | Croatia to Qualify | 4/7 |
| FC Astana vs Sutjeska | Astana to Win | 4/11 |
| FK Spartaks vs Red Star Belgrade | Red Star to Win | 3/10 |
| Molde vs Valerenga | Molde to Win | 4/5 |
| Five-Fold Acca Odds | 5.68/1 | |
Uruguay vs France: Uruguay +1.50 Asian Handicap
France’s 4-3 win over Argentina was a humdinger, and at times their attacking play was sublime.
But dig a bit deeper and you’ll remember that Les Bleus were 1-2 down and needed a wonder goal from Benjamin Pavard to restore parity.
This was a chaotic Argentina team too, and an Uruguay outfit that look together and on the same page will be a different opponent entirely.
The link-up play between Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani against Portugal was sublime, and in front of a hard-working and diligent defence/midfield it’s a truly dangerous prospect in knockout football.
If France bring their very best they will beat Uruguay. If they don’t, the South Americans will make life very tricky for them indeed.
Russia vs Croatia: Croatia to Qualify
The host nation knocked out Spain in the last 16 in a result we can almost describe as daylight robbery, given that they scored with their only shot on target.
The Spaniards had absolutely no forward thrust – not an accusation we can throw at Croatia.
They have scored eight times this tournament with six different players finding the net, and their attacking nous should see them take the spoils over a Russia side happy to sit back and see what happens; they had just 25% possession against Spain.
Chasing the ball is a tough old business in the hot conditions, and Croatia, with a bit more dynamism than Spain, should be able to send the hosts packing here.
FC Astana vs Sutjeska: FC Astana to Win
The football season never really ends, does it? The World Cup is in full flow and next week the Champions League qualifiers return.
We’re backing Astana, a side with a fantastic record in this competition, relatively speaking, to get the job done.
The Kazakhstan champions are unbeaten in ten home Champions League matches; a run that includes wins over Celtic, Legia Warsaw and APOEL, as well as draws against Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Galatasaray.
We don’t know much about Sutjeska, to be honest, but in two Champions League qualification appearances they have lost 0-5 and 1-6 on aggregate to Sheriff both times, which doesn’t bode well for them.
Astana’s domestic campaign is well underway (they top the table once more), while Sutjeska are still in off-season mode.
FK Spartaks vs Red Star Belgrade: Red Star to Win
In this Champions League qualifier we’re expecting the experience of Red Star Belgrade to show.
You may remember them from last season’s Europa League, where they held Arsenal to a draw, beat FC Koln home and away and lost narrowly 0-1 on aggregate to CSKA Moscow.
FK Spartaks ply their trade in Latvia, a domestic division which is already underway. Ordinarily that might give them the edge, but we note they are without a win in three in a league not known for producing top-quality outfits.
Molde vs Valerenga: Molde to Win
Our final pick comes from Norway’s Eliteserien, where we’re backing Molde’s good form to overcome Valerenga, who tend to struggle on the road.
The hosts have won their last two games 3-0 and 4-0 – you can’t say fairer than that, and their home record of W6 D0 L2 looks good to us.
Valerenga aren’t awful, but they’ve only won one of their last four and sored just four times in their last half-dozen outings. Worst still, they have only found the net once in some 360 minutes of football on the road.